The Harry Potter books and movies saw the title character preparing for the return of Lord Voldemort, and as part of his training, he took Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape, which according to one theory, was all part of a plan by Albus Dumbledore. Back in 1997, readers all over the world were introduced to the Wizarding World in the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first entry in a series of seven novels that told the story of “The Boy Who Lived” and the darkest wizard of all, who had dangerous plans for the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, as well as a personal vendetta against Harry.
The Harry Potter novels became a worldwide phenomenon, and of course, their success quickly caught the attention of the film industry. The Harry Potter series made the jump to the big screen between 2001 and 2011, with the seventh novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, divided into two movies. The Harry Potter movie saga expanded the novels’ fanbase and allowed the audience to fully immerse themselves in the Wizarding World, and while the movies were mostly loyal to the books (with some changes here and there to better fit the format), they made way for a bunch of questions about this peculiar world, the stories of its characters, and their real intentions, and with that also came a variety of theories.
Although Albus Dumbledore was one of Harry Potter’s most important allies throughout the whole saga, his decisions and actions in both the novels and movies have been endlessly questioned and have been the subject of many theories, as the legendary wizard wasn’t exactly honest all the time. Among those theories is one that explains what Dumbledore’s real intentions behind Harry’s Occlumency lessons with Snape really were, suggesting it was all about setting a trap for Voldemort – and he succeeded.
Theory: Dumbledore Wanted To Provoke Voldemort Through Harry’s Occlumency Efforts
Lord Voldemort made his first appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, where he latched onto Professor Quirinus Quirrell. It wasn’t until the fourth novel and movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, that Voldemort made his first, proper, corporeal appearance after his loyal servant (and one of the biggest traitors in Wizarding history), Peter Pettigrew, performed the ritual to properly bring him back – and for that, they needed Harry’s blood. Goblet of Fire also saw the first duel between Harry and Voldemort, with the young wizard being able to escape thanks to the connection of their wands triggering the effect of Priori Incantatem, through which Harry was momentarily shielded by Voldemort’s previous victims, including his parents. When Harry returned to Hogwarts and let them know Voldemort had returned, most people didn’t believe him, but Voldemort’s return also meant that his connection with Harry had grown stronger.
Harry started having nightmarish visions linked to Voldemort’s actions and whereabouts in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and in order to prevent Voldemort from taking advantage of this, Dumbledore had Snape teach Harry Occlumency, the magic of closing one’s mind against those who can navigate the minds of others. These lessons weren’t easy for neither Harry nor Snape given the strong animosity between them and how hard it is to master Occlumency, but a theory reveals that’s exactly why Dumbledore forced Harry and Snape to work together. The theory explains that closing one’s mind is “a similar exercise to opening it up”, and given the connection between Harry and Voldemort, all the trauma, anger, and pain in Harry would have affected Voldemort, too. What Dumbledore was trying to do through this was provoke Voldemort into doing something impulsive like revealing himself at the Ministry of Magic, which he ended up doing.
The Problems With Dumbledore Using Harry Potter As Bait (Again)
One of the biggest criticisms of the Harry Potter books and movies is how Harry was used as bait on different occasions, almost all of them by Dumbledore himself, and even Snape mentioned it to him at some point. While Dumbledore’s intentions weren’t bad as, ultimately, what he was looking for was defeating Voldemort and through that keep both the Muggle and Wizarding world safe (and, of course, protect Harry Potter as well), he wasn’t always honest and did many things behind everyone’s backs, and he wasn’t even fully honest with Harry Potter, who blindly trusted him. The Occlumency theory makes this even worse as Dumbledore would have put Harry into even more stress and pain just to provoke the same on Voldemort and push him to reveal himself, which even though was a successful plan, ended up deeply affecting Harry and no one else but him. However, while it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Albus Dumbledore could have had a secret plan when he sent Harry Potter to study Occlumency specifically with Severus Snape, there’s not much that can support the theory.