The Centaur Theory That Would Change Everything In Harry Potter
The "Harry Potter" franchise boasts more than its fair share of unique magical creatures. From three-headed dogs to hippogriffs, Harry and his allies cross paths with a wide and diverse array of beasts throughout the seven original novels and the eight "Harry Potter" films. Meanwhile, the current, ongoing "Fantastic Beasts" franchise has only continued to build out the fantasy world, introducing viewers for the first time to magical creatures like nifflers, bowtruckles, and demiguises.
While some of the franchise's beasts have had non-consequential roles in its story, there are also a number of magical creatures that have played major parts in both the "Harry Potter" and "Fantastic Beasts" series. Buckbeak, a hippogriff, is one of the most important characters in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and Fluffy, a three-headed dog, plays an integral role in the overall narrative of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" as well.
There's one group of mythical beasts in the "Harry Potter" franchise, however, that more or less stayed on the sidelines for much of the series, more so in the films than in the books. The creatures in question were the centaurs, and one popular "Harry Potter" theory speculates that the centaurs may have had a very specific reason for staying inactive throughout most of Harry's prolonged battle with Voldemort.
The centaurs in Harry Potter may have known all along how the series would end
One "Harry Potter" theorist (via Quora) believes the centaurs were uninvolved in the conflict between Harry and Voldemort because they already knew how it would play out. They point to a scene in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," in which Harry crosses paths with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, as evidence of this theory. The scene in question sees Harry stumbling upon Voldemort while the dark wizard is feasting upon the corpse of a unicorn, but just as Voldemort begins to attack Harry he is run off by a centaur named Firenze.
In the scene, Firenze is chastised by his fellow centaurs for intervening in the confrontation. He's questioned about what he has discussed with Harry and reminded not to get in the way of what they've read about in the stars. In hindsight, the centaurs' comments about fate and the stars seems to imply that they not only know what will happen in the immediate future but also in the far future. That is to say that the centaurs may have been worried about Firenze saving Harry because they already knew that Harry and Voldemort would need to battle in the forest in order to destroy the final horcrux, which they later did in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."