The ONE HP Theory JK Rowling Really Hates

In the nine years since the last Harry Potter book came out, the fandom has had time to come up with a lot of theories about the Harry Potter universe. JK Rowling has shut down most of them (like the claims that Snape is a vampire, or that Ron is a time-traveling Dumbledore) — but there's just one theory she really can't stand: Fawkes is Dumbledore's Horcrux. In a tweet on Wednesday morning, JK said she found it "strangely upsetting" that anybody might believe the theory — probably because it suggests that the beloved Professor Dumbledore may have committed the terrible and mysterious act of evil that is needed to create a Horcrux.

As pointed out in a YouTube video by the SuperCarlinBrothers, it's pretty convenient how Fawkes always turns up at times of need. Did he just have good timing — or is there something more sinister going on here? Dumbledore does seem to understand an awful lot about the relationship between Voldemort and his own Horcrux pet, Nagini. He explains to Harry that Voldemort "certainly likes to keep her close" and "seems to have an unusual amount of control over her" — which sounds pretty familiar, if you ask me. The theory posits that Fawkes is actually Dumbledore's Horcrux — which means we're going to have to re-evaluate everything we know about the wise old wizard.

Right, let's look at everything standing in the way of this theory.

Dumbledore doesn't approve of Dark Magic

But just because he doesn't approve of Dark Magic now, doesn't mean he's never dabbled in it. We know that he believes there's a chance he cast the spell that killed his sister Ariana — so at some point in that battle, he must have been using some pretty unpleasant magic.

Dumbledore hasn't knowingly killed anyone

OK, so there's a possibility that Dumbledore killed Ariana, but how would he go about creating a Horcrux unless he was sure? Well, according to Jonathan Carlin, the guilt Dumbledore felt for Ariana's death might just be enough to split his soul. Even if he didn't cast the fatal spell, Dumbledore himself would argue that he was responsible for her death nonetheless.

JK Rowling explicitly denied it

This one's a little harder to get past: JK Rowling flat-out denied it. That rather puts a stopper in the whole "Fawkes is a Horcrux" theory. Although... it has been hilariously (and rather convincingly) suggested in the past that JK Rowling might be an evil genius plotting to turn the Muggle world against Voldemort. So is she lying to us? OK, I officially have a headache. I'm off to St Mungo's; I'll leave you guys to battle this one out for yourselves.

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