10 Heartbreaking Harry Potter Theories That Change How You See The Movies

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter is full of clever Easter eggs and references that make up a strong argumentative basis for a plethora of theories that are bordering on canonical. The story of the Boy Who Liked is devastating as it is, even Harry’s biography is the stuff of heart-wrenching legends, but certain tiny details add a special flavor of desperation to it. It is even more mind-blowing that most of these theories are evidence-based, and the proof is right there in Rowling’s novels, extended universe, and movies. The Harry Potter theories can provide a refreshing perspective on the films without overshadowing the main events.

Rowling is famous for thinking through every detail in her Harry Potter saga so that every name and number have a deeper meaning beyond what is noticeable on the surface. For instance, it is common knowledge that the number seven appears throughout Harry Potter in a variety of ways: students study for seven years at Hogwarts, each Quidditch team is made of seven players, Voldemort has made seven Horcruxes, and so on. Apart from the more obvious details, there are some theories that are accepted as the unofficial Harry Potter canon because of how much sense they make.

10 Trelawney Predicted Dumbledore’s Death

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Sybill Trelawney, a renowned fraud, did make a few accidental predictions that were spot-on, and one of them took place during the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban novel. At the Hogwarts annual Christmas dinner, Trelawney was the last one to join the table where seemingly 12 people were present. She made a comment that if 13 people sat together, the first one to stand up would be the first to die, but the Seer didn’t account for Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form, who had already been there before she sat down. Trelawney predicted Dumbledore’s death since he arose from his seat first to welcome her to the feast.

9 Death Eaters Murdered Petunia & Lily’s Parents

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone

James’ parents succumbed to dragon pox sometime before James and Lily’s death in 1981, and according to Rowling, Lily and Petunia’s parents died “a normal Muggle death” before that date as well, but something doesn’t add up. In 1981, Lily and Petunia’s parents would have been in their 40s or 50s, so it doesn’t make sense for both of them to be deceased by the time of the events in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It is more likely that Harry Potter’s maternal grandparents were killed by Death Eaters in the search for Lily and James’ location. That would explain Petunia’s passionate hatred toward Harry and Lily, even so many years later.

8 Neville’s Wand Was The Reason He Was Bad At Magic

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Neville Longbottom famously messed up his spells and potions on a regular basis, but that might have been due to the fact that he used the wrong wand the entire time. For the first five installments, Neville had his father’s wand, which is why Neville was a bad wizard — unlike other children, he didn’t come to Ollivander’s to have his wand choose him. That might have also been why the only magical field he excelled in was the one that didn’t require any wand waving, Herbology. In addition, when Neville’s wand was broken in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he notably got a lot better at magic.

7 Remus Turned Into A Werewolf During The Day Too

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Remus Lupin was able to keep his lycanthropy a secret for so long presumably because he only turned during the nighttime when no one saw him. However, he shouldn’t have been able to hide his condition quite so well since the lore stated that werewolves turned during the full moon, which could occur even in the daytime. Plus, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Remus went to Hogwarts on September 1, 1993, which happened to fall on the day of the full moon. The moon rose at 8:14 pm, long before the Hogwarts Express arrived at its destination, so Remus should’ve turned right on the train.

6 Sirius Died Believing That Harry Didn’t Want To Talk To Him

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius gifted Harry a two-way mirror in the hope of talking to his godson during the school year. Harry’s fifth year was quite hectic, so naturally, his attention span was too short to remember Sirius’ gift. Not only could the mirror have saved Sirius’ life and stopped the events at the Department of Mysteries, but it could have also allowed Harry to communicate with his godfather more often if he hadn’t forgotten about the mirror’s existence. Sadly, the battle at the Ministry was rather chaotic, and Sirius died before he found out the real reason Harry didn’t contact him all year.

5 Neville Remembered The Night His Parents Were Tortured

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

What happened to Neville’s parents was barely mentioned in the movies, whereas Neville’s dark backstory was explored more thoroughly in the books, and there is reason to believe that he remembered the night Frank and Alice were tortured to insanity. In the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire novel, Harry opened his golden egg, unleashing the horrible sound into the Gryffindor common room, and that prompted Neville to compare this noise to the way people screamed when they were tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. This was the curse Neville’s parents were tortured by, and that night was the reason he even knew what that sounded like.

4 Snape Killed Hedwig To Protect Harry

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

It is common knowledge that Severus Snape tried to help Harry many times, even though his actions didn’t always seem benevolent. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Snape was still undercover during the Battle of the Seven Potters, so he couldn’t reveal whose side he was really on — aiming at a Death Eater, he accidentally got George Weasley instead, causing him to lose an ear. Harry’s pet owl, Hedwig, was another victim of the battle, but there’s a theory that the Avada Kedavra she was hit with wasn’t random. Snape could’ve been the one who killed Hedwig in an effort to make the real Harry a less obvious target.

3 Draco’s Boggart Turned Into His Father

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Draco and Lucius Malfoy never had the most loving relationship. Draco respected his father and often threw around threats that involved Lucius “hearing about this,” but there was also a lot of fear instilled in the young Malfoy. For instance, he was too terrified to refuse the offer to become a Death Eater. Considering Lucius’ abusive tendencies and Draco’s hyperfocus on pleasing his father, it’s not hard to imagine that Draco’s worst fear was either Lucius himself or letting him down. If Draco got a chance to face the Boggart in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it would surely have transformed into Lucius.

2 Dumbledore Did See Socks In The Mirror Of Erised

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone

The Fantastic Beasts movies did reveal what Albus Dumbledore saw in the Mirror of Erised when he was younger, but his heart’s deepest desire could have drastically changed as time went by. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Professor Dumbledore told Harry that he saw “a pair of thick, woolen socks” in the Mirror of Erised, but it didn’t sound believable at the time. In reality, the headmaster might not have lied about his most sacred desire — in fact, he could have seen a pair of socks, gifted to him by his sister Ariana, who spent her days locked away at home and got quite proficient at knitting.

1 Snape’s First Words Were An Apology To Harry

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone

Snape and Harry got off on the wrong foot right from the start, when Harry first set foot in Snape’s Potions class. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Snape asked Harry what would happen if he mixed powdered root of asphodel with an infusion of wormwood, not expecting him to answer correctly. According to the Victorian language of flowers, Snape’s words had a deeper hidden meaning: asphodel, which is a type of lily, translates to “my regrets follow you to the grave,” and wormwood signifies bitterness and sorrow, so what Harry Potter‘s Potions Master meant to say was, “I am deeply sorry for Lily’s death.”