Insane Harry Potter Theory Proves Hedwig Was Snape's Animagus

Reddit user SynCelestial recently came up with this theory, and they're well aware that it appears as something Luna Lovegood would've said.

They even start their explanation with "It sounds crazy, I know. Hear me out." And once you give it a chance, it gets progressively better.

Snape is a spy, a double agent working both for Voldemort and for Dumbledore.

However, his loyalties solely belong to the latter, and he does everything he can to succeed in his main assignment for years — keeping an eye out for Harry and protecting him.

Who's close to Harry whenever he's far from Hogwarts? Hedwig. And how did Harry get Hedwig in the first place? She was a gift from Hagrid, another close associate of the Headmaster.

Hedwig rarely does anything throughout the books: she simply stays close to Harry and observes, delivering letters from time to time. Specifically, she delivers Harry's letters to his godfather, Sirius Black.

Curiously, Snape was one of the very few people who could know about Sirius' innocence from Dumbledore — and Sirius asks Harry to stop sending Hedwig exactly when Snape has a new secret task from Dumbledore.

Now to Snape himself: animagus wizards inherit traits from the animals they turn into, as we can see with Sirius and Wormtail. Snape does, too: he's constantly irritated and looks unhealthy because he's a night creature.

Furthermore, he probably rarely gets any sleep staying awake at night as Hedwig and during the day as himself.

His terrible temper can be explained by this, too, along with the fact that he has to listen to all the teen drama and the curses that Harry and his friends throw his way.

But Hedwig died, didn't she?

You're right, she did.

But there's more to this: Snape killed her himself. He replaced himself with an identical summoned owl prior to the Seven Potters operation to later kill the fake Hedwig during the pursuit.

Since Dumbledore is dead and Snape has little business spying on Harry for him since he's now stuck in Hogwarts, he gets rid of this loose end — and makes sure Harry never finds out the real Hedwig's identity.

In this regard, here's another fun fact: the scene of Snape killing Hedwig is the only scene when they're seen together. Throughout the entire series, this has never happened.

The first and only time it does is when Snape kills the fake Hedwig. Does it seem like a coincidence after everything else we've gone over?

All in all, it's still an insane theory, but it makes way too much sense for our comfort. Admittedly, it could be like that — even if JKR never intended it this way, there are just too many facts coming together here…

So yeah. Just try not to think about what Snape could've seen while staying close to Harry in his animagus form, and you'll be good.

Seriously, don't think about that.