Top 10 Massive Plot Holes in Harry Potter

Top 10 Massive Plot Holes in Harry Potter

You can’t just magic away these mistakes. Welcome to WatchMojo UK and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 massive plot holes in “Harry Potter”!

For this list, we’re reassessing the wizardry to run through the “Harry Potter” plot points that make no sense – not even in a world where magic rules.

#10: Harry’s Glasses

Yes, they add an extra layer to the ‘I’m just an everyday kinda guy’ guise that Harry’s got going, but hasn’t the Wizarding World got anything to offer to improve a person’s eyesight? There are ways for witches and wizards to breathe underwater, achieve invisibility and grow back bones… But blurred vision’s just a bridge too far? A plot hole that pops up regularly with fans, there’s also the argument that Voldemort could’ve (and probably would’ve) defeated Harry with a somewhat anticlimactic but definitely effective ‘Accio glasses’ spell.

#9: Muggle Tech

If Harry’s specs are staying, why doesn’t the Wizarding World more readily embrace other muggle machines? Typically, anyone who’s not Arthur Weasley seems emphatically against using anything that’s not inherently magical, even though lots of witches and wizards grew up oblivious to magic until they got their Hogwarts letter. Non-mechanical, electrical gadgets seem the biggest no-no, with some fans suggesting that magic messes with electrical signals - maybe. We are pretty glad this problem exists, though. No-one wants to see Harry Skype Sirius. A good ol’ fashioned fireplace is far more fun.

#8: Student Safety

Imagine if Hogwarts underwent an Ofsted inspection. There’s no amount of magic that can mask that school’s massive failings with student safety. We could’ve focussed on the Forbidden Forest which no-one should enter (unless you’re on detention)], or the Basilisk that literally petrified pupils in Second Year, but the Third Floor Corridor is another level of dangerous. Yes, Dumbledore asks everyone to steer well clear, but curiosity surely got the better of some kids. So, is a ravenous three-headed dog behind an easily unlockable wooden door really the best first line of defence? Probably not.

#7: The Secret Keepers

Harry’s whole story hinges on Voldemort murdering his parents, which only happens when Peter Pettigrew breaks the Fidelius Charm to betray their location. But, Peter’s treachery could’ve been avoided had Lily or James acted as their own Secret Keeper – like Bill Weasley did for Shell Cottage. Had the Potters done that, then they may never have been found, Pettigrew might’ve stayed loyal, Sirius would’ve been spared Azkaban, and Harry might never have even met the Dursleys. Moral of the story; trust no-one.

#6: Harry and the Dementors

Beginning in Book Three, Harry’s personal (and apparently unparalleled) struggle with the Dementors is a major plot point. But why is he affected so much more than anyone else. Yes, he has an imprinted memory of his parents dying, but he’s not the only one with hardship. Neville’s parents were tortured to insanity, and he’s pretty much fine. There is the theory that the Dementors double down on Harry because he also carries part of Voldemort’s soul – which obviously isn’t an especially happy place – but make of that what you will.

#5: The Thestrals

A head-scratcher for even the staunchest defenders of “Harry Potter” logic, if the Dementors terrorise Potter because he remembers his mother’s death, why weren’t the Thestrals visible to him before Cedric Diggory was killed? The guy’s personality is underpinned by having witnessed murder, so surely the ghostly creatures should be seriously, seriously vivid? JK Rowling has explained that Harry didn’t see them before because he didn’t understand death… But then most of Harry’s major emotional development about death occurs after his first Thestral sighting. So, what gives?

#4: Hiding Platform 9 ¾

We’re back with those weird inconsistencies along the magic/muggle divide, as witches and wizards go to great lengths so that non-magical folk are none the wiser. So, what better way to achieve anonymity than by building the Wizarding World’s foremost entry point inside one of the UK’s busiest train stations? Yes, no doubt there’s many a memory charm firing through King’s Cross on the first day of Hogwarts, but the risk of even one regular commuter evading Obliviate seems exceptionally high. At least the owls can put the pigeons in their place, that’s something.

#3: Ron and Peter

Like a sat-nav on steroids, the Marauders Map is arguably one of the most impressive magical gadgets that Harry ever gets his hands on – even if it does encourage casual spying. Given to Harry by the Weasley twins during Potter’s third year, it ultimately leads to the uncovering of Peter Pettigrew as Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers. A neat plot twist in “Prisoner of Azkaban”, but Fred and George probably should’ve noticed Ron’s ever-present, bed-sharing animagus accomplice long before then. Would’ve saved a lot of agro.

#2: Wand Rules

Or, the lack of them. On Harry’s first trip to Diagon Alley, we’re told that the witch or wizard’s essential bit of kit ‘chooses’ them. But Ollivander’s ambiguous reasoning feels flimsier with every passing year, until the titanic tussle for the Elder Wand suggests that a wizard can win a wand simply by disarming an opponent. If that’s true, then the Wizarding World is basically a winner-stays-on Battle Royale for wand ownership – which it’s not. “The Deathly Hallows” book also reveals that multiple wands make a more explosive weapon… So why haven’t we seen more souped-up super-wands sellotaped together, either?

#1: The Time Turner

Throw time travel at anything and watch chaos reign. So, Hermione gets a time turner to schedule extra classes. Fine. She and Harry use the turner to achieve what they’ve already achieved for Buckbeak, Sirius and everyone else. Great. But, a few turns here and there throughout history, and Voldemort need never exist – right? Or, Harry’s parents could’ve survived, at least. JK says that time travel’s more complicated than that (obviously), and that longer time-jumps can cause irreparable damage – but that doesn’t exactly match with “The Cursed Child”. Either way, the paradoxical plot holes are multiplying.