10 Mind-Blowing Potterhead Theories

I've been crazy obsessed with Tumblr surfing to scope out new Harry Potter theories (expect the next few posts to be HP-related) to fantasize over. Yes, over the last few days, I've had a change of heart; I actually freaking love Draco Malfoy now and YASSSS DRAMIONE. 
But before I launch into fangirl mode, let's get into 10 of my favorite Potterhead-created theories. (SPOILERS INCLUDED!)

1. Draco Malfoy warned Hermione about the Basilisk.

     

J.K. Rowling's been known to give out behind-the-scenes secrets about some of the characters to the film producers/cast; for example, Alan Rickman, who played Snape, knew his fate and that he loved Lily beforehand, so he could channel that into his acting.
In the beginning of the Chamber of Secrets movie, in Flourish and Blotts (it wasn't depicted in the books, but then again, there's the paragraph above if you need a reminder), Malfoy was shown standing in the corner, making sure no one was looking, and then proceeding to tear a page out of a book.
That's pretty strange. Why would he rip a page out of a book? His family wasn't poor, so he could afford to buy it. They didn't discourage learning or reading either, so there's no reason Draco wouldn't have the liberty to buy the book if he wanted to. 
Later, when Hermione is Petrified, she's shown holding a torn page in her hand. Again, questions. Hermione loves and cares for books, so why would she have ripped a page out of a book she could have just checked out? 
The theory is that Draco, in an attempt to warn Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the Basilisk, slipped the page into her bag, and that she was reading it right before she was Petrified. He was worried and concerned, but his inflated ego prevented him from showing it outright. There must be some significance to Draco being shown tearing the page out of the book in the movie.
BUT. I was debating about the accuracy of this theory today (I thought it was true) with my friend, and while it makes sense for the most part, there's (admittedly) a little hitch. This was before the school year started, before the existence of the Chamber of Secrets was confirmed. Nobody knew what creature was living inside or that the Chamber was going to be opened that year. So how did Draco? 

2. Snape had to teach the Slytherins to waltz.

When Professor McGonagall announced the Yule Ball to the Gryffindors, she called on Ron to help her demonstrate a proper waltz. She's the Gryffindor Head of House, so this ultra-likely theory proposes that Snape had to teach the Slytherins to waltz. Urgh, this amazing theory has made my day ;) No, seriously. Can you imagine Snape dancing with one of the Slytherins? NO NO NO I CAN'T EVEN. WHAT IF IT WAS DRACO. That would be so awkward.

3. Neville wasn't terrible at magic; he was just equipped with the wrong wand. 

As we're constantly reminded during the series, the wand chooses the wizard. Neville mentioned that he used his father's wand; his father was a powerful, talented Auror, as was his mother.
So what if Frank Longbottom's wand was just wrong for Neville, who struggled with simple spells and couldn't even Disarm someone until his fifth year?
During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Dolohov breaks Neville's wand. Because of that, Neville had to get a new wand; from that point on, he was actually a fairly good wizard. He held his own during the Battle of Hogwarts, and was the one who eventually slayed Nagini. Maybe he had it in him all along, but his wand was just hindering his potential. 

4. Dumbledore's death was predicted. 

Occasionally, Trelawney's not a total nutcase with her superstitions. As she'd like to make clear, at a table of 13, the first to rise is the first to die.
In the third book, at the Christmas feast, there do happen to be 13 people at the table. Well, 12, but then again, Ron had Scabbers in his pocket (who was Peter Pettigrew), so when you count him, it was 13. Dumbledore gets up out of his seat before anyone else to greet Trelawney, and yes, he was the first to die of the people at the table.
This superstition also held true for the deaths of Sirius and Lupin.

5. Sirius and Harry are blood-related.

Sirius says in passing to Harry that all the pure-blood families are inter-related, because there are few options when it comes to pure-blood wizards or witches to marry. And if you dig deep into wizarding genealogy, Charlus Potter, James Potter's grandfather (who is also an ancestor of Crabbe and Millicent Bulstrode) married Dorea Black (notice the last name). That makes her Harry Potter's great-grandmother.
So that means Harry, who is half-blood, has a paternal blood connection to the pure-blood Sirius. Harry and Ginny may have been third cousins before getting married, too, and other relatives of Harry's include Tonks, the Malfoys, the Longbottoms, the other Weasleys, and the Lestranges. Oh, and Voldemort and Harry were both descended from the Peverells and had that pure-blood connection. WHAT IS THIS.

6. Crookshanks was initially Harry's cat. 

As revealed in the letter from Lily to Sirius Harry finds in the last book, the Potter family had a cat. So what happened to the cat after Lily and James died?
Hermione says to Ron and Harry that the clerk at Magical Menagerie, from where she purhcased Crookshanks, had said that the cat had been there for a long time and that no one had wanted her. That fits in to the theory, which states that maybe Crookshanks was the Potters' cat.
Sirius was obviously very close to the Potters, so he'd probably have been friendly with the cat. He mentions in the third book that he was somewhat able to communicate with Crookshanks, and if she wasn't the Potters' cat, how would that have been? It's strange for even an Animagus to feel as though they could interact with animals. And Crookshanks' familiarity with Scabbers (or Peter Pettigrew) also indicated that she could have had a previous connection with Harry. 

7. The Dursleys' presents to Harry represent the Deathly Hallows. 

The three gifts the Dursleys give to Harry: in his first year, a fifty-pence piece (which represents the Resurrection Stone). In his second, a toothpick (which represents the Elder Wand). In his third year, a single tissue (which represents the Invisibility Cloak).
J.K. Rowling, you genius!




8. Malfoy is a werewolf.

In the Half-Blood Prince, Harry, while spying on Draco, sees him in Borgin and Burkes blackmailing Borgin into doing his bidding. Malfoy does so by showing Borgin something on his arm, which Harry originally believed to be the Dark Mark.
This suspicion is never confirmed in the series, however, and Draco was probably never an offical Death Eater. This was before school started, so there's no reason Voldemort would have branded his arm at that point before Draco even proved himself by assassinating Dumbledore. As we know, Voldemort wasn't exactly trusting, so why would he have given Draco the Death Eater treatment before he was deemed worthy?
The theory is that what Draco showed Borgin on his arm wasn't the Dark Mark. It was a werewolf bite.
Draco was stressed all throughout the sixth book - often trotting off to be in private and cry about his problems. It's supposedly because of Voldemort's task for him, but could it be because he was a werewolf? 
Also, when Harry tried tracking Draco down on the Marauders' Map, there were certain periods of time where he wasn't visible. Maybe he'd run off to the Shrieking Shack or elsewhere when he was turning into a werewolf, but if not, he'd probably just been taking his Wolfsbane potion.
Besides, Fenrir Greyback, the character who does the biting, was introduced as a werewolf who, as a punishment for people who in his eyes had done wrong, bit their children. Since Lucius had mishandled the diary Horcrux, resulting in its destruction (and failed to retrieve the prophecy), maybe that was Greyback's punishment: biting Draco. 
And when Tonks and Lupin (who is part-werewolf) have a baby, Voldemort specifically says to Draco, "Maybe you can babysit the cubs" with a chuckle. 
J.K. Rowling even said that in the third movie, something happened that foreshadowed something she knew was coming. In that same movie, Draco impersonated a werewolf by doing a wolf howl.
This sounds far-fetched, but there's pretty strong evidence. Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ... werewolf?

9. The Dursleys hated Harry because of the Horcrux inside of him. 

Remember how Ron abandoned Harry in the seventh book after a few minutes' exposure to the locket Horcrux? That's not a very Ron thing to do, since he's always been loyal, but the dark forces within the Horcrux tampered with his thoughts and amplified his emotions 100%. It's not just wearing the Horcrux that changed him - it was being near it. 
The Dursleys brought up Harry for 10 years, and Harry was a Horcrux.
So, basically, the theory dictates that maybe the Dursleys were really amazing people, like Ron. They just turned on Harry under 10 years' influence of the Horcrux, and that caused them to be bitter and resenting and terrible towards him. 
It makes sense, but remember - even before the Dursleys were in custody of Harry, they hated wizardkind. Petunia hated Lily and Snape out of jealousy for them being magical, and she and Vernon generally didn't think highly of witches and wizards. The presented, most prominent reason the Dursleys hated Harry was because he was a wizard. And besides, Ron, Hermione, and Harry's other friends were fine around him, and his being a Horcrux never repelled them from him. 
What gives?

10. J.K. Rowling is really Rita Skeeter.

This one's my favorite. 
The theory goes:
After the wizarding world found out that most of Rita's work was fabricated and exaggerated, she was banished and had to live as a Muggle. Since she wasn't a witch anymore, she wouldn't have to mind the Statute of Secrecy - so she wrote the true course of events as the Harry Potter series, hoping she would expose magic to Muggles. Most Muggles, except for us lucky individuals, thought it was just fiction, but that was okay for her, since she lived a life as J.K. Rowling - rich and famous. Besides, no one could have enough imagination to write something as brilliant as the series, so there must be some truth to it. They're both blondes, anyway.



Unfortunately, in some ways, this isn't possible. How could Rita Skeeter have seen Harry's dreams and been able to describe them, and if she was banished, how would she know what happened during the epilogue? I'm sure Rita wasn't a Legilimens who invaded Harry's mind during his sleep, and there are multiple other scenes she simply couldn't have witnessed. I'm going to have to debunk it, so sorry, guys. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and much as I did writing it! I'll probably be coming back with more theories in the future, so look out for that as well as other Harry Potter-related posts xx