Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing some of the more CONFUSING elements of the Harry Potter story. That’s
right- we’re going to be talking about plotholes. Before we get things started let me just say
this- the established magical world of Harry Potter is fantastic- and it was fantastically
written. Over the decades, it has given countless people an escape- a portal in to a world much
more magical than our own. JK Rowling, before writing the books, spent years planning out
what she was going to write- and when pen finally went to paper- she did an excellent
job at piecing together the story and its characters. However, with that said, the story
is not ‘perfect’ and there are certainly some glaring issues that have always stuck
out to me- plotholes that weren’t ever addressed- or only sort-of addressed in a tweet after-the-fact.
In this video, I’m going to be ranking 10 plotholes that stuck out to me- ranging from
more reasonable to...questionable. This list DEFINITELY won’t include every plothole
in the story- so don’t attack me in the comments if I’ve missed one. Instead, just
comment a plothole that stuck out to you! Without further ado, let’s get started.
The Financial system Wizarding Money- does it make any sense? I
don’t really think so. Now, let me start off by saying that just because Wizardkind
is far more independent than muggles- able to achieve all sorts of things through magic-
it doesn’t mean that their society can operate without a financial system. Currency certainly
exists in the wizarding world- existing in the form of galleons, sickles and knuts. There’s
even an established wizarding economy- allowing for a medium of exchange with goods/services,
so, what’s the problem here? The problem is that there is seemingly no consistency
with regards to what things cost, or where this money actually comes from. In Harry Potter,
there are various established bodies- including the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, and even
a hospital. In a traditional economy, these things are paid for through taxes etc. What
I wonder is- aside from fines, how do these bodies obtain the necessary income to support
their basic infrastructure?
The next big issue stems from inconsistencies re: the cost of goods. Drinks and sweets cost
sickles and knuts, which makes sense (I guess)- but then a Hogwarts textbook can be as much
as 9 galleons. To a family like the Weasley’s, 1 GALLEON is a lot- so while they do obviously
struggle, it just doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me.
Harry and Thestrals Our next plot hole surrounds Harry and Thestrals-
a breed of winged horse with skeletal and reptilian features that can only be seen by
those who have seen death. Now, before the events of the Order of the Phoenix (when Harry
can finally see Thestrals for the first time) we know that Harry witnesses death on numerous
occasions- first when his parents died, next when Quirrell died, and lastly, and most recently
in this case, when Cedric Diggory died. All of these deaths actually occurred before the
end of the Goblet of fire, which is why it’s interesting that Harry still couldn’t see
thestrals at an earlier stage. At the end of Goblet of Fire, the carriages still appeared
horseless to Harry- this is reinforced by page 629. So, what gives? Why did it take
so long for Harry to see them?
As it turns out, JK Rowling has actually addressed this plothole herself:
“I’ve been asked this a lot. Harry didn’t see his parents die. He was in his cot at
the time (he was just over a year old) and, as I say in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, all
he saw was a flash of green light. He didn’t see Quirrell’s death, either. Harry had
passed out before Quirrell died and was only told about it by Dumbledore in the last chapter.He
did, however, witness the murder of Cedric, and it is this that makes him able to see
the Thestrals at last. Why couldn’t he see the Thestrals on his trip back to the train
station? Well, I didn’t want to start a new mystery, which would not be resolved for
a long time, at the very end of the fourth book.”
Multiple wands
No witch or wizard is complete without their wand- and more often than not, the wand is
the instrument through which they are able to channel most of their power. They’re
made by wandmakers like Ollivander and are composed of both a unique wand wood and wand
core- additionally varying in length and flexibility. In the series, we see all sorts of witches
and wizards channeling magic through their wands- but one part of the story stuck out
to me: the time when Harry used MULTIPLE wands at once. Harry notably ends up leveraging
multiple wands at once in order to produce more power- casting an extra powerful spell
against Fenrir Greyback. My issue with this? Why does NOONE else do it? If more wands = more
power, then why isn’t everyone using a couple of wands? It doesn’t really make sense.
Veritaserum
What’s Veritaserum? Why, a very powerful potion of course:
"It is Veritaserum - a Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your
innermost secrets for this entire class to hear"
My question here is- if TRUTH serum exists in the magical world, why is it not used more
often? Couldn’t truth serum dispel any doubts about alliances? Couldn’t it eliminate the
entire wizard trial process? Couldn’t it have proven that Sirius Black was in fact
innocent? As it turns out- Rowling addressed this later, and confirmed that it is used-
but that it can be beaten:
“It is used, but skilled wizards can avoid its effects by using antidotes and charms.
A gifted Occlumens could also resist Veritaserum”
Secret Keepers
One of the reasons that the Potters died was because of their chosen secret keeper- their
‘good’ friend Peter Pettigrew. A secret keeper is a witch or wizard designated to
hide a secret, secured by the fidelius charm which conceals the secret inside of the secret
keepers soul. Initially Sirius Black was chosen by James and Lily, but- feeling that he would
be an obvious target for Voldemort, Sirius instead recommended Peter- who we know doesn’t
do a particularly good job. The secret in question was the location of the Potter cottage,
a secret that was tied to Pettigrew’s soul- unable to be forcibly removed. A dwelling
protected by the Fidelius Charm (in conjunction with a secret keeper) essentially becomes
absolutely hidden, keeping the occupants safe. So- the glaringly obvious issue here is that
James and Lily could have just been their OWN secret keeper. They could have hidden
themselves away- secure with their own secret, and they never would have been found. But
instead, they chose one of their friends- which is nice, but also doesn’t make any
sense.
The Marauder’s Map
Ah the Marauder’s Map, an artefact capable of great mischief. The Marauder’s Map, as
we know it, was passed on to Harry by Fred and George Weasley earlier on in the story.
However, before Harry had it- Fred and George had it for many years- stealing it from Filches
office in just their first year at Hogwarts. This plot hole surrounds both Fred and George’s
possession of the map, as well as who shows up on it. You see, their dear brother Ron
had a pet rat by the name of Scabbers. Ron had Scabbers for many years, before his beloved
rat is revealed to be Death Eater and ex-Marauder Peter Pettigrew. Ron slept with his rat, carried
him around everywhere, brought him home, brought him to Hogwarts and even brought him on the
train. So my question is- if Fred and Geroge could see the name ‘Peter Pettigrew’ in
constant proximity with their brother, why didn’t they say something? They don’t
even seem to notice. The other issue with this is that the Weasley’s seem to be reasonably
aware of the intimate details surrounding the death of the Potter family- so you’d
think that they’d recognize Peter’s name.
Unbreakable Vows The unbreakable vow is a binding magical contract
that connects two parties. The purpose is simple, it is to bind a fellow witch or wizard
to a promise. The participants stand opposite each other and clasp each others right hands,
while a third party acts like a sort of mediator or witness and places the tip of their wand
on to the hands of the two participants. The mediator acts almost like a minister, and
will begin to state conditions or responsibilities related to the vow. After stating each condition
of the vow, the participant who is to uphold said responsibilities must agree to them one
by one. If you fail to uphold your side of the bargain after this type of vow- you suffer
the ultimate consequence- death. This seems like a pretty good way of ensuring that people
are on your side- yet, in the story we really don’t see much of this happening. Snape
enters in to one with Narcissa- vowing to protect Draco, but neither Voldemort nor Dumbledore
seem to be using this type of vow to ensure that their followers/allies are indeed on
their side. You’d THINK that an unbreakable vow would be part of the death eater initiation
process- but it isn’t. There’s a lot of deception in the Harry Potter story that could
have been cleared up with a simple VOW.
Portraits Early on in the story we’re introduced to
the Hogwarts magical portraits- depicting witches and wizards from all time periods.
It is reinforced that the living portraits in the wizarding world are merely imprints
of the dead person- capable only of imitating their basic personality traits. They don’t
have feelings, memories, or any special capabilities (like we may see with a ghost). This is all
fine- however, this explanation of portraits is broken when Dumbledore’s portrait is
able to communicate wisdom to Snape posthumously. The sentient portraits are certainly an area
of the story where some clarification is needed.
The Elder Wand Ah the Elder Wand- one of the primary drivers
behind the story and the most powerful wand in all of existence. The elder wand is responsible
for an incredible amount of death in the story- an enigmatic artefact that is only made even
more enigmatic through it’s unusual passing of ownership. In order to truly master the
wand you must become its ‘true master’- but this is where things get tricky. The wand
purportedly only changes ownership when its master has truly been bested by another- and
this is generally implied to be achieved through murder. However- there are various exceptions
to this rule- like with Grindelwald stunning Gregorovitch, Malfoy disarming Dumbledore,
and Harry finally disarming Malfoy. The issue with this whole ‘disarming’ thing is that
the wand is reinforced as this unforgiving, power-hungry object that wants to be matched
with the most powerful wizard around. If that’s the case, then how can a much weaker wizard
like Malfoy become its owner by simply disarming the EXTREMELY powerful Dumbledore? The whole
wand loyalty thing is a bit of a mess.
International Wizarding Community Perhaps the biggest plot-hole of all (to me)
is that in a wizarding ‘WORLD’- emphasis on the world (that means the UK AND all of
the other places on the planet)- Voldemort only seems to be a threat to Britain. Voldemort
was an incredibly powerful dark wizard, and- if he truly came to power, then he would have
been a threat to EVERYONE- not just Britain. So, my question is- why didn’t other wizarding
communities help? Why didn’t other European countries help? It just doesn’t make sense.
And that concludes MY list of MY top 10 Harry Potter plot holes. Comment your OWN down below.
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Remember
Time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead.