Film Theory: Dumbledore Was Secretly Weaponising Harry Potter

As heroic mentors go, Albus Dumbledore was a bit of a strange case. To put it bluntly, he was a danger whose reckless behaviour with the school children in his care is so notorious that he's basically become a meme. Over the course of the seven Potter novels, he managed to put Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny and pretty much all of the DA in peril occasionally verging on mortal and got away with being a beloved, benevolent old genius. In any other world, he'd have been sacked and heavily investigated for his behaviour.

But what if the headmaster's recklessness wasn't just the actions of a slightly colourful mind? What if it was all precisely measured for maximum, devastating effect? And what if his agenda was to weaponise one of his students in such a way that he would be far more valuable in the Great Wizarding War to come than he would as a mere wizard?

What if Dumbledore intended to turn Harry Potter into an Obscurial as a means to destroy Voldemort? What if he meant for Harry to be a bomb that would detonate at the final moment when he faced his (and the world’s) greatest enemy. That might sound like a lot of what ifs, but there is evidence to suggest that that's exactly what he was trying to do.

But why would he be driven to such a desperate, despicable act? Well, he had no other choice…

6. The Prophecy

There’s a key line in the prophecy that apparently marked Harry Potter as the Chosen One that is important in line with this theory.

“And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives …”

At the hand of the other. Imagine hearing that and knowing that the fate of your entire world’s existence depends on a child. Imagine the panic inspired by the prospect of an infant who might not even have magical powers (as established very firmly, genetics didn’t always ensure such things in the wizarding world). Imagine having lived through the terrifying reigns of two Dark Wizards who almost took over and reformed the world.

Imagine how helpless the world’s most powerful wizard would feel to learn that it was happening again and that fate had conspired to render his own direct influence redundant. Dumbledore had no choice but to imprint on Harry Potter in the most devastating way possible.

So why not just equip Harry as the best wizard he possibly could? Well, unfortunately, there was no way to guarantee that the outcome would go the way Dumbledore needed it to. Skill and prowess are established as fairly random throughout the Harry Potter series: Hermione is the daughter of dentists and is a prodigious talent; Neville is the son of two Order members and is only really skilled in Herbology. The Weasleys are all wildly different in their abilities. Draco Malfoy is nothing like as skilled as his parents… There was no way to guarantee Harry even COULD be great, let alone that he would be.

And the truth is, despite being good at defensive spells like Expelliarmus and the Patronus charm, Harry Potter was not the skilled wizard you’d expect from a Chosen One. By design, he was flawed, incomplete, vulnerable and he needed help: from Hermione, Ron, Cedric, Sirius, Lupin, Dobby, Neville, Luna, even Narcissa Malfoy and CRUCIALLY, Dumbledore. And that list is in no way exhaustive.

Dumbledore made the right decision. He played the odds and realised that allowing Harry to be abused and neglected would be better for him.