Harry Potter Theories

HARRY HALLUCINATED THE WHOLE THING WHILE LIVING IN THE DURSLEY'S CUPBOARD

In this horribly depressing theory, the entire series is actually just a dream created by a starving and depressed Harry, stuck in the dark, alone in the Dursley's cupboard. The "Harry is insane" theory may seem a little too Lost for a writer of Rowling's caliber, but the author has actually gone so far as to address the idea that Harry might have dreamed it all. Her remarks came in response to a behind-the-scenes interview with screenwriter Steve Kloves, who, in writing his adaptation of the first film, invented a spider for Harry to talk to in the cupboard so that, when Hagrid first showed up, viewers might think, at least briefly, that he was hallucinating all of it. "I think that's a fabulous point, and it speaks so perfectly to the truth of the books," Rowling replied. "I've heard it suggested to me more than once that Harry actually did go mad in the cupboard, and that everything that happened subsequently was some sort of fantasy life he developed to save himself." No denial from the outspoken author, though, so who knows.