10 Bonkers Harry Potter Theories That Surely Can't Be True

8. Snape Told Harry He Regretted Lily's Death

It's one of the saddest twists in the film series when we learn exactly why Severus Snape had such a twisted relationship with Harry. His love for Lily though, some believe, manifests in the very first few words he says to her son. Should we have noticed that? Perhaps not. "Mr Potter," he snarls, "Our new celebrity... tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" And asphodel is a type of lily meaning "My regrets follow you to the grave", just in case you weren't up on your flowers, and wormwood symbolises "absence" and "bitter sorrow". Combining the two was a long-winded way of saying he bitterly regretted Lily's death Why it's probably not true Well, you can look up those meanings for yourself, there's no denying the connotations with Snape's first words. However many theorists see this as Snape trying to subliminally tell Harry he was sorry about Lily dying, but no one actually considers why; it's almost assumed that this was some kind of test for him to see if he was as perceptive as his mother, but it's probably meant to remain hidden. JK Rowling is a Classics graduate; most characters' names in her work stem from Latin words, so it's no wonder that occasionally, she'll plant certain clues like this one.