Skip to content

MuggleNet

  • Site
    • Contact Us & FAQ
    • History
    • Meet the Team
    • MuggleNet Live!
    • Press
    • Publications
    • Special Projects
    • Volunteer with Us!
    • Year in Review
  • Podcasts
    • Alohomora!
    • Full Circle
    • LITHAPPENS
    • Potterversity
    • Promptly Potter
    • SpeakBeasty
  • Harry Potter
    • Book Quotes
    • Book Series
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Film Series
    • Hogwarts Library
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • Fantastic Beasts
    • Book
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Fantastic Beasts Film Quotes
    • Film Series
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • The Quibbler
    • Owl Post
    • Bathilda’s Notebook
    • The Department of MYTHteries
    • The Dirigible Plum
    • Into the Floo
    • Muggle Studies
    • The Pensieve Papers
    • The Three Broomsticks
    • April Fools’
    • The Quibbler Vault
  • The Daily Prophet
    • Book Trolley
    • Editorials
    • Event Reports
    • Exclusive Interviews
    • Features
    • Giveaways
    • Listicles
    • Merchandise Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Television Reviews
    • Theater Reviews
    • Wizolympics
  • Muggle World
    • Charity
    • Exhibitions
    • J.K. Rowling
    • MinaLima
    • Quadball
    • Studio Tours
    • Theatrical Play
    • Theme Parks
    • Wizarding World Digital
  • Fans & Fun
    • Crazy Caption Contest
    • Fan Focus
    • Fandom
    • Fandom Sortings
    • Fandom Timeline
    • Fun Lists
    • Games and Trivia
    • GNOMEs
    • Potter DIY
    • Potter Weddings
    • #PotterItForward
    • Rosmerta’s Recipes
    • Song Parodies
    • Wizard Rock
    • Wizarding Wordle
  • Site
    • Contact Us & FAQ
    • History
    • Meet the Team
    • MuggleNet Live!
    • Press
    • Publications
    • Special Projects
    • Volunteer with Us!
    • Year in Review
  • Podcasts
    • Alohomora!
    • Full Circle
    • LITHAPPENS
    • Potterversity
    • Promptly Potter
    • SpeakBeasty
  • Harry Potter
    • Book Quotes
    • Book Series
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Film Series
    • Hogwarts Library
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • Fantastic Beasts
    • Book
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Fantastic Beasts Film Quotes
    • Film Series
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • The Quibbler
    • Owl Post
    • Bathilda’s Notebook
    • The Department of MYTHteries
    • The Dirigible Plum
    • Into the Floo
    • Muggle Studies
    • The Pensieve Papers
    • The Three Broomsticks
    • April Fools’
    • The Quibbler Vault
  • The Daily Prophet
    • Book Trolley
    • Editorials
    • Event Reports
    • Exclusive Interviews
    • Features
    • Giveaways
    • Listicles
    • Merchandise Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Television Reviews
    • Theater Reviews
    • Wizolympics
  • Muggle World
    • Charity
    • Exhibitions
    • J.K. Rowling
    • MinaLima
    • Quadball
    • Studio Tours
    • Theatrical Play
    • Theme Parks
    • Wizarding World Digital
  • Fans & Fun
    • Crazy Caption Contest
    • Fan Focus
    • Fandom
    • Fandom Sortings
    • Fandom Timeline
    • Fun Lists
    • Games and Trivia
    • GNOMEs
    • Potter DIY
    • Potter Weddings
    • #PotterItForward
    • Rosmerta’s Recipes
    • Song Parodies
    • Wizard Rock
    • Wizarding Wordle
  • Features / The Daily Prophet

Is Harry Potter Immortal?!

by Lindsay Docken · October 10, 2017

WARNING: Based on personal experience, the following topic has the tendency to create long and heated debates over the cafeteria table. Bring it up to friends at your own risk!

Since their inception, the Harry Potter novels have generated plenty of fan theories, many of which have some real merit. In my opinion, the best theory is one proposed by imgur user HPWombat. They suggest that Harry Potter could actually be immortal. No, Harry did not split his soul into seven, nor did he steal a bit of the Sorcerer’s Stone. The theory goes like this:

 

Source

 

We all know the famous prophecy that Professor Trelawney gave to Dumbledore back in 1980, the one that essentially sealed Harry’s fate. If you did not spend your childhood memorizing all of the prophecies like I may or may not have most certainly done, let me refresh your memory: Professor Trelawney claims that “either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives” (OotP 191). In the novels, Harry and Dumbledore focus in on this idea. Both believe that the two powerful wizards cannot concurrently live in the same world. As a result, one must kill the other. Certainly, this is true since Voldemort needed to be the one to “kill” Harry so as to destroy the Horcrux within him, but what if this were the only way Harry could die?

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… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…” (OotP 191)

Crazy, I know. When I first heard it, I had to stop and think, but then I remembered that this is J.K. Rowling we’re dealing with here; she is the queen of riddles and misdirection. In fact, she has already proven once that the prophecy could have been interpreted differently and still have been correct. Both Neville Longbottom’s and Harry’s parents had defied He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named three times, and both boys were born at the end of July. The only difference was that Voldemort chose to go after Harry, marking him “as his equal” (OotP 191). The crux of the fan theory lies in the line “either must die at the hand of the other” (OotP 191), suggesting that it does not just mean that the other must be the one to administer the fatal blow, but that it is the only way either wizard can die.

 

Source

 

In an ironic twist, HPWombat suggests that without Voldemort around, Harry must forfeit his chance to visit the King’s Cross in the sky again. At first, this idea sounds like nonsense, but if you think about it, it makes sense. Unlike You-Know-Who or even Dumbledore, Harry views death as a reasonable sacrifice to make, one he has already made once. In fact, we know that death is the only way for Harry to ever see his loved ones again, making his immortality the last and greatest sacrifice Harry makes during the war.

 

Source

 

Furthermore, some commenters believe that because Harry has already turned down the option to “board a train” (DH 722), he may not receive another offer. Still, others claim that Harry could have turned Fawkes the phoenix into a Horcrux, yet neither option provides, in my opinion, as strong support as HPWombat’s. So what do you believe? Could Harry be the Boy Who Lived Forever?

Social:

  • Next story The Truth Is out There… at Hogwarts!
  • Previous story Potter DIY: “Beware! Whomping Willow” Sign

MuggleNet Archive

Important Dates

May 2025

Sun, May 18

Miriam Margolyes's birthday
Recurs yearly

Pomona Sprout

Mon, May 19

Geraldine Somerville's birthday
Recurs yearly

Lily Potter

MuggleNet podcasts are sponsored in part by Secretlab.

Thanks to its research-backed ergonomic design, including a proprietary 4-way adaptive lumbar support system, the Secretlab TITAN Evo Harry Potter Edition will comfortably support you even when you’re up to no good.

Did You Know

The Golden Snitch was invented by Bowman Wright, a metal charmer who lived during the Middle Ages.

Potter History

October 31, 2004 – Three Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince chapter titles were revealed.

Potter Quote

“He knows what you were born, not who you are.”

MuggleNet is an unofficial Harry Potter fansite.
Please email us if you have any questions or concerns.
© 1999–2025 MuggleNet.com. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | COPPA Policy | Terms of Use | Feedback


MuggleNet is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and Bookshop.org's affiliate program, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and bookshop.org.