Another Top 10 Harry Potter Fan Theories

Harry’s scar is a hot topic throughout the Potterverse, but what does it actually mean? Well, according to wizarding conspiracy theorists across the internet, it’s more than just the rebound of Voldemort’s evil magic. It’s well known that Lily Potter sacrificed herself to save her son, but what if the lightning bolt shape is a result of Lily’s ancient magic? According to some, the mark on Harry’s forehead is a rune called eihwaz and represents ‘defence’. The term eihwaz is also the proto-germanic word for yew, which is the exact type of wood used in Voldemort's wand. Coincidence? Or something more?

We all know that words evolve over time, but could our language actually be rooted in the Wizarding World? The infamous killing curse has long had some Reddit users seriously excited, as the theory goes that Avada Kedavra morphed into the muggle word ‘abracadabra’ in long-lost history. Not only do the words sound alike, but it’s suggested that Avada Kedavra was originally used to kill viruses and nasty bugs - not people - which is supposedly why people used to believe that ‘abracadabra’ could cure the plague. It all dates back to an ancient era of muggle/magic shared-existence, which we’d definitely like to return to!

Diagon Alley’s always busy, and hundreds of people work at the Ministry of Magic. So how come the Hogwarts intake seemed so small in Harry’s year? J.K. Rowling once said that there were around 1,000 students at the school, but only around 50 enrol alongside Harry. But there could be a simple and pretty grim reason for the lower-than-average figure... As Harry’s generation were born during the First Wizarding War with Voldemort at large, prospective parents might’ve decided against starting a family, or perhaps they were killed before even considering it! Those were dark times, indeed.

Arachnophobes beware, things are about to get more than a little creepy crawly. Poor Hagrid never has much luck with his pets, from home-reared Dragons to Buckbeak the Hippogriff. But deep in the Forbidden Forest lurked another creature who really fancied feasting on Harry and Ron. But how did Aragog even end up there? Since the giant arachnid “travelled to Hagrid from a distant land in the pocket of a traveller”, some ideas point to that pocket belonging to none-other than Newt Scamander, the magical creature maestro himself.

Dumbledore’s fantastic phoenix Fawkes proved a great help to Harry during his time at Hogwarts... But this theory invented by youtubers the SuperCarlinBrothers puts a pretty dark spin on things. It suggests that Fawkes was actually a Horcrux created by Dumbledore, amidst the guilt he felt after his sister’s death. However, this theory has been addressed by Rowling herself, who definitely isn’t a fan - calling it ‘strangely upsetting’ that people would believe it. Look at Baby Fawkes; he’s just too cute to be a fractured fragment of someone’s soul!

The four famous founders of Hogwarts are legendary. But it’s the potential link between Harry and Godric Gryffindor that this proposal focuses on. Essentially, the idea is that Harry could be a distant descendant of Gryffindor, part-explaining why the sword appears in the Sorting Hat, and why Harry’s parents lived in Godric’s Hollow. Ok, ok, so this theory doesn’t have a tonne of concrete evidence behind it, but it does provide a pretty cool alternative narrative for the final battle between Harry and Voldemort - with ancestral roots on both sides stretching as far back as the school’s fabled founders.

This one’s rooted in the last book, when Harry finds a letter written by his mother which reveals that the Potter family used to have a cat - prompting Harry to wonder if the cat survived. One popular theory suggests that the Potter’s pet did survive that fateful night, and ended up in the Magical Menagerie... Where it was eventually rehomed by Hermione, and renamed Crookshanks! Maybe that’s why Crookshanks disliked Scabbers so much, since he knew that Ron’s rat was actually the traitorous Peter Pettigrew.

Are you constantly hoping that the Harry Potter universe is real? Follow this theory, and it could be! Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter was always a shady character, so it wouldn’t surprise anyone if she broke the rules enough to get banned from the Wizarding World. So, what if she was, and Rita wanted revenge? She could write about her magical background and sell it to muggles as fiction... The Ministry of Magic wouldn’t get involved, because the scandal could blow their cover. So, all she’d really need is a recognisable pen name. Something like J. K. Rowling. Maybe?

Snape’s death hit us all pretty hard. But was it really the end? Could a Potions Master not manage to muster at least some kind of antidote for Nagini’s venom? And what about his body? Dumbledore’s tomb plays a vital role; The bodies of those that perished during the Battle of Hogwarts are lined up in the Great Hall; But Snape receives no such send-off. He doesn’t even show up when Harry uses the Resurrection Stone. Since he was a good guy really, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that he’s still out there. Somewhere.

Neville Longbottom theories are ten-a-penny, but this one’s more plausible than most. Neville triggers all types of magical mishap at Hogwarts, from misremembering things to casting spells that backfire, but maybe this wizard really can blame his tools. The wand is supposed to choose the wizard, but Neville uses his father’s, at first. When that wand breaks, he finally gets his own - and begins to master magic more impressively than ever before - even playing a significant role in Voldemort’s defeat. Had the prophecy shifted slightly, and had he wielded a wand that works, Neville could well have been the hero all along!