I'm enjoying writing fan fiction. I love Psych, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Agents of Shield, and Once Upon A Time.

I also love Harry Potter.

My favorite characters (in no particular order) are:

Henry Mills (OUAT)

Regina Mills (OUAT)

Rodney McKay (Stargate Atlantis)

Daniel Jackson (Stargate SG-1)

Ron Weasley (Harry Potter)

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

Leopold Fitz (Agents of Shield)

For a while now, I've had this theory about OUAT, and the season 5 finale merely confirmed it.

We haven't seen anything about Henry being the Truest Believer since the whole incident with Pan. It's almost as if the whole thing is unimportant. I think that Henry has certain powers that come with being the Truest Believer, they are just so subtle that no one, including Henry himself, even realizes that they exist. He can't create fireballs, or transport himself long distances, or fight with magic. But the power of belief is a powerful thing. So here is what I believe Henry can do:

1) Restore magic. The whole reason Pan wanted Henry's heart, is because he was losing his magic. Henry's belief in all things good and magic was so strong, that it could literally create magic where there was none, or very little. The whole scene at the wishing fountain confirms this. Emma even said, "He's bringing back magic." I bet that if anyone else had tried to use wishes to bring back magic, it wouldn't have worked, even if they got everyone in the entire city of New York to believe. Henry only needed a square full of people.

2) Amplify magic. We all know that True Love is the most powerful magic of all, but belief has got to be on par, or at least the second most powerful. If you put the two together what do you get? The most powerful magic that has, or will ever, be created. Regina and Snow both cast the same curse, one so powerful that it seemed impossible to break, but it was done, twice. The common factor was not only True Love's kiss, but Henry as well. In the first season finale, Emma finally believed that magic did exist and that Henry was right. Henry, of course, already believed in magic, so when Emma gave True Love's kiss, it was amplified a thousand fold so it could break a curse surrounding an entire land. After Snow enacted her curse, she and Charming tried True Love's kiss, but nothing happened. Their love was strong, but not strong enough to break such a large curse. This makes sense. True Love can break an unbreakable curse, like a sleeping curse, but it only extends to that one person. Again, later, everyone believed except Henry. So Emma convinced him to believe, Regina gave him True Love's kiss, and it was amplified to the point that it could break the curse surrounding an entire land. Emma is always hailed as the Savior who could protect the people and break the curse. Maybe part of the role of being the Savior is to give birth to the one person who could propel True Love's kiss to such curse breaking epic proportions.

3) Influence people. Now hang with me on this. Henry can cause people to believe in something, just simply because he himself believes it. This actually makes the wishing fountain scene make sense. Henry tells a bunch of people that all they have to do is believe and make a wish, and what happens, they laugh. They think he is a silly kid. I can understand that a few people would go ahead and toss in their pennies, but all of a sudden, this group of skeptical people turn en mass to throw every single penny they have on their person into the fountain, because none of them threw just one penny, but as many as they could. I think this is because Henry was so desperate to get his family back that he literally made those people believe, and once that desperation was gone, they stopped believing and thought it was nothing but a trick. This influence can be seen in earlier seasons as well, most notably with Regina. In the second season, Regina wanted Henry back more than anything. At one point she was even willing to cast a spell to make Henry think he loved her, but she burned the spell before she could cast it. If you watch that scene, you can see Henry staring Regina down, wanting her to do the right thing, believing she can do the right thing. And suddenly Regina believes she can do the right thing. She may not be able to get rid of magic, but she can burn the piece of paper that would make Henry's life miserable. And right after the curse broke, Regina kidnapped Henry and brought him home. When Henry explained that he didn't want to be held against his will, you assume that Regina's change of heart came from remembering her own mother's strictness, and I'm sure it was a big influence, but a lot of it came down to Henry expressing his belief that she wasn't doing the right thing. Throughout the first half of the second season, Regina would take one step forward, then two steps back, but those times she took a step forward, Henry was standing in front of her encouraging her to be a better person in that moment, believing in her. Then he would leave and she would fall again. I think this is because Henry was very angry with her about everything she had done to hurt him, so he wasn't constantly believing in her. Once he fully forgave her and started believing a more consistent basis, Regina suddenly had the strength to fight and keep the darkness at bay, because she now believed she could do it. Regina is the one most noticeably affected by Henry's influence, but others have gained a sudden sense of belief, simply because Henry believes.

None of this is to say that Henry can make you do something you don't want to do. A person can still have free will, and if their wants and desires are strong then they can choose to do what they want, even if Henry doesn't want them too. He isn't actively trying to influence people, I don't even think he knows he can do it (and neither does anyone else), and he wouldn't abuse that power if he did know. He simply uses it to subconsciously bolster someone's confidence.

I think this is an interesting dynamic of Henry's character that hasn't been explored. His Truest Belief and the powers of being the Author mean that Henry is probably one of the most powerful people on the show, it just goes unnoticed by all. (I have a forum called The Heart of The Truest Believer if anyone is interested in discussing this topic).