Even though both the books and the movies concluded ages ago, our obsession with the entire Harry Potter franchise hasn’t diminished one bit. In fact, it’s stronger than ever—after all, we’re beyond excited for the sequel to the series, and every time we binge-watch the movies, we experience a whole host of emotions. So whenever new information is revealed, we are on it.
A new theory has been floating around the Internet, unearthed by Tumblr user tomhiddles—and it’s as good as sparked a revolution. As it turns out, the very first words Professor Snape speaks to Harry hold a very significant message; one we sort of can’t believe we’ve been missing all these years.
The world of dedicated readers went up in flames when tomhiddles posted: “The first thing Snape asks Harry is ‘Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?’ According to Victorian Flower Language, asphodel is a type of lily meaning ‘My regrets follow you to the grave’ and wormwood means ‘absence’ and also typically symbolized bitter sorrow. If you combined that, it meant ‘I bitterly regret Lily’s death.’”
So, this is further proof that Snape wasn’t as much of a jerk as we all thought he was.
Although many Muggle-borns will go on to say that this is simply a coincidence and people are making something out of nothing, there are those of us who believe in the inexplicable genius of Mrs. Rowling.