Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is not short of fan theories. This one, however, is particularly prevalent due to the way it casts Dumbledore in a much different light to what we have seen before and changes the way you will read the books and watch the movies in future (let’s face it, we will all re-watch and re-read Harry Potter again at some point this year). The theory is that Dumbledore’s pet phoenix Fawkes is Dumbledore’s horcrux. At face value the idea of Dumbledore creating a horcrux seems ludicrous but this theory makes sense for a multitude of reasons.
Firstly, within Harry Potter you cannot create a horcrux without having killed someone, which at first glance Dumbledore has not done. In actual fact Dumbledore’s sister, may have been killed by him during a fight between Dumbledore, his brother Aberforth and Grindelwald. Even if Dumbledore did not cast the spell that killed her, Dumbledore blamed himself for her death and burdened the guilt and that itself may have been enough for him to conjure up a horcrux by splitting his soul. After the death of his sister we are left with an unstable, yet powerful Dumbledore – the most likely time for him to turn to dark magic and, perhaps, an attempt to separate his grief from his body by transferring them into a horcrux. Secondly, assuming, at this point, Dumbledore did create a horcrux we now have reason for his vast understanding of them and his hatred of them which was demonstrated by this quote from Professor Slughorn, “Horcruxes are a banned subject at Hogwarts you know. Dumbledore is particularly fierce about it”.
This theory is in a way two theories -Dumbledore created a horcrux as explained above and that that horcrux is Fawkes. Many people have claimed Fawkes was purely plot convenience for The Chamber of Secrets and The Order of the Phoenix (when members of the Ministry of Magic had Dumbledore cornered and he was unable to apparate because they were inside Hogwarts) but maybe Fawkes was not just shoehorned in and does serve a greater purpose to the story. It is also revealed that the phoenix feathers that reside in Harry and Voldemort’s wand came from Fawkes, which is a cool fact but it adds nothing to the story and still gives Fawkes no relevance aside from being a feathery convenience.
When we reassess, the tail feathers in Harry and Voldemort’s wands both come from Fawkes, under the assumption that Fawkes is a horcrux and that the tail feathers were given after Fawkes became a horcrux then it stands to reason that a tiny piece of Dumbledore’s soul is inside both of their wands. This connects Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore once more and whilst it is not essential to the story it does fit in with J.K Rowling’s love of trinities – the three Deathly Hallows, the three main characters; Harry, Hermione, and Ron, three main wand cores; phoenix tail feather, unicorn hair and dragon heartstring as well as three unforgivable curses.
It would also make sense that for Dumbledore to stay dead Harrys wand containing a piece of his soul was broken and Fawkes was struck with a killing curse – killing all the pieces of Dumbledore’s soul inside both Fawkes and the wand. It is uncertain what happened to Voldemort’s wand as he discarded it when he took the elder wand but it is possible that the piece of Dumbledore’s soul that was in the wand left when his killing curse rebounded when he attempted to kill Harry Potter at Godric’s hollow. Not only did the killing curse expel the piece of Dumbledore’s soul but the piece of soul may have even attached itself to harry when harry became a horcrux in an attempt to keep itself alive. Whilst this seems outlandish it is a plausible explanation for why Dumbledore was also present alongside the piece of Voldemort’s soul inside Harry when Harry was struck with a killing curse by Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts. The idea that a piece of Dumbledore’s soul is inside harry also offers another explanation for why his wand chose him, as it was two pieces of Dumbledore’s soul coming together.
If we are to revisit the chamber of secrets scene in which Fawkes comes to Harry’s aid, under the assumption that Fawkes is Dumbledore’s horcrux then things start to make more sense. When being taken from the grounds of Hogwarts in book two Dumbledore says, “I will never truly be gone unless none here are loyal to me. Help shall always be given at Hogwarts to those that ask for it.” – words that come true when Harry receives help from Fawkes in the Chamber Of Secrets after showing loyalty to Dumbledore. Having shown loyalty to Dumbledore Harry had, at least in part, shown loyalty to Fawkes or the piece of Dumbledore residing inside him which explains why Fawkes came to assist Harry. In addition, having a creature as a horcrux makes Dumbledore a better foil to Voldemort who also had a creature for a horcrux – his snake, Nagini.
As well as this, Dumbledore’s realisation that Nagini is a horcrux further demonstrates Dumbledore’s knowledge and understanding of horcruxes, a knowledge likely arising from creating his own horcrux. Dumbledore works out Nagini is a horcrux based on the facts that Voldemort has great control over her, always keeps her close and is particularly fond of her. In a similar way, Dumbledore has great control over Fawkes, as demonstrated by summoning him in the aforementioned confrontation with members of the Ministry in his office. Dumbledore also keeps Fawkes close having him in his office with him, they may not seem like obvious signs of a horcrux but Dumbledore’s ability to deduce that Nagini is a Horcrux based on that information alone suggests a familiarity with such signs.
Harry is shocked at the realisation that animals can also be made horcruxes to which Dumbledore replies, “Well it is inadvisable to do so because to confide part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is very risky business.” – which sounds a lot like he is talking from experience.
These theories have covered a wide range of the biggest and most beloved brands in the world and some are far-fetched and whilst fun have almost no truth to them whilst others are almost certain and seem to come straight from the mind of the original creators of the stories they regard. Either way they are fun which is why fan theories are some of the most loved pieces of non-canon material available to ponder and run over in your mind anytime, anywhere.
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