History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / HarryPotter

* About Harry himself:Is he as talented and adept at magic as everyone seems to think he is? He's credited with defeating Voldemort, but the first time he did it he was an infant and it was through his mother's HeroicSacrifice, and the second time [[spoiler:he mostly took advantage of Voldemort's inability to [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove understand love]] and otherwise followed Dumbledore's carefully laid plans]]. Some critics suggest that many of his victories were only based on luck (or Dumbledore's {{Batman Gambit}}s) as opposed to great skill with magic. Interestingly, Harry ''himself'' believes in the fifth book that he only made it so far because he got lucky, only for Ron and Hermione to insist that these events also showed a bravery and resourcefulness that others don't have.

* Ron Weasley: Is he really a good friend or an attention hungry gold digger? He immediately approaches and befriends Harry after learning he's the boy who lived, sees himself as a quidditch hero head boy in the mirror of Erised, and takes off for really stupid reasons at crucial moments from book four onwards.

''Literature/HarryPotter'' is a series of seven {{Doorstopper}}s with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - but even they don't always tell the whole story. Compounding this fact is that the saga is told nearly completely in [[PointOfView limited third-person]] perspective, making it so we only see and think what Harry sees and thinks. Therefore, it's very easy to re-examine characters' behavior and motivations while thinking Harry - whether out of ignorance or his own biases - is an UnreliableNarrator.

** The other Weasleys were very prone to making fun of Percy and had little respect for his interests. After the rift, the others seemed to only express anger at him for leaving, but never sadness or regret; from all this, some fans suggest that Percy had every right to leave, given that he was clearly TheUnfavorite of everyone but Molly. But this raises its own questions; were they [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial too quick]] to say they didn't care that he was gone, and that's why they accepted him back so quickly in the end?

** Are they really the GoodParents everyone makes them out to be? One theory suggests that they're selfish, wanting to make life as hard for their children as it was for them, or at least irresponsibly having more children than they could afford to raise. Molly's behaviour on this front is [[UnfortunateImplications particularly concerning]], given that the narrative establishes that she wanted a daughter so badly that they kept having children until they got one, making the family bigger than it needed to be (and also leaving Ron as TheUnfavorite). These theorists also point to Arthur keeping a menial job at the Ministry because he liked it so much, even though he could have been paid more elsewhere (although in ''Goblet of Fire'' it's suggested that he's being kept down there for liking Muggles too much).

* Luna Lovegood is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and an UnpopularPopularCharacter, but fans are divided as to where her strange beliefs and demeanor come from. Is she a normal girl who's just a bit different? Is she a DumbBlonde? Or is she mentally ill? And if so, what does she have - autism, ADD, schizophrenia, manic depression, some combination thereof? There are a few ways to think about this:

** Her behaviour may be a defense mechanism, especially considering the fact that her dad runs a conspiracy paper. She could be aware that others are inclined not to believe her -- which can be a problem, given that she knows she can see magical creatures like thestrels that even most other wizards can't (and that only because she had seen someone die -- even Harry doesn't get that experience until ''Goblet of Fire''). Every now and then she admits what's really going on (for instance, normally blaming her missing possessions on "Nargles" but admitting to Harry that she knows it's other students taking her stuff).

** Dumbledore is gay which was heavily implied in the last book but only ever confirmed via WordOfGay which raises several questions. This paints his relationship with his EvilFormerFriend Grindelwald in a different light now that we know the HomoeroticSubtext behind it. Theories abound, including: Grindelwald was straight but unaware of Dumbledore's feelings; he was straight ''and'' aware, but he didn't know how to respond; he was gay but not in love with Dumbledore; he was in love with him but tragically opposed to his "better half"'s sense of morality; or he didn't care about him at all, but manipulated his feelings for his own ends. There's also the question about how much anyone knew or suspected generally speaking and how much Harry knew or would have cared more specifically given how much he idolized him. His friend Elphias makes a pretty overt joke about it at Bill's wedding and Ron's great-great aunt says there were always "strange rumors" about him in the same conversation. Rita Skeeter also dances pretty close to outright calling him [[AllGaysArePedophiles a pedophile]] for taking an interest in Harry. All of this might have gone over Harry's head but he also goes out of his way to tell Dumbledore in their King's Cross conversation that Grindelwald died refusing to let Voldemort desecrate his tomb to comfort him, suggesting that Harry may have actually known (or at least suspected) and didn't care. The ''Fantastic Beasts'' movies add even more ambiguity to the relationship. Dumbledore tells one of the ministry guys they were "closer than brothers" and there is some pretty obvious HomoEroticSubtext (like them holding hands while making a blood pact) but once again if it was truly reciprocated hasn't been made clear (yet). The fact that they may or may not have been a couple doesn’t actually seem to be a secret per se at that point of time. A high ranking official in the Ministry straight up asks if he’s delaying fighting him out of lingering affection. Grindelwald comes off as jealous when he talks to Newt about him on two different occasions but it could out of romantic jealousy or just from the fact that his one magical equal regularly talks to and likes someone (in Grindelwald’s eyes) as weird and inferior as Newt while they haven't spoken in almost thirty years. There's also reason to believe that Newt knows or suspects the truth. WordOfGod from [[http://harryahistory.com/2010/02/vault-xx-dumbledore-and-grinde.html JK Rowling herself]] is ambiguous:

** Does his RedemptionQuest excuse his abusive approach to education? On the face of it, he's an asshole teacher who picks on students and would have likely been even crueler to Harry had he not been Lily's son. But some claim that he was really a StealthMentor who wanted to teach his students about the reality of the dangerous world they were facing (but couldn't outright because he's a SlaveToPR and has to be a believable mole). For instance, in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' his stint filling in for Lupin as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was a way to subtly warn the students that he was a werewolf, and he would likely not have ''bothered'' teaching Harry the art of [[PsychicBlockDefense Occlumency]] had he not believed that it could be useful to him. Others counter that Snape is still not doing a very good job of preparing students for the outside world, that he wanted to out Lupin as a werewolf because he hated him and wanted his job, and that he taught Occlumency to Harry so poorly that not only did Harry not really learn it, he was unwilling to go back to Snape for help when Voldemort started feeding him visions.

* Lily Potter is often thought of as a CanonSue. [[CharacterShilling Very few characters have anything mean to say about her]], and those who do usually hold a grudge against her of some sort (like Petunia, who became TheUnfavorite). Unlike James, we see little to suggest that she had any negative qualities. But her relationship with Snape complicates matters somewhat, as she did stand up for him when he was being bullied but broke off their friendship pretty abruptly (even though he did call her a "Mudblood", which given the environment was a pretty shocking thing to say to someone) and is later shown to be tight with all the Marauders. Some fans think she was NotSoAboveItAll and secretly approved of James' treatment of Snape once she was convinced he was unrepentant of his actions. The less sane ones who [[DracoInLeatherPants glorify Snape]] think she overreacted to break it off with Snape to begin with (again, he used a ''slur'' against her, and this was not the only thing he did to piss her off).

*** Its founder, Salazar Slytherin, is not painted well in the books - he was known to have built the Chamber of Secrets, which housed the Muggle-killing Basilisk, and he did have a falling out with the other founders over whether or not to accept Muggle-born students. This suggests that he really was a Pureblood supremacist, but one interpretation suggests that since the BurnTheWitch trope was alive and well at the time[[note]]Which is itself problematic under [[AllThereInTheManual the accepted timeline]], because Hogwarts was apparently founded in the late 10th Century and the large-scale witch-hunts didn't get underway until the mid-15th Century, but [[AnachronismStew whatever]][[/note]], he didn't have anything against Muggles ''per se'', but was a pragmatist who didn't want to open the school up to attack by Muggles. Under this interpretation, the Chamber of Secrets was a defense against a possible attack. Others suggest that the Basilisk wasn't intended to kill people, but Tom Riddle found a way to change that.

** The other question is what to make of wizards who seem okay with this sort of thing. Hermione seems to be the only one who's utterly horrified at House Elves being used as slave labor. Is there something that she's missing, or is the Wizarding World -- which has [[FantasticRacism never had a reputation for open-mindedness]] -- just not thinking about it too hard and accepting the house-elves' claims at face value? Furthermore, even if Hermione is right, is her methodology appropriate? Consider how offended the Hogwarts house-elves are when she starts leaving hats and socks for them to find as a means of tricking them into freedom -- if it works, they are released from Dumbledore's employment, and then they may just wander off to work for someone else, who's very likely not to be as kind to them as Dumbledore is. This means that Hermione [[NiceJobBreakingItHero would have done much more harm than good]] if this plan had succeeded. It is a recurring theme among house-elves (as seen with Kreacher's treatment of the heroes) that they're much more likely not to betray you [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe the better you treat them]].

** What made him turn out the way he is? Was he doomed to be evil from birth, or could he have become a better person had he believed there was someone who actually cared about him? Rowling has {{flipflop|OfGod}}ped on this: she has stated that he would have been better had his mother survived to raise him, but she has also said that he was born incapable of love because he was conceived under the influence of a love potion.

* Who are even the good guys? Many Death Eaters don't exactly share in Voldemort's fervour to TakeOverTheWorld. Some of them were high-ranking figures already, which suggests that they were attracted to the movement's ideology (which happens to be to exterminate everything that's not a pure-blooded wizard). Others suggest, though, that they're NotSoDifferent from the good guys, who themselves want to keep magic a secret from the world at large (to the point where [[spoiler:none of them bothered to break TheMasquerade during the ten months Voldemort took over their government, even though they could have saved a ''lot'' of Muggle lives by doing so]]), have a very harsh and [[AllCrimesAreEqual sometimes disproportionate]] justice system, are fine with slavery, and [[FantasticRacism have their own discriminatory viewpoints]]. For example, Dumbledore is implied to be astonishingly progressive to give Lupin and Hagrid jobs at Hogwarts, and he still has to keep Lupin's [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]] a secret. Furthermore, most wizards' complete ignorance of modern technology, clothing, science, and medicine due to their rejection of anything Muggle, as well as how they treat Muggles as ignorant and naive playthings is treated as comical eccentricity at it's worst. One common fan interpretation is that Wizarding Britain is incredibly backward, insular, and prejudiced compared to other magical communities.

** Harry's abrupt discovery of what James [[BigManOnCampus was like in school]] may [[VoodooShark raise more questions than it solves]]. When other characters talk about James before this point, one gets the impression that he was a genuinely upstanding guy all along. When Harry behaves like a good guy, everyone talks about how proud James would have been. His former professors like [=McGonagall=], who wouldn't mince words about him having once been an asshole, speak universally positively of him. Even Voldemort treats him as a WorthyOpponent when he duels him (and does so again in ''Goblet of Fire'' when his echo appears out of the ''Priori Incantatem''). But James acts like ''such'' an asshole when we see him in {{Flashback}} that it seems to make these earlier characterisations of him inconsistent, and it can even diminish the EmotionalTorque of his character on a second reading. It just seems like there are two totally distinct versions of James, for the sake of a ShockingSwerve, and readers don't have any idea of which one is the "real" one.

** What was the nature of Ginny's relationship with Tom Riddle in her first year? Harry doesn't learn much about what Tom's diary did to her; he suspects it {{brainwashing}}ed her into committing some horrible acts. But some people wonder how much control Ginny really had. Was she tricked into doing it by a nice, friendly-seeming stranger? When she realized what was happening to her, why didn't she tell anyone? Was that mind control too, was she afraid of facing the consequences of her actions (whether they were intentional or not), or was she afraid of people finding out about their friendship? By her account, she had no control over her actions and couldn't reconcile them (even asking Tom if she was going insane), but should Harry believe her, and if that were true, could she plausibly hold up mentally as well as she did? And, since this is fan-fiction: [[UnequalPairing was she in love with him, or was it mutual, or what?]] (Extremely unlikely, as Voldemort canonically [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove cannot understand love]] and she's [[SingleTargetSexuality only got eyes for Harry]], but again, this is fan-fiction.)

* About Harry himself:
** Is Harry TheHero and [[MessianicArchetype a genuine saviour]], or is he a trust-fund orphan whose {{deceased parents|arethebest}} give him license to [[ItsAllAboutMe dismiss everyone else's problems as unimportant]]? He's obviously supposed to be a nice guy, but does the author succeed at portraying him as such? Do his allies help him because they like him, or because he's vitally important to SavingTheWorld?
** Is he as talented and adept at magic as everyone seems to think he is? He's credited with defeating Voldemort, but the first time he did it he was an infant and it was through his mother's HeroicSacrifice, and the second time [[spoiler:he mostly took advantage of Voldemort's inability to [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove understand love]] and otherwise followed Dumbledore's carefully laid plans]]. Some critics suggest that many of his victories were only based on luck (or Dumbledore's {{Batman Gambit}}s) as opposed to great skill with magic. Interestingly, Harry ''himself'' believes in the fifth book that he only made it so far because he got lucky, only for Ron and Hermione to insist that these events also showed a bravery and resourcefulness that others don't have.
** Is he really a good friend? Canonically, people like him, and his friendships are [[ThePowerOfFriendship instrumental in saving the day]]. But one [[http://www.cracked.com/funny-8720-harry-potter/ alternative interpretation of him]] is that he's really a JerkJock who only cares about Quidditch and girls and isn't particularly interested in academics. He frequently dismisses his friends' attempts to help him until he gets stuck himself (culminating in Ron briefly leaving the group in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' because Harry would rather sit around complaining than listen to his ideas). Many proponents of this theory think he's particularly mean to Hermione (and use this to counteract the prevalent Harry/Hermione shippers in the fandom), pointing out his persistent refusal to understand her perspective on some things (''e.g.'' her contention that his shiny new Firebolt could be a BoobyTrap, her objection to his using the notes in Half Blood Prince's textbook in class, and [[{{Gaslighting}} exploiting her jumpiness]] to trick Ron into playing the Quidditch game of his life[[note]]Although anyone with experience with goalkeeping in a real sport will tell you that what Harry did is the most plausible explanation yet discovered for why keepers suddenly just have games like that[[/note]]) and his tendency to feel much worse about himself when he fights with Ron than with Hermione.

* Ron Weasley: Is he really a good friend or an attention hungry ((gold digger?)) He immediately approaches and befriends Harry after learning he's the boy who lived, sees himself as a quidditch hero head boy in the mirror of Erised, and takes off for really stupid reasons at crucial moments from book four onwards.

* Ron Weasley: Is he really a good friend or an attention hungry gold digger? He immediately approaches and befriends Harry after learning he's the boy who lived, sees himself as a quidditch hero head boy in the mirror of Erised, and takes off for really stupid reasons at crucial moments from book four onwards.

** What was the nature of Ginny's relationship with Tom Riddle in her first year? Harry doesn't learn much about what Tom's diary did to her; he suspects it {{brainwash|ing}}ed her into committing some horrible acts. But some people wonder how much control Ginny really had. Was she tricked into doing it by a nice, friendly-seeming stranger? When she realized what was happening to her, why didn't she tell anyone? Was that mind control too, was she afraid of facing the consequences of her actions (whether they were intentional or not), or was she afraid of people finding out about their friendship? By her account, she had no control over her actions and couldn't reconcile them (even asking Tom if she was going insane), but should Harry believe her, and if that were true, could she plausibly hold up mentally as well as she did? And, since this is fan-fiction: [[UnequalPairing was she in love with him, or was it mutual, or what?]] (Extremely unlikely, as Voldemort canonically [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove cannot understand love]] and she's [[SingleTargetSexuality only got eyes for Harry]], but again, this is fan-fiction.)

* Ron Weasley is one of Harry's most loyal allies, but that doesn't stop the fandom from interpreting him as TheResenter who feels overshadowed by his siblings and [[TheChosenOne his]] [[TeenGenius friends]], and would betray his comrades at the drop of a hat. This spawned the fanfic trope, RonTheDeathEater.

** Is he really a good friend? Canonically, people like him, and his friendships are [[ThePowerOfFriendship instrumental in saving the day]]. But one [[http://www.cracked.com/funny-8720-harry-potter/ alternative interpretation og him]] is that he's really a JerkJock who only cares about Quidditch and girls and isn't particularly interested in academics. He frequently dismisses his friends' attempts to help him until he gets stuck himself (culminating in Ron briefly leaving the group in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' because Harry would rather sit around complaining than listen to his ideas). Many proponents of this theory think he's particularly mean to Hermione (and use this to counteract the prevalent Harry/Hermione shippers in the fandom), pointing out his persistent refusal to understand her perspective on some things (''e.g.'' her contention that his shiny new Firebolt could be a BoobyTrap, her objection to his using the notes in Half Blood Prince's textbook in class, and [[{{Gaslighting}} exploiting her jumpiness]] to trick Ron into playing the Quidditch game of his life[[note]]Although anyone with experience with goalkeeping in a real sport will tell you that what Harry did is the most plausible explanation yet discovered for why keepers suddenly just have games like that[[/note]]) and his tendency to feel much worse about himself when he fights with Ron than with Hermione.

** Is he really a good friend? Canonically, people like him, and his friendships are [[ThePowerOfFriendship instrumental in saving the day]]. But one [[http://www.cracked.com/funny-8720-harry-potter/ popular alternative interpretation]] is that he's really a JerkJock who only cares about Quidditch and girls and isn't particularly interested in academics. He frequently dismisses his friends' attempts to help him until he gets stuck himself (culminating in Ron briefly leaving the group in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' because Harry would rather sit around complaining than listen to his ideas). Many proponents of this theory think he's particularly mean to Hermione (and use this to counteract the prevalent Harry/Hermione shippers in the fandom), pointing out his persistent refusal to understand her perspective on some things (''e.g.'' her contention that his shiny new Firebolt could be a BoobyTrap, her objection to his using the notes in Half Blood Prince's textbook in class, and [[{{Gaslighting}} exploiting her jumpiness]] to trick Ron into playing the Quidditch game of his life[[note]]Although anyone with experience with goalkeeping in a real sport will tell you that what Harry did is the most plausible explanation yet discovered for why keepers suddenly just have games like that[[/note]]) and his tendency to feel much worse about himself when he fights with Ron than with Hermione.

** What made him turn out the way he is? Was he doomed to be evil from birth, or could he have become a better person had he believed there was someone who actually cared about him? Rowling has {{flipflop|OfGod}}ed on this: she has stated that he would have been better had his mother survived to raise him, but also that he was born incapable of love because he was conceived under the influence of a love potion.

** What made him turn out the way he is? Was he doomed to be evil from birth, or could he have become a better person had he believed there was someone who actually cared about him? WordOfGod tends to lean toward the latter, as Rowling has stated that he would have been better had his mother survived to raise him.

** With a few exceptions, such as Dobby, they [[BlueAndOrangeMorality find the prospect of not serving human wizards abhorrent]]. However, is this HappinessInSlavery attitude ''actually'' genuine? Are the house-elves just saying they're fine with being enslaved because they feel as if they can't fight the FantasticCasteSystem the Wizarding World has enforced on them? Or have they been enslaved by wizards for so long that [[NotUsedToFreedom they wouldn't know what they would do if they were freed]]? Even Dobby's idea of freedom isn't "not working", but "not working for the Malfoys", as he happily works for Dumbledore while insisting on being paid less than he was offered. However, this raises its own questions -- is he genuinely conditioned not to want too much money, or does he just not want the other house-elves to turn on him since they already consider him a weirdo for being happy as a free house-elf? Hermione's own theory is that they're [[StockholmSyndrome psychologically conditioned to like being enslaved]], which is something [[TruthInTelevision that can happen to slaves in real life]], and there are a lot of hints that makes one wonder if it's true -- including the house-elves' habit of [[SelfHarm physically punishing themselves]] for failing their masters.

** He is seen often as a romantic ByronicHero, who started out genuinely evil but fell in love and had a HeelFaceTurn, yet at the same time, became a bitter {{Jerkass}} out of romantic disappointment and found himself torn between jealousy and guilt before finally achieving his RedemptionQuest. As the series goes on, he's shown more and more risking himself fighting for the good guys (by ''Deathly Hallows'' even risking his cover as a Reverse ReverseMole to protect his allies). Creator/JKRowling admitted that she sees Snape this way:

** Does his RedemptionQuest excuse his abusive approach to education? On the face of it, he's an asshole teacher who picks on students and would have likely been even crueler to Harry had he not been Lily's son. But some claim that he was really a StealthMentor who wanted to teach his students about the reality of the dangerous world they were facing (but couldn't outright because he's a SlaveToPR and has to be a believable ReverseMole). For instance, in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' his stint filling in for Lupin as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was a way to subtly warn the students that he was a werewolf, and he would likely not have ''bothered'' teaching Harry the art of [[PsychicBlockDefense Occlumency]] had he not believed that it could be useful to him. Others counter that Snape is still not doing a very good job of preparing students for the outside world, that he wanted to out Lupin as a werewolf because he hated him and wanted his job, and that he taught Occlumency to Harry so poorly that not only did Harry not really learn it, he was unwilling to go back to Snape for help when Voldemort started feeding him visions.

** Dumbledore is gay but it was only ever confirmed via WordOfGay which raises several question. This paints his relationship with his EvilFormerFriend Grindelwald in a different light now that we know the [[HoYay subtext]] behind it. Theories abound, including: Grindelwald was straight but unaware of Dumbledore's feelings; he was straight ''and'' aware, but he didn't know how to respond; he was gay but not in love with Dumbledore; he was in love with him but tragically opposed to his "better half"'s sense of morality; or he didn't care about him at all, but manipulated his feelings for his own ends. There's also the question about how much anyone knew or suspected generally speaking and how much Harry knew or would have cared more specifically given how much he idolized him. His friend Elphias makes a pretty overt joke about it at Bill's wedding and Ron's great-great aunt says there were always "strange rumors" about him. This might have gone over Harry's head but he also goes out of his way to tell Dumbledore in their King's Cross conversation that Grindelwald died refusing to let Voldemort desecrate his tomb to comfort him, suggesting that Harry may have actually known (or at least suspected) and didn't care. The ''Fantastic Beasts'' movies add even more ambiguity to the relationship. Dumbledore tells one of the ministry guys they were "closer than brothers" and there is some pretty obvious HomoEroticSubtext (like them holding hands while making a blood pact) but once again if it was truly reciprocated hasn't been made clear (yet). Grindelwald comes off as jealous when he talks to Newt about him but it could out of romantic jealousy or just from the fact that his one magical equal regularly talks to and likes someone as weird and (in his eyes) inferior as Newt while they haven't spoken in almost thirty years. There's also reason to believe that Newt knows or suspects the truth. WordOfGod from [[http://harryahistory.com/2010/02/vault-xx-dumbledore-and-grinde.html JK Rowling herself]] is ambiguous:

** In general, Harry practically idolizes him and sees him as [[EccentricMentor an important mentor]]. But other characters don't like him as much because of his {{Chessmaster}} qualities. Some readers spun this further into him being a KnightTemplar and MagnificentBastard. In fan-fiction - especially the DarkerAndEdgier variety - he can be entirely unrepentant of what he does to ensure the safety of wizardry, even being nice to Harry only because [[spoiler:he needs him to sacrifice himself]]. In canon, at least, he was willing to admit mistakes when Harry confronted him, and it's strongly implied that he's got more regrets that he never told Harry.

* Why did [[AbusiveParents Petunia and Vernon Dursley]] even take Harry in if they hated him, and by extension, wizards and magic in general, so much? Was it because deep down, Petunia really did care about her sister Lily and wish to protect her son? Or did Dumbledore badger them into doing it and left them with no choice but to agree to take in Harry? Harry was a literal DoorstopBaby, and the only explanation as to why he was there was a letter Dumbledore left explaining what had happened to Harry's parents -- a letter which described them as having been killed by an evil wizard who will kill them too unless they invoke the magical protections from said evil wizard by taking in the kid. How is a Muggle family going to react to that? Why would they believe that? More importantly, why would the old reactionary ''Vernon'' believe that? Why wouldn't they go to the Muggle police (since if you find an abandoned child, especially a baby, you’re supposed to report them to the authorities), or at the very least ask Dumbledore for some clarification? Did Dumbledore even leave them any way to contact him so they could actually talk to him about this arrangement? Petunia does prevent Vernon from actually kicking Harry out, but that could be for either one of the above reasons.

** Dumbledore is gay but it was only ever confirmed via WordOfGay which raises several question. This paints his relationship with his EvilFormerFriend Grindelwald in a different light now that we know the [[HoYay subtext]] behind it. Theories abound, including: Grindelwald was straight but unaware of Dumbledore's feelings; he was straight ''and'' aware, but he didn't know how to respond; he was gay but not in love with Dumbledore; he was in love with him but tragically opposed to his "better half"'s sense of morality; or he didn't care about him at all, but manipulated his feelings for his own ends. There's also the question about how much anyone knew or suspected generally speaking and how much Harry knew or would have cared more specifically given how much he idolized him. His friend Elphias makes a pretty overt joke about it at Bill's wedding and Ron's great-great aunt says there were always "strange rumors" about him. This might have gone over Harry's head but he also goes out of his way to tell Dumbledore in their King's Cross conversation that Grindelwald died refusing to let Voldemort desecrate his tomb to comfort him, suggesting that Harry may have actually known (or at least suspected) and didn't care. The ''Fantastic Beasts'' movies add even more ambiguity to the relationship. Dumbledore tells one of the ministry guys they were "closer than brothers" and there is some pretty obvious HomoEroticSubtext (like them holding hands while making a blood pact) but once again if it was truly reciprocated hasn't been made clear (yet). Grindelwald comes off as jealous when he talks to Newt about him but it could out of romantic jealousy or just from the fact that his one magical equal regularly talks to and likes someone he views as inferior as Newt while they haven't spoken in almost thirty years. WordOfGod from [[http://harryahistory.com/2010/02/vault-xx-dumbledore-and-grinde.html JK Rowling herself]] is ambiguous:

*** Alternatively, was Harry's failure to learn Occlumency Snape's fault or Harry's. Harrye explicitly states that he doesn't want to learn from Snape and doesn't see any real point to it.

* The house-elves epitomise the SlaveRace, which raises a lot of questions:
** With a few exceptions, such as Dobby, they [[BlueAndOrangeMorality find the prospect of not serving human wizards abhorrent]]. However, is this HappinessInSlavery attitude ''actually'' genuine? Are the house-elves just saying they're fine with being enslaved because they feel as if they can't fight the FantasticCasteSystem the Wizarding World has enforced on them? Or have they been enslaved by wizards for so long that [[NotUsedToFreedom they wouldn't know what they would do if they were freed]]? Even Dobby's idea of freedom isn't "not working", but "not working for the Malfoys", as he happily works for Dumbledore while insisting on being paid less than he was offered. However, this raises its own questions -- is he genuinely conditioned not to want too much money, or does he just not want the other house-elves to turn on him since they already consider him a weirdo for being happy as a free house-elf? Hermione's own theory is that they're [[StockholmSyndrome psychologically conditioned to like being enslaved]], which is something [[TruthInTelevision that can happen to slaves in real life]], and there's a lot to wonder about if it is true -- including the house-elves' habit of [[SelfHarm physically punishing themselves]] for failing their masters.
** The other question is what to make of wizards who seem okay with this sort of thing. Hermione seems to be the only one who's utterly horrified at their treatment. Is there something that she's missing, or is the Wizarding World -- which has [[FantasticRacism never had a reputation for open-mindedness]] -- just not thinking about it too hard and accepting the house-elves' claims at face value? Furthermore, even if Hermione is right, is her methodology appropriate? Consider how offended the Hogwarts house-elves are when she starts leaving hats and socks for them to find as a means of tricking them into freedom -- if it works, and they are released from Dumbledore's employment, they may just wander off to work for someone else, who's very likely not to be as kind to them as Dumbledore. This means that Hermione [[NiceJobBreakingItHero would have done much more harm than good]] if this plan had succeeded. It is a recurring theme among house-elves (as seen with Kreacher's treatment of the heroes) that they're much more likely not to betray you [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe the better you treat them]].

** With a few exceptions, such as Dobby, they [[OrangeAndBlueMorality find the prospect of not serving human wizards abhorrent]]. However, is this HappinessInSlavery attitude ''actually'' genuine? Are the house-elves just saying they're fine with being enslaved because they feel as if they can't fight the FantasticCasteSystem the Wizarding World has enforced on them? Or have they been enslaved by wizards for so long that [[NotUsedToFreedom they wouldn't know what they would do if they were freed]]? Even Dobby's idea of freedom isn't "not working", but "not working for the Malfoys", as he happily works for Dumbledore while insisting on being paid less than he was offered. However, this raises its own questions -- is he genuinely conditioned not to want too much money, or does he just not want the other house-elves to turn on him since they already consider him a weirdo for being happy as a free house-elf? Hermione's own theory is that they're [[StockholmSyndrome psychologically conditioned to like being enslaved]], which is something [[TruthInTelevision that can happen to slaves in real life]], and there's a lot to wonder about if it is true -- including the house-elves' habit of [[SelfHarm physically punishing themselves]] for failing their masters.

* Who are even the good guys? Many Death Eaters don't exactly share in Voldemort's fervour to TakeOverTheWorld. Some of them were high-ranking figures already, which suggests that they were attracted to the movement's ideology (which happens to be to exterminate everything that's not a pure-blooded wizard). Others suggest, though, that they're NotSoDifferent from the good guys, who themselves want to keep magic a secret from the world at large (to the point where [[spoiler:none of them bothered to break TheMasquerade during the ten months Voldemort took over their government, even though they could have saved a ''lot'' of Muggle lives by doing so]]), have a very harsh and [[AllCrimesAreEqual sometimes disproportionate]] justice system, are fine with slavery, and [[FantasticRacism have their own discriminatory viewpoints]]. For example, Dumbledore is implied to be astonishingly progressive to give Lupin and Hagrid jobs at Hogwarts, and he still has to keep Lupin's [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]] a secret, and most wizards' complete ignorance of modern technology, clothing, science, and medicine due to their rejection of anything Muggle is treated as comical eccentricity at it's worst. One common fan interpretation is that Wizarding Britain is incredibly backward, insular, and prejudiced compared to other magical communities.

** Is he a genuine, committed Pureblood supremacist? Or is he just an AxCrazy lunatic trying to TakeOverTheWorld and using the Pureblood movement to do so?

* Who are even the good guys? Many Death Eaters don't exactly share in Voldemort's fervour to TakeOverTheWorld. Some of them were high-ranking figures already, which suggests that they were attracted to the movement's ideology (which happens to be to exterminate everything that's not a pure-blooded wizard). Others suggest, though, that they're NotSoDifferent from the good guys, who themselves want to keep magic a secret from the world at large (to the point where [[spoiler:none of them bothered to break TheMasquerade during the ten months Voldemort took over their government, even though they could have saved a ''lot'' of Muggle lives by doing so]]), have a very harsh and [[AllCrimesAreEqual sometimes disproportionate]] justice system, are fine with slavery, and [[FantasticRacism have their own discriminatory viewpoints]] (Dumbledore is implied to be astonishingly progressive to give Lupin and Hagrid jobs at Hogwarts, and he still has to keep Lupin's [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]] a secret). One common fan interpretation is that Wizarding Britain is incredibly backwards, insular, and prejudiced compared to other magical communities.

* Why did [[AbusiveParents Petunia and Vernon Dursley]] even take Harry in if they hated him, and by extension, wizards and magic in general, so much? Was it because deep down, Petunia really did care about her sister Lily and wish to protect her son? Or did Dumbledore badger them into doing it and left them with no choice but to agree to take in Harry? Harry was a literal DoorstopBaby, and the only explanation as to why he was there was a letter Dumbledore left explaining what had happened to Harry's parents -- a letter which described them as having been killed by an evil wizard who will kill them too, but if they take in the kid they get magical protection from said evil wizard. How is a Muggle family going to react to that? Why would they believe that? More importantly, why would the old reactionary ''Vernon'' believe that? Why wouldn't they go to the Muggle police (since if you find an abandoned child, especially a baby, you’re supposed to report it to the authorities), or at the very least ask Dumbledore for some clarification? Did Dumbledore even leave them any way to contact him so they could actually talk to him about this arrangement? Petunia does prevent Vernon from actually kicking Harry out, but that could be for either one of the above reasons.

** The other question is what to make of wizards who seem okay with this sort of thing. Hermione seems to be the only one who's utterly horrified at their treatment. Is there something that she's missing, or is the Wizarding World -- which has [[FantasticRacism never had a reputation for open-mindedness]] -- just not thinking about it too hard and accepting the house-elves' claims at face value? Furthermore, even if Hermione is right, is her methodology appropriate? Consider how offended the Hogwarts house-elves are when she starts leaving hats and socks for them to find as a means of tricking them into freedom -- if it works, and they are released from Dumbledore's employment, they may just wander off to work for someone else, who's very likely not to be as kind to them as Dumbledore. This means that potentially Hermione was doing [[NiceJobBreakingItHero much more harm than good]]if this plan had succeeded. It is a recurring theme among house-elves (as seen with Kreacher's treatment of the heroes) that they're much more likely not to betray you [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe the better you treat them]].
* Why did Petunia and Vernon Dursley even take Harry in if they hated him and magic so much? Was it because deep down, Petunia really did care about her sister Lily and wish to protect her son? Or did Dumbledore badger them into doing it? Harry was a literal DoorstopBaby, and the only explanation as to why he was there was a letter Dumbledore left explaining what had happened to Harry's parents -- a letter which described them as having been killed by an evil wizard who will kill them too, but if they take in the kid they get magical protection from said evil wizard. How is a Muggle family going to react to that? Why would they believe that? More importantly, why would the old reactionary ''Vernon'' believe that? Why wouldn't they go to the Muggle police (since if you find an abandoned child, especially a baby, you’re supposed to report it to the authorities), or at the very least ask Dumbledore for some clarification? Petunia does prevent Vernon from actually kicking Harry out, but that could be for either one of the above reasons.

** Did Snape even succeed in his RedemptionQuest, or did he just [[MoralLuck luck out]]? Snape did inform Voldemort of the prophecy that convinced him he needed to kill Harry's family, but if Voldemort had chosen Neville and ''his'' family (as was possible under the prophecy), would he even have defected? Some of the people who argue that Dumbledore [[ManipulativeBastard manipulated a vulnerable Snape]] into working for him was right to do so, as he called out Snape for being willing to let Harry and James die even as he pleaded for Voldemort to spare Lily, and he had the opportunity to turn a total asshole into [[{{Deprogram}} one of the good guys]]. (However, these fans are likely not to accept Harry's characterisation of him as "[[CharacterShilling the bravest man]]".)

* Why did Petunia and Vernon Dursley even take Harry in? Was it because deep down, Petunia really did care about her sister Lily and wish to protect her son? Or did Dumbledore badger them into doing it? Harry was a literal DoorstopBaby, and the only explanation as to why he was there was a letter Dumbledore left explaining what had happened to Harry's parents -- a letter which described them as having been killed by an evil wizard who will kill them too, but if they take in the kid they get magical protection from said evil wizard. How is a Muggle family going to react to that? Why would they believe that? More importantly, why would the old reactionary ''Vernon'' believe that? Why wouldn't they go to the Muggle police (since if you find an abandoned child, especially a baby, you’re supposed to report it to the authorities), or at the very least ask Dumbledore for some clarification? Petunia does prevent Vernon from actually kicking Harry out, but that could be for either one of the above reasons.