The Harry Potter fandom is no stranger to fan theories, particularly after the series ended, but the latest theory about the Dursleys just doesn’t hold up.
One inexplicably popular theory, that suggests that the Dursleys were horrible to Harry because he was a Horcrux, has found its way to Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, who has offered his thoughts on the matter.
The theory says that the part of Voldemort that attached itself to Harry after his “death” negatively affected the Dursleys’ moods, making them nasty, just like the locket Horcrux did with Ron in Deathly Hallows.
“Yeah, that’s definitely the first time I’ve heard that one,” Radcliffe said in a recent interview with Huffington Post. “It’s definitely interesting because it sort of posits a world where these people only known to be a certain way. Actually if you remove him from the situation, would have been quite a nice, friendly family.”
Oh, please. No.
Luckily, the actor went on to add that performances from Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw (who played Vernon and Petunia Dursley in the movies) made him feel “like it was more they just hated having this kid around”, before deflecting the theory towards J.K. Rowling.
Debunking the Dursleys
Radcliffe should frankly be applauded for such diplomacy because this theory is actually terrible. For one thing, it excuses the Dursleys from their wrongdoing (read: actual emotional abuse) towards Harry and places the blame on him. They didn’t need a reason to be horrible to Harry; nothing can explain that away.
The theory is also painfully easy to disprove. The Dursleys are simply not very nice people. They hated Harry before he even arrived. Vernon Dursley can’t even be sure of Harry’s name, such is the contempt he and his wife hold for The Boy Who Lived’s parents.
In fact, if Pottermore is to be believed, the Dursleys were upper middle-class swines from way before Harry was born, with Vernon calling James “some kind of amateur magician” behind his back at his wedding. Petunia and Vernon didn’t even turn up to James and Lily’s own nuptials.
Pottermore goes on to say that the last piece of correspondence between the Potters and the Dursleys announced Harry’s birth and Petunia threw it in the bin. Their behaviour towards Harry is hardly out-of-character.
Harry James Potter is a gift
Furthermore, the other characters in the novel don’t find Harry James Potter hard to love (and nor should they). The teachers at Hogwarts are fond of him and the Weasleys treat him like one of their own. Ron, who is particularly susceptible to the bad moods created by the Horcrux in Deathly Hallows, is Harry’s very best friend from the second he sits opposite him on the Hogwarts Express. They might have their fall-outs (what friends don’t?) but Ron very clearly loves Harry and generally their friendship is smooth sailing.
What’s next? Are we going to say Snape was nasty to Harry because the poor boy was a Horcrux? What’s his excuse for being so awful to everyone else?
We can’t all be as diplomatic as Daniel Radcliffe. Some people in Harry Potter are just the worst.
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Can we let this theory die now please?