The Fantastic Beasts movies, including the recent Secrets of Dumbledore, have failed to impress Harry Potter fans since the newly introduced plots seem to create several holes within the established canon. Added details such as Albus Dumbledore frequenting the Room of Requirement or Aberforth having a son do not seamlessly fit with the story as it had been laid out in the books, leaving many worried about how the new plotlines coming in the upcoming video game Hogwarts Legacy will line up.
Of course, the Harry Potter spin-offs aren't the only installments that have opened up plot holes. The books themselves contained a few inconsistencies that were only exacerbated by changes made in the movies. An example of this is the plots surrounding Animagi, or people that can turn into animals, since the way that Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, James Potter, and others are portrayed doesn't always make a lot of practical sense.
Do Animagi Need Their Wands Or Not?
Harry Potter fans know that Peter Pettigrew spent 12 years of his life exclusively in the form of a rat. Sirius and Lupin revealed his true form and planned to turn him in. However, in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, Pettigrew gets his hand on a wand, points it at his head, and transforms again.
The books make it clear that a wand is unnecessary for an Animgus to transform, but the movies felt the need to change that. This contributed nothing to the plot and instead riddled the concept of Animagi with holes. If a wand were needed, Sirius would have never been able to escape from Azkaban.
Do Animagi Leave Their Clothes Behind?
Another stylistic choice of the Prisoner of Azkaban movie was showing Peter Pettigrew leaving his clothes behind when he transformed into a rat and made his big escape. This never happened in the Harry Potter books when an Animagus transformed, for a good reason.
If Pettigrew's clothes were left behind, would he reappear naked? If so, why did he take human form, already wearing clothes? Only moments after Pettigrew's escape, Sirius transformed into a dog, and his clothes were nowhere to be seen, so it's unclear how this single exception made any sense.
Too Many People Are Secretly Animagi
Many Harry Potter fans would love to be an Animagus, especially since, for a time, it seemed that several characters were surprisingly revealed to be one. It was clear from Philosopher's Stone that Minerva McGonagall could turn into a cat, but by Goblet of Fire, four other characters were revealed to be illegal Animagi.
Rita Skeeter's ability to turn into a Beetle to better eavesdrop on her victims was not included in the films, and this might have been the right choice. At a certain point, the reveal loses its impact, making it seem that just anyone can do it. This majorly downplays the supposedly difficult process.
There Is No Incentive To Register With The Ministry Of Magic
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In the wizarding world, those who want to go through the grueling process of becoming Animagi must register with the Ministry of Magic. Understandably, the government wants to keep tabs on people that can become animals since the ability makes lawbreaking much easier.
However, since the series reveals four individuals who didn't register, it must be assumed that there are far more. In fact, there seems to be no incentive to register at all, so the fact that the Ministry doesn't think that any disappeared people could have turned into an animal seems like an oversight in a magical world.
Why Was Harry Seeing The Grim?
Prisoner of Azkaban is summed up by the numerous premonitions and omens that seem to haunt Harry. After seeing a mysterious black dog on Privet Drive, Trelawney dramatically examines a Grim in his tea leaves. Then, in the movie, Harry again sees a dog's shape in the clouds.
Of course, he later learns that the black dog he had been seeing was just the Animagus, Sirius, who had wanted to get a closer look at his godson. However, this doesn't explain why the things around Harry kept taking the Grim's form. It could have been a prediction that Harry would meet Sirius, but why was he never again confronted with omens of his future?
Dementors Should Be Able To Sense Animagi
While the Harry Potter movies leave out the details of Sirius' escape from Azkaban, the books reveal that because he was an unregistered Animagus, no one thought to make sure that a dog couldn't escape a cell. As it turns out, blind Dementors can only sense humans. So, when Sirius mustered the energy to transform, the guards were none the wiser.
However, since Animagi still have human souls, it makes little sense that Sirius would be resistant to the Dementors while in his dog form. The book goes on to say that since Sirius knew he was innocent, the Dementors didn't have the same effect, but if anything, this should have just made him feel more despair— a Dementor's favorite meal.
Animagi Shouldn't Be Immune To Werewolves
The whole reason that James, Sirius, and Peter went through the process of becoming Animagi is that they wanted to be able to keep Remus Lupin company during the full moon when his werewolf side took over. They knew that Lupin would only be interested in human victims, so animals would be safe.
The Prisoner of Azkaban book describes how the presence of animal companions would calm Lupin, but it does not explain why this is. Lupin was often covered in scars because his extreme violence would cause him to harm himself. Why should animals make any difference?
There Aren't Many Honest Reasons To Be An Animagus
In Harry Potter, the wise Minerva McGonagall studied under Albus Dumbledore to achieve her status as an Animagus. It became her trademark party trick during her lessons. However, outside of this exciting spectacle, there seem to be few honest motivations for becoming an Animagus.
Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Rita Skeeter became Animagi to help them better sneak around and break the rules. Since there are few other reasons to obtain the ability, it becomes even more ridiculous that the Ministry would expect all Animgi to register.
The Marauders Could Have Only Helped Lupin For A Short Time
It's easy to imagine the Marauders running around as animals year after year. Still, Lupin revealed in Prisoner of Azkaban that James, Sirius, and Pettigrew didn't complete the process until the end of their fifth year at Hogwarts. So, for five years, Lupin underwent his painful transformation alone.
The Wizarding World website reveals that becoming an Animagus is long, painstaking, and dangerous. If it were to go wrong, an individual could find themselves stuck as a grotesque mix of two species with no cure. Since they could have only kept Lupin company for a couple of short years, it hardly seems worth it.
Not Being Able To Choose An Animal Is A Major Risk To Becoming An Animagus
Like with casting a Patronus, witches or wizards hoping to become an Animgus cannot choose what kind of animal they turn into. It could be anything from a rat to an elephant, which makes undergoing the transformation in secret no guarantee.
So, when Rita Skeeter decided to break the rules and become an Animagus, she had no way of knowing that she would be something small enough to meet her needs. Similarly, it seems outrageous that James' stag form would have been able to sneak around, even with the help of the Invisibility Cloak. Fitting through the secret passageway by the Whomping Willow could hardly have been an option.