Did Harry Potter actually die? Heeeey Brotheeer. Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. Twice.
Or, well, wh... I don't know. Did he actually die the second time
and then come back to life? Avada Kedavra!
Because I was actually doing some digging and it turns out this is like the
most searched for question regarding the Harry Potter series. And since we've
never done a dedicated video about it, I thought, hey let's try and answer it.
Because, uh, yeah, it's confusing. I mean, from my point of view, yes,
Harry actually died at the end. But then looking at it from the other side,
there are quite a few good arguments that he didn't truly die, despite what he intended to do.
And that is really what it might come down to. What Harry meant to do versus what actually
happened. Because when he goes down, there is a lot at play that we need to consider.
So, without any further ado, let's try and answer: Did Harry die? [Intro Theme Music] Hey, Brother! I mean, Harry is alive at the end, right? So, the
question is, did he die and then come back to life or did he almost very nearly get as close to
death as possible and then come back to life? Was any of the limbo stuff
real or was it- as Harry says- just happening inside his head? Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry.
Why should that mean that it's not real? Well, let's take it back to the very
beginning of the story to find out if Harry truly died, and what might constitute death. I mean, can't be that hard, right? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. So, as we all know, as a baby, Harry survives the
Avada Kadavra curse because his mother chooses to die for him and
casts sacrificial protection. And it's important to note
that this particular protection is not a one-time use thing. It remains
active in Harry for the rest of his life. This doesn't mean he can't die at all, it just means he can't be murdered
or touched by Voldemort specifically. Which is why, if you fast forward to the end of
Philosopher's Stone, Quirrell can't touch him because at that moment, Quirrell is a
horcrux and therefore part Voldemort and therefore repelled by the sacrificial love. Now, cunning lad that Voldemort
is, he almost overcomes this particular obstacle in Goblet of Fire when, after enacting just the most complicated plan
of all time, he gets Harry to the graveyard. Ahhhh heh heh!! But, like, seriously, can you imagine if any
common sense had been used at all here? Yeah, Big V, it's, uh, it's
me, Barty C. Yeah. So. I, uh, I did the thing with the Goblet. Potter's name came out of it and
everything. It just... well... I don't know what they... It turns out they're just going to have him, like, start each task and then,
like, immediately forfeit. So, he's not really going to,
like, you know, like, compete, or anything. Yeah. I was pretty disappointed, too. How's Wormtail? Anyway, though, in the graveyard, Voldemort
takes Harry's blood into himself, which then allows him to touch Harry and even hit
him with Avada Kadavra, which is all great. He's overcome the protection. Except he hasn't,
because he has now taken it into himself, thus preserving Lily's sacrifice and
continuing to anchor Harry to life. So, that's the first thing we have to consider
when Voldemort attacks Harry in the forest, because if the protection is still active, then can Harry die? Another thing
to consider inside the moment is the Deathly Hallows and where
all of their loyalties presently lie. So, let's start with the Elder wand because it's,
you know, the one the most in play since it's the one, you know, casting the spell. And in that moment- although neither Harry
or Voldemort is aware of it just yet- Harry is actually the present Master of
the Elder Wand when Voldemort attacks him. Everything Harry reveals
later on in the Great Hall about Draco having disarmed Dumbledore, Harry having overpowered Draco, and he himself now being the master of the
Elder Wand, is already true in the forest. And in the final battle in the Great Hall, it is this very fact that causes the
Elder wand to backfire and kill Voldemort. But so, is that same effect still
in play in the forest, then? Like, if the Elder Wand won't
kill Harry in the Great Hall, is that why Harry survives in the forest?
Because Voldemort's not the master and the wand refuses to kill its own master?
And then what about the other Hallows? Well, Harry is also master
of both of them, as well. Harry has, of course, always
been the master of the cloak ever since Dumbledore gave it to him.
He's the next in line after his father to own it, and Dumbledore even confirms
Harry is the true Master. And as for the Resurrection Stone, we know Death's
real trick with the stone is to lure you to death by making you desire your lost loved
ones who are, you know, beyond the veil. That's what happens to the second brother, Cadmus,
and, in a way, to Dumbledore. Like, his curiosity with the
ring leads directly to his death. Avada Kedavra. Harry, on the other hand, uses the stone
to summon his parents and loved ones to purposefully escort him to death.
That is how the master of the stone uses it. He who accepts death. One who is master of death.
Which, if you're keeping track, Harry is. [splurt]
[girls giggling] He might not be holding every single hallow
at the same time, but he is the master of death. So, there it all is. That
is what Harry's own death is up against in this scene. Voldemort is trying to use the Elder Wand against
its master to kill the master of death, who is also tied to life
by the blood in Voldemort. Harry means to die, but does he succeed? Yes. Alright, guys, now we need take a brief pause right there to give a huge thank
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Link is in the description down below. At the end of the day, despite all the things
trying to keep him alive, Harry does successfully die and then return to the
world of the living. Let's break it down. First of all, being master
of death- while it sounds like it would stop you from dying- as we said earlier, it means that you
able to accept death. Master of death, in a way, actually means able to die. Master at dying, even. Which I know that's
kind of like a weird way to think about it, but the fact that Harry is the
master of all three hallows is actually doing nothing
to anchor him to this realm But, that said, two of the hallows- the cloak and the stone- aren't even present in
the situation we're talking about. The Elder Wand, on the other hand, is. In...
In the other... Voldemort has the Elder wand. Thought you ought to know. So, is it simply refusing to kill its master? No. The difference in the forest
versus in the Great Hall is that Harry means to die and so does not defend himself. If Harry had raised a wand
to fight Voldemort in the forest, then the wand would have indeed backfired right
then and there and hit Voldemort. But then there's Lily's
sacrifice living on in Voldemort- the Lovecrux, if you will- to consider. Because if Harry is is tethered
to life via the lovecrux and Voldemort is tethered to life via his
remaining Nagini horcrux, meaning Voldemort can't die, then Harry
can't die. Right? Did I do that math? Because then the other explanation would be
that they both die and both come back to life. And I've got to say that sounds wrong. Like, I mean, certainly Voldemort isn't pulling
off the same miracle as Harry, is he? Ahhh heh heh!!! No, don't worry, he's definitely not.
It is a smidge complicated, but it all works out exactly the way you would want it to. Well, as long as what you want is for Harry
to have died, to come back to life. Duh. But you might be asking yourself, how can that be?
How can Harry be fully dead and in limbo and Voldemort be in limbo
but not fully dead? Well, it all has to do with souls and
where they're all presently located. I'm not supposed to be here. But first let's talk about
our limbo area, King's Cross. An area I definitely think
counts as an afterlife location. Because certainly while Harry
is there, he's not alive, right? And if he's not alive, then he's dead. What, like it's hard? But more and possibly better proof that this area
counts as death is that- believe it or not- this is Voldemort's final resting place at the end of the series. Because in
a story all about accepting death and recognizing death as a good thing, where your
main villain fears death more than anything else, letting him experience death would
almost be something of a mercy to him. But instead, when you see this little gross baby
thing here, that's Voldemort. That's the big guy. It's not the piece of soul that was in Harry,
that is big V himself. The reason Harry looks whole and complete here is
because his soul is whole and complete. Voldemort looks wretched and maimed because
his soul is wretched and maimed. Either way, though, this is what happens to him after the final battle. He doesn't get
to go on to, like, a proper afterlife. He is stuck here forever, unable to help himself,
in a state of... [deep] infinite suffering [/deep]. But with that in mind, after the
final battle, I think we're all pretty comfortable calling Voldemort dead. But if this is where he is,
then it means that this counts as death. And so while Harry is
in here, he is, in fact, dead. Are you sure about that? But- and here's what gets a little confusing-
in this moment, while Harry is there- [deep] and dead [/deep]- Voldemort actually is not
dead yet, because he still has Nagini as a horcrux out in the living world.
So, at that moment, part of his soul is still anchored in the living world.
So technically, Voldemort is still alive. Harry's lovecrux, on the other hand, is only
anchored to this gross version of Voldemort that is in there with him. Which means that, at
that moment, Harry has no living part of his soul in the mortal world, and is therefore
officially dead. Voldemort is able to return to the mortal world from here
because of his horcrux. And because of the lovecrux, Harry is able to choose if he also
wants to return. Which, of course, he does. So, to sum all that up, Harry does fully die
and come back to life, while Voldemort only ever dies after the final battle
and never returns from the dead. And then if you need any further proof at all,
you need to look no further than Harry's own proclamation in the final battle. And there it is, Harry successfully casts sacrificial
protection on the defenders of Hogwarts. Protects them in the same way his mother did, which was by dying for them. If Harry didn't die, then the spell wouldn't be active. But it is. Boom. Harry died. [Outro Theme Music] Hey, Brother! Guys, thanks, as always, for watching today's video.
Don't forget to hit the like button and ring that bell if you haven't already. if you liked this video, then you're going to love this one right here. Or, if you want to see what might have happened if
James had kept the invisibility cloak instead of giving it to Dumbledore, we have a huge
five-part series starting right here. But otherwise, Ben, until next time,
I will see you in another life, Brother.
