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'Harry Potter' Theory: Professor Slughorn's DARKEST SECRET!

Which potion would you take?

By Jonathan SimPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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I think out of all the character intros in the history of books/films, none is more unique and insane than the introduction of Professor Slughorn in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I mean, he just randomly shows up disguised as a couch. Man, if my apartment ever got robbed, I would need that couch costume in handy.

But we're not gonna be talking about the physics of how to fit a 195-pound guy inside of a couch. We're gonna be talking about love. Everyone needs love, and as Slughorn reveals in his potions class, if you live in the wizarding world, you can essentially force someone to fall in love with you.

How do you do this, you ask, as you imagine who you would force to fall in love with you? The answer is Amortentia, which is one of the many types of love potions in the wizarding world.

And when speaking of love potions in his class, Slughorn says this:

"When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love."

Yeah, sure, obsessive love is pretty powerful. I mean, I wouldn't want to be forced to fall in love with some buck-toothed hillbilly girl named Deron with lemon feet and corn kernels in her mouth that she calls teeth, right?

But in the film, Slughorn goes as far as to say that love potion is "the most dangerous potion in this room."

Now, hold up, Old Sluggy. The other three potions in this room can force you to tell the truth, give you the physical appearance of other people, and give you unlimited luck.

And you're standing there telling us that a little love potion is more dangerous in the wrong hands than all of the potions above. Well, when you've seen as much life as you have, you would know better. In fact, you might be hiding a memory. A memory that you've been keeping this ENTIRE TIME!

Not that one. I'm talking about a different memory. That reveals a dark past in which Slughorn truly discovers the true dangers of Amortentia.

Today's theory is brought to you by Ben Carlin of the SuperCarlinBrothers. Go check out their channel and support their work if you'd like. I will leave their video at the end of this article, so stay tuned for that.

Okay, so, besides Ron falling in love with Romilda after accidentally taking a love potion, we know of another user of love potions.

This witch used a love potion to get a Muggle man to marry her, and have her child, and the witch who did this is, if you recall, Merope Gaunt. But here's our question: how did she brew the love potion in the first place?

I mean, according to the Harry Potter Wiki, Merope "exhibited little magical talent in her early years." So, she only could have become better at magic by going to Hogwarts.

Even though it's believed that she didn't, Merope is a Gaunt, which means she's a descendant of Salazar Slytherin and her just not going to Hogwarts in this pure-blood family just doesn't make sense. And given that she is related to Slytherin, she likely was sorted into Slytherin house.

Merope was born in 1907, which means that she had to have gone to Hogwarts between 1918 and 1925. Slughorn, a fellow Slytherin, was born somewhere between 1882 and 1913.

Yeah. That's as specific as it gets.

So, that means Slughorn attended Hogwarts from any seven-year period between 1893 and 1931. This means that Slughorn and Merope COULD have gone at the same time, and not to mention, in the same house.

J.K. Rowling also wrote some more about Slughorn in a new book.

She states that Slughorn "was attracted to anyone whose talents or backgrounds made them in any way distinctive." And as a Gaunt, as an heir of Salazar Slytherin, Merope likely would have gotten the attention of Slughorn.

And even though Merope wasn't a very talented witch, Slughorn may have been willing to give her at least one favor: brew a love potion. I mean, Slughorn is a good person to ask, given that he was smart enough to become a Potions Master, and therefore has an affinity for making potions.

So, Slughorn made a love potion for Merope, Merope uses it to make Tom Riddle Sr. fall in love with her, Slughorn found out about her death and how she was once married to a person named Riddle, and years later, he teaches her son, Tom Riddle Jr., who eventually grows up to be Lord Voldemort.

Why does Slughorn say that Amortentia is the most dangerous potion in the room? Because he has seen a lot of life. And he knows that he is responsible for the conception of the most Dark wizard of all time.

fact or fiction
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About the Creator

Jonathan Sim

Film critic. Lover of Pixar, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Back to the Future, and Lord of the Rings.

For business inquiries: [email protected]

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