In a world where wizards casually recite Latin spells and brooms are a legitimate form of transportation, you'd think Harry Potter fans would be crazy to believe anything. But even J.K. Rowling's meticulously crafted world, the one we call the Wizarding World, has some things that are hard to accept. From the inscrutable bureaucracy of the Ministry of Magic to the utter impracticality of Quidditch, the only sport wizards know, here are the top 10 things in the Harry Potter books (or movies) that just don't make sense.
It may seem odd, even unkind, to poke holes in a near-universally beloved series that captivated millions and made its young leads into overnight stars, but even the most devoted Potter fans (of which I certainly count myself) can't help but scratch their heads at the occasional narrative stumbles and oddities.
The Harry Potter phenomenon
The Harry Potter phenomenon began in 1997 with Rowling's debut fantasy novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which quickly shot up bestseller charts around the world and, in fact, remains one of the best-selling books of all time today.
Warner Bros. adapted the book into the blockbuster Harry Potter film series starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson starting in 2001. The series, which consists of seven main books and eight films, has captivated millions of people since its inception as an unparalleled cultural masterpiece.
A TV series reboot of the book is in development, so keep an eye out for that.
Note: I have not included minor inconsistencies or plot holes, like why the boa constrictor winked at Harry when the Dursleys visited the zoo in the first book, even though snakes don't have eyelids. Perhaps it's a perk of the wizarding world? Snakes can wiggle their eyelids!
Magic and mayhem: the Harry Potter series' most baffling, oddities and mind-bending happenings
Technological stagnation in the wizarding world
Hogwarts and the Wizarding World are still very much in the Middle Ages. (Image: Courtesy of IMDb)
Hogwarts, and the wizarding world at large, seems completely untouched by all the technological advancements happening in the Muggle world – why are wizards and witches content to live in a bygone era when the rest of the world is charging ahead with innovation, invention and discovery?
At first, this doesn't seem all that surprising, since to those who know and practice magic in their daily lives, anything they wish for can be obtained simply by waving a wand or whispering the numerous spells that make up the series' magical system.
But computers and the Internet could be used to help young wizards and witches learn more about the Muggle world. Or to help Ministry officials perform calculations that are too difficult for humans to perform. Hogwarts students could also use the Internet to learn about subjects that aren't taught at their wizarding school. So…
Gaps in the Hogwarts curriculum
Muggle basics are not taught at Hogwarts, so it's no wonder young wizards and witches are so ignorant about Muggle culture. (Image: courtesy of IMDb)
Hogwarts students naturally study magic at their educational institution. But couldn't the people who designed the Hogwarts curriculum have also included the foundational subjects that Muggles study, such as language, literature, mathematics, social sciences, geography, and history? We Muggles study these subjects to understand the world around us and our place in it. Learning about our world would give residents of the wizarding world a more well-rounded education. And perhaps this could help bridge the gap between the two communities.
Plus, wizards might not need to use owls to send messages: email and instant messaging apps exist.
Killing Curse
The Killing Curse is forbidden, but the Death Eaters thrive by doing the unforgivable. (Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros./J.K. Rowling/IMDb)
The Killing Curse, or Avada Kedavra, is one of the three forbidden curses featured in the fantasy film series (the other two being the Cruciatus Curse and the Obedience Curse). The curse causes instant death and freezes the victim's facial expression forever. There is no spell to counter the curse, and the only way to survive is to avoid it.
When the spell bounced back to its caster, Voldemort, only Harry Potter survived. So why do Death Eaters use spells so infrequently when fighting other wizards? They have no moral constraints, no fear of retribution. Wouldn't casting spells frequently make their pursuit of world domination that much easier?
Quidditch Conundrum
Quidditch doesn't seem like a team game when it's only the Seekers who decide who wins and who loses. (Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros./J.K. Rowling/IMDb)
Quidditch was one of the most requested features for Hogwarts Legacy, the open-world video game from Avalanche Software (developer) and Warner Bros. Games (publisher). The sport is beloved by Potterheads as it seems to be the only way Hogwarts students get any sort of physical activity. Oh, wait a minute. Quidditch is played on broomsticks.
But the most ridiculous thing about this sport is the existence of the Golden Snitch. This little snitch is no easy feat to catch, but it awards 150 points to the team of the seeker (the one player from each team who gets the snitch) – a disproportionate advantage in a sport where a single goal awarded a team only 10 points.
Suddenly, Quidditch is no longer a team sport, and it all depends on the ability of a seeker to catch the snitch before the seeker on the other team.
Time Turner Paradox
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry, Ron and Hermione are influenced by their future selves. (Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros./J.K. Rowling/IMDb)
A Time-Turner is a device in the wizarding world that can, you guessed it, turn back time. It is used extensively in the third book (and film) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and as a major plot device in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
However, key characters, including Albus Dumbledore, didn't use any of those spells to reverse Voldemort's work and prevent the deaths of good people. And, yes, there is the same in-world explanation as in many other stories dealing with time travel – namely, that major change wreaks havoc on the fabric of reality. But it's not as if the wizarding world was already in a pretty dire situation after Voldemort's rise. Which brings us to our next point…
Time travel paradoxes
A Time Turner would have been extremely useful in stopping Lord Voldemort. (Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros./J.K. Rowling/IMDb)
In the original Harry Potter series, we learn that the concept of determinism underlies time travel and events in the wizarding world – events are inevitable and you can't go back in time and change anything.
When characters travel back in time, like the Prisoner of Azkaban, they follow a predetermined path. But in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, when characters travel back in time, not only do major events actually change, but their actions have a profound effect on the present.
Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy are unaware of the existence of the Sorting Hat
Why didn't Ron and Draco notice the Sorting Hat? (Image: Courtesy of IMDb)
Ron and Draco come from an ancient line of pure-blood wizards, with generations of wizards who have studied at Hogwarts, possibly dating back hundreds of years. Didn't any of their families know about the Sorting Hat? The Sorting Hat is the intelligence that decides whether you'll be in Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. Ron had two brothers (Fred and George) who were already studying at Hogwarts, and Draco's father, Lucius, would have told him anything to give his son an advantage over the other students. But neither of them knew about the Sorting Hat.
The transportation challenge
The existence of Apparitions and Portkeys makes all other forms of travel obsolete in the Harry Potter series. (Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros./J.K. Rowling/IMDb)
Wizards and witches at Hogwarts and elsewhere have at their disposal the means of Apparition and Portkeys. Apparition allows a person to travel from one place to another, and it is done instantly, as they simply disappear and reappear.
A portkey is a device for those who do not have the ability to “apparate.” So why do other forms of transportation exist, like the Hogwarts Express, brooms, carriages, and flying cars? Maybe travelers want to stick to the idea that the journey is more important than the destination.
How many students are there at Hogwarts, really?
It is unclear how many students are at Hogwarts at any one time. (Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros./IMDb)
Another inconsistency in the Harry Potter series can be attributed to its sheer scale and scope, but it is crucial that we do not know for sure how many students there are at Hogwarts, the primary setting for these books. Rowling frequently speaks of hundreds or even thousands of students, but that does not square with the fact that there are only ten students in each house each year.
One could argue that the low numbers at the start of the story are due to a dwindling wizarding population as a result of Voldemort's crimes, but that feels more like a stopgap solution than a well-thought-out one.
Marauder's Map Mystery
Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew. (Image: courtesy of IMDb)
The Marauder's Map is a magical item created by James Potter (Harry's father), Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series. It knows the secrets of every room, corridor, and person in Hogwarts. The user can see the movements and names of people in real time, which is very useful for Harry, who received this map from the Weasley brothers. So how did Peter Pettigrew, who lived as Ron's pet rat, go unnoticed by them the whole time they had the map?
There's one possible explanation: perhaps the map's magic was somehow circumvented or hidden by Pettigrew's Animagus form, or his long-term disguise as Scabbers.
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(Main character and featured images: Courtesy of Warner Bros./J.K. Rowling/IMDb)
The information in this article is accurate as of the publication date.
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