In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Boy wizard comes across a mirror that shows his deepest desire – being reunited with his dead parents. The Mirror of Erised turns up a number of times throughout the Harry Potter books, but what is its origin? Well, a popular new fan theory argues that Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin created it for his evil purposes.
Reddit user Hurrin argues: “It is not known who, or when created Mirror of Erised, but I believe it might be Salazar Slytherin himself.
“One of the traits the Slytherin House is known for is ambition, and so, I believe, Slytherin might have created the Mirror, as a tool to show his students, what they could achieve through hard work, and to keep their ambition high.
“However, as Dumbledore said in Philosopher’s Stone, the Mirror doesn’t show truth, or knowledge, but rather user’s deepest desire, and it drives people mad.
“So, I think that Slytherin looked into it himself, and he saw a ‘perfect’ world, with only pureblood wizards.”
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They added: “And that’s when he truly became an extremist, after being obsessed with his vision, to the point where he left the school, after a fight with the other founders, and left the Chamber of Secrets after him.”
Meanwhile, another popular fan theory argues that Tom Riddle was not Voldemort but Slytherin reborn.
Reddit user Ennovative argues: “What if Voldemort wasn’t Tom Riddle, but a combination of Tom Riddle and Salazar Slytherin? Salazar sought immortality.
“In fact, Salazar’s last confirmed act alive was concealing a Basilisk inside the Chamber of Secrets.”
They argued: “Riddle was never the same after he opened the chamber. Having disdain for half-bloods, being a half-blood himself.
“Salazar shared that ideology because he was a pure-blooded wizard.
“It gets deeper when you examine all possible meanings of the prophecy read ‘either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives’.
“Harry Potter himself is proof two souls can share a body, even if just in part.”
The theorist added: “The prophecy is implied to pertain to Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, but what if the true meaning was for Tom Riddle and Salazar himself, only the message was read too late and Salazar had already won.
“Salazar was a practitioner of Legilimency, a powerful skill also well-honed by Voldemort himself, with no record of Tom Riddle ever performing such a feat.”
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books have sold over 500 million copies worldwide, making them the best-selling book series in history.
Meanwhile, the film adaptations and spin-offs have made $9.1 billion worldwide.