9 “Harry Potter” Plot Holes That Actually Have a Logical Explanation

Professor McGonagall appeared in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and many Harry Potter fans were enraged by such a huge mistake. Minerva was born several years after the events, depicted in the film. And it’s not the first time the fans blame Joanne Rowling for certain contradictions. We love finding inconsistencies in Harry Potter, but today we want to answer some of the trickiest questions.

How could Minerva McGonagall teach at Hogwarts before she was even born?

Minerva McGonagall appeared in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. It seems that the transfiguration professor loves Hogwarts so much that she worked there before she was even born. The film is set in 1927, and Minerva was born in 1935. It looks like an obvious plot hole, unless the professor is there thanks to the time-turner.

The biggest danger of this magical artifact is that the person using it should never meet themselves. McGonagall can’t meet herself, so why not travel to the past?

How did the Weasley twins get the map of Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?

Fred and George had nothing to do with the creators of the map and couldn’t inherit it. The movies never reveal where they got it. But the book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban does.

Hogwarts caretaker, Filch, caught the twins when they threw a dungbomb, and took them to his office. There, they saw a box that contained very dangerous items. The twins distracted Filch with another dungbomb and stole the map.

How did they activate it?

To activate the map, you need to say the password, “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good.” But the Weasley twins couldn’t have known it.

Joanne Rowling answered the question herself, “Don’t you think it would be quite a Fred and Georgeish thing to say in jest, and then see this thing transform? And the map flickering into life here and there when they got closer and closer, and finally they hit upon the exact right word combination, and it just erupts.”

Why didn’t they see Peter Pettigrew on it?

One of the main questions that Harry Potter fans ask is how could Fred and George, who owned the map, not see a certain Peter Pettigrew next to their brother Ron all the time? He was the rat of the Weasley family.

But the twins didn’t use the map to keep an eye on someone: their main goal was to find all the secret places in Hogwarts. It’s unlikely they would pay attention to hundreds of moving dots in the castle. And the name of Pettigrew wouldn’t be familiar to the twins, so why would they be interested?

Where did Fred and George get the money to open the joke shop?

The twins are from a poor family, so where did they get the money to open the shop? The book fans know the answer. Fred and George opened the shop thanks to Harry, who won 1,000 galleons in the Triwizard Tournament and gave the money to the twins.

How could Voldemort not see through Snape?

Voldemort was one of the most powerful wizards in history. He was skilled at penetrating other people’s thoughts, but he made a mistake in trusting Severus Snape as his loyal servant. Voldemort was convinced of his ally’s loyalty until the end. However, in the first part of the saga, the Dark Lord could see through the eyes of Quirrell that the Potions Master had switched to Dumbledore’s side. So why did he trust Snape?

Voldemort did not see through him because Severus was skilled in occlumency and could effectively protect his thoughts from outside interference. Besides, the Dark Lord did not entirely trust his servant. In The Half-Blood Prince, Snape explains to Bellatrix Lestrange the events related to the Philosopher’s Stone: “He was in a pitiable condition, very weak, sharing the body of a mediocre wizard. He did not dare reveal himself to a former ally if that ally might turn him over to Dumbledore or the Ministry. I deeply regret that he did not trust me. He would have returned to power 3 years sooner. As it was, I saw only greedy and unworthy Quirrell attempting to steal the stone, and I admit, I did all I could to thwart him.”

Why didn’t the Dark Lord make the Unbreakable Vow with all of his allies?

The Unbreakable Vow is a magically binding oath, the violation of which results in certain death. Why didn’t Voldemort, who demanded unlimited loyalty from his associates, make them swear such a vow?

Perhaps because the Dark Lord understood that those who followed him were not the most reliable and devoted people. However, no matter how selfish and cunning his supporters were, he needed them. Attempting to enforce loyalty through a vow would have turned many of Voldemort’s supporters, especially influential ones like Lucius Malfoy, away from him.

Why are wands so cheap?

In the world of Harry Potter, they have their own currency: golden Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. One Galleon is worth 17 Sickles, and one Sickle is worth 29 Knuts. This system is not very logical or convenient for calculation and conversion, but it is not critical to the plot.

However, the cost of items in magical stores can be really confusing. For example, a magic wand, a unique and essential tool for a wizard made from truly rare materials, costs only 7 Galleons, while a textbook on potions costs a whopping 9 Galleons. Moreover, one unicorn hair, which is often used to make wands, costs 10 Galleons. How can this be?

Perhaps the reason why a magic wand is cheaper than a textbook is that it must be affordable even for the poorest of wizards. After all, a textbook can be borrowed, but a wizard without their own wand would have a very hard time. It is possible that there is a standard rate for wands, and the Ministry pays the rest of the cost to the wand maker.

Why did Ron use Charlie’s old wand? And why did it listen to him, even though he’d never disarmed him?

A wand chooses the wizard when he or she buys it. Another way to own a wand is to disarm someone in a battle. But we know that Ron used Charlie’s wand, and Neville used his father’s. And they worked for them.

Rowling explained, “As established by Ollivander, a wizard can use almost any wand, it is simply that a wand that chooses him/her will work best. Where there is a family connection, a wand will work a little better than a wand chosen at random, I think.”