The reason Lupin looked so shabby/aged was because of being a Lycanthrope and the stresses related to that. As for why Sirius seemed aged more then normal for being in his 30s was Azkaban. The reason for Snape seeming aged more then normal was heartbreak with Lily and the stress of being a spy.
You could also argue that when Harry died, for that brief moment the entire Potter line was wiped out and thus there was no more curse, ending it that way as well.
Credans is the son of Albus Brother and the blodbond gets destroyed because grindelwad try’s to kill creadens at the end of the movie and dumbeldoor defends him the courses cross and the bloodpact gets destroyed creadens goes him with abliste brother I know this becaus in Germany the movie is already in theaters.
Wasn't Petunia the only option because she was the only relative of Lily? It was her blood protection not James so some distant cousin of his wouldn't have protected him.
You know, it makes perfect sense that the Potter family made Slick Eazy's hair potion. Harry definitely got his untameable hair from them, so it makes sense they invented a potion that would help with their....HARRY problem. I'll see myself out.
@@TheBrothergreen I'm pretty certain that, that brand IS HIS. He should just be able to get some. Which means that the real problem isn't that he doesn't use it. It's that no one told him about it during the entire story.
@@nemasisdemarini8339 ever tried claiming patent rights at the MOM? I hear its what had Flamel drinking elixir all this time, just waiting for his patent to come through
I have a different theory. That death, having been defeated by the third brother, found a worthy pawn to defeat a future foe. Since death is probably a magical being, he knew that one day Voldemort would challenge his law. Perhaps death did not feel cheated by the brothers but instead chose to test them; The third being the only survivor, the only one whose lineage stood a chance of avoiding death until the real threat emerged. Because it is known in death's lore IRL that he is supposed to be fond of games, so why would death in the books be any different. And what better game than using humanity to keep the wicked at bay by acting as his pieces in the most grand game of chess ever played. And against Voldemort, who would try to become immortal, Harry was simply his knight. Checkmate.
It is unlikely that death as a cosmic being existed. If he did all you'd have to do is build a bridge to get his attention. I don't hear any other stories involving death. It also seems fair to point out that in the books it is pointed out that the Deathly Hallows were most likely made by the Peverells and death was just a fairy tale made to embellish the story. It seems possible that a 4th witch or wizard in jealousy could have cursed the Peverells causing death to happen more often. But no cosmic being called Death.
I like your theory but I prefer to think Voldemort chose the person who would be best equipped to kill him. We all know he could have chosen Neville. We also know that had Alice refused to get out of the way it would have made no difference at all. She would have died Neville would have died because Snape didn't ask Voldemort to spare her. I'm not sure I like the thought of adding in death pulling the strings
I'd like to believe Rowling's a better worldbuilder than to have the cosmic entity that is Death, do anything to try to thwart Voldemort. It would all come out in the wash anyway. You could say that Death was trying to gain tools/pawns, but I'm gonna scoff at the notion of any thought of Voldemort specifically
Yeah I thought that too, but doesn’t that almost grant more creditability to what is said? He keeps the cloak and therefore evades death he doesn’t have to be the master of death just needs to hide from death
@@richardbarton4266 that’s a good point. In the end it was the brother with the cloak that lived a long life and willingly took off the robe and greeted death.
It's just a bit too convenient that Lily, a 21 year old muggle born was an orphan. Slightly more believable on James' side as his parents were old when they had him and they died of dragon pox.
My theory was always that the Death Eaters killed them and made it look like an accident when Lily started becoming a problem for them. It would give Petunia a solid reason to hate her and hate magic but also to hate/fear Voldemort and what he could do to her son. (See He reaction to Harry telling her Moldy was back) she has first hand experience of the war. That's why she doubles down on the "all wizards are evil freaks" thing.
@@nellebolton7910 a lot of her hate was because she was jealous that Lilly was powerful and more beloved by her parents Especially when she was outed for begging Dumbledore to let her into Hogwarts
As people have already mentioned it was Lilly’s sacrifice that put the protection on Harry so it had to be a relative from Lilly’s side so Petunia seemed to be the only one. So I feel we need to see what happened to other relatives on her side. But as her sister Petunia and Lilly’s blood is close as Dumbledore mentions that as to why it had to be Petunia.
I think the exact words were “so long as Lily’s sacrifice dwells in the place you call home, you will be protected”. Which actually implies he could have lived with Mrs Figg. The sacrifice lives through his blood and he’ll call Mrs Figg’s house home. Or Grimmauld Place. Or anywhere. The wording is vague enough to allow for an exception
Credans is the son of Albus Brother and the blodbond gets destroyed because grindelwad try’s to kill creadens at the end of the movie and dumbeldoor defends him the courses cross and the bloodpact gets destroyed creadens goes him with abliste brother I know this becaus in Germany the movie is already in theaters.
@@brianblum9361 Maybe Dumbledore meant to say “Ya gotta live with the closest blood relative on your mom’s side due to some blood protection spell she casted on you at the very last minute”. Maybe the reason for Dumbledore’s vague wording is due to many factors and flaws: He might have underestimated exactly how badly the Dursley’s are treating Harry, he’s getting very old and keeps loosing brain cells after every traumatic thing he’s witnessed in his life, he purposely uses vague wording to sound “wise” but fails somewhat, and lastly, Dumbledore’s personal definition of a “Home” is probably different to Harry’s personal definition. Dumbledore probably saw home as simply a house with relatives in it that you are obligated to return to when needed, while Harry probably viewed home as a safe and happy place with people who care about you and treat you nicely. Another reason is that due to lost brain cells, Dumbledore might have also misinterpreted the spell and genuinely believed that Harry was required to stay with Petunia for the blood charm to stay valid.
@@AngelArcher17 Lily didn't intentionally cast the spell. It's a piece of magic that isn't cast. They didn't need to be the closest relative, Petunia was simply the only one left. Dumbledore hadn't "lost brain cells", or tried and failed to sound wise, or misunderstood the requirements of the Bond of Blood Charm, or a different definition of a "home" than Harry.
Harry drops the stone, the cloak is in the front of his robes. Says so in the book, he never dropped the cloak, he just wasn't wearing it. He removed it.
Plus he uses it to become invisible and scare the death eaters and voldy further. When he jumps from Hagrid's arms and everyone thinks his body vanished
@@Zepe89 Harry never actually jumped from Hagrid's arms in the book. Hagrid laid him on the ground, but it was Hagrid who first noticed that Harry had disappeared.
This is an interesting theory. Yet, it doesn't have good foundations. You assumed everyone in the Potter line died, because Harry is sent to Petunia. While it's true that Mcgonagall asked Dumbledore if there was any other family member and he said there wasn't, you have to take a few things into account. First, Dumbledore wants *Lily's* blood relatives. She sacrificed herself, only her blood can keep the protection alive. Hence, no need to make any assumption about the Potters. Second, even if we include James's family for some reason, Dumbledore is looking for *family*. And I'm quite sure there's a limit to whom can be considered family. Harry's 21st cousin 46-times removed would harly be considered family, even if they're Lindfred's grand-...-grand-child. Even if James's family was an option, how much blood would Harry actually share with such a cousin? And if there were no limit to "blood distance", Harry could just go live with Voldemort. They're both descendants of the Peverell brothers, so they're nth cousins sth-removed too. And it would be hilarious: "Harry, whatever he does, just keep calling 'home' the place where he lives". Living with the man who tried to kill you prevents him from successfully killing you 😂 Third, just as the Peverll family did, the Potter family could have "become extint in the *male* line" except for Harry. Maybe the Potters had tons of daughters and few sons. And I've got the impresion that having children is not that common in the wizarding world, as most of the adult characters don't have chiildren, and we hear about and see some elders who never had children (Bathilda Bagshot, Aunt Muriel, Elphias Doge, Neville's uncle Algie). So I get the impression that in wizarding families among many siblings one or two tend to have kids, the others don't. If that was the case, the Potters would have less descendants than expected. Also, some might have moved abroad, during those 8 centuries. So, if we consider the males in the Potter family who actually had children, and then we rule out those who moved outside of the UK, how many have we got? And how many of them are involved in the public life, rather than living in a small isolated village, with barely any contact with the larger wizarding community? I know Dumbledore knows a lot of things, is wise and skilled, but I'm not expecting him to know every single Potter in the UK, nor every single person who despite not having a Potter last name is a Potter descendant. In the end, this doesn't prove your theory wrong, but a new argument is required.
U make a good point, but look how many times Harry spent summers away from his aunt. So that means he probably could have stayed at any family's home. And yes, I do think Harry is related to the Wesley family by blood on their father's side since their father is a black through his mother. And I think one of Harry's unknown ancestors might have heen a black. Which would explain why James' parents took Sirius in after he ran away from home.
@@Andre-vw4yw The movies don't show it, but in the books Harry always began his summers at the Dursleys, even if he eventually went elsewhere for the rest of the summer. Meaning, he still had to call that place home, still had to spend some time there each year in order for the protection to hold. Otherwise he could've, and would've, easily moved in with the Weasely's or, when an option, into Grimwauld Place. He would've been welcome in both households.
And the theory has another very shaky element in its foundation: That the Tale of the Three Brothers is literally true - that there really is a conscious entity that is the Personification of Death, who willfully put a curse on the descendants of one of the brothers out of his own (Death's) resentment at being "cheated". IIRC, the books strongly imply that the story is not literally true - that the Hallows were most likely created by the Brothers themselves, and the legend grew around them over time - as most legends do. Dumbledore wanted Harry with Aunt Petunia for three reasons: 1. The blood protection from Lily, as you mentioned. 2. So that Harry would grow up away from all the fame he would have had if he was raised in the wizarding world by his fourth cousin on his father's side. 3. It's the generally accepted common practice - even among muggles - to send him to his closest living relative. An aunt - his mother's sister - is far closer that anyone on his father's side would have been, even if there were plenty of them still alive.
@@PhilBagels I agree, Dumbledore himself doesn't believe to the idea they actually met Death. And you've added some good points there, protecting Harry from fame is an important one.
To be fair the protection came from Lilly’s blood specifically. Meaning James’ relatives were out of the questions. And Petunia was picked out of Lilly’s relatives because since they were sisters the blood was close so the protection was strong. If Harry was sent to say Lilly’s cousin then the distance in the blood would have made for much weaker protection.
@@franklinfleming1237 I really doubt that, in fact that is the worst part of Dumbledore's choice. It's a fact that hardly any come out of abusive homes just right. Best case, troubled life, hard time relating to others, therapy. Worst case "He was always a quiet guy, never would have thought he could do something like this."
@@franklinfleming1237 Yes, if he had any idea where to start. In fact given time if he came back and didn't already know of Harry going to Hogwarts. He would have probably gone on war on muggles to find him. Exactly because he thinks they are lesser.
Speaking of missing cousins, shouldn’t there be many more Weasley's at Hogwarts? I thought that Malfoy pér strongly implied that large families are a Weasley tradition. Also, one of Arthur's brothers thought Harry's pollyjuice form at Bill and Fleur's wedding was his son, which implies that there are other teen Wesley's around.
I just re-read the chapter The Wedding. They disguised Harry and introduced him as a cousin, but the only other mentions of Weasley cousins are both around Auntie Muriel. (This statement is wrong. See my correction below.) First she says "Another Weasley? You breed like gnomes." Later she takes a chair from "Another redheaded Weasley cousin", but the age of that cousin isn't mentioned. It's possible that all of the Weasley cousins are too old or too young to be at Hogwarts while Harry is there. I have some first cousins that are 20+ years older than me. (It's also possible Rowling just never thought about the ages of the Weasley cousins.) Correction: I missed the line about the drunken uncle. However, since the uncle was drunk, we can't be sure how similar Harry looked to that son, so the age still could have been very different.
@@atk05003 It's possible also that they don't live in the UK and therefore went to different wizarding schools. Actually, you can still go to Durmstrang at least while living in the UK. Lucius considered sending Draco there, but Narcissa put her foot down as she didn't want her son so far away.
If this curse followed the Potter family, and technically their bloodline, does that mean when Voldemort was resurrected in Goblet using Harry's blood he was a part of that curse too?
Depends, as J pointed out the only ones of the Evans family we know is Lily, Petunia and their parents. For all we know there could be other Aunts, Uncles and cousins on either Mr. or Mrs. Evans side of the family and Rowling just didn't feel like going the extra mile having Dumbledore go seeking for them
@@icyada_plays3492 no, Lily an Petunia were only two that the Evans had. There could be grand uncles and aunts on Evan's side, giving Harry second cousins. But my guess is that even if there was more family on either side, the love protection charm might be weaker if Harry stayed with them. Lily shares 50% of her DNA with Petunia and their parents & Harry. Dudley and Harry share 12.5%. The further out you go, the less you have in common. I can imagine that maybe protection gets weaker, the less related you are. If the cloak didn't work on muggles why didn't Mr and Mrs Evans live long lives?
That’s not what that was for. Dumbledore put a protection on him that was tied to living with a blood relative to renew it. That was in addition to lily’s protection
@@sarahmichelle473 nope. If dumbledore was capable of preventing Voldemort from getting to Harry, he could have and would have done the same for Neville and other children of order members. The protection mentioned throughout the book is directly from Lily’s sacrifice
Or the obvious solution: Dumbledore lied. Having Harry grow up in a muggle family fits the goal of making him as humble as he needs to be to later do what he has to do. In an environment where he is celebrated as a hero even as a child would spoil him, worst case he ends up with some pure blood idiots (Potters intermarried with Blacks, so it would be possible)
Also for a period of time, the Deatheaters were on the fence about whether Harry was actually their enemy, or the New Dark Lord. if his closest paternal relative to take him in was a Deatheater or a sympathizer to their cause, he would have grown up VERY differently. Like Very.
"The pure-blood Potters weren't related to ANYONE, which we know they weren't, because if they were, Harry would have had *anywhere better to go!*" Guys. I love you. I love your videos. But as you can see, a lot of us are confused by this, because we all know it was Lily who died and left the old magic protection for her son. Dumbledore tells him, as long as he goes "home" to Number 4, once a year, the magic will last, but the moment he leaves Petunia's house for the last time, Lily's final act will break, will leave him vulnerable. Right? I mean I'm asking seriously, SCB, because you're the experts. That hasn't been somehow retcon'd, right? If it IS correct... Then this line of the video is really where I had to stop and take a second, read the comments. Because it doesn't matter if he had over 9000 cousins on the Potter side, none of them shared the blood of muggle-born witch Lily Evans. Right? Just felt like a strange side road to take on what I personally saw as a REALLY strong theory about the Potters and death.
I thought Harry had to go with the Dursleys because it was his mother whose love protected him, so he had to stay with people who were physically related to her to keep that protection. Am I remembering wrong?
I've always questioned if the Gaunts were actually descended from the Peverells. It's always been my understanding that Cadmus wouldn't have had any children. The love of his life died young, and I doubt he would ever have been with another woman if he was completely obsessed with her shade to the point of committing suicide to be with her.
@@AustynSN I hadn't stopped to consider that. Slytherin did live about 200 years before the Peverells. So Harry would also be an heir of Slytherin if they were related via the Peverells (So Harry could have given orders to the Basalisk). Marvolo Gaunt did say Peverells ring had been his family's for centuries though. So it is possible Harry and Tom Riddle are in no way related. But if they are its 700 years separation, so it doesn't matter.
@Mike Henry No, they are absolutely related, Deathly Hallows states that, I believe. That said, that doesn't mean that Harry is a descendant of Slytherin. The Gaunts, and Voldemort himself, could have been related to Slytherin through another of their ancestors that wasn't a Peverell some way down the line.
There is a simpler reason why Harry went to the Dursleys... Petunia is Lily's only blood relative... Even if everyone in the magical world was a Potter, James didn't trigger the protection, Lily did
If we're gonna talk about how few relatives Harry has, I'd also point out how many other wizarding kids are only children, including muggle borns: Harry, Hermione, Malfoy, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Lupin, Mcgonagal, Snape (imagine if he had a sibling), even Dudley. For reference, only one of the people in my life is an only child.
i think pottermore mentions mcgonagal has a sister. i could be mistaken buti dont think i am. Dean has half siblings. its mentioned in the deathly hallows and neville, well thats just mean..his parents were too busy being tortured to have another kid
Petunia is the closest family member to Lily who actually made the sacrifice. Harry's protection was fostered by the sister's blood connection. Dumbledore also wanted him away from the wizard world.
I noticed your mistake. Harry did not drop the cloak, he stuffed it in his own clothes. when he got up, in the books, he put on his cloak he dropped his cloak when he faced Voldemort for the final time
Yes!!!!! The final battle started with Neville beheading the snake and Harry disappeared in all the mayhem. But that’s just in the books, unfortunately.
@@thepuzzleoracle6760 and another part about this theory, Harry needed a blood relative of his mother since she gave her life to protect him, not a distant relative of his father
Harry did have at least one living cousin, Voldemort, but I’m guessing Dumbledore might not have wanted to leave Harry with a vapor form of Voldemort to raise him
I always think this. Slytherins locket IS the resurrection stone so Voldemort could well be Harry’s relative. Not many people think this and it’s never mentioned that the resurrection stone is passed down the family lines and Salazar is a distant peverell. It could also be that the 2nd brother had no kids with his love being dead (unless they had kids before). But it is possible and I’m surprised no-one ever mentions this
When Dumbledore chose the Dursleys, he chose them for the bond of blood. In order for the bond of blood to form, the new house owner has to be blood-related to LILY, not James. James didn't bestow sacrificial protection onto Lily or Harry. So any of James' relatives wouldn't have been good enough to make the bond of blood.
We not gonna talk about the fact the family that took Harry in had to be Lily's blood relative? Her parents were older, like James's I believe, and while James's parents were probably killed by death eaters, Lily's parents died of an unknown illness. So Petunia was the only known blood relative of Harry's left.
Yes! But I'm sure that if Harry actually had any relatives on James' side left, they would definitely provide some kind of support, at least in the wizarding world - they'd definitely know about his existence after what had happened.
Didn’t Harry have to live with the Dursley’s because it was Lilly who cast the protection spell on him, and by staying with Petunia (who was Lilly’s sister) he reinforced its protection? Thus is why he had to stay with her. Also, as Petunia wasn’t related to the Three Brothers she was in no harms way of Death.
I don’t know why i expected the brothers’ encounter with death to have been so long ago but going from that to the 1980s in less than 10 generations seems rather intense to me
Other Potters? Do they realize 5 generations and that is it, you basically do no aware that those people are your family. They are strangers! Original 7 Potter children could be very reproductive, but they too far away from from bottom of tree to be associated, unless there is very noticeable trace. Last name can be even lost immediately due to daughter only children. For all we know, Fudge might be relative or Diggory, or Goyle.
here’s my theory for the evans’ deaths. They were called on to a reality show that was actually a surprise magic show with a “pretend” wizard behind a mask who “accidentally” killed them under “mysterious circumstances” and the wizard was actually voldemort.
Petunia was the only option because Lily's protection would live on with Petunia, which Dumbledore even stated, which meant he could not go to any relative of James
Interesting idea but I think you're completely wrong here. Harry had to live with Petunia because she was Lily's blood relative, the Potter line wasn't. They might be some distant Potters still alive but they wouldn't matter because they're not connected to Lily in any way.
Even in circles where family history is popular (like my family), knowing all of your cousins past about 4th cousins is very rare (4th cousins share just great-great-great grandparents).
Harry had the cloak with him after he died. When Hagrid carried him back to Hogwarts and Neville killed Nagini, Harry hid under the cloak to move towards the castle unseen. Hagrid yells out “where’s Harry?!” In the middle of all the chaos. Harry finally whips off the cloak for his final battle with Voldemort. 14:29
Actually I think that Harry went to the Dursley’s because Dumbledore wanted him to live a somewhat normal life for at least a little, and make sure that he wasn’t arrogant and spoiled when he went to Hogwarts but whatever doesn’t matter I guess. Love your videos!
True. He definitely wanted Harry with a muggle family to grow up humble, and even if there were distant Potters, Petunia would still be his only non-magical family member.
Dumbledore even said that to harry at the end of order of the phoenix! He tells him he didn't want him to become this spoiled little prince. Intention = good. How it was handled = meeh 😂
@@morrigankasa570 exactly cause a potter would not have been able to continue the charm only an evans could and the only one who would be able to know and understand what Harry was, was Petunia. Unfortunately☹️
@@gadylan1 Besides if neither of Petunia & Lily's parents had siblings that reduces the Evans family line especially if they come from a long line of only children. An even bigger potential proof of that is Dudley was an only child (technically) and I'm pretty sure it's fairly common for only children to beget only 1 offspring. So that too can be a factor. Additionally the way I understand the Love Charm thing is for it to work it has to be a close blood relative, so even if Lily & Petunia had cousins that bond isn't close enough unless they are first cousins.
As many others have stated, it is LILY who's sacrifice saved Harry. So it's LILY's family that has to be turned to and unfortunately that falls to Petunia as I don't think that there are any other children in that family. It does beg the question of who introduced the 'wizarding gene' into the bloodline though.
Many comments here point out the fact that Harry had to go be with Lily's family for the protection to work. But imagine the reaction of the Potter side of the family if their dead cousin's child was adopted outside of the magical world. Would they accept Dumbledore's plan? This explains why there aren't family members fighting for custody.
at some point in the books it is said many wizarding families wanted to raise him as their son. it is not mentioned if they were related but giving that the purebloods intermarried probably some of them were related.
Film Seen in in flashback @ 21 Lily Potter : 34 Geraldine Somerville is 13 years older James Potter : 43 Adrian Rawlins is 22 years older Adrian Rawlins Seen in 2nd film @ 33 Remus Lupin : 39 - David Thewlis is only 6 years older than the character he is playing Severus Snape 55 - Alan Rickman is 22 years older ...
10:09 THE WAY I GOT LITERAL GOOSEBUMPS when I realized where this is going!!! Ofc it makes so much sense. Only the one with the invisibility cloak was able to escape death 🤯🤯
This is a bit weird for me if my parents died when I was younger, I only have an auntie alive, I have other much more distant family but they are estranged (I don't mean like Beatrix), and I'm pretty sure I don't have a curse from Death themselves on me. So maybe it was just the potters had drifted away, I imagine Lily's parents would be weirded out by her new husband etc.
They were probably gone by the time she married James. This is especially likely given that they were gone by the time Harry was orphaned and he was only a year old when they died.
Just wanted to point out that Harry had the Invisibility Cloak when he died. "His hands were sweating as he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it beneath his robes, with his wand." P. 703 The Deathly Hallows. And again on P. 725 "A slight cushioning effect in the area of his stomach told him that the Invisibility Cloak was also there, stuffed out of sight."
When did Fleamont and Euphemia die? We know Sirius moved in when he was 16- which means there was less than a 5 year window between their deaths and James & Lilly's.
Kind of strange that Potter fortunes were amassed for inventing potions and it was not a strength for Harry--- who never invented a single spell or potion.
All this talk of genealogy had me wondering if Hogwarts will ever have a Dursley attending. The Evans family has already produced Lily, maybe Dudley an Evans descendant will have magical children.
I mean, since the protection from his mother was due to her blood, not James', it wouldn't make any sense that the curse would affect Petunia who isn't related to James by blood. So the reason why there aren't any other relatives is because Lilly didn't have any other living relatives. Not James.
one thing important to realise is that dumbledore wouldn’t want to drop harry off at james 6th cousins 2nd uncles sons house even if they are kind people. Most of their family tree wouldn’t even know who harry is, and also due to all the muggle and wizard wars, their family just wouldn’t be that big when harry’s parents died.
The problem with this is that Harry could have Potter relatives, but due to the fact that Lilly was the one who gave him the protection, he needed to live with an Evans. Lilly has no Potter blood in her, so living with a Potter would not protect him, as they are not blood family with her.
on the topic of todays video - wasn't Euphmia Potter a Black by birth? the Potters were related tot the other purebloods - how else could they have remained pure-blooded? Harry ended up with the Dursley's because of Lily's blood protection. This theory is really cool, but there are some rather big holes.
No Euphmia was a pure blood witch but not a black you are thinking of Dorea Black who married Charlus Potter who is either the brother of Fleamont Potter or brother of Henry Potter making him either Great Great Uncle or Great Uncle to Harry
Every now and then I take a brief moment to take a good look at y’all’s background to spot any new things you’ve added to the collection. Always a pleasant surprise noticing how beaten it was before and how packed with items it is now. Takes me back to the days y’all hadn’t hit a million subs yet. Always quality content from both you brothers and your team.
While I disagree with the foundation of this theory - Petunia was the only option because she was *Lily's* only remaining relative, and James's line has nothing to do with this - but I am convinced that Death did curse the Potter line. After all, we never hear of any magical cousins of Harry's, aside from, distantly, Voldemort. And I just like the idea that the one to defeat Voldemort (French for Flight from Death) is from the family line that constantly escaped Death. So theory mostly accepted.
I don't know about this one J. Normally I love your theories, but I think you're reaching here. Are we really going on the premise, that the Hallows were actually gifted to the Peverells by Death? And I also think its not unreasonable to think that the Potter family was thinned over the years or even nearly wiped out. Especially a family with a fortune to inherit. So possibly some family squabbles over the gold lessened the number of Potters. Perhaps they died in the First Wizarding War, or the Goblin Rebellions. Even regardless of the Potters, The Wizarding World is incredibly unpopulated from what we have seen. Where are all the Wizards J? How are there not 30,000 Weasleys? The Pottermore article did say that the Potters married neighboring wizards and muggles. So maybe some of the Potters joined the muggle world. And even if there were others, Lily only shared blood with Harry and Petunia. Plus as what we think we know of Dumbledore's big plan. Harry needed to be a caring, completely humble person upon entering the Wizarding World. Dumbledore had to make sure Harry did not grow up with a fame ego. I can 100% get behind that their was simply no other option.
Harry doesn't drop the invisibility cloak in the forest. He even puts it on again right when Neville kills Nagini and stays hidden under it watching the battle continue until all of Voldemort's followers are defeated, and then he reveals himself for the final showdown with Voldemort.
First off, did it have to be a relative of Lily for the magic blood protection thingy to work? Second, Doubledore tells McGonagall in book one chapter one "The Boy Who Lived" that HP would be better off growing up away from the wizarding world - where he will be famous where, as McGonagall had said, "there won't be a child in our world that doesn't know his name!" Might leaving him with people who would help him grow into a decent human being (admittently, by showing him how not to be) and not having a super over inflated ego have been all part and parcel of "Dumbledore's Big Plan"??
Literally if the author had just made James and Lily 30 when they died, it would have just made things make more sense. The casting is literally LITERALLY perfect for the movies, and having had them die off so young felt like something she did and regretted writing, because it creates plot holes at times
The books were written at a time when 30 was considered very old for a first pregnancy. 21-25 was much more normal and 36 was thought to be too old for more children period. It was also a time when contraceptives were banned in some places and the housing market was good, people would finish school at 18, date for a few years, marry at 20/21 and immediately start a family.
OMG I FINALLY FOUND THE CHANNEL THAT I WATCHED LIKE CRAZY A FEW YEARS BACK WHEN I WAS OBSESSED WITH HARRY POTTER FOR THE 2ND TIME AROUND!! I AM FINALLY WATCHING FANTASTIC BEASTS AND I REMEMBERED THEM! THE INTRO HIT ME WITH SOME WEIRD NOSTALGIA AHH
Lily -There's a lot of different lillies and the species should matter. Asphodels are the ancient Greek flower of the underworld of course but Easter lillies are the flower of resurrection so... As for James being a super common male name, I think HP may have single handedly shrunk those numbers 😂
A couple of things; 1) as others have mentioned, Lily's protection existed via her bloodline so Harry would've had to stay with her family and since Petunia is her direct sister from the same parents it's only logical her blood is the strongest to enforce the enchantment. 2) Petunia was extremely jealous of Lily's magic- as we know, but she also mentions the rest of her family was thrilled to have a witch in the family meaning they knew magic existed. I highly doubt she was the only Evans to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts so my best guess is that another in her family was also accepted at some point. Sure, Lily was muggle born but that only means HER parents had no magical ability not that no one in her entire bloodline didn't. Given how unpleasant Petunia is in general I think it's actually pretty likely Petunia actively chose to ignore the rest of her freak loving family and cut them off. 3) Petunia knew about the enchantment on Harry as Dumbledore explained everything in his letter. Same was also probably terrified of getting rid of him knowing full well the extent wizards can go when they're displeased. And finally, 4) Harry probably does have distant relatives scattered around the UK if not the world. The British held the largest empire in history colonizing a territory encompassing 1/4 of the then global population before WW2. Harry's extended family is probably all over the place
But... it had to be Lilly's side of the family to work. Lilly's blood... of corse none of the pure blood relations even if they are all related to him on james side would work. And if I remember correctly the potter's were excluded from the sacred on a technicality of there name beign tooundane to count. Since any muggle could be named potter.