7 Harry Potter Fan Theories J.K. Rowling Debunked (And 3 She Approved)

Approved

3. Krum Mispronouncing Hermione's Name Was Written To Teach Us All The Correct Way

Viktor Krum
Warner Bros.

The Theory: In The Goblet Of Fire, Hermione ends up getting involved with Bulgarian beefcake Viktor Krum, and the pair attend Hogwarts' lavish Yule Ball together.

Throughout their courtship, Krum - on account of English not being his native language - struggles to pronounce her name properly (he calls her "Her-My-Own" rather than "Her-My-Oh-Knee"). So, Hermione decides to teach him the correct way.

There are plenty of book-readers who have difficulty with the pronunciation too, and as a result, some fans posited that Rowling had written this part of the novel in order to teach us all how to say "Hermione" properly.

The Approval: And... they were right! Rowling recently confimed that she had indeed included the "Hermione schools Krum" passage as a way to school her readers.

Now if only she'd included a paragraph that told us all the "t" in Voldemort is silent...

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.