For as consistent in quality Harry Potter is, it is not the kind of series that benefits all too much under scrutiny. This is not to say that JK Rowling didn’t plot her course well enough or that the franchise’s arc and themes are anything less than cohesive, but there are a fair share of oddities all the way through to the end that do ultimately serve to… not exactly hurt the story, but not benefit it either. Harry Potter’s quality may be consistent, but its ꧟writing doesn’t share that same luxury, with key details clearly being made up on the s𝄹pot.
Not only that, some twists and turns along the way tend to make looking back on the series in hindsight rather uncomfortable. What works in the moment may not sit right in a grander context. This is just the natural course of literature and understanding what fits or what doesn’t is a difficult part of being a writer. JK Rowling’s magnum opus isn’t any less great because of its inconsistencies, but said inconsistencies are very much present. It’s likewise entirely possible that you’re familiar with them, but your love for the series compelled you to ignore them. Not anymore, though. It’s time to come face to face with everything wrong with Harry Potter.
25 Harry’s Ki🦹nd Of A Jerk𝄹
For as beloved as Harry Potter is, he’s not exactly the nicest character in the series. Sure, he’s had his fair share of aggression thrown at him, but he devolves into a๊ rather rude young man by the second half of the series. Granted, it does make sense considering how often the adults around him end up betraying him, but still.
Late series Harry is a moody boy who pushes away the people around him with an almost obscene amount of vigor. He still has those he cares for, but he’s so shut off for so long that it takes Sirius’ passing for him to finally start resembling his old self. Even then, though, Har🌠ry ends the series in a fairly cold spot.
24 Time Turners Have ꧅Negative Conno🅘tations
JK Rowling destroying every single Time Turner by the end of the fifth book was one of the smartest things she ever did since the mere concept of a portable time traveling device opens up a series of holes that simply cannot be filled without hitting morbid territory. Unfortunately, The Cursed Child brought them back, but who cares abꦿout that story🍌?
A Time Turner would have gone a long way in Voldemort's hands.
Now, it’s worth mentio🌌ning that꧒ Time Turners themselves actually do make sense as a time travel device, but they’re so easy to abuse that just about any wizard could use them to manipulate the world around them. It’s honestly a miracle that never happened before. Rowling was wrong to write them in, but right to write them out.
23 🎶 Harry Uses His Magic Outside Of School 𓃲In The Movies
Wizardi🌌ng world rules are very clear: children shall not use their magic off campus by any means whatsoever. JK Rowling is very careful to enforce this in the books, even punishing Harry for using his magic accidentally in the third book, but the movies do not particularly care about petty concepts like “lore consistency.”
In the third movie, the very same film where Harry is punished for using magic outside of school, Harry opens the film by using magic outside of school. Nobody notices, nobody comments on it, and when it comes time to adapt Harry’s book magic, the m൩inistry suddenly cares enough. You can find ways to work around it, but it’s blatantly a plot hole.
22 Draco’s Character Arc ꧃(Or Lack Thereof)
Draco is one of the series’ most popular characters and why shouldn’t he be? He’s Harry’s rival, his literary foil, and ꦜhe goes through a very similar arc across all seven books and eight movies, building him up into someone worthy of redemption. Or at least fans seem to think so. While that first half is true, the second half is up for debate.
Not pictured: character development.
Draco does has an arc, this is indisputable, but it isn’t nearly as in-depth as it should be. His character never reaches a point of genuine refleꦰction, leaving all his major beats in the background. Subtle storytelling is good, but Rowling perhaps goes too far with 🐬Draco. He’s an important character, but it doesn’t read that way when you really examine what Draco gets up to.
21 Readers Are Introduced To The Se🅘ries Through Uncle Vernon
First impressions are important, which is why the first book♔ opens with the series’ most compelling charact💎er taking center stage: Uncle Vernon. It’s almost hard to believe considering how quickly the first chapter flies by, but Uncle Vernon is the series’ introductory viewpoint, putting him alongside Harry and Snape as a chapter focus.
While bizarre, this does make a bit of sense. Uncle Vernon is us. Not personality wise, but in regards to magic. The wizarding world isn’t his world, so seeing him react to their eccentricities gives us𝓡 context. Of course, it’s still strange to open the books with the most unlikable character in the franchise, but no one can claim it didn’t work.
20 🙈 Sirius Never Gets What He Wants Most
No character in the series suffers more than Sirius Black. Harry’s godfather, Sirius spent nearly half his life in Azkaban for a crime he didn’t commit and lived for approximately two years before tragically l🅠osing his life in a fight he never should have been a part of. All the while, Sirius never gets what he wan෴ts most: a family.
Time and time again, Sirius desperately tries to reach out to Harry. He wants to spend time with the boy and befriend him. He wants what he had with James all over again, but distance keeps him anꦍd Harry apart. When they finally do get a chance to spend substantial time together, it results in the loss of his life. A cruel fate for a m♕an who deserved better.
19 James Potter Wasn’t A Good Ma💦n 𒁏
Speaking of cruel fates for good men, James Potter kind of had a rough deal, didn’t he? While hജe did turn himself around by the end of his life, it is important to remember that James wasn’t a particularly good guy. In fact, he was a massive jerk at Hogwarts unt🎐il around his last year. This is something Harry takes rather poorly.
Although we know that James did turn himself around, did he really? JK Rowling wrote a short story about James where he goes on to break muggle laws with Sirius, so it goes without saying that he kept his renegade🗹 side intact even in his later years. He mellowed out, but ﷺhe stayed fundamentally the same man until the very end.
18 𝓀 Aunt Petunia’s Known About Wizards All Along
Aunt petunia’s familiarity with the wizarding world is something that a considerable amount of sense while also making very little. The back half of the series reveals just how much she knows, surprising even Harry, and we’re meant to accept this as Petunia was indeed Lily's sister… ꦗbut it doesn't really fit.
Where's Petunia's letter?
In previous books, Petunia is so oblivious to the inner machinations of the wizard world that the reveal that she does know what’s going on, and intimately, comes off as a massive twist even for Harry. This is obviously Rowling trying to reconcile two distinct depictions, but it doesn’t hold up well when lookin🍰g back on the earlier portion of the series.
17 “The Ministry Has F🐠allen”
Few moments in the series capture the sheer intensity of “the Ministry has 🌠fallen.” A message that signifies the end of the wizarding world as we know, these little words spark an all-out war that rips Harry away from normalcy and utterly decimate the lifღe he’s come to love. All off screen, of course.
For as intense as this moment is, we never actually get to see it in action. Harry hears all about it, and the supporting cast get to have some “fun,” but Harry basically spends the entire war traveling. Granted, this does lead to a rather personal arc for him, but it also undermines the impact of reading “the ꩵMinistry has fallen” for the firsওt time.
16 ♕ ꧒ Winky: JK Rowling’s Biggest Blunder
In a rather inspired move even for the series, JK Rowling dedicated Hermione’s arc to fighting for house elf rights. A decision very much rooted in reality, the series was able to tackle subjects of class wit💫hout ever dwelling on the cruelties of the real world, developing🌞 Hermione and sympathizing the house elves in the process.
Never has a character missed the point so thoroughly.
It’s just a shame that in the very book where Rowling introduces this c📖oncept, she also introduces Winky, perhaps the most insufferable character in the series. Winky absolutely hates the idea of being free, which is fine conceptually, but she’s so insufferableও that it’s hard to take her complaints seriously or even see her point of view.