Harry Potter: 15 Plot Holes That Make No Sense (Even If You’ve Read The Books)

It’s not easy being an inquisitive Potter maniac, even after comprehensively detailed author interviews, Reddit theories, academic studies, and fan fiction, there are still so many plot holes and errors in the Harry Potter universe which do not add up, even if a fan has read every book cover-to-cover.

From the bizarreness of the Hogwarts syllabus and the legitimacy of certain spells to the mechanics behind some curious forms of magic, there are endless questions the fandom still hasn’t found answers to.

Updated Dec 18th by Rose Graceling-Moore: With the 20th-anniversary reunion special coming up, fans are hoping that they may be able to get some of the answers that are still missing about how things in the Harry Potter world work! Some of these have later been explained in games and further materials, but other materials have simply confused things further… maybe Return To Hogwarts will clear some things up!

15 The Painting Inconsistency

J.K. Rowling has specifically revealed that the living portraits in the Potter-verse are merely imprints of the dead person. They can imitate their basic personality traits, but do not have feelings, memories and are not as fully realized as ghosts or spirits.

But then how is Dumbledore’s portrait able to communicate wisdom and advice to Snape after his death? Moreover, if the portraits are not sentient, how can they feel and show emotions like fear, annoyance, or guilt, that too of people or situations they have not encountered while they were alive? The magic behind their sentience is full of holes.

14 How Functional Is The Trace?

The Trace was a charm that helped the Ministry of Magic know if magic was performed around underage witches or wizards. However, it was revealed eventually that The Trace has its limitations, and while it can detect magic, it cannot detect who performed it. Does that mean underage wizards can get in trouble if someone else uses magic around them, or would be made to stand on trial?

Moreover, why wasn’t The Trace activated when magic was performed so many times around Harry in Privet Drive, especially during Order of the Phoenix or Half Blood Prince? Plus, The Order of Phoenix was hesitant to use any magic to transfer Harry from his home, because of The Trace, but had no doubts about hiding him in the Weasley Burrow and using magic around him there.

13 Peter Pettigrew And The Marauders Map

The Marauders Map shows Peter Pettigrew labeled as himself, even when he is in rat form – and Fred and George were constantly checking the map for years. However, neither of them ever saw Peter’s name on the map, or that Ron was seemingly sleeping with a ‘Peter’ every night, despite there being no one by that name in his dorm. And even though Harry does spot the name on the map once, it’s odd that this is the only time he sees it, in all the time he is looking.

Perhaps this could be explained if size and proximity factor in – maybe Peter was only visible while not with Ron, as the ‘Ron’ label would cover the ‘Peter’ label entirely. Or maybe Fred and George never looked at the dorms themselves. Either way, this still hasn’t been explained!

12 Harry, Hermione and Ron’s Food Crisis

Through Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration, it is possible to identify what can be conjured and what cannot, and according to the law, one cannot create something from nothing. However, food is one of the five exceptions and Hermione tells Ron that one can summon it if they know where it is, and one can transform it and/or increase the quantity of something one already possesses.

Why then did the trio have such a hard time finding food during their Horcrux quest in Deathly Hallows. Why couldn’t they have increased the quantity of what they already had?

11 Why Didn’t The Ministry Use Veritaserum?

Much is made, in the books, of the fact that Lucius Malfoy was suspected as a Death Eater, but never convicted. Like many others, he claimed to be working for Voldemort under the Imperius Curse. However, this seems a little suspicious, as the Ministry could have presumably just used Veritaserum on them to check. It’s clear that the Ministry has no issue with this, as Umbridge used it on children, and yet they simply took Death Eaters at their word.

Perhaps there is more to it, though, and this is a commentary on the power of wealth. It’s certainly possible that Lucius bought his way out of being sent to Azkaban.

10 The Magic Behind Thestrals

This is a problem that J.K. Rowling herself had to demystify, but the fandom just couldn’t be appeased. Why couldn’t Harry see the Thestrals at the end of Goblet of Fire, considering he had experienced the loss of Cedric? Thestrals are a breed of skeletal, winged horses that can only be visible to wizards who have ‘seen’ death. Harry was too young to understand what was happening when he witnessed his parents’ death, and he was unconscious when Quirrell died.

And Rowling claimed that although Cedric’s death was the first death Harry experienced closely, it takes time for anyone to get over the shock and absorb fully that they will never see a person again. Which is why Harry only started seeing Thestrals in Order of the Phoenix. But since Thestrals are not imaginary, can their corporeal existence really depend upon a person’s consciousness? If so, how does the magic behind it work?

9 Using Multiple Wands

This is a problem that has given Redditors many sleepless nights. Harry used three wands and a triple spell to stun Greyback in Deathly Hallows.  If a triple spell is more effective based on the simple numerical system of more wands equal more force, why is it not a thing more people use?

Plus, it was made abundantly clear in the OWL syllabus that the more a wizard believes in his spell, the stronger the spell will be, so what role does the number of wands play?

8 Why Did The Potters Need a Secret Keeper?

The central tragedy of Harry’s life is the betrayal of Lily and James by their friend – which allowed Voldemort to find them. However, the rules of the Fidelius Charm seem to change throughout the series. It’s assumed, from the fact that Lily and James has a Secret Keeper, that this was necessary for the charm to work. However, when Bill and Fleur were hiding in Shell Cottage, they were each others’ Secret Keeper.

Presumably, Lily and James could have simply been each others’, and then the charm would have held… and the entire story wouldn’t have happened!

7 Why Wouldn’t Voldemort Make The Death Eaters Take The Unbreakable Vow?

Was Voldemort just too proud or too delusional to think he could trust his Death Eaters? Considering it’s literally a death prophecy he’s trying to negate, shouldn’t he have asked his army of Death Eaters to take the Unbreakable Vow, just to be on the safe side? An Unbreakable Vow works much like a binding magical oath or a contract, it’s enforced magically and the person breaking may have to face deadly consequences.

It has been established that Dumbledore wanted his minions to love and revere him, and he obviously expected them to lay their lives for him. But how he could be naive enough to risk it?

6 Why Are Legilimency and Obliviate Charms So Readily Acceptable?

The Imperius Curse is an unforgivable curse because it places the victim completely under the caster’s control and essentially enslaves their mind. But the mind-reading spell known as Legilimency and the mind-reading charm known as Obliviate are equally dangerous, if not more.

The Obliviate spell, especially, can ruin someone’s life, as it can erase specific memories from someone’s mind, hence wreaking havoc in their lives. Granted, the Ministry uses these charms to help them keep their distance from muggles, but using them so freely certainly cannot be allowed, as they can have devastating consequences.

5 Troll In The Dungeons

This plot hole is so hilarious that fans have turned it into a meme a hundred times over! When Quirrel bursts into the dining hall in the first book, he shouts that there is a troll in the dungeon – which leads Dumbledore to calmly tell all the students to return to their dorms.

The major issue, here, is that the Slytherin dorm is in the dungeons, as is clearly explained later (and backed up in much of the extra materials). In essence, then, Dumbledore actively sent the entire Slytherin house right into the arms of a troll! Perhaps he hates them as much as everyone else.

4 The Legitimacy Of Divination

Almost no one takes Divination seriously in the Potter-verse. Hermione thinks it’s hogwash, and Dumbledore admitted that he considered taking it off the school syllabus. Which begs the question, can divination really be taught, and what connection does it have with wizardry?

There can be no middle ground in this, divination is the art of seeing the future and if it can really be taught, it would make for one of the most empowering subjects in a wizarding school. If students can predict brief facets of the future using magic, even that would be a big deal, but clearly that’s not the case. So, is Divination completely driven by an inner gift or superstitions?

3 The Cost Of Wands

Wands are described in the books as costing 7 Galleons – which seems like a fairly reasonable price, until it’s compared to the cost of other items in this world. A fake wand is something that the Weasleys are told they should charge 5 Galleons for and a second-hand cauldron costs 10 Galleons – suggesting that 7 Galleons is extremely low for this item. Even more confusingly, Professor Slughorn says that unicorn hairs go for 10 Galleons for a single strand, but a wand containing a unicorn hair would only be 7?

These numbers just don’t add up – unless, perhaps, the government subsidies wands as an absolute necessity.

2 Are Background Checks Impossible?

Hogwarts was criminally lax in vetting its teachers and some of its staff, be it the fake Mad-Eye Moody, who turned out to be Barty Crouch Jr, Quirinus Quirrell, who was a servant of Voldemort, or even Gilderoy Lockhart, who was a fraud.

It’s baffling how there is no system, spell, equipment, or even a registry in place which would enable a thorough background check on people, especially in schools. In fact, the Ministry, which is so nosy about Hogwarts’ administrations, should ideally have sorted things out, especially after Quirrell.

1 Why Wasn’t Voldemort A Person Of Interest To The International Wizarding Community?

Why didn’t Hogwarts ask for help from its allies across Europe? The Triwizard Tournament established the fact that the Wizarding Communities are on good terms, be it France, Bulgaria, or Ireland. Granted Voldemort’s plans post-Harry were never specifically addressed, no one knew if he just wanted to dominate the wizarding world in Britain, the whole of Europe, or just wanted domination over Hogwarts.

But considering how powerful the Dark Lord’s legacy is, why weren’t the other countries worrying about Voldemort as well, and then lending a hand?

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