A Harry Potter Theory Might Fix A Major Dumbledore Problem In The Goblet Of Fire

There are a lot of wild "Harry Potter" fan theories floating around online, but this one about Albus Dumbledore — played by Michael Gambon from the third film on — is particularly dark and fascinating.

As Redditor u/jandr1996 wondered, is it possible that, during the events of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Dumbledore actually wants to prove that Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and that's why he lets the too-young Hogwarts student serve as the second champion for his school. (As we find out at the end of the seventh and final book and eighth film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes, accidentally placed a piece of his soul in Harry while trying to kill him as a baby, creating an accidental Horcrux that must be destroyed before Voldemort can be defeated.)

"Think about it: Dumbledore is one of the wisest wizards of his time," the Redditor wrote. "He knew about Voldemort's Horcruxes and was actively seeking to destroy them. In the film, Dumbledore even mentions to Harry that Voldemort might've inadvertently transferred some of his powers to him the night he tried to kill him as a baby."

The Redditor continued to say that maybe Dumbledore chose to bend the rules — that competing students must be over 17 years old — to test his theory: "Could it be that Dumbledore allowed Harry to compete in the Triwizard Tournament because he wanted to test him, to see if he displayed any signs of being a Horcrux? Perhaps Dumbledore saw it as an opportunity to observe Harry under extreme circumstances, to see if Voldemort's influence manifested in any way."

The theory that Albus Dumbledore chose to put Harry Potter into harm's way — multiple times and throughout three very dangerous "tasks" — in the Triwizard Tournament is definitely interesting, but some Redditors didn't quite agree. In the books and in the film, it's explained that once a name is drawn from the Goblet of Fire, the magical object that chooses Triwizard champions, a "magical binding contract" is placed upon the person; it's strongly suggested that the penalty for breaking said contract could be death or something equally dire. As Redditor u/zoobatron__ responded, "No Dumbledore definitely did not want Harry to compete but respected the rule of law in the situation that he had to compete (yeah I know the "he has to compete" thing is kind of silly). He knew someone wanting to cause Harry harm had put Harry's name in and was trying to work out who it was."

Other Redditors, like u/sT4ry_n1GhtS, did agree with the original poster, but had one reservation: how could Dumbledore have foreseen the fact that his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) was actually Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr. (David Tennant) all along, who was working behind the scenes for Voldemort? "I think you could be onto something, as in the books, it seems like [Dumbledore] was expecting this, but in the movies, he was very angry," they wrote. "Or at least he appeared to be so. We already know he is a very good actor, so it could be likely. I just don't see how he could have manipulated Barty [Crouch Jr.]."

To be fair to the original Redditor, Albus Dumbledore's whole deal was keeping really, really important information completely secret from Harry, even when said information could prove helpful. In the following book and film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," it's mentioned and shown frequently that Dumbledore seems to be avoiding Harry during his fifth year at Hogwarts — which is unfortunate timing, considering that Voldemort returns at the end of "Goblet of Fire," kills Harry's fellow student Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), and tries to kill Harry too. Dumbledore later reveals that he knows Voldemort can enter Harry's mind due to their Horcrux-related connection — though he doesn't actually address the Horcrux part until the next installment, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" — and is afraid that the Dark Lord will use Harry to gain access to Dumbledore himself. This is all well and good, but it also seems like information Harry could have used.

That's just one example; Dumbledore hiding vital information from Harry is sort of a constant throughout the narrative of "Harry Potter," leading some to wonder if he's actually a good mentor or a borderline villain. In any case, the theory that he wanted Harry to compete as a Triwizard champion to suss out the Boy Who Lived's status as a Horcrux is interesting, but it probably doesn't hold up to much scrutiny.