Harry Potter: Fred & George Weasley Were Instrumental In Dumbledore's Death
There are two notable troublemakers within the "Harry Potter" franchise, and their names are Fred and George Weasley. Played on-screen by James and Oliver Phelps, the older brothers to Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) best friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are constantly causing delightful and often benign chaos at Hogwarts... except that one of their pranks might have led to the death of Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).
In the original book series, Fred tells Hermione Granger (played in the films by Emma Watson) that he and his brother managed to elude a Slytherin bully, Montague, thanks to a helpful magical artifact. "He never managed to get all the words out, due to the fact that we forced him head-first into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor," Fred reveals. Hermione is horrified, saying the twins will get in trouble, and Fred, in his usual fashion, claps back, "Not until Montague reappears, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him."
On a Reddit thread, u/Redz2018 argues, "If they never do this Montague never figures out that there's a type of gateway that forms between the 2 cabinets. That was literally the only way deatheaters would've been able to get into the castle that night. but it's also the main reason Dumbledores play with Snape worked so brilliantly he knew Draco would succeed and there would be deatheaters at Hogwarts thus allowing Snape to kill him as he knew Draco wouldn't which made it so easy for Snape to completely infiltrate Voldemort."
Not everybody thinks Fred and George Weasley caused Albus Dumbledore's death
Let's get this out of the way: this theory is not saying that Fred and George Weasley meant to contribute to the death of Albus Dumbledore in any way, shape, or form. Even so, the fact that Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) was able to figure out the connection between the Vanishing Cabinets — one of which was in Hogwarts and the other of which was in the dark magic store Borgin and Burkes — is exactly why Death Eaters were able to invade Hogwarts while Harry and Dumbledore were away hunting for Horcruxes.
As Redditor u/DocumentNo7296 puts it later on the thread, "While the vanishing cabinet was def a central plot point owing to the twins, I don't think dumbledore's plan hinged on DEs actually entering Hogwarts. He did not want that to happen and was very sad the students were put at risk. His plan was limited to sacrificing himself to gjve [Severus Snape, played by the late Alan Rickman] an entry into inner circle since voldy knew that snape is def serving both, he needed loyalty proof. The year was up and dumbledore's time was also up so he decided to activate the plan then, to save people also. But many other situations could have led to this."
u/frosty_hotboy agreed: "Yeah he only expected Draco to try something, and wanted Snape to take over, to spare him. He seemed a bit surprised to see the DE there, if I remember correctly."
Some Redditors think Dumbledore just wanted to protect Draco
Not only did some Redditors disagree with this theory at face value, but some believe that Dumbledore didn't anticipate the move with the Vanishing Cabinets... and not only that, but they think he was probably uncharacteristically nervous when Death Eaters did arrive at Hogwarts. As u/Not_a_cat_I_promise put it, "If anything it threw a bit of a wrench into the plans. Dumbledore didn't want Draco to get anywhere near him, and the vanishing cabinet allowed for Draco to formulate a plan to assassinate Dumbledore. Draco managed to disarm Dumbledore which meant that the part of allowing the power of the Elder Wand to die with Dumbledore failed."
"Dumbledore also would not want Death Eaters entering Hogwarts like that either," they continue. "Heck he says he doesn't want the likes of Greyback or Bellatrix getting involved. Snape killing Dumbledore was [planned] long beforehand and you'd think the two of them would have figured out a plan that would seemingly solidify Snape's Death Eater credentials, without needing Draco's plan to nearly succeed." This, ultimately, feels more accurate; the Weasley twins' penchant for mischief might have inadvertently made it more difficult for Dumbledore and Snape to pull off their plan in secret, all while keeping Draco safe from the Dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his evil plans.
Does the original theory hold water, and what happens to Dumbledore?
Okay, so what did go down between Draco, Snape, Dumbledore, and two random magical cabinets? As was previously mentioned, Draco unlocked the pathway between the two Vanishing Cabinets once Montague was freed from them, using them as a passageway to help Voldemort's bands of Death Eaters get into the school — including Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) and Fenrir Greyback (the late Dave Legeno), two of the Dark Lord's most violent and dangerous henchmen. Dumbledore was crafty and strategic, but he never would have wanted such horrifying wizards near his students; all he wanted to do was save Draco from committing murder with the help of Severus Snape.
See, Snape and Dumbledore struck up a deal long before this fateful evening. Dumbledore, thanks to a Horcrux hunt gone wrong, was already struck with a terminal illness, and he and Snape knew Draco had been ordered to kill Dumbledore at Voldemort's personal request. As a result, Snape agrees to stage Dumbledore's murder, as his soul will remain intact knowing that he helped an old, dying man pass on peacefully. This isn't apparent to Harry or anybody else at the moment of Dumbledore's death; he later discovers it thanks to Snape's final memories as he, too, lays dying. Basically, Fred and George Weasley accidentally gave Draco a clever passageway... but they definitely didn't kill Dumbledore.