We all love Harry Potter. There is something about the boy with the lightning bolt scar, his redheaded quirky friend, and his intelligent frizzy-haired friend. The trio are a group that millions have come to love, and their classmates and instructors are a part of the amazing world that has encapsulated an entire generation.
With that being said, there are absolutely some inconsistencies in the Harry Potter world. It’s not bad! Rowling created an expansive world within a world that already exists, which is absolutely difficult. There were bound to be some things that just didn’t make sense. With so many books, movies, and fandoms, some things are going to slip through the cracks — any web of fiction is going to have some inconsistencies buried in its lore. And make no mistake, Harry Potter has a deep deep fiction that fans are always digging deeper into.
Whether it’s an incredibly dangerous tournament, a strange money system, or a really REALLY elaborate and convincing actor. There are some strange things going on in the wizarding world, things that just seem to be a bit strange. This article is going to take a look at some of those inconsistencies and try to understand the some of the things that just don’t make sense in the wizarding world!
20 Where Was Peter Pettigrew?
We all love the idea of the Marauder’s Map. Being able to see exactly where people are? It provides the opportunity to not only evade people you want to, but also find people that you wanted to.
Something that LOTS of people have discussed since the release of The Prisoner of Azkaban is the fact that Harry could see Peter Pettigrew, but neither of the Weasley Twins who had the Marauder’s Map before Harry could. Shouldn’t they have been able to see Peter Pettigrew in the arms of their brother Ron? If he was masquerading as Scabbers when Harry saw him on the map, that means he should have been visible on the map at all times, even when the twins were examining it.
It’s most likely that the twins were more concerned with the focus of their current exploits rather than their brother, which is the best explanation.
19 “You Don’t Have Your Mother’s Eyes”
Okay, listen, it was hard enough to get over that Harry was supposed to have the same green eyes as his mother Lily, and then had blue eyes throughout the films.
But in The Deathly Hallows when Snape’s last memories show that a young Lily has brown eyes? Well, that’s just too far.
The hair for young Lily was on point in terms of her being a redhead, but the deep brown eyes, while still a wonderful colour, were absolutely not in line with the book version of Lily, OR the movie version that needed to align with Harry’s eye colour.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if people didn’t say to Harry, “you have your Mother’s eyes,” pretty much every single time they looked at him.
18 The Danger Of A Time Turner?
The idea of a Time Turner is amazing. Traveling back in time in order to do something you missed? Or to fix something that you regretted? It’s definitely a dream way of solving problems. But there are also lots of small things that can go wrong, and rules that NEED to be followed to not break the rules of time and space.
With all of those rules, and all of those possibilities for danger and universe breaking events, why is Dumbledore willing to give a Time Turner to a kid?
Yes, Hermione is the brightest witch of her age, and I’m sure that she continued to handle the time turner properly, but realistically was it responsible for Dumbledore to give her it in the first place? We’ll never know what went through his head, but it was definitely a gamble!
17 Actor Of The Year?
Barty Crouch Jr. is probably the most amazing actor in the wizarding world. While everyone else was preparing and participating in the triwizard tournament, Crouch Jr. was a part of the most elaborate, and lengthy, physical ruse that Hogwarts had likely ever seen.
Mad Eye Moody was not only a renowned auror, but a personal friend of many of the Hogwarts staff members.
Somehow, Barty Crouch Jr. not only kept up a physical ruse while he was pretending to be Mad Eye Moody, but he also managed to convince all of his friends at Hogwarts that he was in fact, their friend.
Crouch Jr. even managed to convince Dumbledore of this ruse, which is truly a testament to his acting capabilities.
16 What Is The Value Of Money?
Knuts, sickles, and galleons? They’re the names of the currency in the wizarding world, but what are they worth? And why does the wizarding world need its own special currency? Rowling has explained that a galleon is approximately 5 British pounds, depending on the exchange rate at the time, but was there truly a need for a wizard currency when we’re not even sure if it’s used for anything other than items?
We see wizards purchasing items on Diagon Alley, but how thorough is the wizarding economic world? Also, there have been some inconsistencies with the amount of perceived value of a galleon, despite what Rowling says. The Weasley’s aren’t wealthy, but when Molly Weasley only takes out one galleon from Gringotts, it implies that they are destitute, which isn’t reflected in their lives.
15 Is Four Eyed Harry Really Necessary?
Harry Potter has an iconic look. The messy black hair, the lightning bolt scar, and the round glasses. But there’s definitely one thing that doesn’t QUITE make an abundance of sense.
Pretty much anything can be healed in the wizarding world. In The Chamber of Secrets Harry’s arm bone is removed via magic, and it was grown back in a matter of days. People can be petrified and returned to normal. Draco was turned into a ferret once and was fine once they turned him back.
If his arm bones could be, quite literally, grown back then why on earth does Harry need to have glasses? Sure, the glasses are part of who he is, but is it really feasible that there wouldn’t be a fix for bad eyes?
14 Quidditch: Too Dangerous Of A Sport?
Let’s talk about Quidditch. It seems like a pretty awesome sport. Flying broomsticks, goals, a beautiful golden flying game-ending ball…it seems like a pretty fun sport to play.
Until you take into account the bludgers, and the penchant for violence between the players throughout many of the games in the sport.
There are plenty of full contact sports. American football or hockey quite often involve tackling or fighting.
The difference is that Quidditch is in the sky, which means players have a lot further to fall when they’re hit by another player or one of the bludgers. It’s an overall dangerous sport, so why are children allowed to play it?
With that being said, it seems like wizarding healthcare is amazing so they can be put in danger with little fear!
13 Do Dentists Exist?
In sixth year, Hermione sits at a table with Harry, Professor Slughorn, and a few other students who Slughorn said were just as bright with potential as she was.
Hermione is muggle born, meaning that her parents have no wizarding blood and had no idea what it meant to be a wizard until Hermione became one.
That also means that they have careers and lives like normal humans. During the dinner, Hermione was asked what her family does, and when she responded “dentist” the whole room wasn’t shocked, they were completely unaware of what a dentist was.
The real question is, why were these people so confused about what a dentist was, and does this mean wizards don’t get their teeth cleaned?
If so, there’s likely an epidemic of cavities throughout the wizarding world.
12 Do Students At Hogwarts Learn Anything But Wizard Things?
Hogwarts students have some amazing classes that MANY people would love to study. Divination, transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, or Potions just to name a few of the potential classes that any wizard could experience.
But, what about other classes that are vital to how the world works? Are Hogwarts students taught how to write an essay? Do they know about the history of the world AND the magic world? What about math and science?
Those are subjects just not covered in Hogwarts, which means students are never really taught how to do things that matter to the greater world as a whole, at least, as far as a viewer or reader can tell.
Who knows, maybe there are secret classes that Rowling never wrote about which teaches students how to write proper papers!
11 How Are Flying And Non-Flying Broomsticks Different?
Of all things to choose to fly, it’s pretty clear why Rowling chose broomsticks. Historically, at least in modern representations of what witches are, broomsticks are what they fly on. So, it only makes sense that the wizards in the Harry Potter universe would also fly on broomsticks.
But what are the physics of this? It’s never really explained, students can just do it or they can’t.
Does something separate a normal broom from a magical flying broom?
Are magical flying brooms more expensive? All of these things are not explained to the reader or viewer.
Flying broomsticks are amazing, no doubt about it whatsoever, but when you think about how it could work or what makes it different from a normal broom, it doesn’t make the most sense.
10 Wizards Don’t Have Internet?
The Harry Potter series is set in the 1990’s, which means that computers, cellphones, and the internet exists.
Even with this technology existing, not a single one of the students or teachers in Hogwarts or in the other parts of the wizarding world seem to use technology at all.
Wouldn’t it make sense for the wizarding world to have access to the internet as well? It would allow students to research things easier, and would stop them from having to search through tons and tons of books to find small bits of information.
If Harry, Ron, and Hermione had access to the internet or cellphones, how much easier would their lives have been? Would they have found more of the horcruxes faster? There would be infinite options available to them!
9 Saved By Love?
There are three unforgivable curses, and the most deadly of them is the killing curse. Avada kedavra is the curse that will kill the target, completely ending their life. There is not a way around it, and every single person that is a target of the curse dies.
Well, except for one person.
Despite the killing curse being very resolute in what it does, Lily Potter somehow managed to save Harry Potter’s life from ending via the curse.
Dumbledore said before that it was love that saved Harry, Lily’s love for her son was what stopped him from dying from the killing curse.
The theory of that is wonderful, but realistically the idea that love could stop the killing curse seems impossible. If that were the case, wouldn’t more people be saved by love?
8 Voldemort Really Likes Spring
Harry Potter goes through a lot in the seven years he’s at Hogwarts (well, more like six but he’s supposed to be there for seven). One consistent terrible thing is how every single spring Voldemort decides to strike in some way.
In the first year, it was the Philosopher’s Stone. In fourth year, it was the attack on Harry during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. It seems like Voldemort likes to create some chaos just in time for the summer break to start.
In all seriousness, it makes sense based on the trajectory of a novel. When something is set over the span of a year, and the climax of a story is at the end, it makes sense that Voldemort will be attacking Harry at the end of the year. It’s just good storytelling.
7 Should The Triwizard Tournament End?
Quidditch is dangerous, but there is one thing that is far more dangerous than quidditch. The Triwizard Tournament happens during Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts.
On this year, a new rule is implemented because of the danger. A rule where students under the age of 17 were not able to participate.
Now, this rule was implemented because so many children had died from the danger of the tournament in the past. The only question is, why would they raise the age to participate instead of lowering the danger level?
From dragons to killer hedges, people die during the tournament and it seems rather questionable for ANYONE to be allowed to participate in the dangerous events that are a trademark of the tournament.
6 How Does One Buy A Wizard Home?
As mentioned before, the wizarding world has its own form of currency. We know that wizards purchase cauldrons and owls and wands with that wizard currency, but what is the process of buying a home in the wizarding world?
There are obviously some exclusively wizard locations, like Godric’s Hollow, but how would wizards go about purchasing them?
The British government needs to know who owns homes so they can be taxed since it’s on British land, but if the wizards purchase it through the Ministry of Magic, how is that tracked?
There are so many unexplained things related to landowning in the wizarding world.
Hopefully, it’s just as simple as the Ministry of Magic and the British government working hand in hand to make everything as smooth as possible!
5 When Should Harry See Thestrals?
After the final events of The Goblet of Fire and Cedric Diggory was killed in front of Harry, Harry returns to Hogwarts and can suddenly see something new.
Thestrals are a creature that you can only see once you’ve witnessed its end, or something incredibly tragic.
Once Harry witnesses his final goodbye, he can suddenly also see the Thestrals. But Cedric’s good-bye was not the first that Harry ever witnessed.
His mother and father were the first that Harry saw, so it would make sense that Harry should have been able to see the thestrals from the very beginning of the series.
Rowling has addressed this, saying that Harry was far too young to remember the end of his parents.
Consider this one explained!
4 The Paintings Are Alive?!
One of the most iconic things about the wizarding world and Hogwarts is the existence of moving portraits.
During his first train ride to Hogwarts, Harry gets to experience it for the first time and Ron says, “Well you can’t expect them to stand around all day!”
This statement implies something important that isn’t often considered. If the portraits are free to move around, and get bored sitting around in the portrait, does that not imply that the portraits are alive in their own way?
What are the laws around the portraits at Hogwarts? Does them coming back to life in a portrait form after saying good-bye (like Albus Dumbledore) constitute a second life, or life after?
What these portraits do are create an ethical question that hasn’t had to be posed. Are the pictures truly alive?
3 Why No Unbreakable Vows?
In The Half-Blood Prince Narcissa Malfoy asks Severus Snape to commit to an unbreakable vow, one that would ensure that Snape does everything he can to protect Draco Malfoy during the course of the school year.
The question is, if an Unbreakable Vow exists, why didn’t Voldemort use an unbreakable vow on all of his Death Eaters?
A leader, especially evil ones, always have to worry about people not following them fully, or have to worry about double agents.
If Voldemort was scared about his disciples turning on him or not staying true to the cause until the end, then why didn’t he make SURE that they wouldn’t turn on him?
It’s possible that he just didn’t know that unbreakable vows existed, but for such a powerful wizard that seems unlikely.
2 They Got Their Old Wands Back?
Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange were both in Azkaban for many MANY years. One of them was there for good reason, and the other was falsely accused.
When both of them broke out of the prison they were somehow reunited with their old wands.
It is certain that Azkaban wouldn’t have kept their wands somewhere in the prison, and it is equally certain that their wands were not waiting for them at home as they were likely apprehended with the accessory that is more like an appendage to wizards.
So, the question is, how did they get their wands back?
This is something that hasn’t been explained yet in the books or the films, and while it doesn’t make sense, it’s what happened!
1 Malfoy’s Parents Hate Harry, But Did He Know?
In the very first moments Harry spent at Hogwarts, he was asked by Malfoy to become friends.
While Malfoy did it in an incredibly rude and condescending way, it seemed like he was genuinely willing to becoming at least allies with Harry at the beginning of their time at Hogwarts.
The question is: Did Malfoy know what his parents did to Harry’s parents? Or the role that the Malfoys had in the rise of the Voldemort the first time?
At the time, he was 11 years old, so it seems unlikely that his parents would have told him all about their evil exploits as Death Eaters. But, Malfoy also wasn’t stupid. Everyone knew who was on what side during the war, and there are no doubts that Malfoy must have heard something at some point.
