They might have introduced us to a world of wonderful wizardry and some charming, funny and interesting characters over their eight-film run, but the Harry Potter franchise is far from airtight.
There are plot holes in every film. Some of them are passing, confusing things that don’t quite add up, and some are massive storyline exposing zingers that can change how you view the whole series. We’ve collected the ten biggest issues with the first four films in the franchise.
Why Are Wizards Excited By Wizard Stuff?
The three main characters in Harry Potter come from each of the wizarding bloodline types: Hermione is muggle-born (no wizard parents), Harry is a half-blood (as his mother was muggle-born) and Ron is a pure-blood (descended from a long line of wizards).
The vast majority of the other students joining Hogwarts in the first film come from wizarding backgrounds and will have seen such magical goings-on for many years. It seems strange that they do a few things that don’t quite add up. Some of them are shocked by the magical portraits on the walls, for example, even though this is completely normal in the wizarding world.
Neville Did What He Was Told
Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone spends a lot of time trying to make sure the audience knows that Neville Longbottom isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. However, there is one moment early on in the film where he seems a little pre-judged.
Madam Hooch explains to the students that they are to kick off from their brooms when she blows her whistle. As soon as she does this, Neville begins to float upwards, prompting her to shout at him straight away, even though technically this is exactly what she wanted her students to do.
Weak Protections
The ‘Alohomora’ spell is one of the first spells we see the main three characters get the hang of. It seems to be pretty flawed in itself because surely the simplicity of this spell would suggest that locks aren’t really a thing in the wizarding world, and the only way to have one that works is to make it resistant to the spell, thus making the spell useless. It forms a bit of a paradox, really.
For some reason, this spell is all it takes to unlock the door that is guarding: a three-headed dog, a murderous chess game, and a stone of infinite life. It seems like a pretty poor defense mechanism for something so important.
Surely Hermione Would Have Noticed Cat Hair?
There is a very clear difference between cat hair and human hair. Millicent Bullstrode is a human girl with long hair; a cat is a small animal with pretty short fur. They look and feel different, and you’d be hard pushed to get them mixed up.
On top of this, Hermione is supposed to be one of the cleverest witches in Hogwarts. It doesn’t make a lot of sense that she fools herself and ends up being turned into a cat when she makes her batch of Polyjuice potion.
Harry Horcrux Should Have Been Killed
We learn very late into the Harry Potter franchise that the venom of a basilisk is able to destroy Horcruxes. Of course, JK Rowling would say that this was always the case and part of a pre-established plan, but let’s be honest, it was a convenient plot device thought of when it was needed.
It also forms a massive plot hole, because Harry was stabbed by the basilisk fang, so the Horcrux that lives inside of him should have been destroyed at the end of The Chamber Of Secrets, not The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Harry’s Lumos Should Have Been Illegal
The idea that doing underage magic when outside school grounds is a criminal offense is very much pushed forward throughout the franchise. Harry is sent a howler threatening his expulsion when he blows up Aunt Marge in the third film, and he ends up on trial for using the Patronus charm in the fifth.
Despite this, the opening shot of The Prisoner Of Azkaban sees Harry completely needlessly using the Lumos spell while under his bed covers. This seems like a real error on the part of the Ministry Of Magic, and a massively brave move from Harry, who could have just used a torch.
Time Travel Problems
Any film, TV show or book that uses time travel is plagued with a myriad of fatal flaws. It’s such an impossible concept that almost anything you do with it shouldn’t make any sense whatsoever. In the third Harry Potter film, nothing is different.
We see Hermione getting between classes like it’s nothing (even though, as we see, this means there are two versions of her existing at the same time in the school). Beyond this, how is her brain picking up the information when she is in two classes at once? Which one does she remember and how and when and why and what?
Seriously, this makes no sense. Surely someone as intelligent as Professor McGonagall wouldn’t let a child mess with the fabric of time just so she could go to a couple of extra lessons?
And What Happened To The Time Turner
Looking past all of the major issues with time turners that this episode creates, it also forces the question of why don’t people use them more? If there is quite literally a device that allows its wearer to travel back in time, stop wasting it on Hermione and give it to a team of Aurors who can go back and stop Voldemort from killing Harry’s parents?
If this sort of technology exists, it seems incredibly weird that it only shows up once and doesn’t end up causing all sorts of havoc. Also, why does no one else seem to know this huge leap forward in technology exists?
Barty Crouch Jr Shouldn’t Try To Kill Harry
David Tennant was a stroke of casting genius. His portrayal of Barty Crouch Jr was incredibly convincing and brilliantly creepy. This also came before he was Doctor Who, giving him quite the impressive year. However, there is one issue with the character.
He seems to be Voldemort’s most committed follower, so you’d think he’d follow the instructions of his master to the letter. Every death eater knows Voldemort wants to finish Harry himself, so he definitely shouldn’t have tried to kill Harry himself if he wanted to impress his master.
Wormtail’s Hand Chop
It’s pretty grim when Wormtail chops his entire hand off at the wrist towards the end of The Goblet Of Fire. Sure, he is magical and capable of turning himself into a rat, but surely he can’t cover up pain or bleeding to that extent?
Technically, hitting arteries like that would cause him to bleed out or at least pass out, plus the pain would be totally unbearable. He seems to brush it off pretty quickly, and within a few minutes, Voldemort has given him a cool new hand anyway.