#harry potter plot holes

[hajinjin13]

Fidelius Charm

Dumbledore is the secret keeper for Grimmauld Place, but he isn't there to welcome Harry into the enchantment himself. He writes down the address on a scrap of paper and gives it to Mad-Eye to show to Harry to let him in. How many of the Order members had scraps of paper like that basically allowing any of them to bypass the secret keeper? That was so irresponsible. How is anyone supposed to indefinitely keep track of a scrap of paper? What if Kreacher had gotten a hold of it? He could have welcomed all the Death Eaters into Order HQ without anyone knowing until it was too late. This is the most intense secrecy spell that exists and here's Dumbledore writing down his username and password on a sticky note and sticking it on his computer.

[thehuffiepuffiehufflepuff]

There's something about Greyback turning Remus into a werewolf that doesn't make sense.

Greyback bit Remus as revenge against Lyall. But he would've had to bite him while he was a wolf. And there wasn't Wolfsbane back then. Which meant Greyback wouldn't have been in control.

So, how could he have known to go bite Remus if he wasn't in control?

Proof from the werewolf article on Wizarding World.

Link to the article ↓

[quodekash]

“There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, he knew[…]”  -harry potter and the philosopher’s stone, chapter oneofthem (in the part where he used the invisibility cloak for the first time and filch heard him and started chasing him and harry ran away and then didnt know where he was. it was right before he discovered the mirror of erised, so i think its the chapter titled The Mirror of Erised so there you go.) 

Harry doesn’t know exactly where the kitchens are until his 3rd year at the very least (because of the Marauder’s map). He doesn’t actually go inside of it until 4th year so how the flip does he know where the kitchens are suddenly? 

[expectopatronum18]

When you talk about SWM, ppl just focus on defending their favs, but imo the thing thts majorly overlooked is how it creates a major plot hole in the pensive system. Technically, Harry dives into Snape's memories, and even then we can see every second of what the marauders are doing, even though Snape isn't looking at them and is said to be immersed in his own paper, both during and after the exam. Even worse, how tf cud he have heard exactly what the marauders were saying even tho they weren't sitting remotely close to each other? Adding on, Snape only tries to get his wand out when james calls out loudly to him, otherwise he would hv known tht james and sirius were coming for him if he could hear them all along. The whole goddamn chapter is named 'Snape's Worst Memory' and yet we witness stuff even Snape couldn't see/hear when he was actually going through it. As much as I love the fact that we get a glimpse into what the marauders were like at Hogwarts, I do wish it was shown in a way tht actually makes sense (as I do with 123693674 different stuff in this series......)

[rudamaruda520]

Something no one talks about is that at the bottom of the stairs to the astronomy tower there is a well known secret spot with a schedule where everyone books when they want to be there a month in advance and that's why it's always empty.

Everyone just sticks to their schedules.

[kalkaros-is-the-boss]

So I made recently a post on my main (hannaxjo) about the ages of the marauders era characters in the movies, which led to me creating this side account. But I should’ve known better than to think about their canon ages in the books, because I noticed something that doesn’t make sense to me, and I can’t stop thinking about it. That is the timeline between Severus hearing the prophecy and Voldemort killing James and Lily. What the fuck happened between that?

So, in the prophecy is this line: the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. Meaning, that at that time, Harry has not been born yet. Which means, at the very least over a year is going to play out before that Halloween.

And that does not make sense to me. How can it take over a year, after this? In that (unspecific) time, the following things happen; Voldemort decides that the prophecy is talking about the Potter’s baby. Severus deflects, and begins spying on Voldemort. Due to Severus’ warning, Potter’s go into hiding. Dumbledore suggests a fidelius charm. Instead of Sirius, Peter is made into the secret keeper. Peter reveals the location to Voldemort and Voldemort kills Lily and James.

These things happen like a domino. There cannot be that much time between each of these actions. Severus isn’t going to wait around to defect once he knows Voldemort is targeting the Potter, because Voldemort is definitely not going to wait around to kill them. And I don’t think it took over a year for Voldemort to decide who the prophecy was talking about. Isn’t he supposed to be smart? Like I can buy him only deciding after Harry’d been born, but it still takes over a year after that for him to kill James and Lily.

But okay, let's say Voldemort was just really slow, and couldn’t make his mind. That would make the time between Severus’ deflection and the death of Lily and James incredibly short, and that makes no sense either. Because I don’t see Dumbledore trusting Severus after such a short while. And when would he then have had the time to spy on Voldemort? In the Goblet of Fire, when Harry goes into the pencieve he sees the trial of Karkaroff. And he lists the names of Death Eaters, one of those names being Severus Snape. Dumbledore then says, that he himself has witnessed for Severus’, and he tells that Snape joined them prior to Voldemorts downfall and that he risked his life spying on him. That means that Severus had to be a spy for at least a while.

So what the hell was happening while Severus was spying? Did they not use the fidelius as fast as possible? How did Voldemort not find them? See it would make sense if Sirius was the secret keeper for a while, and then they switched it, but Sirius was never the secret keeper. So did Peter actually keep the secret for months? Because that also seems unlikely. Then, there’s the letter Lily wrote to Sirius that Harry finds in Deathly Hallows. In that letter Lily mentions that ‘James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here’, so they must be already hiding. And they must be already under the fidelius because they must be in Godric’s Hollow because why else would Bathilda have visited. She also mentions that Wormy had seemed down, which I assumed was actually because he is going to/has betrayed them. That letter was about Harry’s one-year birthday! It was written in July/beginning of August. Voldemort didn’t attack until Halloween. What happened? Did Peter not betray them until October? Or had he already told Voldemort and Voldy just wasn’t feeling it. Was he waiting until Halloween for aesthetics?

Honestly, I have no point here, except that I don’t understand the timeline. Did I miss something? If you know how this timeline goes, please tell me, because I think about this too much. Istg if I’m gonna end up re-reading the books again just because this bothers me...

[iamnmbr3]

Hey wait a second. Voldemort says that because the memory charm placed on Bertha Jorkins was so powerful, the methods he had to use to break through it and extract the truth from her left her permanently physically and mentally damaged. Dumbledore says that he extracted the true Tom Riddle memory from Morfin shortly before Morfin died. Surely Tom also was able to cast a very powerful memory charm on Morfin. So what methods did Dumbledore use to extract it? Maybe that's why Morfin died shortly thereafter.

Absolutely 1000% not the intended reading or implication here. But it's an interesting thought from an in-universe pov...

[greenerteacups]

Are there any other wizarding families that are underexplored in canon and pique your interest in a similar way to the Blacks?

This is a unique function of what food my brain worms like to eat, but no one's doing it like the Blacks. The drama? The intrigue? The Gothic horror? The prodigal sons and lost daughters and killers and sinners and martyrs and saints? The wizard Catholicism of it all? The story of the House of Black is the best book never written.

[wafflinglumos]

This fandom loves making Dumbledore seem like the most evil guy around, but he’s just very morally grey, he didn’t know Sirius was not guilty, because Sirius CONSIDERED himself guilty, which, he kinda was, inadvertently of course, but still.

Dumbledore didn’t manipulate Remus into following him, because Remus felt indebted to him due to Albus allowing him to go to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore didn’t want another Grindelwald, so, he did everything to stop it, which meant that Harry would have to be the one to stop it.

Dumbledore doesn’t manipulate people into following him, or blackmail them, because he doesn’t have to. Who would question one of the most powerful wizards in the world?

One for the many and all that.

Obviously not fair towards Harry, but genuinely let’s think about what would’ve happened if Voldemort HAD won?

[sweetnnaivete]

the whole concept of the sorting hat is so funky 😭😭 like what if you just get a bunch of hufflepuffs one year and there's like one new slytherin 😭😭😭 like??? how do they keep it even ???

[moonlightdancer26]

Friendly reminder that just because something wasn’t shoved in your face does not mean that it was a plot hole

[luminousfumbling]

Sometimes I’m just astounded by the amount of plot holes in Harry Potter that I didn’t notice when I was younger.

Like what do you mean Harry isn’t a master at potions? He’s been cooking for the Dursleys since he was tall enough to reach the stove, and potions are a lot like cooking and baking. Not to mention that his mother and his grandfather were both amazing potioneers. Lily Evans was in the Slug Club and Fleamont Potter was literally a world renowned potions master.

[neechees]

Speaking of racist authors who's scalp I want decorating my home, but Rowling literally keeps pulling that thing where she backtracks the alleged meaning & intentions of her own work by saying "well actually I meant THIS the whole time" in the books to try make it look more politically "savvy" (in her mind) or steeped with meaning than it actually is, because she is literally too stupid and short sighted to actually write those things, & usually its also to try get out of some sort of criticism, & she's done this at least 3 times.

Like first was the whole "Gandalf is gay" shtick when this was her shallow, lazy attempt at trying to look "diverse". Second time was when she was like "well actually Hermione wasn't WHITE, I think she was Black" which, absolutely wasn't true considering she describes all her Black characters as being "tall" and athletic (which, Hermione is not) and she would've given her a stupid, obviously racist name if she always intended this.

But the most recent time was her allegeding that she based the death eaters off of trans activists? This obviously isn't true since she's already repeatedly talked about the specifically nazi & fash influence on the death eaters, and then when people critisized her for her antisemitism & lack of logic on how the death eaters operate, she attempted to "prove" this wrong by tweeting about visiting the auschwitz memorial museum (in relation to, again, it's specific influence on death deaters) to try insist she was sensitive to what she was referencing. If she intended this from the beginning, she would've brought attention to it because she literally just so stupid & knows it but tries to "prove" otherwise. So the whole thing example NOW is just her appealing to her fash t/erf clown crew to try seem more intelligent than she is.

[bootleg-nessie]

Did you know? The J.K. in J.K. Rowling stands for Jiant Kunt

[florjb0rj]

He won’t be dead, just very *very* put off

[atyd1960]

Here’s an in depth explanation about why if the plot holes in Harry Potter weren’t bigger than the of the plot itself and things actually MADE SENSE, the books wouldn’t have had any plot and everyone would’ve been happy and alive:

Voldemort’s attempted murder:

How do you fail to kill a 1 year old baby? I truly couldn’t come up with an easier murder scenario. DROP HIM FROM THE WINDOW. SLICE HIS THROAT. PUNCH HIM REALLY HARD OVER HIS HEART. If Harry actually died Voldemort would win the war.

Harry’s residence with the Dursleys:

1. Dumbledore said that the only way to keep Harry safe was to keep him living with Petunia, but he was comfortable with putting Harry in Grimmauld place 2 month after Voldy came back, or having him living him with the Weasleys at the height of the war a year later? So he clearly could’ve let Harry live with a good a loving adoptive wizarding family with means to defend/protect him magically instead of by blood or whatever it is the Petunia had.

2. If the UK is the center of the war and the place where Voldemort was most powerful then why putting Harry there? He could’ve lived in some little village in France and then go to Hogwarts when he was 11 (I know only people from the UK can get into Hogwarts but I’m sure they could make and exception for Harry). In that scenario Harry also would’ve had a choice between Hogwarts and Beauxbatons \ the magical school of whatever country he lived in, and I think any school that isn’t Hogwarts would’ve been safer for him.

3. Even if for some reason Harry really did have to grow up in London with the Dursleys, that’s no excuse for the neglect he got from Dumbledore. The man could’ve gotten the Muggle Child Protection Services involved, he could’ve kept track on Harry’s life- like put a guard or something, or visit/make someone else visit him regularly to threaten the Dursleys and make them give Harry a ROOM??? And treat him better?? He could’ve let Ms Figg be actually kind and good to Harry and be somewhat a mother figure to him bc god knows little Harry needed somebody like that in his life. He could’ve been PRESENT in Harry’s childhood??? He could’ve gotten Harry into a good elementary boarding school or whatever. SO MANY OPTIONS. Harry deserves better.

Harry’s first year in Hogwarts:

1. Dumbledore could put the philosopher’s stone in a magically secured vault and hide it in his office and then not tell to anyone about it / lie about its whereabouts.

2. It’s explained that Dumbledore KNEW that Quirrell had some sort of involvement with Voldy/the dark forces, so he could just FIRE HIM???

3. Dumbledore could confront Quirrell and kill him by himself instead of leavig it to a dumb 11 y/o?

4. The options are literally endless.

Side note: it’s definitely not talked about enough in the fandom or in the books that Harry literally murdered a guy on his first year in Hogwarts? That’s some heavy shit.

Harry’s second year:

Dumbledore could’ve just sent all the tiny little helpless pupils back to their homes after a cat got PETRIFIED in a hate crime and hung on a wall with a racist writing that’s a warning to all the muggle borns in the school?? And then he could’ve found the chamber of secrets himself and confront Tom Riddle and bring the kids back when everything’s safe. Who keeps their school open when there’s a continues terrorism attack going on in it???

Side note- if in MY school a cat got petrified and hung on the wall, with her blood used to deliver a hateful message, I would call my mom crying and shaking and ask her if I can move to different school. And possibly a different country while we’re at it:)

Harry’s third year:

None of that shit would’ve happened if Sirius just got his trial like he should’ve and like what’s required in any civilized society??? Dumbledore really did him dirty- that’s your student of 7 years and the guy who gave up his youth to fight by your side, he put his life on the line under your order countless times and then you just give up on him at the first sign that something’s wrong???? FOUL.

They could give Sirius the truth serum after locking him up at the end of the book. And then they would know that he’s telling the truth and they would let him go.

Harry’s fourth year:

1. HOW DO U FAIL TO REALIZE THAT THE GUY YOU WORKED WITH FOR LITERAL DECADES AND WAS PRACTICALLY YOUR SECOND IN COMMAND DURING ONE OF THE WORST WARS YOUR WORLD HAS FACED IN CENTURIES IS NOT ACTUALLY THE SAME GUY AS THE ONE YOU HIRED TO TEACH A BUNCH OF INCOMPETENT LITTLE BRATS HOW TO DO MAGIC FOR A WHOLE YEAR.

2. All the signs were there and were so obvious, Dumbledore should’ve acted to reveal Barty before everything went down. All it took was an OFFICE CHECK??? Bro.

Also- Barty could just kidnap Harry on his first day back in school and apparate to the graveyard with him. Why wait a whole year?? Why give Harry such an easy way out (the Portkey)???

Harry’s fifth year:

1. If the ministry of magic put their truth serum and ability to read minds to use they could confirm that Voldy’s back and join Dumbledore in his efforts to prevent the upcoming war. Voldy was fairly weak at that point so if the ministry did a sufficient investigation and properly warned everyone, Voldemort could’ve been locked up and killed very quickly.

1. We all know this book is nothing but a big 896 pages long chunk of MISCOMMUNICATION. If Dumbledore just told Harry the truth about the prophecy and about his mom’s spell in the beginning and not in the end everything would’ve been fine.

2. Dumbledore could just let someone from the order blow the prophecy up or something. Set it on fire and shit. Make it gone.

Harry’s sixth year:

1. If Dummydore actually gave a shit about his students he would have helped Draco and give him and his parents a shelter and work harder to make the school impossible for death eaters to get into.

2. If he didn’t willingly refuse the privilege of treatment to his curse then he wouldn’t have DIED and left poor 16 y/o Harry all by himself.

3. Dummydore could’ve just kept dumbass 16 y/o Harry Potter out of the hunt after the cursed&deadly soul pieces of his parents’s murderer. He could get someone appropriately old and competent to help him.

Harry’s seventh year:

1. If Dumbledore didn’t refuse medical treatment he could’ve just hunt for the horcruxes himself.

2. Dumbledore could’ve left Harry & Hermione & Ron a little more than a children’s book and a lighter??? Like he could actually give them means to protect themselves.

3. Dumbledore could’ve gotten older more competent order members to go after the horcruxes and not leave it in the hands of a bunch of teens.

4. The only thing that must involve Harry in the whole of the 7 books JK wrote about him, is his death. Harry had to die for Voldy to be defeated. And that’s the only thing he had to do. Ever.

In conclusion: Everything’s Dumbledore’s fault