The Voldemort Theory That Has Fans Looking Twice At Harry Potter

Whether you've been a fan of the "Wizarding World" since "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" first hit bookshelves in 1997 or you're only familiar with the super-successful eight-part movie franchise starring Daniel Radcliffe as "the boy who lived," you're no doubt aware of just how detailed author J.K. Rowling made her fictional world. However, with such a rich world and a seemingly endless stream of connections between characters and events, die-hards are always on the lookout for an overlooked tidbit.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that the desire for more surprising revelations has also led to the creation of several "Harry Potter" fan theories over the years. In fact, there's even a certain theory that has people considering that there's more to the connection between Harry and the dark wizard Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) than previously thought. Curious to know more about the Voldemort theory that has fans looking at Harry Potter in a different way?

As MuggleNet notes, there's a fan theory about Harry Potter and the dark wizard, Voldemort, that focuses on the "Lost Prophecy" made by Sybill Trelawney way back before Harry was born. This happened when she met with Albus Dumbledore to interview for the position of Divination teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Spoiler: she got the job.)

In short, Trelawney's prophecy tells of the birth of a boy who would be able to finally defeat Voldemort, who had become nearly too powerful to stand against at the time. Of particular interest is a line referring to both Harry and Voldemort: "either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." It's generally been thought that the prophecy meant that one would have to kill the other, but now that we know how the story ends, some fans now think the line has an even more significant meaning for Harry than before.

This fairly new fan theory states that if Harry and Voldemort can only be killed by the hand of the other, then now that Voldemort is dead, Harry might be immortal, since the Dark Lord isn't around anymore to threaten him.

One "Harry Potter" fan, u/whompthatwillow, explained things on Reddit by discussing an alternative ending for the book series. They wrote of Trelawney's prophecy, "What if it meant that the only way either of them could die, would be at the hand of the other? ... Meaning the one who didn't die had no other means of achieving death." They went on to explain that by killing Voldemort, Harry sacrifices his own death and gives up his only opportunity to reunite with his deceased loved ones, making him an even bigger hero.

We have to admit, this fan theory is a novel take on something that seemed pretty obvious before, but it's clear we need to take a second look at what went down between Harry Potter and Voldemort. Prophecies are tricky things!