Every fan of the wizarding world fantasized about living in the Harry Potter universe while growing up. Many were even so desperate to live in the magical world that a bit of a temper tantrum may have been thrown when no owl arrived with a Hogwarts letter on that vital 11th birthday. Who wouldn't want to live in a universe with Quidditch, flying cars, and magical spells?
Yet while the world of Harry Potter seems to be a magical paradise for mere muggles, there are a couple of areas where wizards are lacking when it comes to technological advances. While reading the Potter books and watching the movies, there are definitely times where fans can't help but think "This could be resolved so much faster if they just used this muggle device."
Although the Potter series is set in the '90s and so some of these muggle inventions have yet to be created, let's set that aside for a bit and have some fun exploring 10 "problems" in Harry Potter that could've been solved using modern muggle technology.
Updated on May 3, 2020 by Richard Keller: Life would have been much easier for the wizards of Harry Potter if they utilized modern technology. They'd be able to retrieve information or transportation at a moment's notice. As a result, their leisure time would increase. Here are a few more problems that could have been solved using muggle technology.
15. MOLLY WEASLEY NEEDS BLUE APRON
When all the Weasley kids are home, cooking can be a chore. All that chopping and peeling puts a strain on a wand, let alone causes something equivalent to carpal tunnel syndrome. To cut it down a bit and get more protein in their offerings, a meal delivery service like Blue Apron is a good idea for the large Weasley family.
It's also a way for Molly to experience some self-care. It seems she's always doing laundry or cooking. It would take a few seconds to prep and serve these meals because everything was cut and seasoned. In turn, Molly could join her family at the table more frequently.
14. CLOUD STORAGE TO KEEP NOTES IN ORDER
Written notes can be a problem. Students write too small or too sloppy for people like Ron to copy off of them. In addition, quill pens can leak a lot. So, the pages may have ink spots that cover important details.
This wouldn't happen if people like Hermoine placed their notes on a could storage portal like Dropbox or OneDrive. First, being who she is, Hermoine could organize her notes into different folders for easier retrieval. Second, instead of passing papers around to Ron and Harry, she could simply share the files so they could all view them at once.
13. STUDENTS NEED UBER TO GET INTO HOGSMEADE
Since Hogwarts students under the age of 17 can't apparate, they need to walk to Hogsmeade during scheduled visits. This means clomping through rain, wind, cold, and snow. It makes for an uncomfortable day trip that tires the students out.
So, they need to petition the instructors to set up an Uber or Lyft account. That way, should the weather be less than desirable, the students can pile in a car for a short trip to the village. Plus, they can pool their gold together to pay. As a result, they save money for Honeydukes or The Hog's Head.
12. HARRY NEEDS YOUTUBE FOR ADVANCED POTIONS
Harry's one of the smartest wizards of his era. Yet, he has the hardest time creating potions under Snape's watchful eye. In addition, his potions books are less than helpful. Well, except for the one the Half-Blood Prince wrote notes in.
In the end, what Harry needs is to review some YouTube videos on how to make proper potions. They're probably not hard to find. When he comes up with a list it will have standard videos and ones that offer alternative concoction methods. Soon enough, he'll be a DIY potions master.
11. STUDENTS NEED SPOTIFY WHILE STUDYING
For the most part, the common rooms of the Hogwart's houses are fairly quiet places to study. However, should Fred or George pull a prank or a First-Year ask Harry dozens of questions, concentration is broken. In order to prevent this, students need Spotify.
They can set their own playlists that encourage focus while studying. It may be the best of the Wierd Sisters or something quieter. No matter the music, it certainly helps reduce the amount of annoyance when the Weasley twins test out Nose Bleed Nougat candy.
10. HARRY NEEDS TWITTER
Harry is trying his best to let everyone know that Lord Voldemort is back, yet no one is willing to listen to him. If he had a Twitter account and could spread the word to a larger audience, maybe more people would believe him and even retweet his statement.
In the Harry Potter series, Harry is just scrambling around Hogwarts trying to get the word out, battling the might of the Daily Prophet with the Quibbler, but Twitter would make it so much easier to get the message out there.
9. SNAPE NEEDS TINDER TO GET OVER LILY
One of the main reasons that Snape is so miserable all the time is because of Lily Potter. Although she rejected him decades ago, he still can't get over her. Snape is totally unprofessional as a professor when he hardcore hates on Harry, a literal child, for being the product of James and Lily's relationship. Maybe Snape would be a whole lot less sulky and quit abusing children if he had a phone in order to download Tinder. Having a delightful time with some new matches could ease his broken soul.
8. HARRY NEEDS A SMARTPHONE FOR EVIDENCE
When Harry is trying to convince everyone in Order of the Phoenix that Lord Voldemort is back and no one is safe, everyone laughs at his theory while considering him to be out of his mind. Yet in the scene where Harry and Voldemort are reunited during the Triwizard Tournament, all Harry would have to do is find a way to sneak in a quick selfie with Voldemort, then send it out to the world with the caption #Voldysback. This would save a whole lot of time and effort for everyone in the wizarding world.
(Yes, Draco might try his best to prove this theory wrong by commenting "PHOTOSHOPPED" on the picture...)
7. THE HOGWARTS STUDENTS NEED GOOGLE
The students at Hogwarts spend so many hours studying for school. Although studying can be a good thing, it gives them little to no time to socialize and de-stress. These kids could go through their homework assignments so much faster if they had access to Google to just type in their questions rather than reading 500+ page books every day.
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Having more hours to socialize could do a lot for these students. Maybe Ron and Hermione would have more time to figure out the "will they/won't they" situation going on between them. Draco and Harry would potentially have more downtime to get to know each other and put aside their differences. Oh, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione would have a whole lot more hours to spare in order to focus on how to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Maybe they could have used Google to figure out the best way to kill him. I'm sure there would be a bunch of Reddit forums with theories on the best way to go about it.
6. TEXTING WOULD GIVE OWLS A SERIOUS BREAK
It would be so much more convenient for owls in the Harry Potter universe if wizards just used text messaging to communicate rather than forcing their owls to journey out and send messages. Texting would put an end to The Owl Postal Service in Harry Potter so more owls could do their own thing and not have to burden themselves with tasks set on by their owners. It would save a whole lot of time and effort just to communicate through text! I'm sure Hedwig would've been relieved if he didn't have to do all that work for no pay.
5. TELEVISION WOULD BE EPIC IN THE MAGICAL WORLD
Careers in the Entertainment Business are fairly limited in the Potter Universe. There's seemingly no television despite the fact that the wizarding world would offer the most epic TV content of all time. Television in the magical world could provide a much needed creative outlet for students who want to explore more artistic careers in the future. Plus, some downtime to veg out in front of a screen would be nice for these kids who are constantly stressing about exams, evil professors, and you know, Lord Voldemort.
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There are so many ideas for successful wizarding programs, it's not even funny. Keeping Up With The Malfoys. The Suite Life of Fred and George. That's so Trelawney.
The options are endless.
4. "SNAP MAP" IS MORE HELPFUL THAN THE MARAUDER'S MAP
While the Marauder's Map may help you see who is around in the grounds of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, Snap Map is a feature on Snapchat where you can basically see where everyone is at any given moment. Plus, while on the Marauder's Map it only shows a name and feet, Snap Map offers an awesome Bitmoji which is basically a cartoon version of the person.
3. GPS TO GET THROUGH THE TRIWIZARD MAZE
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry struggles to get through the Maze in the third task of The Triwizard Tournament. Things would've been so much easier for Harry if he had access to Google Maps in order to make it through the maze without going through all the hassle that he goes through in the books/film.
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Admittedly, GPS would probably be disabled as cheating, anyway, but GPS would seriously come in handy throughout the entire series because the characters are often searching for places and items that they don't have the knowledge on how to access.
2. SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT IS SAFER THAN GILLYWEED
Neville: Oh my god! I've killed Harry Potter!
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry has to swim in the Black Lake for his second task in the Triwizard Tournament in order to receive treasure to win the task. Harry is provided with Gillyweed, a plant that will help him grow gills and breathe underwater so he can survive the task. According to Neville in the film, there is some debate amongst Herbologists as to whether or not Gillyweed will work in fresh water vs. salt water. If only the wizards in HP would swallow their pride and resort to using Muggle technology (with the exception of Arthur Weasley, the number one muggle fanboy). Scuba Diving equipment would be a whole lot safer for Harry than growing gills.
1. VOLDEMORT KILLED WITH A GUN
This is one of the most common threads online when it comes to Harry Potter where fans suggest Voldemort's death could've happened a lot sooner if only there was a gun involved. Many people debate over whether or not wizards even know what a gun is, and it would be pretty odd to see someone swooping in out of nowhere just to shoot Voldemort with an AK-47 while the Harry Potter theme music plays in the background. Still, it could potentially work, yet no wizards in the magical universe were willing to try it.