Whether you’re a fan of the books, the films, or both–the world of Harry Potter is the perfect breeding ground for all sorts of fan theories. Back in 2015, we talked a bit about a fan theory that attempts to explain why the Dursleys were so damn mean to Harry.
The theory goes like this: horcruxes can have a negative effect on people if they’re around dark magic long enough. Harry was an accidental Horcrux. The Dursleys were around him for years. Ipso facto–those words should totally be a spell–the Dursleys became twisted, mean, and awful people. Here’s a pretty concise recap from Cracked about it.
As fan theories go, this one holds some water even though Pottermore explains the family wasn’t all too nice to begin with. And since theories like this gain traction, it wasn’t too long before someone asked Daniel Radcliffe what he thought about it.
According to Huffington Post (via Bustle), the actor sees some truth in Harry inadvertently twisting the Dursleys into worse versions than they already were. “Oh OK, so it affects the behavior of people around it. That’s interesting, yeah,” Radcliffe replied when asked about the theory adding, “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, they would have been quite a nice, friendly family.”
But what do you think? Were the Dursleys always such jerks? Did the presence of Harry make things worse? How did their entire neighborhood not call the NSPCC for keeping a kid locked in a closet? Let’s discuss in the comments below!
Image:Â Warner Bros. Pictures
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