#hogworts

In The Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter was poisoned and I have proof! Okay, here me out before you bust out those tinfoil hats. I seriously believe he was being poisoned, and the most glaring clue is literally (figuratively) punching you in the face. 

Be warned, there be spoilers ahead.

Let’s look at our facts first, shall we? In OftP, poor Harry is severely depressed by what has happened. He’s seen Voldemort return and no one will believe him, he watched Cedric die and had to magically get his dead body back to Hogworts, his aunt and uncle still suck, no one will answer his questions, puberty has struck..

Oh… and this bitch showed up.

Let me be clear - Harry has every right to be mad. Anyone would be in his situation. But he’s more than mad, he’s unable to control himself. His friends keep telling him to watch his temper, to not make outbursts that will get him in trouble, to keep quiet. He can’t. He tried, but it just comes out of him. And it’s only in this book that he’s so mad, despite him having even more reasons to be pissed in Half-Blood Prince.

The we get about 2/5th through the book and a passage stands out. During chapter 18, Dumbledore’s Army, Harry is trying to study, but is completely exhausted. He reads the same passage on scurvy-grass, lovage, and sneezewort over and over again, but doesn’t absorb any of it.

These plants are moste efficacious in the inflaming of the braine, and

are therefor much used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts, where

the wizard is desirous of producing hot-headedness and recklessness…

This is our clue. He’ll, it’s more than a clue. Harry then goes on to think about Sirius’s recklessness, and then that the Daily Prophet would accuse him of having a swollen brain to try to cover up his insistence that Voldemort had returned. In his worries about what others think and what they are doing, he misses that he himself might be the one being poisoned.

But by who? And why?

Several reasons, really. Fudge, in his ongoing desire to discredit Harry, would have a much easier time of it if he was expelled. Umbridge is another likely culprit. She loved to punish him, and every time he had an outburst, she got to do it again.

How?

Many people end up poisoned in the Harry Potter books. Even Ron almost dies with a simple swig of mead. A little bit slipped into his food by a house elf and he would be as hot headed as any. Dobby couldn’t possibly keep an eye on every single thing that Harry ate or drank, so someone might have gotten it in there.

So there you have it. Harry Potter was being poisoned by someone who wanted to keep him angry. J.K. Rowling left a huge, full page hint right there for us. It explains so much!