Harry Potter Theory – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. While the Harry Potter films were able to bring the Wizarding World's magic to the big screen (and in my opinion, did a good job at doing so) it's important to note that they were not without their limitations. The truth is that they had a LOT of information to convey, and a very limited amount of screen time to do it- inevitably leading to a fairly substantial amount of information - characters, subplots etc being left out of the films ENTIRELY.

HOWEVER, today I'm going to be putting the spotlight on some of these omitted storylines (some big, some small) from the books, giving them the screen time they deserve. I've done a few videos in the style before, one taking a look at the DARKEST aspects removed from the films, and another looking at all of the characters removed from the films, but today I'll be focusing on storylines.

Hopefully most of these will be included in the upcoming HBO series.

Anyway, let's dive in.

Jim's Book & Audiobook available at UPM:

https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/O/Opening-Weekend

And Amazon:

https://a.co/d/7icO1rO

In this video I interview Jim Fredrick, a seasoned veteran of the film industry and former Senior Vice President of Creative Advertising at Warner Bros. With over 35 years in the business, Jim has crafted compelling trailers and unforgettable advertising campaigns for a diverse range of films, from timeless classics like The Shawshank Redemption to one of the most globally cherished franchises of all time - (and one you might have heard of) Harry Potter.

In our conversation, we explore Jim's journey - from his entry into professional filmmaking to the pivotal moments and mentors that helped shape his career. We also dive into what he calls "The Assignment of a Lifetime" - his role in shaping the magic behind the Harry Potter franchise's advertising strategy, as well as his opinion of Harry Potter in the modern era.

This conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at how he collaborated with directors, producers, and creative teams to bring the Wizarding World to life for audiences across the globe. 

Jim discusses things like the process of creating the first teaser trailers that introduced Harry, Hermione, and Ron to the world, selecting the perfect images for posters, choosing just the right John Williams score to set the tone, and how every detail was meticulously curated to build excitement and anticipation for each film.

We also discuss his new book, Opening Weekend: An Insider's Look at Marketing Hollywood's Hits and Flops, where he provides an in-depth account of his 35-year journey through the world of movie marketing. In the book, Jim offers readers exclusive behind-the-scenes anecdotes and firsthand accounts of working with studio executives, as well as navigating relationships with famous movie stars and directors.

Before we get into it please note that this interview was not conducted live. I pre-recorded the questions and sent them over to Jim in advance.

Without further ado, I present to you Jim Fredrick.

There are quite a few mistakes and plot holes in the Harry Potter books and films. In fact, there are enough for me to make several compilations of them. However, perhaps one of the most confusing and inconsistent elements of the Wizarding World is undoubtedly the 'Trace'- a fairly major plot component that is riddled with contradictions.-

To the Harry Potter casual, these issues with the Trace probably went by relatively unnoticed, but for the die-hards, it was hard to ignore the glaringly obvious ways in which the trace was misrepresented. There are also many components of the trace that are never explained- like how it is actually applied to underage witches and wizards.

Today, we'll be diving deep into the Trace - exploring what it is, how it's applied to children, and, through examples from the books and films, uncovering why this concept is essentially a total trainwreck. We'll also be looking at the trace from a more SINISTER perspective via one of my theories.

Let's dive in.

Welcome to a SPECIAL installment of Harry Potter Theory. Today we're going to be taking a look back at 2023 and uncovering 5 of the BEST Harry Potter theories that I covered throughout last year. And when I say 5 I actually mean..SIX, because I couldn't decide on which 5 to go with. I know we're a LITTLE far in to 2024 already, but my intention is to do these at the end of every year.

Anyway, I won't dawdle any longer, let's get in to it.

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today we're discussing a well-known Hogwarts artefact known as the Mirror of Erised. Specifically, we're going to be getting in to a theory regarding it's dark and otherwise UNKNOWN history. This particular mirror also happens to be the inspiration behind the outro featured on every video I launch on this channel.

Harry first discovers the Mirror for himself in the Philosopher's Stone:

"It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. "

In case you've forgotten how the mirror works, it's essentially a magical mirror that holds the power to show us the 'deepest, most desperate desires' of our hearts. This is reflected in the mirror's name, no pun intended, as 'Erised' flipped around reads as 'desire'. Engraved on the mirror are the words 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi, which, backwards, reads as 'I show not your face but your hearts desire'.

According to existing Harry Potter lore all we know is that it existed BEFORE the nineteenth century (pretty open window there) and that no one knows HOW it arrived at Hogwarts. These two aspects of the mirror's existence seem to be entirely undocumented. Moreover, it is entirely ambiguous whether the Mirror of Erised was created with innocent and playful intentions or with more malevolent and darker motives.

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today we're going to be discussing the properties of Felix Felicis AKA Liquid Luck, in an effort to determine the roots of its effectiveness.

What IS it? And HOW does it INDUCE Luck?

Felix Felicis- or Liquid Luck, is first introduced to us as a potion, that, in essence, enables the consumer to become successful in ALL of their endeavours. The potion was first created in the 16th century by a potioneer by the name of Zygmunt Budge, who dubbed it the 'crowning achievement of his career'.

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today we're going to be discussing 5 spells from the wizarding world of Harry Potter. But before we get started I want you to brace yourselves to the fact these aren't just any old 5 spells- these are 5 of the most powerful, destructive spells the wizarding world has ever seen- spells so formidable that by contrast even the notorious killing curse (avada kedavra) PALES in comparison.

Now, within the wizarding world magic can be leveraged for a wide variety of functions- from help with every day tasks (like cleaning), to picking locks, to teleportation. But perhaps one of the most IMPORTANT uses of magic in a tumultuous wizarding world (that seems to face a new dark wizard every few decades) is the ability to perform martial magic - that is, magic for combat.-

Now, in every day context martial magic is not necessary, but it certainly never hurts to be prepared for an invasion of death eaters or dark wizard acolytes, and that's probably why most of these 5 powerful spells were created in the first place.

Anyway, I won't dawdle any longer. Without further ado- here are 5 of the most POWERFUL offensive spells in the wizarding world.

Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. Today we're going to-discuss how Voldemort went about killing Severus Snape. Snape's death is a BIG topic in the Harry Potter story, and when he died it was a truly tragic moment in the series. That is unless of course you don't like Snape.

As you progress through the books and films, your perception of Snape is constantly challenged- is he good? Bad? What are his intentions? And in the end, it turned out that Snape was almost more devoted to the cause than anyone.-

Snape later dies in the Deathly Hallows, after Voldemort comes to the conclusion that he will need to kill Snape in order to become the true owner of the elder wand. However, we do also find out later on that Snape died in vain, as he was never the true owner of the elder wand after all - and was simply unnecessarily killed by Voldemort. However, what was always interesting about Voldemort killing Snape was that he didn't do it himself-he used Nagini.

So we know that Snape ultimately dies at the hands, or mouth (rather) of Nagini on Voldemort's orders. But what I found unusual about Snape's death was the very significant ABSENCE of Avada Kedavra AKA the killing curse. Voldemort is a massive proponent of the killing curse, I mean.. he can't get enough of it, and it's very purpose is to kill. So, why wouldn't he use Avada Kedavra on Snape? Instead, he uses Nagini to finish Snape off? Why?

I've got 2 reasons.

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today, we'll be discussing why Lord Voldemort didn't attack the Longbottom family after the prophecy, which inevitably upended the life of Harry Potter.

As many of you will know, the trajectory of Harry's life was determined before he was even born. For, just weeks before his birth on July 31 in the year of 1980, a somewhat inadequate soothsayer named Sybill Patricia Trelawney provided the wizarding world with a prediction that would forever change the course of history. She gave an authentic prophecy, that would one day go on to become infamous, while meeting with Professor Albus Dumbledore at the Hog's Head Inn. After going into a trance-like state during the meeting, which was actually an informal interview for the Hogwarts' Divination teaching position.-

Based on Trelawney's appointment of the Divination Professor soon-after, it's believed that she made this prophecy in June of 1980 - mere weeks before the birth of Harry Potter.-

After Harry's birth, the reasons for Voldemort targeting the Potter family are rather easy to explain. Most obviously, Harry was born on July 31 - the end of the seventh month. As for the "born to those who have thrice defied him" bit - that's a bit less obvious. But we do know that Lily and James Potter - Harry's parents - were both asked to join the Death Eaters while at Hogwarts and turned down the invitations. They were also part of the original Order of the Phoenix, which means they would have been part of the missions to fight against Voldemort and his followers. As the war against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters was ongoing, they most certainly had many opportunities to defy Voldemort repeatedly.-

So, all of this adds up as to why Voldemort targeted the Potter family and believed Harry to be the wizard described in Trelawney's prophecy. BUT the real question is: why didn't he ALSO go after the Longbottoms?

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today we're going to be answering some questions about the Harry Potter series that a lot of people..Probably don't know the answers to. From little tidbits to what may seem like major oversights, this video will cover them all.-

I'm going to cover 5 today and if you LIKE this series then I'll keep making more. Just let me know in the comments.

Anyway, let's dive in to it.