7 Legendary Harry Potter Fan Theories That Never Became Canon

Harry Potter mania swept the globe long before Deathly Hallows, the final book in the iconic series, was published in 2007. If you were lucky enough to grow up with the Boy Who Lived and his Hogwarts friends, you probably remember how much of a deal each new Harry Potter release was.

Fans literally lined up for miles to be among the first to buy a new book. Each novel was read several times and studied meticulously. No detail would escape the eagle-eyed fans. Naturally, this led to a myriad of fan theories about what would happen in future books.

Some of these speculations were eventually confirmed (Dumbledore and Grindelwald being more than just friends, for example), while others never became canon. No matter how popular they were with the fans. Let's take a trip down memory lane and remember seven Wizarding World fan theories that were viral in their time, but ended up not being true.

1. Mark Evans Is Harry's Cousin

If you are wondering who Mark Evans is, you were probably not part of the Harry Potter fandom when Order of the Phoenix came out. He is a minor character, the street neighbor of the Dursleys, who was once beaten up by Dudley.

Based on his surname, which happens to be the same as Harry's mother's maiden name, fans theorized that Mark was Harry's cousin and would play a major role in later books. Given Rowling's penchant for introducing characters early, this was a plausible theory.

2. Harry Is the Half-Blood Prince

This theory originated when fans only knew the title of the sixth book. Many believed that it would reveal Harry as some kind of royalty in the wizarding world. The truth, however, was deeper and more intriguing. The name Half-Blood Prince comes from the mixture of Severus Snape's half-Muggle origin and his mother's maiden name.

3. Tonks Is a Death Eater

Can you imagine sweet Nymphadora Tonks as an ally of Voldemort, spying on the Order of the Phoenix? Well, before the last book, many readers thought she was acting suspiciously, touching her forearm as if it hurt, staying at Hogwarts next to Dumbledore, and getting involved with Lupin. Luckily, the theory was wrong. Sadly, we learned it the hard way.

4. Dumbledore Is Alive

This is probably the most popular theory, which unfortunately never became canon. After Half-Blood Prince, everyone was in denial about Dumbledore's death (some still are). So the theory was a way of dealing with that pain. People hoped that the trickster headmaster had faked his death to resurface and take down Voldemort when the time came. Too bad it never happened.

5. Sirius Is Alive

Another death that hit too hard was that of Sirius Black. He went through the Veil, so faking it was out of the question. But fans speculated that Harry might be able to go after his godfather and lead him to the world of living. That sure would be a welcome arc, wouldn't it?

6. Hagrid Is Doomed to Die

Harry had three main adults and protectors in his life. They were all named after colors. Sirius' last name is Black, Albus is Latin for white, and Rubeus is Latin for red. So when the first two died tragically, the idea that Hagrid would be next was devastating but imminent. When it didn't happen, you could hear the worldwide sigh of relief.

7. Harry Or Hermione Becomes a Teacher At Hogwarts

Before the final book saw the light of day, the author teased that one of the characters was destined to become a teacher at the magical school. Most fans thought it would be either Harry (as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor) or Hermione (as a professor of anything, really). But in the end it turned out to be Neville Longbottom, who became Professor of Herbology.