Thanks to the scar, Dumbledore knew that Harry’s volatile moods were (at least partly) an indication that Voldemort was capable of reading – and even invading – the Boy Who Lived’s mind. Now, lesser wizards would have chalked up Harry’s increasingly surly, temperamental demeanour solely to him being a teenager. In Order of the Phoenix, Albus divulges that the moment he first saw the lightning bolt-shaped cut on baby Harry’s head, he instantly surmised that it signified a lasting connection between the boy wizard and Voldemort.įast forward 15 years, and Dumbledore’s guess was proven correct, when a unique mental (and spiritual) bond was discovered to exist between Harry and the Dark Lord. Harry’s scar is a perfect example of Dumbledore’s knack for using a minor clue to tease out a major, game-changing revelation. Somebody with his immense amount of brainpower doesn’t need much more than the vaguest of hints to pull together a fully-fledged – not to mention accurate – theory. The author has admitted as much in interviews, acknowledging that she wanted her hero to sport an awesome-looking reminder of his first encounter with Voldemort, finally settling on the now-iconic shape.ĭumbledore was a very clever guy – it’s part of the reason why he’s considered one of the greatest wizards of all time. That’s the canonical rationale for Harry’s scar looking the way it does, but is there a real-world explanation? Well, it turns out we’re not the only ones who think that a lightning bolt scar looks cool – JK Rowling does as well! The obvious implication here is that, although the spell rebounded on Voldemort, the minor wound it left perfectly mirrored the movements used by the Dark Lord to invoke its magic. Thanks to Pottermore, we know that the wand motion used to cast the Avada Kedavra curse corresponds exactly to the lightning bolt shape that adorns Harry’s forehead. That said, you might be wondering if there’s a specific, in-universe reason why Harry’s scar resembles a bolt of lighting (other than “because magic”) – and there is. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s easily the most aesthetically-pleasing disfigurement ever inflicted upon anyone.

Pretty lightning scars