Eight Things That Don’t Make Sense in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”

The wizarding world seemed absolutely ideal when we were kids, but let’s admit that as we grew older, we slowly realized that the story has lots of illogical concepts and plot holes. It doesn’t make us love Harry Potter any less, of course. But there are many things fans all over the world have wished were written better.

Let’s take a minute to talk about all the things that don’t make sense in each part of the saga, both in films and in books. We’re starting, as the series does, with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

 

1. Letters Sent to Harry

When Harry Potter received his first letter and didn’t answer it, the most rational decision would have been to send someone to him straight away, especially since Dumbledore knew what kind of people the Dursleys were. But instead of visiting Harry himself or letting Hagrid deliver the letter, the headmaster decided to send all the owls of Hogwarts and drive Harry’s relatives insane. 

 

 

 

2. The Wall in the Leaky Cauldron

The Leaky Cauldron is the “portal” from London to the wizarding world. It has a secret wall in the back of the pub that opens the entrance to Diagon Alley. But if you think about it, there was zero need to have that wall, as the Leaky Cauldron was purely for wizards. Its existence would make sense if Muggles could also enter the pub, but otherwise, the wall is simply an unnecessary obstacle for wizards themselves.

 

 

 

3. Boats to Hogwarts

They are used to transport the first-year students to their future school. But if Hogwarts has carriages, which are much safer and more comfortable, why go through all the trouble with the boats? What if someone had fallen into the lake, which had a lot of dangerous creatures in it? Their only help would be Hagrid, who wasn’t even allowed to use magic. Departing from Hogwarts on the boats as a part of graduation tradition makes more sense, because the students would be able to help one another in case something bad happened on the way.

 

 

 

4. The Remembrall

Do you ever have the feeling when you know that you forgot something, but you can’t remember what exactly you forgot? Well, that’s what the Remembrall is for. It’d be an amazing, magical artifact if it also showed what the person holding the ball forgot. For example, Neville would see that he didn’t wear his school robes. But otherwise, it’s simply a waste of Galleons.

 

 

 

5. Quidditch

Quidditch seems like such a fun game to play. At the same time, its rules make absolutely no sense. Let’s analyze together: Each goal scored is worth 10 points. However, catching the Snitch is worth 150 points, which means that 95% of the time, the results depend on only the Seeker, and the rest of the game goes down the drain. It’d be fairer if catching the Snitch would end the game and give some additional points, like 20 or 30. But as it is, the game is simply not interesting, either for the viewers or the players themselves.

 

 

 

6. Argus Filch’s Role at Hogwarts

We all love Argus Filch. He’s such an interesting character, even though he doesn’t have many scenes, especially in the films. But what exactly is his role at Hogwarts? Until the fourth installment, we all thought that he was the one who cleaned and took care of the castle because he was the caretaker. But later we find out that it’s actually house elves who do all the dirty work. Filch’s only job is to scare the kids away with his frightening voice and evil cat, apparently.

 

 

 

7. McGonagall Buying Harry’s Broomstick

McGonagall buying the best and most expensive broomstick for Harry is a little weird, isn’t it? The school already had brooms for all the players. We understand that she desperately wanted to win, and we love McGonagall, but in this case, her actions were inappropriate and unprofessional. When Ron broke his wand and could have literally hurt himself or other students, no one bothered to buy him a new wand. That’s really unfair.

 

 

 

8. Detention with Hagrid

This doesn’t make sense for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Harry and his friends are punished for spending some time with Hagrid at night. And what’s their detention? Right, spending some time with Hagrid at night. Sounds quite reasonable, doesn’t it? Secondly, detentions should include harmless tasks like cleaning cauldrons, helping the teachers, writing lines, etc. By no means should it include a deadly mission to find a unicorn murderer in the Forbidden Forest! Again, this is all accompanied by Hagrid, who wasn’t allowed to use magic and couldn’t protect the students if something went wrong.

 

 

These were some of the main illogical aspects found in Sorcerer’s Stone. Stay tuned for the next parts of this series!