Why Isn't Harry Potter An Obscurial Like Credence?

When the concept of an Obscurus was introduced, fans endlessly speculated about Harry. In fact, the question cropped up so often that Wizarding World creator J.K. Rowling added it to the "FAQs" section of her website.

While growing up, Harry lived with the Dursleys, who not only actively hated magic but also constantly abused their nephew. But although the recipe is seemingly there for him to develop an Obscurus, it never happens. This is because the most pivotal piece of the formula is the acknowledgment and subsequent suppression of magic, which doesn't happen with Harry.

"The Dursleys were too frightened of magic ever to acknowledge its existence to Harry," Rowling wrote. "While Vernon and Petunia had a confused hope that if they were nasty enough to Harry his strange abilities might somehow evaporate, they never taught him to be ashamed or afraid of magic. Even when he was scolded for 'making things happen', he didn't make any attempt to suppress his true nature, nor did he ever imagine that he had the power to do so."

Overall, it seems that Rowling put thought into the concept and it's paid off. In a Reddit post by u/sweetpotato37 asking if others dislike the Obscurus storyline in the "Fantastic Beasts" series, several Redditors felt the opposite, pointing to Albus Dumbledore's sister, Ariana, who is confirmed to be an Obscurial in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."

Redditor u/palcatraz had the most popular answer, saying in part, "In the original books, we already had Ariana's story, in which a young magical child is conscious of and tries to suppress her magic with terrible results. I see the [O]bscurus story line as an extension of the concept we already were introduced [to] via Ariana's story."