On occasion, you are bound to run into something that was supposed to be funny, but it ends up making you see things differently. Memes can have that effect, too, as these are made based on franchises that can have multiple interpretations. The Harry Potter series deviated quite significantly when it came to interpreting the books to the movies. This caused a whole set of changes, and there were even some glaring clashes between the two mediums.
There are many things about the wizarding world that don’t make sense, even after we apply the logic seen in their universe. To highlight that people have created memes granting us the opportunity to interpret the differences is only grazing the surface. Then there’s also the fact that the books themselves had eccentricities that stood out. Clearly, J.K. Rowling never had any intention for people to delve so deep into the series.
Due to this, it can’t be helped that the obvious quirks have to be pointed out. After all, it only enlivens the fandom more, seeing that the series has been done and dusted since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Not to mention the fandom’s imagination has run wild and self-proclaimed witches and wizards residing in the muggle world tend to see Harry Potter wherever they go.
With that in mind, here are a host of Harry Potter memes that change the way we see the series, whether it be through highlighting quirks and inconsistencies or simply drawing attention to some odd truths throughout the wizarding world.
Updated September 16, 2021 by Kim Dailey: We couldn't help but notice some of these memes had grown a bit stale, so we're back with a fresh round of wizarding puns to soothe your magical souls in these dark times between wizarding world releases.
25 Forgot One Detail
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ron and Harry have their first major fight. The two had been really close for the first three years of their friendship, bonding almost instantly upon meeting aboard the Hogwarts Express their first year. But by the time Harry was chosen as the fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament, Ron’s jealousy had gotten too much to control.
Harry underwent weeks of sadness over his first big fallout with his best friend, and in the books, we see him reflect how long it had been since he’d seen Ron.-- Except for the fact that they shared a dormitory! Of course, what happened was they ignored one another when sharing the same space, but when Harry warns Ron to “Stay away from (him),” that’s when he begins looking like a bit of a dunce.
24 Get With The Times
Those who have read previous Harry Potter articles will know this gripe is a most favored one. Why don’t Wizards just use the internet? It would save a whole lot of trouble. And that’s saying it lightly. What is the point of using Owls?
There’s also the time issue in that an owl will take around half a day, depending on if the location is nearby, to send one measly letter while using phones or the internet can enable Wizards to converse to their hearts delight. Not to mention the ethical concerns this brings up for the poor owls having to fly on an almost 24-hour basis as one letter is dispatched and the reply is sent back without delay.
Of course, the books do touch on this matter of animal rights by being sure to slip in that the owls were given a reprieve between deliveries. At least when noting more significant flights such as the correspondence between Harry and Sirius while his godfather was in hiding in the tropics. Fittingly, this is one specific scenario where using communication methods such as telephone or e-mail may not have been the most proficient, not to mention compromising on Sirius' behalf.
23 Open Favor
No matter how awesome Dumbledore supposedly was, we can never forgive the jerk move he pulled at the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. He made the Slytherins believe they had won the house cup—which they deservedly had—only to create a whole show and award Harry and his friends points for the lamest reasons ever.
This meme perfectly illustrates Dumbledore’s open favor toward the Gryffindor house. While Dumbledore never docked points from Slytherin, he always gave the Gryffindors a free pass for everything. It was no coincidence that Gryffindor won the House Cup every year Harry was in Hogwarts. Dumbledore probably made up scenarios just to award points to Harry and his friends and troll the Slytherins some more.
22 Because That's Not Noticeable At All
The Harry Potter series took a lot of liberties when it came to matters of whimsy. J.K. Rowling placed a whole set of eccentric behaviors for the wizards, and they would be shown to be completely unaware of normal Muggle practices. Even Arthur Weasley, the guy who was the head of Muggle dealings, hardly knew anything about Muggles as he is famously quoted asking Harry what the function of a rubber duck was.
One of the methods of reaching the Ministry of Magic, for those who want to be ‘inconspicuous,’ was to flush themselves down a toilet and materialize inside the Ministry. The wizards might as well be like the kid seen in the above meme as they mostly have no clue how to make themselves blend in Muggle environments.
21 Say What?
Here’s the problem with Parseltongue: How can some speak a language without having learned it? We all have our native languages, but that’s because we were raised in those environments. Take Tarzan, for instance: the guy couldn’t speak any language because he was raised by gorillas.
The justification given in the books is that it is a gift people are born with. But then Dumbledore learned the language somehow, so who taught him? There’s also the matter of how Harry can easily converse with Snakes with pinpoint accuracy. Surely he must make some mistakes. It’s not like we know every single word in English or whatever language we speak. This is why it’s humorous to think Harry may have inadvertently insulted the snake’s mother.
However, one explanation for Harry being able to speak fluent parseltongue is given in the first and second movie when Harry first expresses surprise that the snake can speak to him -- key words, "the snake can speak." And secondly, after his Dual Club demonstration against Malfoy, he tells Ron and Hermione he didn't know he was even speaking a different language. This insinuates that the gift of parseltongue is an inborn talent along with being a subconscious skill. That still leaves the matter of how Dumbledore managed to learn it, but many fans are content to write it off as suspension of disbelief due to the fact that he is indeed the one and only Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
20 Hermione's Feelings Towards Voldemort
It’s a shame this scenario never played out in the movies or books because it would have been one of the most legendary moments in any book series. Hermione was a know-it-all upon her first appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and annoyed Ron in their Charms class by pointing out his incorrect pronunciation of the spell Wingardium Leviosa.
Voldemort wouldn’t have taken it as well as Ron did, although odds are he may have been too befuddled to act fast. For some reason, though, Hermione was always rather unnerved by Voldemort, to the point she would wince like other Wizards at the mention of his name. That doesn’t really make sense as she was raised by Muggles and had never heard of Voldemort before. She obviously read of his atrocities, but she would have read up on Grindelwald as well, and considering he committed even more heinous acts, this should have put things in a bit more perspective for her highly logic-driven mind.
19 Sums It Up Well
Tom Felton fans who’ve extended this affection to Draco Malfoy should get a load of this meme. Because truth be told, Draco was nothing more than a little runt. Even when he hesitated to end Dumbledore’s life or turn Harry in, he only did it because he was too scared.
From Books 1 to 5, all he did was act as a minor annoyance to Harry. His role was that of a cocky, snobbish child who had never experienced life’s harsh realities. Taking a peek at his POV for the first five parts gives this indication. In the sixth book, he was too absorbed with his plan to finish off Dumbledore, while in the last book, he finally saw himself as the coward he was.
18 Why Should We Care?
Dobby was only absent from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Prisoner of Azkaban as far as the books were concerned. The house-elf had sizable roles in every other book and nobly sacrificed himself in Deathly Hallows to protect Harry. His unusual friendship with Harry made it heart-wrenching to see the little elf bite the dust, but only so far as the books are concerned.
However, the films spin a different tale. Dobby is completely absent from the third movie to the sixth. He springs up suddenly in Deathly Hallows – Part 1, claims he’s met Ron before, although his screentime won't prove this, and we were supposed to feel sad at his passing despite having been given no real reason to feel much for him. Seriously, all of the house elf’s big character-building moments throughout the meat of the story were cut from the movies completely. He's just some silly elf from the second movie who returns out of nowhere at the end of the series with an inexplicable burst of courage at just the right time. This is why when he passed away, he became just some Dobby we used to know.
17 Why Do People Like Him?
Albus Dumbledore was unparalleled as far as the argument for the best Headmaster in Hogwarts history was concerned. He was the most respected and most loved Headmaster the school had ever seen or would ever see.
In Harry’s first year alone, he housed a three-headed dog inside the castle, while he also sent eleven-year-olds alone in the Forbidden Forest at midnight for detention. Let’s now mention his tendency to hire professors who are most certainly either inept or evil. Quirrell had Voldemort attached to the back of his head, while Gilderoy Lockhart was a total moron. He also did nothing while Umbridge repeatedly mistreated his pupils. Though, to be fair, Umbridge wasn't exactly Dumbledore’s choice, but you could argue she was a result of his previous staffing indiscretions throughout the years.
16 A Smart Answer
This one won’t make you see the books or movies or even the characters differently. Instead, you’ll realize just how shrewd Oliver Phelps is compared to his cast members. That book would be pretty handy in that situation.
Now the thought of Daniel Radcliffe stranded on an island reading The Old Man and the Sea, or Emma Watson stuck in the middle of nowhere with a Jilly Cooper novel, makes them look rather silly. Then again, a vast majority of the people asked this question would most certainly have given a similar manner of answer as the cast members had. What’s confirmed is that only Phelps would escape after having built his raft.
15 School Is For Study
It might seem like a cruel slight at Harry, who only ever wanted to feel at home at Hogwarts, but this response is factually appropriate. Harry’s tenure at Hogwarts was marred by one problem after another, which no doubt would have inhibited not only his own studies but the rest of the schools as well.
From the get-go, Harry would find himself in undesirable positions, ending with Voldemort being revealed behind it all.
But Harry’s not altogether innocent either as the boy had a habit of chasing after dangerous situations. He enjoyed the thrill of the chase and, as Hermione put it, had a problem with wanting to be the hero. There were more than several chapters where Harry would neglect schoolwork in favor of plotting a plan to infiltrate some part of the school. By the seventh year, there was no education at Hogwarts at all. Hopefully, now that Harry’s gone, newly attending witches and wizards can actually attend to their studies.
14 Taking Things Literal
The only way this meme will make you see the series differently is to begin taking the titles in the literal sense. The meme does this and creates a scenario where Fawkes the Phoenix commands an order for dinner with the Golden Trio delivering the Order of the Phoenix to him.
Regardless, this should remind those of us who remember times before the last book was out of the years’ worth of guessing it took to figure out what the upcoming book’s title meant. In 2004, speculation was rife whether the Half-Blood Prince in the sixth novel would be Harry himself or Voldemort, and everyone turned out wrong when he was revealed as Snape instead.
13 Not All Fun And Games
This meme was never made with the intention of interpretation. Rather it was merely another cat picture on the internet with a cute title. Harry Potter fans will understand in a jiffy why a kitten is supposedly Minerva McGonagall’s baby photo. The Hogwarts Headmistress was a gifted Animagus who used her talent to make an entrance in the very first class she taught in Ron and Harry's first year.
In Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, the nature of animagi was elaborated upon and reached head-scratching levels in Goblet of Fire when Rita Skeeter was revealed as an animagus who turns into a bug to spy on people for stories. This begs the question of whether someone could turn similarly into an aunt and infiltrate anyone’s house for robbery or basically anything. Are there any safeguards for potential rogue animagi?
That’s a pretty serious issue if you think about it. Luckily the Ministry of Magic isn't altogether daft and put in place a mandatory animagi registry. And with the Ministry’s ability to detect underage sorcery, there must be some measure to catch those who think to evade registering. J.K. Rowling, another explanation, please?
12 Sorted In The Wrong House
The attributes of a Slytherin were completely lost by the time Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ended. By that point, the only defining feature prominent about the Slytherin house is its tendency to produce evil wizards.
But all they seem to do is engage in evil activities and harbor a large tenacity for cowardice. Tom Riddle was supposed to be the smartest boy to attend Hogwarts since Dumbledore, yet we hardly ever saw him devise any clever schemes in his quest for power.
Later on, Voldemort’s elaborate plans always involved capturing Harry, after which he would try to use force to end the boy’s life. Rather than a calculated and cunning Slytherin, he is more like a Gryffindor who lets his emotions take charge and jump headfirst into battle. He certainly wasn’t lacking in the ambition department, though.
11 A Genius Theory
Sometimes fan theories can inadvertently reach genius levels even if they were meant as a joke. Take this theory, for instance, that claims Voldemort was bald so that no one could impersonate him. It’s a viable assumption, as smart-minded wizards like Kingsley Shacklebolt could easily have posed as the Dark Lord and influenced his subjects.
Getting Voldemort’s hair was a task easier said than done, though. But a wizard the caliber of Dumbledore could have easily gotten it, especially during the battle at the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It’s interesting to imagine what the Wizard war would have been like had the good guys had access to Voldemort’s hair to use for a Polyjuice potion.
10 He Said Irately
This meme was created because the movie franchise side blinded fans of the book with a completely contradictory depiction of Dumbledore in the Goblet of Fire. It is an oversight many still hold against the creators to this day. The new Dumbledore we got starting from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a more commanding figure than the first two movies. He had a knack for being more aggressive and would shout at the most trivial of matters.
Harry had just been chosen as the fourth champion for the Triwizard tournament. He was already in an unenviable position, with many claiming he was a cheat who had hoodwinked himself into the competition. In the books, Dumbledore had been comforting at that moment, while in the movie, Richard Harris' Dumbledore charged at Harry, bellowing at the boy in inquiry whether he had put his name in the Goblet of Fire.
9 I Didn’t Sign Up For This
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This one requires a dual knowledge of both the wizarding world and the RPG The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, but if you’ve got both, you’ll know this meme is brilliant.
The witcher Geralt is a mutant, a trained and honed killing machine. And while his profession requires him to remain unbiased, Nilfgaard is widely regarded as the ‘evil’ nation in The Witcher universe. So naturally, Geralt has been contracted to slay his fair share of Nilfgaardian soldiers.
Now, Geralt is bloody good at his job, and most soldiers in The Witcher 3, regardless of their allegiance, are more or less bumbling buffoons, making any encounters between the two quick, bloody, and largely one-sided.
Well, Ron never was the brawniest, brainiest, or even bravest wizard among them, which already puts him about on par with a Nilfgaardian soldier. Not to mention the face Ron is making in this frame fits perfectly on a fresh Nilfgaardian recruit who’s about to have his head lopped off.
However, if we delve a little further, there’s another parallel to be drawn between an untrained soldier and how Ron is always roped into Harry’s adventures since their very first year at Hogwarts. This specific scenario at the start of Harry and Ron’s second year, where the two encounter a near-death experience before even setting foot on the school grounds, is probably about the time Ron would’ve been thinking, ‘I didn’t sign up for this!’
8 But Did You Die?
A hugely popular meme, usually reserved for those friends who blur the lines between stunt driving and a death wish, is wholly applicable to Harry’s logic in the naming of his son, Albus Severus Potter.
As we just finished discussing with the previous meme, Ron has been at Harry’s side since they met on the Hogwart’s Express in their first year. But despite sacrificing himself in a live Wizard Chess match, almost dying en route to school their second year, multiple dangerous excursions into the Forbidden Forest, breaking into the Ministry, fighting Deatheaters, going on the run, and a slew of other mortal peril instances, Ron gets overlooked when it comes time to award the honor of a namesake.
Otherwise, why wouldn’t he have thought of his best mate? Ron is literally Albus’ Potter’s actual uncle -- by blood! We could also extend the injustice to Hagrid, for that matter. The gamekeeper was always lookin’ out fer ‘arry and could be considered one of the closest things to a father figure Harry ever had.
Following this logic, however, Albus Severus would’ve been Albus Severus Ronald Rubeus Potter, which certainly would’ve rivaled the boy’s first namesake for being a mouthful. So we can see why Harry decided to narrow it down.
Well, deepest sympathies Hagrid and Ron, but did you die?
7 Liberating Or Kidnapping?
Speaking of Hagrid, we’re obviously not the only ones to question if Hagrid’s approach to liberating Harry from the Dursleys and dropping the bombshell, “Y’er a wizard,” was the most tactful.
But that’s not something young Harry is going to remember ten years later. A mistreated 11-year-old child likely isn’t going to trust a hulking giant who breaks down the door and starts waving a pink umbrella around, throwing threats, and claiming the child is a magical being.
No, in all likelihood, the boy would’ve run or hid, knowing the Dursleys wouldn’t protect him. To Harry’s credit, he did hide, at first. But we’re still not sure if a half-smushed birthday cake and a hand-written letter from another unknown proclaimed wizard should be enough to prove you’re no kidnapper.
6 James or Lily?
Being privy to the catastrophic events that catalyzed Harry’s path in life straight from the cradle and having known the boy’s parents, Professor McGonagall was most certainly invested in who Harry Potter would grow up to be.
This meme depicts, with shrewd accuracy, Minerva McGonagall’s thought progression as Harry made his introduction into the wizarding world. In his first year, Harry seemed to be a golden child, experiencing the wizarding world for the first time while also learning of his famed and tragic past. He was even a natural Quidditch player, Minerva’s treasured sport.
Though Harry’s aptitude for Quidditch was much like his father, James’, the boy generally didn’t seem to seek out trouble in his first year, though it certainly found him easily enough. But that all changed when Harry made an entrance at Hogwarts the next year by crashing a flying car onto the school grounds, and the troubles he got entangled in as the year ensued. Within his first two years at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall had seen both sides to Harry Potter and most assuredly had altered her opinion on which parent he was going to take after.