Have you ever found yourself wondering what, exactly, Lord Voldemort's endgame was? We all know that He Who Must Not Be Named wanted Harry Potter dead and gone, but he also took great pains to conceal his return from the public. So how did he plan to kill Harry and hide from Dumbledore's watchful eye until he was ready to dominate the wizarding world? This new Harry Potter fan theory might reveal a creepy plan from Lord Voldemort, and it all hinges on a particular magic item.
At the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry and fellow Hogwarts student Cedric Diggory are the only two competitors to reach the heart of the Maze, where lies the Triwizard Cup. Because Hogwarts students like nothing more than breaking games, Harry and Cedric grab onto the Cup at the same time, only to discover that it is a Portkey: a magical item that transports anyone who touches it to a predetermined location.
But this Portkey acts differently than the ones we've seen so far, as Tumblr user Miraniel points out. Most Portkeys only go one way, but the Cup has been enchanted to travel to the Little Hangleton graveyard, where the newly restored Voldemort awaits, and then back to the entrance of the Triwizard Maze. That's ... weird.
Miraniel's Harry Potter fan theory postulates that Voldemort intended to kill Harry and feed his body to Nagini, but not before stealing the Boy Who Lived's scalp to make Polyjuice Potion, which would then be consumed by Lord Voldemort himself. As "Harry," Voldemort would use the Portkey to travel back to the entrance of the Maze, where he could slip seamlessly into Hogwarts life without arousing suspicion.
Although he's one of the most powerful wizards the world has ever seen, it's dangerous for Voldemort to be alone in a sea of his enemies, even if they are all teenagers. He would need someone to relieve him of the "Harry" burden, and that's where one of his best Death Eaters comes into play. Without his cover as Mad-Eye Moody blown, Barty Crouch, Jr. could leave his professorial position and take the role of "Harry" off of the Dark Lord's shoulders, A.S.A.P. Then, when the time was right, the new "Harry" could assassinate Dumbledore, signalling Voldemort's return.
Here's where it gets interesting. From Miraniel's blog:
Crouch-Harry will assassinate Dumbledore (incidentally gaining the power of the Elder Wand, though he wouldn’t know it), stage a coup of Hogwarts, and take over the wizarding world.
Heck, he/they might not even drop their disguise as Harry. The wizarding world has faced Voldemort as an enemy before, but if their savior Harry Potter suddenly turned out to be just as powerful a Dark Lord as He Who Must Not Be Named? It would be a far scarier prospect than simply dealing with Voldemort’s return.
It solves the problem of why Voldemort went to such lengths to get Harry through the Triwizard, when there were far easier ways to capture him: Voldemort didn’t just need Harry’s blood; he needed Harry as the world’s hero.
And all that time in Hogwarts would give Voldemort time to search for a relic of Godric Gryffindor, the one founder he never made a horcrux from.
For all the shock-value of Cedric Diggory the Death Eater in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the idea of an evil Harry is even worse. Although there are many reasons why Voldemort's plan to replace Harry with an evil double would have never worked — including Hermione and Ron, who would have tipped off their professors as soon as they found out something was horribly wrong with their friend — but the prospect is still incredibly frightening.
