Attention: What is a Master Theory? This may be a question that some of you may have. A Master Theory is a theory that encompasses multiple or all sub-theories into one large theory where all your thoughts for the mysteries that have been presented to us, are placed. A Master Theory should contain at least 2 sub-theories (example: is harry a Horcrux, Aberforth is RAB, Will Dumbledore return) to be considered a "master theory" Good Luck, and we all look forward to your ideas!



Ok, I have a huge, inter-woven theory that would not fit into any of the sub-theory topics. I guess with so many opinions and theories floating around, it would be nice to see some en masse to help us see them in a new perspective. I hope this works out!

Ok, where to begin! I will start around the time the Prophecy was made.

This is a theory, but I will be writing them as fact. So please bear in mind I know half of this is not solid evidence, but it can be traced back to the books, I assure you.

Snape had feelings for Lily. He hated James, and pushed Lily away by calling her a mudblood. Snape begins to resent James even more when he dates Lily, causing him to up his interest in the Marauders affairs. Snape begins to notice a cycle, every month, around the same time, they sneak out and go into the whomping willow as animagi... this I think Snape knew. He grows ever more curious as to how to get into the Willow, for by now he realizes that Lupin is a werewolf, and he wants to see it for himself. James and Sirius, perhaps Peter, feed on this idea and lure Snape to the passage to the Shrieking Shack and thus putting Severus in extreme danger. James backs out of the idea at the last moment, knowing all too well the consequences of the wrong doing he was about to participate in. He pulls Severus out at the last minute, saving his life, forming a bond between them for life.. Severus is in James debt.

Life goes on, and they drift apart, hatred brewing on Severus' part, and isolating himself from his peers. He joins the Death Eaters. One of Snape's first task's is to follow Dumbledore wherever he goes, and therefore finding himself in the Hogshead one dark and stormy night. Dumbledore is there for a job opening, one that doesnt seem to promising, but Severus listens in anyhow. This is the night that Sybill Trelawney makes her first genuine prediction:


We are told that Severus only heard part of the prophecy, and that is the reason Voldemort recieved only a portion of it, thus leading to his down fall...but! if this is true, then how did Trelawney know it was Snape who overheard the Prophecy. When Trelawney goes into her state of the Inner Eye, or whatever, she hears, sees, and knows nothing... she has no recollection of the time that elapsed. So how did Severus only hear part of it, and yet Trelawney was alert? Well its simple, Snape heard the whole thing, and the barkeeper(Aberforth) did not in fact chase Snape from the Inn, but detained him so he and Albus could question him, and create a plan.

Having natural intuition, Dumbledore realizes that this prophecy is a stroke of good fortune for the Order, and may be the turning point of the war. Immediately he recognizes that this "power he knows not" may be what stops Voldemort. So that is all they have, secrecy, the secret that will end Voldemort once and for all... but who does it pertain to! Nobody knows, but something must be done, things need to be reported back to Lord Voldemort before he grows too suspicious and adds extra spies. So Dumbledore persuades Snape to tell only the first part of it, masking the part of the prophecy that speaks of the Dark Lord's Downfall, and telling him only of "the one with the power". Thus setting the stage for a possible plan.

Times passes and Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom are born "as the seventh month dies". Months pass as Snape tells Dumbledore that Voldemort is favoring Harry as "the one with the power" for reasons that he, Severus, did not know. Well Dumbledore knew it was because of Harry's blood, he knew that Voldemort saw himself in Harry and therefore the greatest threat, so he forms his most formidable plan. He knows the Dark Lord's one weakness is his lack of knowledge of Love and his inability to do so. Placing much stock in this sort or "pure" magic, Dumbledore is naturally well versed in some of its capabilities. This is also the reason why Dumbledore trust's Snape so much, Snape has love for Lily, and a bond with James... he is bound to them by fate in some way or another.

Dumbledore now realizes that Harry is the only person to end Voldemort's reign, and he tells this to Lily and James. Naturally they understand that Harry is being hunted, and they will most likely die in the attempt to save him... so why not get something out of it. Going back to Dumbledore's knowledge of Love, He had some sort of idea, a generalization of what might happen if someone willingly sacrificed themselves for another, he knew it was create a magic, what what would it do? It didnt matter if the details were vague, this was their only chance for once Voldemort set his eyes on someone, they were his. Dumbledore creates the plan for James and Lily to use themselves as bait, and for Lily and James to die for Harry, to protect Harry. They oblige, and agree to go with the plan. Dumbledore sets up the Fidelius charm to stall some time, as well as keep their plan a secret... they must look as if they are trying to stay alive. Peter may have been involved as well. Peter could have betrayed the Potters on orders of Dumbledore and the Potters themselves to spring the trap.. showing true bravery... maybe.

Either way, the time came and a week after the Fidelius Charm was erected, Voldemort was planning on strking. One last visit to Godrics Hollow to set the Potter's affairs in order and Dumbledore recieves James' invisibility cloak, for he James wishes his family heirloom to be passed on to his son... and if all goes according to plan, he will most likely need it in his future. Dumbledores says goodbye and leaves. Voldemort comes and kills the Potters, enacting the Love Protection we know that Harry posesses from his mother, as well as a few other trinkets from Voldemort. Dumbledore, again having planned this, had Hagrid ready to pick up baby Harry. Hagrid retrieves him from the rubble of the house before the "muggles could swarm the place"(paraphrased).. again showing it was all planned.

Harry was taken to the Dursely house then, where Dumbledore sealed the charm on Harry, allowing him to be protected as long as he could call home the place where is mother's blood dwells.

Harry grows up and in his first year it is apparent that Voldemort was not vanquished from the earth, but instead still living some sort of meager life. Dumbledore doesnt see how this has happened until the following year when the answer he needs appears on his desk... a Diary. This causes Dumbledore to search the past of memories and thoughts so he can attempt to make right the plan he started. After a few years he discovers it, Horcruxes, his thoughts when the Diary was displayed to him came true, and Voldemort had created seven.

By this time Harry is in his sixth year and the second war is turning ill. Dumbledore is injured while taking out one of the Horcruxes and Snape has made an unbreakable vow. Now what to do?!?!? Well it seems to lure Voldemort out of hiding, the only one he ever feared needs to be "dead", and that happens to be exactly what Lord Voldemort wants. So Dumbledore gives it to him, but with a twist. As far as we know, Draco's task is to kill "Dumbledore".. but which one? Is it ever specified which Dumbledore needs to die. I do not think so. So here is where Aberforth comes in. Aberforth goes into disguise as Dumbledore in order for his brother to survive and finish his life's work. This way Snape isnt killed for the unbreakable vow and Lord Voldemort is lured into the open, and Snape has a better penetration of Lord Voldemort's ranks... earning his highest trust possible. A great asset to the order. So yet another plan is devised. Harry is to go to the Cave with Aberforth(looking like Dumbledore) to get a hands on lesson on dealing with Horcruxes and their enchantments gaurding them, as well as set the stage for Aberforth/Dumbledore's death. But who is RAB you ask.. well, Aberforth is RAB.. his brother, Albus, has the initials A.P.W.B.D., so is it not possible that his brother, Aberforth's initials were A.R.A.B.D? The note would make sense too!

To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this
but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match
you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.

Of course it all makes sense now!! Lets disect it!

I know I will be dead long before you read this

Well Aberforth knows he is about to die as part of the plan, so that part matches!

but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.

Perhaps he helped Dumbledore arrive to the conclusion that the horcruxes were Voldemort's secret!

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.

The Locket was still on his person when he died, and the Locket Harry found was a fake to get this note out, and leave the real locket for the still living Albus Dumbledore to destroy.

I face death in the hope that when you meet your match
you will be mortal once more.

He is facing death, sacrificing himself, to give Harry a chance to defeat him for good. He knows what he is dying for, and it fits this theory perfectly!

So Aberforth dies. The plan is enacted, and everyone thinks Albus Dumbledore is dead. To give continuity, Dumbledore goes to his own funeral (Aberforth's Funeral) as his brother, through the use of Polyjuice Potion. Dumbledore resigns officially from Headmaster duty, allowing the office to open to his successor, and a portrait to appear, for he is no longer Headmaster...he could have even bewitched the portrait if he had to. Why would Dumbledore need to live you ask? He started all this, and he needs to finish it. He cannot openly help Harry, but can work behind the scenes on other matters as well. When the war is over the wizarding world is gonna need someone to set things back in order, and that is when Dumbledore will make his "mortality" known.

But what happens to get to that point?

Well since I have no clue what book seven is about, I can only speculate the final battle. It will Harry and Voldemort of course, in the Department of Mysteries. I think, somehow Harry will come to find out he is in fact a horcrux. Here is my theory as to how that happened:



Some how he will realize it, whether or not the sorting hat will tell him ( i think it knew all along) or if Voldemort realized it in the OotP when he posessed Harry... either way, he will know. They will be intensely fighting in the Veil Room, naturally, and it will be a dead lock. They just cant seem to beat each other, then Harry seems to be overpowered, and Voldemort is just about to break free from the struggle and come out on top when Pettigrew, who also knows Harry is a Horcrux, pushes both Voldemort and Harry through the Veil, for neither of them, Harry or Voldemort, bothered to pay attention to him. So Harry and Voldemort are in the Veil... The world of the dead... and Harry encounters his whole family, his parent, his grandparents, all those who died to defeat Voldemort... he will not worry about death and his body will flood with Love, the same feeling for Sirius that drove Voldemort away in OotP, Love for his family and joy that he is reconciled from them. This love will eradicate the soul within Harry completely, destroying the Horcrux... and the dead beyond the Veil will push Harry back out, knowing it wasnt his time to go... and Harry will live... and his scar will be no more!

And lots of other characters will die as well!


I will update this from time to time to reflect new evidence! I am looking forward to seeing what you all think about this, as well as your own theories!

~Albus

Nicely done!! Cracking theory.

Tralawney made have seen Snape after she finished and Snape only heard half because Aberforth was twisting his arm. Why would DD trust Snape with his greatest secret? It wasn't apparent that Harry would be the target, he wasn't born, so Snape wouldn't be worried about protecting Lily. Any feelings he has for her don't come into play.

If DD did the fidelius charm, he knew Peter was the secret keeper. Why did he testify against Sirius?

Do you really think PP could lie to LV and send him to a trap and LV couldn't see it in his mind? Maybe they made him the secret keeper because they knew he would betray them but DD still would know Sirius didn't betray them.

The part about the trap is very interesting particularly if they all thought LV would be well and truly killed. They must have thought Lily's sacrifice would kill him and the protection at her sisters was a fortunate side effect. DD could have realized at once, if he was at GH or spoke with a eye witness, that LV wasn't dead and sealed the charm to protect Harry at his Aunts.

Did DD know there would be an explosion? How did Harry survive it?


DD possession of the cloak could be proof that it was all planned but is it really a heirloom?

The part about the Dumbledores switching is very clever, except that Albus is dead and will not pull a Gandalf. Why a note at all? Who is supposed to read it? Identifying yourself by your middle three initials seems rather vague. Who would know them?

Yes, I do. He hid it from Dumbledore for a year, so he must have been a sufficient Occlumens. Perhaps, though unlikely, Voldemort saw him as so weak and needing of protection that Pettigrew would never be capable of such an act of bravery, and therefore never probed deeper. For all we know, the one magic Pettigrew is good at, may be Occlumency.



I believe the explosion was the result of the horcrux... soul was ripped from its body which was utterly destroyed, someone so powerful as Voldemort would cause such an explosion. Harry survived the explosion I believe because he was 1) in the epicenter of the blast, therefore protected in general by the Love Protection or 2) protected completely by the Love Protection or 3) he was extremely lucky.



That is the whole concept of my idea, we dont know if "Albus" is dead, JKR specifically said "Dumbledore is definitely... dead", this is a long shot, but she could have meant eitehr of two Dumbledore and therefore not lying if Aberforth was dead. This also would go with the statement that she said in an interview "I never confirmed that a major character would die" paraphrased- meaning that it would all make sense if we though Albus, a main character died, a Dumbledore, but in fact Aberforth, a minor character as of the sixth book, also a Dumbledore... this is my new hope!!

~Albus

I have to say that it gives me hope too. It's true that if it was Snape who told Voldy about the prophecy, he was already working for DD. Obviously, he had heard it all because Trelawnay says they were interrupted by Snape. Therefore, your idea of such a plan is very well thought. I had also wondered if Snape had feelings for Lily, and I see I was not the only one.

I just don't think Harry is a Horcrux, but it may be true. It would make sense with "mark him as his equal". Nevertheless, when Harry finds himself in presence of Voldy in Book 1, his car aches. As in book 1, Voldy is only a Horcrux, we can assume that Harry's scar aches when in presence of a Horcrux of Voldemort. Therefore, I don't think he is himself a horcrux.

I also think that taking Pettigrew as the secret keeper is part of the plan, but only because they were almost sure he was a death eater.

Your idea of DD taking his brother to be killed in his place seems far fetched, but makes sense. In any case, DD had to take someone with the same family name as him, otherwise Snape would have died.

I also wondered about something. Assuming that it was Albus DD who was killed, why Fawkes didn't intervene. We see in Book 5 that he takes the Avada Kedavra to save DD. I don't think he would have let DD die this way. This supports your theory. In any case, everything was planned regarding DD's "death", otherwise Fawkes would have come to save him.

With JKR, we can expect any far-fetched idea, especially for the last book. However, I am not sure that RAB stands for DD, but it would make sense, because DD would never leave the castle if he knew there was danger. Therefore, it's on purpose. But I think DD might have sacrified himself. I also think JKR had to get rid of him because if there was still one wizard more powerful than Voldy, there would be no suspense.

In book one Voldemort is not a horcrux he is an active piece of soul possessing someones body. I believe Horcruxes are dormant so as to ensure they are not detected. Voldemort was not dormant in book 1 and was not a horcrux, therefore causing Harry's Scar to ache.

~Albus

ok so i think that was the longest first post i have ever read, but anyway you had some really interesting ideas.

basicly you make a lot of assumptions however i think most of them are quite accurate.

i really like your idea about how could trelawney know that snape walked in on her because she doesnt even realise she makes these prophecies. DD could have told her however i think it was unlikely so it means that DD either told her about it or that snape was in on the whole thing

the whole RAB thing is slightly unrealistic, are you sure that aberforths initals are A.R.A.B.D?

if they are then i think your theory could be true however if they arent then obviously it cant be true, however i like your ideas about it and i want it to be true because it is different and unexpected, everyone thinks it will be regulus black

finally i dont agree that harry is a horcrux for many different reasons which you can look at on some other threads so i think that is not true

i like your ideas and i hope Albus DD isnt dead, however JKR did say so and it would make sense for him to be.

it is a very interesting idea about fawkes and how he didnt save DD maybe he wanted to die because of his planned death with snape etc but that is a very interesting point

i hope i made some sense and your ideas are all vvv.interesting

Yes, I didn't use the right term, he was not exactly a Horcrux in book 1, but he was an active piece of soul coming from a Horcrux. Therefore I think Harry can't be a horcrux because he couldn't bear it. Besides, a part Voldy's soul could not take shelter in Harry because he is filled with love, so Voldy himself couldn't bear it.
However, I like your other theories. They do make sense, and we know that with JKR, the furthest-fetched, the better.

yeah, its alittle out there, but I refuse to believe that Regulus Black in RAB... its too obvious... she is leading us, she has to! And no, I am not sure that Aberforth's initials are A.R.A.B.D. I was just trying to make a point, that if Albus' initials are A.P.W.B.D. then I think that Aberforth's could be something like that, A.?.?.?.D.. and we have three ready made initials... R.A.B. Perhaps we were shown the spell aparecium for a reason. Would someone so advanced as Voldemort think to use a simple revealing spell, Im not sure.

The note reads:

To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this
but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match
you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.

But if you were to use "Aparecium!" It may read:



Then it would all make sense.



You see, I look at horcruxes as completely defensive, besides the Diary, which was an exception. The whole purpse of a horcrux is to keep the maker alive. Therefore the horcruxes would not want to be noticed, and would be dormant. We know certain viruses and cells in our world have the ability to seal themselves off to harsh environments to ensure survival... could a horcrux not do the same thing? Is our virus/cell=a horcrux and the harsh environment=love. I think so. It would be foolish to place an active, vulnerable horcrux into objects where its presence can be detected. The dormancy of horcruxes would explain why Harry cant feel it and why it can survive in Harry's love filled body.

very interesting. I'm sorry don't have long post here, but I'd like to say this:

You gave some very good reason as why Albus Dumbledore "can't" die. He hasn't finished his plan... I like the way you put things in that section of your theory. But the beginning seemed a little unrealistic. I doubt that Dumbledore knew Voldemort wouldn't be able to kill Harry that night in Godric's Hollow. How could he know??? The love protection from Harry's parents may be powerful, but didn't Dumbledore realize that Voldemort may have foreseen such an obstacle? Voldemort offered to spare Lilly's life, whether he did so because Snape requested it, or because Voldemort knew that love magic would be enacted, I don't know. But I tend to believe Voldemort knew what would happen. He's not a dumb guy, he under estimates. It may be possible that Dumbledore hoped Voldemort would under estimate the power of love... Still, the explanations in the beginning of your theory were vague, I'm not saying your wrong, there are emotional clues (dumbledore's happiness that night, victory in the first step of the plan) But McGonagal seemed disturbed! Does she not know anything of Dumbledore's plans?
The R.A.B. note, as you relate it to Aberforth, seems a little muzzy. If Aberforth indeed was the Dumbledore who died, then he wouldn’t be dead long Harry read the note. That note was left there for Voldemort. I’m sure of it. The locket had already been destroyed. Somehow, I doubt Alberforth is R.A.B. Your idea about Aberforth impersonating Albus, on the other hand, was thought provoking. Something tells me that it isn’t true, but I wonder whether Alberforth has something to do with situation that night…. And I wonder (like always) why Albus and Aberforth seem not to get a long… or at least they seem disconnected. Why isn’t Aberforth in the “new” order? Did they kick him out? Maybe in their plan, Aberforth is actually behind the scenes, working with Dumbledore. Confusing.

That's only a few points, I have more, but I'd need to think about them...

Oh Tom, my friend. Still clinging to the hope that Albus is somehow still alive. You always have the most inventive ways to get around what would otherwise be clear evidence. Even if book 7 comes around, and Albus never reveals himself, I am sure that you will still theorize that he could still be alive, but simply in hiding. Your perseverence is endearing.

Good theory overall. Of course, there are several points I disagree with on a fundamental level:

1) I think Albus is dead. I agree with Jo herself that in a story like this one, "the old wizard gets it" (admitedly, these are not Jo's words, but she agrees with them at any rate). We can't have the powerful leader alive if the young student is to take on his final challange. He needs to be on his own.

2) I do not think Aberforth is RAB. I believe that the signer was, as the note indicates, writing to Voldemort. Therefore, I believe that the signer was a death eater (thus using the term "Dark Lord") and signed the note using initials the dark lord would recognize (R.A.B.).

3) I do not think that the Potters' deaths were arranged. Dumbledore is not one to put stock in prophesy. He knows that Voldemort is, though. I cannot see Dumbledore allowing the potters to be killed in the off chance that one of them could jump in front of the spell, on the off chance that it might not kill harry. I mean, people trust Dumbledore's intuition, and he tends to be right, but I do not think that Dumbledore would allow so risky a propisition. And I do not think that the Potters would agree to it. Even if it were true, it is important to remember that Sirius crazily enraged at Wormtail, as was Lupin (to a lesser extent). Neither one knew (as this proves) about it, and would never have agreed to it in the first place. If it happened, no one but the potters and dumbledore were privy to it.

4) I do not think that the cloak could be used as indication of the plot. What would that prove, really? If it was used to conceal a note or something, maybe...

So those are my main complaints. Nice theory, though. I'll post mine in a bit.

fish

The reason why I doubt Anerforth to be the Dumbledore who died is that this man can hardly read. In fact, I had a look at book 4, the first Dumbledore refers to his brother. For those who want to read the passage, it's when Hagrid is all upset about Rita Skeeter writing he is half a giant. Well, when DD refers to his brother, he says "I doubt Aberforth can read" or sth like that. That's why I think he is not that useful to the order.
However, if JKR mentioned him, he must have a kind of role, nothing is useless in Harry Potter, JKR has taught us that. So, your theory might be good.
I would like Dumbledore to be still alive too, but it doesn't seem likely. However, he may reappear in some other way, which I hope.
As for Harry being a Horcrux, I think you have made your point about the fact that he is dormant. Nevertheless, I don't think Voldy could have done it. First, he planned to kill Harry, and in order to make a Horcrux, you have to kill someone, well he had killed Lily and James, but he planned to kill Harry, so I don't see why he would put a Horcrux in someone he plans to kill just after.
As for your battle behind the veil, it may happen in some other way. Maybe Voldy can implant a part of him in Harry, or make some kind of connection between them that would lead them to such a fight, even unintentionaly. This idea of a battle behind the veil with Harry helped by the dead would be a very good one. That would explain why JKR killed Sirius, she never does something on impulse. I think Sirius's death is meant to serve Harry later. Well, I let you make a theory Albus, that's what you're good at.

Ok, Tom has inspired me (as he often does), so I'll attempt to post my master theory as well. Same rules of assumption and opinion apply. I'll used some of Tom's wordage where appropriate.

It all goes back to Snape and James and Lily. In school, Snape had feelings for Lily, but he felt guilty and torn because she was not only a Griffindor, but a muggleborn. He was alway jealous of James's popularity and abilities. James always got what he never did, and was what he wanted to be so badly: purebred. Snape was very upset about being embarassed publicly by James in front of Lily. When Lily stood up for him publicly, Snape was afraid of being found out, and thus pushed Lily away by calling her a mudblood. Snape begins to resent James even more when he dates Lily. He's gotten that thing that Snape most wants but cannot have. This causes him to up his interest in the Marauders affairs. Snape begins to notice a cycle, every month, around the same time, Lupin disappears. By now he realizes that Lupin is a werewolf, and he wants to see it for himself. Sirius feeds on this idea and lures Snape to the passage to the Shrieking Shack and thus putting Severus in extreme danger. James finds out about the idea and stops Snape, knowing all too well the consequences. He pulls Severus out at the last minute, saving his life, forming a bond between them for life. Severus is in James debt.

Life goes on, and they drift apart, hatred brewing on Severus' part, and isolating himself from his peers. Voldemort rises to power, and people begin joining him. One of the young recruits, Regulus, begins to grow weary of what he has done. Seeing Voldemort leave, he follows him. He tracks Voldemort clandestinely in the way only a death eater can, and watches as he transfers a locket to a cave in the side of a cliff. Regulus leaves before being caught and returns to the death eaters. He does some more quiet investigation, and asks people the retorical quesiton of why someone would want to guard an unimportant object with magical protection. People put forth various theories, and one of them is a horcrux. He knows from Voldemort's hintings that he has taken steps to be immortal. He realizes that this must be it. By this point, Regulus realizes that he does not want to be a death eater, and backs out. He knows that he cannot run for long before they catch him and kill him, so he goes back to the cave, bringing kreatcher along just in case. He crosses the lake, sending Kreatcher across using his unique form of apparition. He steals the locket, conjurs another one using the advanced magic he learned in school and knows as a death eater. He writes a note, and leaves it for voldemort. When the locket is returned, the potion magically reappears. He returns to his home at #12 Grimmauld Place. He orders Kreatcher to never reveal any of the information to anyone. For some reason he is forced to leave Grimmauld Place without the horcrux, and is killed before he can return.

In the mean time, Snape also joins the Death Eaters. On Voldemort's order, Snape attempts to obtain a position at Hogwarts. He finds himself in the Hogshead one dark and stormy night, waiting to interview with Dumbledore for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, which seems to keep coming open every year. Severus knows that part of his job is to monitor Dumbledore whenever he can, so he follows him when he goes up into a room with an oddly dressed young woman who seems more poser than prophetess. After a bit, he begins to become disinterested. Obviously this person is a fake. However, as he starts to sneek downstairs, he hears her voice grow loud. Out of the door, he hears her saying: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies..." but just at that point, the old barkeeper, Aberforth, grabs him and talks all over the last part of the prophesy. Just as Sybill is coming out of her trance, Aberforth comes in with Snape. Sybill and Dumbledore see Snape, and Dumbledore knows that he must have heard part of the prophesy. He has no reason to hold him, however, and allows Snape to leave, though he does not hire him for the position. Dumbledore, under the impression that Snape has heard the entire prophesy, keeps the Potters guarded, but knows that Voldemort would not dare attack with the whole prophesy saying what it does about Voldemort "marking him his equal," until he was sure of the situation. Snape returns to Voldemort, and tells him the part of the prophesy he has heard.

Times passes and Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom are born "as the seventh month dies". Months pass, and Snape learns that Voldemort is favoring Harry as "the one with the power," though for reasons that he did not know. He is horrified by this, because he realized that, as much as he hated James, he could not bear for Lily to be murdered, even now. He would not care that James died, except he owed James a life-debt, and he needed to repay it.

Snape goes to Dumbledore, at great personal risk, and tells him that Voldemort is going to target the Potters. Dumbledore is concerned, because he was sure that Voldemort would wait to find more information. He asks Snape what he told Voldemort exactly. Snape tells him, and Dumbledore realizes that he has missed the most important part of the prophesy. Naturally he understands that Harry is going to be hunted, and he sends the Potters into hiding immediately.

James realizes that a fidelius charm is the only way to protect themselves. Because, at this point, people have begun to suspect a traitor in their midst, Sirius and Lupin have begun to suspect each other. Thus, neither one suspected little Peter, who would otherwise be the obvious choice. Sirius convinces James to not involve Lupin, just in case, and James says he wants to make Sirius his secret keeper, because he is the only one he can trust. Sirus comes up with the idea of using Peter, because no one would suspect him. They give him the cloak to go into hiding, and he leaves. Peter then tells Voldemort where the Potters are.

Voldemort comes and kills the Potters, with Wormtail under the cloak to tell him where to go. Voldemort's attempt to kill Harry backfires, and Voldemort is killed, leaving himself and the final horcrux behind (The item is made a horcrux by the murder of Voldemort himself). Wormail retrieves the item, and leaves. Hagrid retrieves him from the rubble of the house before the "muggles could swarm the place."

Harry was taken to the Dursely house then, where Dumbledore sealed the charm on Harry, allowing him to be protected as long as he could call home the place where is mother's blood dwells.

In the mean time, Wormtail goes into hiding, and leaves the cloak and the horcrux in Snape's possession, not knowing the importance of the item. Snape returns the cloak to Dumbledore, but keeps the item hidden, unsure of what it might be. Gradually Wormtail forgets about the item altogether.

Thought at first, Snape did not know if the item was of any real importance, as time passed, he began to suspect what it was supposed to be. As rumor begin to surface of Voldemort being still alive, Snape becomes even more confused. Surely the item is not a horcrux. If voldemort is alive, then surely he already had one. Why would anyone need more than one? Why would Voldemort make a second horcrux? He knew he should take the item to Dumbledore, but his pride and his shame prevented it. He is also still unsure where he wants to be. He doesn't want Voldemort to rule, but he dislikes the "good side" as well. He remains friends with Lucius, but also grows closer to Dumbledore, to the point that Dumbledore trusts him greatly, though never quite enough to allow him to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Dumbledore, of course, knows that this position is cursed, and that Snape would never be able to teach the position more than one year.

Harry grows up and in his first year it is apparent that Voldemort was not vanquished from the earth, but instead still living some sort of meager life. Dumbledore doesnt see how this has happened until the following year when the answer he needs appears on his desk... a Diary. Snape is even more torn about revealing the horcrux, especially now that he has hidden it for so long. Dumbledore begins to search past memories. After a few years he discovers it: Horcruxes. His suspisions when the Diary was displayed to him were true, and furthermore, Voldemort had created seven.

In the summer before Harry's 5th year, he comes across the locket while cleaning out #12. As it is just one on many items he has found, he takes little heed of it. The only reason he takes any notice is that it can't be opened. He doesn't pay much attention to the snake on the cover. There are snakes all over the place at #12. He trows the item in the rubbish bin with everything else. Kreacher sees it and rescues it, knowing that good Master Regulus held it in such importance.

In the summer before Harry's 6th year, Snape is forced to make an unbreakable vow with Narcissa and Bellatrix to keep up his ruise with them. Snape agrees to help Draco kill Albus Dumbledore though he does not say when he will. Snape, again, finds himself unable to tell Dumbledore this for some unknown reason.

While this is going on, Mundungus goes to #12 to nick some of the valuable items he's seen there. He finds Kreacher's hole with all the items being held there. He sees a locket, and bets it will catch a fair price. He eventually sells it to the barman at the hog's head, who seems to be putting a lot of interest in the items, especially given that he barred him from the hog's head years ago. The barman (Aberforth) retreves the items for Dumbledore because he has been told to watch for items from Grimmauld Place being sold. He holds the items so that he can return them to Harry (for a nominal fee, of course). One item has a snake on it and, though he does not have his brother's knowledge and intelect, recognizes it for what Mundungus does not, something of Salazar Slytherin's. Something tells him that this is important, though he doesn't know why.

In the mean time, Snape trys and trys to find out how Draco is planning on killing Dumbledore, hopping to perhaps find a way to delay it, but Draco won't tell him. The only things Snape sees are the poor attempts to send things to Dumbledore. He does not know that Draco is going to bring death eaters in. Things culminate in Dumbledore being trapped wandless, held in place by Draco. Snape comes in and sees the situation. He was not planning on other death eaters being there and Dumbledore being wandless. If Dumbledore could have defended himself, then Snape could have not killed Dumbledore. However, he can't not kill Dumbledore at this point. He looks at Dumbledore, not knowing what to do. Dumbledore looks back at him, and, with a look of understanding, says, "Severus, Please." Snape knows that he must kill Dumbledore. He musters up hate within himself as only a Death Eater knows how, and kills Albus Dumbledore.

-fish

Wow, very nice one. I think this is the closest to reality because it does not say exactly on which side Snape is. As JKR will expext us to see Snape either one side or the other, this situation is possible because she always writes what we don't expect her to write.
The only thing I don't agree with is Wormtail being under the invisibility cloak at Godric's Hollow. I think he just wrote a note to Voldy.
On the other hand, there is one thing I hadn't considered until recently is the fact that Voldy's body was destroyed when he tried to kill Harry. I have theories about that. Normally, having six horcruxes (Dumbledore tells Harry he may not have had time to create 7), one piece of his soul was suppoed to come out and find his body to inhabit it again, but it didn't happen that way why?

1)The spell did not only backfire, but love inside Harry destroyed Voldy's body.
2)It didn't destroy his body, but made his body impossible to inhabit.
3)There was an explosion when the spell backfired which reduced Voldy's body to pieces
There may be other theories, but these are the three I had. In book 4, Voldy says "It was pain beyound anything" or sth like that, which means that he felt sth. Normally, when you die, you feel nothing (or so I guess), he also adds "I was ripped from my body", whihc means that there is sth more than just the spell backfiring.
As for Snape having feelings for Lily, I'm pretty sure he had. I think that's why he hated James so much. There is sth else. Snape may ahve a debt with James, but Harry has a debt with Snape because he saved his life. In book 3, DD says that when a wizard saves another wizard's life, there a link between them. Also, Wormtail has a debt with Harry because Harry saved his life in book 3.
Therefore, I think there will be sth about these debts.
As for RAB being Regulus Black, it's very likely, otherwise I don't see why JKR would have mentioned Regulus. I am looking forward to seeing what happens.

Thanks. I will say that I don't think that the horcrux is nessesarily supposed to reinhabit the body. We're never told that. Though there is the whole question of the body. Also, remember that Voldemort was wanting 6 horcruxes (the 7th is himself).

BTW, I've updated my theory post with information about what happened to the locket.

Fish

Great theories guys! And an interesting topic, Tom, seeing that; though the sub topics could fit into one thread, they all wouldn’t necessarily make sense apart.

I’ll take a stab at this…

I’ll start around Albus’ and Aberforth’s childhood, which we know nothing about (at least from what I recall). I’ve done some quick research and discovered, through the link between Albus’s full name/Grindelwald and the epic of Beowulf, that Beowulf had a friend in his youth named Breca, who beat Beowulf in a swimming match. Beowulf later tells that Breca was a drunk, or something to that effect. I’ll reveal why I said this later.

So, in their youths, they were always trying to outdo the other. Though, as luck would have it for Aberforth, he was great at swimming and always beat his brother. This was the only thing he was better at, as it turned out. One day, they’re out swimming together when they discover a cave. This cave essentially already possessed magical powers, there was something very ominous about it, as if some force or presence made it self aware when they arrived. They only make it to the entrance before they fled because of this mysterious force.

Of course, that’s pretty much a fanfic. After reading an incredible post in the RAB thread, and forgive me if it was already mentioned, it was noted that RAB could be Aberforth. He, like his brother, has five names (APWBD)…only Aberforth is ARABD. I’ll get to this later as well.

Years pass. We see the rise of Lord Voldemort, and the uprising of the Order of the Phoenix to stop his terror. At this point the prophecy is given. Snape, Albus, and Aberforth all hear the entire thing. They all have a sit down and discuss the next course of action. Snape turns to the good side, Dumbledore’s side, and begins to spy of Voldemort and his death eaters. Aberforth and Albus begin to ponder the prophecy more closely, since they do talk quite often. Again, years pass, and finally, Albus comes to his brother and proclaims that he finally knows whats been keeping Voldemort in existence this whole time: Horcruxes. After explaining everything to him, Albus leaves and Aberforth comes up with a brilliant plan, though he isn’t entirely sure how to go about it.

He returns to the cave he and his brother visited many years ago and discovers that something is within the basin on the island. Lucky enough, he brought along his trusty bezoars which he takes with him wherever he goes. He begins to drink the mysterious potion, and after every sip, he forces one bezoar down his throat. After the entire potion is downed, he snatches the locket and finds that the potion has already replenished itself.

He conjures a fake locket, one in which he can open, and places a written note in it (the one we’ve all come to love), and disembarks from the area without any more conflict. He signs it as RAB so his brother would find it, not Voldemort. Yes, it is addressed to Voldemort, written for Voldemort, but not intended for Voldemort to actually pick up. It was meant for his brother to pick up and see that his brother had beat him at something else…though this is on a grander scale. Aberforth didn’t do it for name recognition, in fact, he signed it such that only his brother would know. It just so happens that Regulus Black has the same initials, and was killed for trying to leave the Death Eaters, therefore, everything would trace back to Regulus should Voldemort come upon the fake locket.

Aberforth returns to Hogsmeade and goes to rest for he had a long evening. Little did he know, however, that his brother and Harry Potter had just set out to do the exact same thing he did, only with far more consequences, which we have already read about. Now, its only a matter of Harry coming in contact with Aberforth, who has become the key to the one of the last Horcruxes.

In Snape’s case, he and Albus had come up with a plan that would ultimately result in his death, though it was still unknown (possibly) how everything would turn out. They both had no idea when the time would come to execute the result of the plan.

Its not yet complete, though. I haven’t really written why Snape would join the good side, what exactly the plan was, how it was paralleled or not by Aberforth’s actions, and a few other things. I’ll get to those later though.

-This implies that the locket at Grimmauld Place was meant to throw us off, same thing with Aberforth covering his neck.

Edit: I got the initial idea about Aberforth from 62442al_man

I am so happy you guys like my theory. Not many people like it at other places .

Anyways, to clear a few things up I saw around here...

Aberforth not being able to read - This may or may not be true. At the time of this quote, Hagrid was very depressed about who he was and about how people knew who and what he was. He was very very depressed. Albus, being the man he is, tries to cheer people up. He chimes in about his brother, Aberforth, and how he held his head high even after he was caught and his name was posted all over the papers about his illegal goat charms, but he held his head high. Then Albus adds to the side that he isn't even sure Aberforth can read.

• "Not sure" implies that he never did his research
• Aberforth almost indefintely went to hogwarts, through clues Jo left us, and I am sure you need to know how to read to be able to go to Hogwarts
• It was a lightening comment. Dumbledore could've just made it up.

I am missing a major point, but you guys get what I mean. Moving on:

The fake locket: when was it replaced with the real one? - The theory can still prove plausible both ways. Way back before Voldemorts demise, or sometime during Half-Blood Prince the book (1996) -- after the scene in Hogsmeade is sneaked in by Jo.

It seems MORE likely that is was replaced sometime during Half-Blood Prince only because it gives meaning to the scene with the exchange of Black family goods in Hogsmeade. I am sure there was something going on there. Too suspicious. Notice Aberforth, dubbed 'the bartender' in this scene, and how he tightens his robe around his NECK. You wear lockets around your neck. An aliby he may have worked on with Mundungus...who knows.

If it goes the other way, it could work. People wonder why he didn't just get another locket from any old place. My answer is because he was working on an aliby. Getting it from the Black family house looses many traces of leading a locket back to Aberforth. Far-fetched? Perhaps.

The Initials (A.R.A.B.D.) - No, this is not canon. We do not know his initials. BUT, we DO know that Albus, ABerforth's brother and of the same family has three middle names. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (A.P.W.B.D.). Albus and Aberforth also share the same first and last intials (A.D.). And yes, most people sign with their first and last intials. So the reason is clear why Aberforth didn't. If he signed "A.D." then Voldemort would immediately think of the headmaster, mugwump, chief warlock, defeated of Grindelwald, chocolate frog card face, order of the Phoenix leader, etc. etc. man...Albus! NOT Aberforth. No one would ever think of Aberforth. He is a nobody.

I have a small question, Where did it say the dumbledore testified against sirius black? I realise that it must be somewhere in PoA but for the life of me I cant remember that. It seems kind of odd that Dumbledore believed harry and hermione without any extensive questioning, or perhaps a final piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

Also, back to dumbledore's theory, Aberforth being the one that died, sort of makes sense, however, JKR has never been the one for happy endings. So that being in mind, I do not believe that ALBUS Dumbledore is alive.

i think dumbledore is the one who died because his picture was sleeping in the headmasters office. now aberfoth was never headmaster but dumbledore was.

this isnt ruling out that aberfoth was RAB, although i think it is very unlikely

also when would dumbledore have been able to testify against sirius because crouch never let him have a trial

i assumed the locket had been replaced several years ago, but if it was replaced during Half Blood Prince then it would make for a very interesting storyline and it would mean regulus couldnt be RAB

Ok, ok, ok. You all had some really interesting ideas, but I strongly believe that this one is the true one... however, we won't know until the book comes out. If I offended some of you, I apologise. I believe that R.A.B. is truly Regulas Black, but I think there is a story behind his death. Remember, Sirius said that his brother, Regulus, (known as Reggie from hereafter to make it shorter... ) died when he was following Voldemort. We also know from Sirius's bitter sentiments that Reggie was the one that was loved on the most, and if Reggie was indeed shown so much affection, then he may have become an attention seeker that looked up to his mother. Perhaps he wanted to be in Voldemort's inner circle, and somehow found out that Voldemort wanted an Horcrux, so he gave him the Black locket to show utmost respect. That happened to be Mommy's favorite piece of jewelry and she forces him to get it back, but he refused. Then, maybe Sirius came to him and confronted him. Sirius's words changed him, (You've probably heard of the words, The pen is mightier than the sword.) and he went to retrieve it, but Voldemort, or most likely, Snape found out, and killed him after he had hidden it somewhere. But, the damage was already done, and the locket had been turned to an horcrux.... hope this is true... so what do ya'll think?

Well, sorry to disagree with ya, but we know where the locket came from. It was sold by Merope (voldemort's mother) to borgin and burk's. It was then sold to Mrs. Smith, and voldemort killed her and stole it back, along with the cup. We learn that in book 6.

Fish

I wasn't talking about the Slytherin locket. I was talking about the Blacks's locket. You know, the one Sirius threw out?

Besides, I know what happened to the Slytherin locket. I read the books too.

I don't believe you can make a horacrux by accident, that they just happen when someone is killed. Besides, LV wasn't killed only disembodied so that he couldn't be used for a horacrux. Horacrux don't do anything, they just exist and as long as they do, you can't die. You are still attached to earth. The point of attachment that was your body may be flapping in the wind but you aren't dead.

If Alberforth wanted a locket before he went to the cave, he must have known a locket was there. How did he know that? Conjuring up a replacement seems to answer that problem.

There are some great theories here.

So, then, you are saying that, on top of Slytherin's locket and the fake locket left by RAB, there is a third locket? Seems entire too many lockets to include in one plotline. I think things would get very confusing in a hurry.

Of course, I really don't want this to divulge into an RAB thread or anything like that. RAB is, of course, a crutial part of any Master Theory, but there are also other parts as well. I've developed a short quiz you can fill out if you are having trouble constructing a whole theory.

In a single essay, address the following questions:

1) What is the truth behind the prophesy and the death of the potters?

2) Where does Snape's true loyalties lie?

3) How is the cloak involved? (read this thread to find out what I mean)

4) Who is RAB?

5) Where is the horcrux RAB stole now?

Also, you will need to address any overarching conspiracies you think are going on. If you think Harry is a horcrux, you'd need to say so.

Come on! let us know what you think!

-fish

Just a reminder to all present, please be civil in your responses to everyone in the thread. It's easy to take things personally in a debate, but please try not to do so. If you have problems, please PM one of the staff members or take private discussions to PMs. Thanks, passerby

Hm....well that is an excellent theory, but referring back to the original post, you said that Trewlany can't see, hear or whatever, in her transe-like states while making a prediction, while didnt it in the book say the Dumbledore caught Snape (or the barman w/e, which would be Dumbledores brother) so Trewlany wouldn't have known about him at all, so then it makes it sound a little bit far-fetched.

Im not quite sure which theory you are referring to, was it mine? If so, I still dont understand the statement. You proved my point exactly, while trying to disprove it. You agree that Trelawney would have no clue who heard the Prophecy if the person who had overheard it hadnt been there the entire time. Who the eaves dropper was that night, was told to Harry by Trelawney right before they leave for the Cave. So how did she know?

~Albus

Well Tom, I actually posited an answer on that point as part of my theory:



Of course, this is a bit vauge, and weak at points, but it still answers that one question. I would like to compliment you, though, on discovering that. That is very clever indeed. Good catch.

fish

I dont think dumbledore / the potters planned for the potters to sacrafice themselves in the manner that actually happened.

Its possible OOTP planned to use the potters as bait; but it all went wrong when the potters got attacked at their safe house.

Its also possible Lily anticipated voldemort might break through the defences; and if he did, had a final desperate plan to save her beloved son; by sacraficing herself. If this was her plan, I think she would have kept it to herself. Not even James would have known.

My master theories:

Snape, at school liked both Lily and Narcissa. However, Narcissa showed him some kindness, perhaps praised his potions work for earning house points. Anyway, as a result, Snape holds a secret love for Narcissa, a secret he had to hide from his friend Lucius, hence Snape's need to perfect Occlumency.

The death-eaters will be defeated as the nazis in WWII were eventually defeated.

Pure-blood mania will no longer be tolerated, much as apartheid in south africa is no longer tolerated.

By the end of book 7; good will have triumphed, and a fairer, more equitable magical world will be born; with equal rights and opportunities for all magical people, regardless of birth. (Unfortunately the house-elves will probably still be downtrodden, until they learn from the goblins, that sometimes, you have to stand up for yourself.)

The only question, is what will happen to all the interesting characters JKR has invented? (I think character invention is JKR's greatest writing talent)

Voldemort: I like the idea he is killed, but fearing death becomes a ghost, and is put in some sort of magical ghost prison, where he is kept in eternal darkness with only his worst fears as company. (Reminds me of JRR Tolkien: the chaining of Melkor from The Silmarillon; rather than the absolute destruction of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings).

Malfoy's: humbled, bankrupt and humiliated; Lucius is a broken man; but Draco could still be saved and regain the family honour by helping destroy voldemort.

Snape: turns out to be working to destroy voldemort. Like RAB, from inside the death-eaters, Snape was clever enough to realise voldemort was a bully who used people for his own selfish interest. Snape had no desire to be voldemort's servant.

Snape: Killed dumbledore on dumbledore's orders communicated by legilimens on the tower. They talked about this possibility previously. It was a prepared plan.

Snape: having killed dumbledore, snape becomes the only person voldemort trusts in his life. Big mistake. As voldemort's aide; snape learns what all the horcruxes are; where they are hidden; and communicates this to Harry (to enable horcrux destruction).

Snape: Communicates the information to Harry anonymously; or through draco; or lupin. Critically almost everyone in the magical world incorrectly thinks snape a murdering traitor. Snape is unfairly killed in the book, without being recognised or thanked (in his lifetime) for his heroism or critical involvement in destroying voldemort.

Weasleys: If they survive, become wealthy; possibly on the back of fred & george's WWW business. In this way the weasleys go from poverty to riches (similar to JKR's life experience?) Imagine if fred & george purchase and move in to the Malfoys Manor!! Sweet!!

Harry: I think the book would be more powerful if Harry does sacrafice himself to kill voldemort; a tragedy of shakespearian / macbeth standards. Why would this need to happen? Possibly because harry is a horcrux; possibly because harry pushes / pulles voldemort through the death veil; probably because it will impact the reader's emotions; every writers intent!

Ron & Hermione: The love story that runs through all the books. I hope they do survive; and go on to have a kid, a girl named Harriot (after their dead friend); similar to the frodo / sam (elanor / frodo lad) situation from Lord of the Rings.

Everyone else in the books: doesn't matter what happens to them, they're filler to the storyline.

The storyline: it's a mix of a love story; lack of love story (voldemort's childhood); and the battle against evil (nazism, prejudice, sectarianism etc); and a moral lesson against bullying / against not giving people a fair chance (because peoples background doesn't really matter, only the person and their natural gifts and competence).

Just one thing ...... if abeforth was working with dumbledore and they both discovered about the horcruxes..... then why did dumbledore have to drink all the potion in the cave?....

Well since the cave scene was extremely fishy, I am going to go ahead with my assumption that Aberforth may have been in disguise as Albus. So the question is: Why did he have to drink all the potion? Well thats simple really, he was going to die anyway and he needed to show Harry what extent the enchantments around the horcruxes went to, as well as add to the general effect that he was about to die.

~Albus

Do you really think that DD, would make such a sacrifice? Dumbledore would never put any lives at risk, no mather what! Therefore he would never make such a plan, even if it meant that LV would die.

Yes, I do really think that Dumbledore would make such a sacrifice for he said it himself that he would. In the chapter "The Lost Prophecy" in the Order of the Phoenix, page 839 American Edition, Dumbledore says the following:



That's pretty straight forward that Dumbledore will stop at nothing to do what is right. you say Dumbledore would never put lives at risk no matter what, well he put many, many lives at risk since the beginning of the First War. The founding of the Order is no safe feat, and many people died for his/their Cause. Somethings are worth lives, and I believe Dumbledore knew full well the circumstances in which he would "care if numbers of nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in the vague future".

~Albus

Hi everyone! This is the first time I've responded to any thread for I just found this website. I have been reading the books over and over for along time and I have some theories which I wish to share. Since finding this site, I've been thrilled with everyone's ideas but mine is still slightly different and I wish to throw it out for your speculation. I believe Albus and Aberforth worked secretly together alot. In Order of the Phoenix, Moody said that the time the picture was taken, he had met Aberforth for the first time. moody thought he was strange though. I think he was seen rarely as he liked to keep in the background. At Dumbledore's funeral, Aberforth was there as the Hog's Head barman, at least as Harry recognised him to be. However, no one else seemed to recognise him as Aberforth. Moody was there and other Pheonix members like Lupin who should have known him. I think Aberforth was in deep cover and even Snape did not know he was Aberforth. I think Aberforth thought his brother was too trusting of Snape. After all, it was Aberforth who caught Snape listening at the door and distracted Snape from hearing the end of the prophecy which Dumbledore was hearing in the room. Even Trelawney didn't know about the prophecy. I believe Dumbledore had it recorded from his memories and stored at the Ministry, but he said only he and Harry knew the whole thing. I think someone had to be outside the Potters otherwise how did anyone know to come? Voldemort could not have shot off the dark mark afterwards, but he may have done it before entering the Potters. If there was no dark mark, I think someone had to be watching. Someone had to have notified Dumbledore who sent Hagrid to get Harry and went to make arrangements for getting him to his blood family. Just because Wormtail was the secret keeper, did not mean that Albus wasn't told where the Potters would be hiding. I read somewhere that Dumbledore urged James to make him the secretkeeper but James wanted Sirius. Possibly Albus sent Aberforth to watch over the Potters house secretly but couldn't save them. He sent a patronus to tell Dumbledore what had happened and stayed to guard Harry until Hagrid got there.
I believe Fawkes will come back into Harry's life, not to stay maybe. I also believe Rab is Regulas Black and the locket at the Black's house is the horcrux. I think Kreacher nicked it and hid it. I think possibly he was with Regulas when he got it from the cave. I do not think Mundungas found it. Kreacher will slip up and Harry will get it. How Regulas knew about the horcruxes, I'm not sure because Voldemort wouldn't have shared that info. Regulas, being from a dark wizard family, probably figured it out.

Wow! OK, lets think about Reguals Black maybe being R.A.B.

if R.A.B is really Regulas Black, he's dead so if he did find more Horcruxs', he would've found them ages ago because in his letter he says 'I will be dead long before you read this.' Maybe Black (Reguals) changed sides, to the good side and knew that by destryong a Horcrux, would be killed by Voldemort or another Death Eater.

Hang on...If R.A.B is really Regulas Black, he is Sirius' brother and became a Death Eater right? Why would Voldemorts supporter, a Death Eater want to destroy the Horcruxs'???? He knows about the Horcruxs and he would know that eventually all of them being destroyed would make Voldemort mortal again so why would a supporter want his own master dead?? It dosen't make sense.

Maybe Black changed sides to the 'good side' and relised that by destroying a Horcrux he would be killed by Voldemort or another Death Eater. That is why he said 'I will be dead long before you read this'. Becuase he knew he would be killed for changing sides.

Out-there theory but you never know!!:P

Hullo! I'm new and I love all the theories and everyone's opinions. I will post mine later, but I have one question. What's the whole "Petunia Evans Dursley was under the invisibilty cloak"??

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Okay, I'd like to say something that i have been thinking of, and it's on communication between the Order of the Phoenix. How do they know if messages are being read by Voldemort's supporters or the "evil" side? How do they know if the message is from one of the members? Patronuses. Each patronus has a unique animal - depending on the witch or wizard who sent it, so there's no doubt, but what if that would member is under the Imperious Curse? Messages that would seem to have no dishonest characteristics actually are sent by a Death Eater, so I think that in the seventh book Voldemort would have to find out their way of communication, and who has which patronus to be able to get messages messed up.

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Okay, soo here goes my master theory:

Aberforth and Albus Dumbledore have always been quite close, so when Albus needed to interview someone for a Divanation job at his school, Aberforth offered that he hold the interview where he works - at the Hog's Head in Hogsmead. Albus agrees and meets Mrs.Trelawney. At first, it looks like she has no clue what she's doing and just predicting horrible things like death and injuries, but suddenly she gets stiff as a board and her voice turns hoarse and she recites what is, a real prophecy. Severus Snape is outside of the room, evesdropping but when Aberforth sees him, wanting to respect his brother's privacy, pulls Snape away and leaving him with only half of the prophecy:
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... "
Snape, goes and tells his master, and rewarding him the upmost important job of all, tail Albus Dumbledore. Once Severus is on his job, Voldemort is deciding between two children who fit the prophecy, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter, he sees Harry as a much better candidate and therefore chooses him. On Hallow's eve, Voldemort arrives at Godric's Hollow, where the Potter's secretkeeper, Pettigrew, told him they would be hiding. Voldemort kills James but Lili didn't need to die, she chose to die to save her son, thus making a love protection that cannot be broken until Harry becomes of age. Voldemort, kills Lily off and attempts to kill Harry but it backfires and it stumps him for 11 years. Snape rmaining on guard passes information from Dumbledore to Voldemort during his time at Hogwarts.

Now, I do believe that the locket is in Aberforth's possesion and that Aberforth is indeed R.A.B. Albus Dumbledore being close to his brother, told him his suspicions and since Aberforth was also in the Order, they started working together. Albus tells him the story about the cave during Tom Riddle's childhood and Aberforth takes interest and figures out that a horcrux could be there. I like the theory about the bezoars that El Barto thought of so I'm going to use that in my theory too. So, Aberorth exoecting anyhting and everything brings useful items including bezoars. When he's drinking the poision or whatever the liquid is, he has a bezoar after every sip. He retrieves the locket and leaves a fake one for Voldemort to find when he needs his horcrux for some reason. He signed it R.A.B. because if he signed it A.D. Voldemort would immeaditaley go after Dumbledore. (I got the initial idea about how Voldemort would think it was Albus because of 62442al_Man.) Aberforth, not knowing exactly how to destroy it plans on givig it to his brother fro him to do the rest, but Albus was already under stress so he thought it would be best to wait. Meanwhile, he put it around his neck, knowing fully that no where else would be safe unless with someone he trusts. Little did he know, that Albus was on the same mission with Harry, and Aberforth did not have time to give it to his brother for destruction, as that night, he died.

MOD EDIT: I've merged your three consecutive posts together. Double posting is against forum rules, though I realize that at least a day had gone by. Please do not double post unless the thread has been inactive for at least a week. If the thread is an active thread and less than a week has gone by, please use the "edit" option to add to your posts. Thank you.

I hope you don't mind, Tom, but I've been doing a bit of re-arranging of some threads in the forum today and we need a thread for general theories as we did before HBP came out, and this one fitted the bill more than any other. So I'm going to pin it and make it the official theorising thread for all aspects of HPDH, including new theories based on the title. I'd also like to tweak the title a little bit, just so that people are more clear about what's being discussed here.

Oh of course I dont mind! I am really excited to have it pinned. Ever since I started the thread, I have enjoyed seeing the caliber of posts that were posted, not he usual forum "i think thats a good idea" posts.. with some exceptions of course. Anyway, not that I even need to say it, but have your way with the title.. it was rather bland anyway!

*edit*- oooh "Official HPDH Theories Thread".. exciting

~Tom

Well, I'm hoping that this thread will be as successful as some of the ones we had prior to HBP's release - it was great to look back and see who had things right, who had them wrong, just to see what ideas people had, you know. And this really is the last chance we're ever going to have to do some good theorising and I think we have all the information we can possibly have now to be able to try and figure out the final outcome of the series.

So, here we go....my all encompassing theory of the final book

I think that Harry will return to Hogwarts, but only briefly. He cannot possibly look for horcruxes and keep on top of schoolwork, it's too unrealistic (I know we're talking fiction here, but hey, whatever) The first thing he needs to do is find out where the real locket is, because that's where HBP left off. He's going to want to know who this RAB is. He'll probably go to Grimmauld Place at some point, and he's going to remember about the Black Family Tree. Maybe they'll be a bit of a nostalgic moment, who knows, but I think he'll figure out (maybe with Hermione's help) that RAB is Regulus Black. I think he'll remember about that mirror that Sirius gave him and either he will repair it, or he'll find that it still works in some way. He'll see either a memory or actually be able to speak to either Sirius or Regulus, and more about Regulus' involvement with the Death Eaters will emerge - possibly more information about Snape and Pettigrew too.

He'll find that the locket was amongst some of the things that Mundungus made off with, possibly, which may involve him going to somewhere like Knockturn Alley, Borgin and Burkes, maybe. (As this is the final book, I have the feeling that it's going to be almost a round trip of all the places we've been introduced to across the whole series, Knockturn Alley being one of them). He'll find the locket and destroy it.

Then he'll have to search for the others - I'm not sure what the others will be, I'll have to read the books again to maybe get a clue. But I think the "something of Gryffindor" will end up being Harry, or at least, his scar.

I think Harry will eventually figure out that he needs to destroy himself in order for Voldemort to become mortal again. BUT - while I think he will need to die (greater love hath no man and all that, something Voldemort could never understand, which is why he won't expect it), because he also has his OWN soul, I don't think he'll die completely, and probably will come back...maybe he throws himself through the veil and Sirius brings him back, or he'll have the kind of near-death experience you see in films sometimes where Dumbledore, his parents, Cedric and all the others who have died will tell him that it's "not his time".

In any case, I don't think that Harry will actually kill Voldemort. I think he will be made mortal, but I'm pretty confident that Harry won't actually strike the final blow. Something's going to happen that might make it impossible for him to do so... I'm also pretty confident that Snape and Pettigrew are going to be instrumental in the final battle. Whether they sacrifice themselves to save others, or whether they more directly help Harry in his search for the horcruxes, I'm sure their roles will be more complex than people are probably expecting.

The final battle will probably be pretty spectacular, and there are going to be a lot of dead bodies lying about, but I won't guess at who here...I'll save that for the who might die thread.

We know the final word is 'scar', and I think that it's going to be something about it fading away after Voldemort dies, or perhaps it being the final horcrux, something like that.

As for the epilogue - it'll be nice to see a happy vision of the future for the characters, but I hope it's not *too* twee...I kind of like a thin element of potential trouble as just a glimmer on the horizon...a small trace of uncertainty. That's more a personal preference than a theory though, so...meh...

Anyway, there you go. My theories for the final book - possibly subject to some alteration at a later date Let's see if I can upset the precedent of having everything completely wrong I've enjoyed before

Wow, Thats hardcore. I'm not sure that the entire theory will make its way in HPDH. I think it does make more scence that Aberforth (sp?) could be R.A.B. But if he is i would like to know what he did with the real horcruxe, and why did he go back into the cave to get the fake horcruxe if he already had the real one?

If you are talking about my theory, as I think you are (my theory is the very first one) then Aberforth would go into the Cave with Harry, as Dumbledore, merely to give him a lesson on how to deal and what to expect with Horcruxes. Since in my theory, the vow called for any "Dumbledore" to die, Aberforth knew he was going to be hunted and sacrificed himself for Harry's and his Brother's cause... by giving Harry a last minute lesson and weakening himself to then be killed by Severus... this act in front of the other Death Eaters would place Snape in high esteem among Voldemort and other Death Eaters, allowing him some leverage to help Harry later in the series. The Theory is shaky at best, but still a possibility. The main idea against it is the fact that JKR said that "Dumbledore is definitely... dead".. while she never said Albus, as my theory states, she does bring up dumbledoreisnotdead.com... a site devoted to the theories about Albus Dumbledore... still, the chance is there.

~Albus

Hi, I've just been reading through this topic and there are some seriously good theories on here. I've been thinking about some of them and my head is swimming now

RAB - I believe this is Regulus Black. He was a death eater and we know, from Sirius, that he was killed by Voldy because he wanted to leave his service. There is mention of a heavy locket in Order of the Phoenix when they are tidying out one of the rooms. I think it would be too much of a coincidence for JKR to have wrote about this if it wasn't relevant.

The Locket - So if RAB is Regulus Black, the big question is how did he get the locket? It took Dumbledore and Harry to get the false locket from the cave - it needed Harry to make sure that Dumbledore kept drinking until all the liquid had gone so that the locket could be retrieved. Was there someone else with Regulus when he took the real locket? Or did he swap the lockets before Voldy placed it in the cave? I don't have any theories or answers for this yet - does anyone else?

Dumbledore - Dead, or at least part of him is. I'm still convinced he has a horcrux. Perhaps his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald aided him to create a horcrux. I'm not sure what form his horcrux is yet, I did think for some time that it was Fawkes but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, he needed to "die" so that Voldy would show himself, thus facing Harry for the final battle.

Harry - will survive but only just, fawkes will return to save him from death. I do not believe he is a horcrux for Voldy. His body/soul is too full of love and goodness, there is no way that Voldy's soul, not even a 7th, could survive in there.

That's it for the moment. I'm sure there must be more but my head is now spinning. I'd like to hear what any of you think to my short theories.

Ok, so here is my theory of how Deathly Hallows is going to play out, (please take in mind that I am on my early morning caffeine rush and some things may seem far fetched )

The story opens on the Weasly/DeLacour wedding, of course. The OoTP, and the school children all spend some time together before school starts. Harry dreams something about the locket and R.A.B., he wakes up realizing that the locket they found and tried to trash at Grimmauld place could be the one he is looking for, he finds it and destroys it, bottabing, one down.
They all go back to school, and N.E.W.T. year takes up most of their time, but in between lessons/homework, the infamous 3 plus ginny, neville, and luna, put their heads together about possible horcruxes and locations (I am guessing that after the ministry incident in OoTP and the fight in HBP, harry would share the horcrux thing with those 5). Something happens and Luna (being from ravenclaw decent..forgive me if i quote inaccurately) has the ravenclaw quill/book/other academic horcrux...i think this because the other horcruxes seem to fit the house: hufflepuff..cup, fat friar, has to do with happy indulgence. slytherin...locket, has to do with greed and selfishness, gryfinndor...sword, bravery...it would just fit...so she finds away to destroy it and that is how ravenclaw has their day!

Long story short; It will be a fantastic end but i HATE THE NAME...what a stupid name.
so anyways:

I think It will begin with harry at the dursleys then he goes to graves of his parents and then he WILL GO TO THE WEDDING...that makes more sense doesnt it?

I DONT think HARRY WILL GO TO SCHOOL unless he kills voldemort before (which wont happen until the end)

Also: the last word of the book is scar..so im thinking about he sentence: IT all began and ended with his scar. So poor Harry might kick the bucket.

BUT:......Ron or(and) Hermione might die in protecting Harry and give him protection against voldemort.

ps. I DONT THINK ROWLING THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT THE TITLE ( I REALLY DONT LIKE THE TITLE.)

i can tottally agree with your theory, and a extensive/detailed one at that!

Heres another thing; why was Professor McGonagal hanging around the Dursleys for no reason? She wasn't; she had a reason. To scope them out so when the Potters die, she can give her information to DD that she'd collected about them

good thinking

<3

PS: yes Theoryes your theory is good. But what could it stand for? And why would they speak in singular form?

R=remus? regalus?
A=Aberforth
B=Black?

i dunno? I still think it's Regalus A. Black

It has been suggested that R.A.B. is more than one person, perhaps Rabastin and Bellatrix, but that surely can't be right as she is one of Voldy's biggest supporters. Also the note in the locket says "I" all the time rather than "we".

Just a quick reminder, guys - this is a thread for whole-book theories; we have separate threads that concentrate just on RAB You can mention that here, of course, but I'd rather the thread didn't become solely about that

While I'm here, in addition to the theory I posted myself a few posts back, I'd like to mention something I noticed during a re-read of PS that I've just started. Something Hagrid said -



Sounds distinctly to me as if, now Dumbledore's out of the way, taking Hogwarts is going to be high on Voldemort's agenda Why would he want to take it? Well...if most of his horcruxes are hidden in the tombs of the founders, and if those tombs/graveyard is within Hogwarts, then perhaps more of this book will be set at the school than we think. My money is on the school being the place that the final showdown will take place, whether or not that has anything to do with "Deathly Hallows."

Thats a good point Louise, and I thought of that as I read my copy of Wizarding World Press' analysis of Books 1-4. I hope Minerva can hold Hogwarts in the last book, it would be a terrible start of her career if she cant hold the school that Dumbledore kept safe for so long.

Another thing I picked up again was the wand that was laying in the window at Ollivanders. It was on a purple pillow, the color of royalty, and the only wand in the display. Who's wand was it? Was it one of the founders? Perhaps that is why Ollivander went missing in Book 6.


I also wanted to comment on the decent quality of most of the posts in this thread. It nice to see a thread full of long, thought provoking writings. Kudos to all!


~Albus

Ooh yes, I remember reading something about the wand here yesterday and I meant to comment on it, but time slipped away from me, as usual.

Yes, that could possibly be highly significant, given that Ollivander has gone missing too. He must be missing for a reason, and this is the type of minor detail that's not exactly hidden, but seems innocuous unless you look back on it with hindsight. Almost as though JKR's putting a big arrow saying "hint here", just like Ginny stopping the car in CoS to go back for the diary. Obviously that turned out to be significant. And given the theories about one of the Hallows being a staff, or wand, then yes, very probable theory. Nice spot

o.m.g. I totally forgot all about the "Hallows" theory, and I'm one of the members who posted stuff about it. Thats right, the four artifacts of the Tuatha de Danaan are (simplified from the symbolism) the cup, the stone, the sword and the wand.

I think I might go through my analysis of books 1-4 again, and copy down things that may be grande septology hints and clues. It may help the discussion move along.. we are only on page 4!!

~Albus

i have reading this topic and is quite interesting...

the plan theory is just genius...but i didnt really thought that DD will led the Potters to their death... but then i read about.. what he said not caring about others dying in the future if Harry was alive...it kind of makes sence...that he prefers that two people die... so Voldemort marks Harry as his equal... and Harry can defeat him...and then there will me no more deaths...its quite reasonable...

then the theory continues.. with Harrys parents agreeing with their death ...it just seems kind of sad...that they had to accept they wont be able to share with their son...and the fact that both of them had a bound with snape...loving Lily and owing his life to James...

when Voldemort goes to their house to kill them...(there is no way that DD could have been there under the invisibility cloak... its too cold for a man like DD)...he kills James.. and then goes after Harry but Lily interferes...he tells her to stay apart... but she sacrifices herself for her son... (in some point i actually thought that Voldemort kind of realiced that if she sacrificed her life to save him there will be that bound.. but in the fourth book i think... Voldemort asks Harry why he didnt die..)

all this happened... and years passed.. now we are on the sixth year...DDs dead...well... its kind of convincing the theory about Aberforth pretending to be DD...but i dont know i just cant accept it...

here is something i think about it... if one part of the theory Albus Dumbledore said its true...maybe DD died.. but he actually has an horcux...i mean he may have done it when he defeat the other dark wizard...right now i dont remember his name...but it kind of goes with the plan...DD wanted Voldemort to show up... to actually show up.. and..then he "returns from dead"...very "gandalfish"...with the piece of soul he has hidden.. now... what would his horcux be...maybe Fawkes... but itll be like... Fawkes is inmortal...DD will be inmortal too.. well now moving on...

the RAB theory.. it sounds so good the part in which Aberforth...found the horcux...i kind of agree with that.. i dont really have anything against that...

i have a thought that is related to this...Regulus Black..well now.. i was reading through the fifth book.. and..come to this...
*Sirius says this to Harry in the US version page112 chapter 6...."From what i found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you dont just hand in your resignation to Voldemort , its a lifetime of service or death.." from this we can tell that maybe Regulus did know about the horcuxes...-he got in so far-...to do something about that...he was asked to do something but he didnt wanted to...maybe kill his brother (not convincing)...use the imperius curse with him to get close to the Potters... for what we know he died...it says in book 5.. 15 years ago.. it was around the time the prophecy was made and Harrys arrival to the world...if it was something that had to do with Sirius what they asked him to do... i dont think he was able to do something to his older brother.. then...he got killed...

this is what i have to say about this...
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the other day i was talking to one of my older brothers... he is not a Harry Potter fan.. so he has different opinions.. and thouths.. and is a bit twisted...

*we were talking about what Harry said in the end of book 6 ... he is going to Godric Hollow...then my brother told me that it was weird that.. he is going to his parents graves... till this time.. why didnt he went before... what we come up with is that he may found something there... something helpful...something important...i dunno maybe itll be an horcux...or something from his parents that will help him understand everything a bit more...

*here is one of my brother thought... as i told you before.. he is twisted sometimes...
he said that maybe Voldemort .. when he marked Harry... well what i understand he was saying is that he wants Harry to become a new Dark Lord...thats twisted...
well i didnt understand him really well ... ill ask him and then tell you everything...he might come up with something else...

its good to ask someone that is not a HP lover...they have different views.. maybe they can see something we cant...

well thats all for today...

by the way.. my name is quite difficult to pronounce in English ... so u can call me... Theresa...Hermy... Thirdin... the one you prefer..

read you around !!!