Albus Dumbledore has always been more devious than he seems, but a new fan theory suggests that the catastrophic battle at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix happened because Dumbledore wanted it that way.
Recall that throughout Order of the Phoenix, the Order — which Dumbledore helms — has a mission to guard the door at the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. As Harry later learns, it leads to the Prophecy Room holding the prophecy about Harry and Voldemort’s relationship.
Guarding this door is a dangerous job, as order member Sturgis Podmore gets an Azkaban sentence in the line of duty and Arthur Weasley nearly gets killed by Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. It’s only thanks to Harry’s dreams, which give him a window into Voldemort’s mind, that Arthur is saved in time.
But did anyone stop to consider why the Order put so much time and energy into guarding a prophecy that Dumbledore knew Voldemort had already heard most of? A prophecy Dumbledore convinced Harry still didn’t set the future in stone? One Reddit user proposed that, to Dumbledore, making a big deal over the door was the real plan.
As they point out, the prophecy is “basically irrelevant” and that Dumbledore wanted Voldemort to think the “prophecy is crazy important.” Dumbledore’s only real goal here was to draw Voldemort out in the open to prove to the Ministry of Magic that Voldemort was indeed and in fact alive. Sending the Order of the Phoenix there was all part of the plan.
The plan went perfectly too. The ministry is no longer able to stick its head in the sand and deny Voldemort’s return after the battle. But other than Sirius Black dying, everything in the battle worked out enormously in Dumbledore’s favor.
