As Harry Potter celebrates his 42nd birthday this year in the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling, some fans can't help but wonder — what if the beloved series had an alternate ending? The story of the Boy Who Lived was wrapped up very tidily with Harry destroying all Horcruxes with his friends, gaining control of the Elder Wand, and besting the Dark Lord, but the ending is still considered divisive in the fandom.
Some Harry Potter readers and viewers loved how well the plot was played out and connected, and the epilogue too, while others felt the ending could have gone in another direction. Redditors have brainstormed wild new alternate endings for the fate of Voldemort and Harry.
A Muggle Invention Should Have Killed Voldemort
Despite being a half-blood himself, Voldemort's main propaganda was anti-Muggle and pro-Pure blood. This is why several Redditors like Katzgoboom think that it would be fitting if his end would be via a Muggle invention that he would have no idea how to encounter.
They said "He would legitimately not know what to do if someone pulled a piece of Muggle technology on him to the point where it would probably kill him." Some even thought that Arthur Weasley turning up with Muggle tech and beating Voldemort would be poetic justice.
Harry Killing Voldemort Would Result In The Creation Of A New Horcrux
As opposed to the closure that Rowling gave to readers, Redditors desired more chaos and trouble in the final moments of Voldemort and Harry's battle. In killing Voldemort, some fans wondered if Harry would unwittingly create a Horcrux, thus splitting his own soul in half.
Redditor Morpheousmarty theorized "What if by a twist of fate, Harry creates a horcrux he can't destroy when killing Voldemort?" It would mean that Harry would destroy Voldemort, but tragically lose his own humanity in the process.
Killing Voldemort Meant Becoming Immortal For Harry
A hugely popular alternate ending for the saga reinterprets Sybil Trelawney's prophecy to mean that the only way that either Harry or Voldemort could achieve death was through each other, which meant that the one who won would never die. Harry would kill Voldemort, but sacrifice his chance to find peace ever again.
According to HPWombat, this would be a sacrifice because "By killing Voldemort, Harry would become immortal, never seeing his family or friends in death." The world would him by, and he wouldn't be able to die and meet his loved ones.
The "It Was All A Dream" For Baby Harry
A trope that has come to be recognized as tired and cliched, but Redditors still think it would make for a fascinating and mysterious end is that Harry woke up from his dream. However, RainbowDash1234 made it a lot more shocking by theorizing that as Harry got hit by the Killing Curse in the Forbidden Forest, he went back to being a baby, who then died in his crib as Voldemort hit him.
In short, the whole plot was a fever dream by little Harry as he watched Voldemort kill his family. They said "The whole series was just the neurons in his brain firing up and creating a "dream" so to speak. I think that'd be a pretty interesting mind f***. Don't you?"
Draco Should Have Killed Voldemort
Malaanaa wished for an ending that had more shock value, which was why they would have killed Harry off in a big and showy manner. Which begs the question, who would vanquish old Voldemort? They said, "Draco had been the one who ended up facing Lord Voldemort, since he would know that the Elder wand was Draco's and the wand would have turned against Voldemort in the same way he did when he confronted Harry."
This Redditor would have also kept Snape alive so he could see the fruits of his sacrifices, as well as Lupin and Tonks. They felt this ending would have given a different perspective to the epilogue too, where characters would figure their lives out without Harry.
Harry Should Have Died, While Neville Killed Voldemort
There were several characters who deserved to kill Voldemort, and Neville was the highest on that list. So, a deleted Reddit concluded that he should have got that chance to get his revenge, and blindside Voldemort, while poor Harry found peace at King's Cross with Dumbledore, which had evaded him for so long.
They said, "Harry boards a train and 'goes on' (like someone says Sirius would 'go on'). Back at Hogwarts...Neville steps forward, Voldemort says something about them being very similar (marking as equal), and Neville kills him..."
Dumbledore Was The Real Villain
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them and Dumbledore's history have proven that the great wizard had dark tendencies, and he had to hold himself back at the last moment from carrying out the plans that he and Gellert had formed together. This is why a fan thinks he should have been the villain the whole time.
Redditor MightBdrunk reckons "Voldemort blasts through Harry and pulls off his mask and Dumbledore appears and shows how he was the real villain the whole time." Clearly, Harry doesn't make it in this scenario.
Voldemort Should Have Survived
In the manner of Grindelwald and Dumbledore's battle, where the former was defeated but not dead, some Redditors felt that Voldemort, too, should have been given a chance at life. He should have ended up in Azkaban so that there was always an opening for his return to power.
According to busted3000 "I’ve always thought it would have been cool if Harry would have succeeded in disarming Voldemort in the final battle and he’d have been taken to Azkaban." The "will he, won't he" of the theory definitely is a segue for a sequel series.
Voldemort's Should Have Felt Remorse
The horrible horcruxes formed the foundation of Voldemort's power, longevity, and wickedness, but there was a way to undo the damage — by feeling remorse. Even though the Dark Lord was evil incarnate, it's not hard to wonder what it would have been like if there was a way to make Voldemort repent, which would repair his soul and redeem him.
Ishaanm3hra said "It would have been amazing to conclude that however far you have gone on the track of the evil, you could always come back." In doing so, Tom would go through excruciating pain, and perhaps even make amends for his ways.
Harry And Hermione Should Have Gotten Together
The ship wars have continued to date, and fans still think that Ron and Hermione were an awkward couple in Harry Potter, just like Ginny and Harry had no spark between them in the movies. "Harmione" or Harry and Hermione were a fan favorite couple, and fans would have liked to see them together in the epilogue.
Redditor AeroDbladE stated "I would have liked Harry and Hermione to end up together. Nothing against Ron or Ginny but they just have this chemistry between them that just fits."
