Harry Potter plotholes/ goofs that really annoy you

[Aproductofmyera80s]

I absolutely love Harry Potter, I watch it twice a year, would watch it more if I had the time. One plothole that gets me every time, so Fred and George had the marauders map all that time and didn’t notice that Ron’s rat was Peter pettigrew?
every time I watch it, it grinds my gears.
any one else notice anything?

Not a plot hole as such, more Harry being unbelievably stupid, but in the book where Sirius dies (can't remember now which one) at the beginning he gives Harry a mirror he can use to contact him. But when Harry thinks Sirius is in danger he doesn't use the mirror, he just goes dashing off to the ministry and Sirius dies because of that. And I just think why? Why have the mirror in the story if it doesn't get used. And even when Harry finds it afterwards he doesn't think, oh I could have used that to check on Sirius instead of going on that dangerous mission that ended in Sirius's death.

Why have that plot device if it's not going to be used and no one even reflects on the irony of it not being used?

But half the cast were either wearing wigs or dyeing their hair (Dumbledore, Hagrid, Malfoy and his parents), even Fred and George aren't really redheads!

No, they're green. From Deathly Hallows - "Lily’s bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at once."

The only way I can make this make sense:

1. the same reason why most of the wizards work boring ministry jobs: the Ministry must tax wizarding families, and so they have to earn the special wizard money to pay their taxes
2. They're locked into this wizard economy, most of the ways they're poor is not food but spending in Diagon Alley where they need Galleons for everything.
3. There are loads of magical restrictions and laws (like historical sumptuary laws) that mean they're restricted from doing useful things with magic, as a part of the global conspiracy to keep it secret.

Can someone please remind me what crime Sirius was framed for?

But what about Quirrell? Not only did he see him die, he killed him. At 11 he was definitely old enough to understand death, so should have been able to see thestrals from end of first year/start of second year.

It also bothers me that the weaslies are "poor" but have a 3/4 story detached house, compleat with land (both for food growing & spare for quidich), can afford to have 7 children and send them to boarding school, can afford numerous international holidays & but quidich cup tickets, not only for all their kid but for random school friends (one of home is rich, the other doesn't even like quidich).

The value of a gillion is also pretty inconsistent. In book 2, the weaslies have 1 gillion to kit out 5 children for school, by book 4 Mr Weaslie can afford to gamble 1 gallion & the twins have some how raised 30+

Murdering Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles.

But what about Quirrell? Not only did he see him die, he killed him. At 11 he was definitely old enough to understand death, so should have been able to see thestrals from end of first year/start of second year.

Book Harry doesn't see Quirrell die - and he doesn't kill him! His touch burns Quirrell but it doesn't turn him to dust like in the film. Voldemort leaves Quirrell's body and leaves him to die but Harry is unconscious at that point.

He does find the mirror at the end of the book, and there's a paragraph about him realising he could have used it.

And then it's used in the last book too, remember? Or a fragment of it is.

On the money front, I read a lovely fanfiction about a muggleborn wizard who realised that, while in the wizard world a galleon is a unit of money that buys a certain amount of stuff (and not that much stuff), in the muggle world a galleon is a large lump of gold that can be melted and sold for paper money. And that paper money can be taken to Gringotts and exchanged for quite a lot more galleons ...

The mirror is used in the deathly hallows. Harry keeps his rubbish keepsakes in a pouch around his neck, including a shard of the broken mirror. When at Malfoy manor in the dungeon he shouts help, because he saw a glimmer of a blue eye. Aberforth had the other mirror. He sent Dobby to rescue them from malfoy manor.

Because it comes in very handy in book seven.

The point of the mirror in book five isn't to save Sirius, it's to plant it nice and early to save Harry in book 7.

In the book yes, but in the films Lily's were brown and Harry's were blue. If Daniel Radcliffe couldn't wear contacts you'd think they'd get someone with blue eyes to play his mum, hair colour is much easier to change.

I think it could be argued this was intentional but I think it was a plot hole.

In book 1, they all got detention because of Hagrid and his illegal dragon. It was completely Hagrid's fault. Then when it comes to detention, Hagrid is stern with the whole group, telling them they deserve it because they did wrong. Maybe he was saying it because Malfoy was there, but I'm surprised Malfoy didn't argue back, especially since this is one of the few times it would be perfectly valid to!

At no point does Hagrid acknowledge what happened or apologise to the trio, even once they're alone. The whole tone of the detention scene is that they've done wrong. Even Hermione, while they're getting ready for it, accepts that she deserves it!

It really irritates me every time I read it. I actually think the detention scene was written first and then JK needed to find a reason for them to be in detention so linked it with the Norbert story but then it didn't quite follow on properly.

I dislike Hagrid as a character and think he's a complete idiot who shouldn't be around children but it was still out of character for him.

Why didn't hagrid get an official apology when they realised that he didn't open the chamber of secrets fifty years ago? He should have got his wand back with an apology for getting expelled..

Why didn't lily dissaparate with harry when voldemort arrived?

Hagrid was appointed as a teacher over the summer, after he was exonerated as not opening the chamber of secrets.

Sorry to be an utter HP nerd, but doesn’t JK Rowling mention that they accidentally smashed all the time turners when she is describing the kids being chased by Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic, not long before Sirius is killed?

They could have - but that's not a plot hole that's an important part of the inequality of the wizarding world. There's a line about Voldemort knowing nothing of Hallows and House Elves - anything he doesn't understand he considers beneath him and doesn't bother to learn about and that always proves to be the key to his undoing. House Elves are massively powerful and all the wizards overlook it because they just see them as servants.

Hermione's SPEW takes its name from a real life organisation The Society for the Promotion of Employment for Women... there's a bit of real life commentary in the treatment of this class of being who are left to cook and clean and not seen as equal but who are capable of amazing things.

It also bothers me that the weaslies are "poor" but have a 3/4 story detached house, compleat with land (both for food growing & spare for quidich), can afford to have 7 children and send them to boarding school, can afford numerous international holidays & but quidich cup tickets, not only for all their kid but for random school friends (one of home is rich, the other doesn't even like quidich).

Hogwarts is free, their trip to Egypt was a prize and I think their only other foreign trip was to visit their son and they didn't take the other children. It's said somewhere that Arthur got some cheap World Cup tickets through work.

Why didn't lily dissaparate with harry when voldemort arrived?

In a flashback of Voldemort's he notes that both James' and Lily's wands have just been put down carelessly, not expecting to be attacked - neither are able to fight back with magic. Even though you don't cast a spell to disapparate, I guess you need your wand?

I think in the book the basilisk was actually much smaller than portrayed in the film; closer in size to a big cobra than the massive beast. That always stumped me too!

Or the actress could have worn blue contacts.

Or find a kid with green eyes and dye their hear black or give them a wig, it didn't have to be Radcliffe. The unusual eye colour comes up throughout the book, casting should have focused on that.

Would love for someone to explain theories about the final book when harry drops the resurrection stone before getting 'killed' by Voldemort. By dropping it is he accepting death and that's why he was allowed to come back? Or did it still work for him even though he dropped it? Or did he not die because Voldemort only killed the horcrux of himself that lived inside harry? Never understood that scene...

On ‘not all Slytherins bad’, when my kids watch the films, a thing that annoys me is all the Slytherins being shepherded away before the final battle. Because it seems so black and white, Slytherin = not to be trusted. I would really like them to have been given a choice and a handful to have chosen to stay and fight against the Death Eaters. It would be even better if it included named characters who weren’t particularly nice to Harry and his friends, but maybe turned out to be a bit brave and not evil.
I think it’s done the same way in the book but I read it a long time ago (though I remembered enough to be annoyed that they changed Neville’s hero scene in the film).

@catlovingdoctor

I thought in the book it was called a "massive serpent" and didn't they see a giant basilisk skin too?! I need to read again to check 😂