Sometimes we need the help of comedy to see the gaps that aren’t present at first sight. Memes are a great way to learn of said flaws, as they point out moments of idiocy with a joke. Many of the time, though, these memes can also indicate large parts of nonsensical issues that ultimately ruin your outlook over your favorite material.
In this case, it is the Harry Potter series that has a large variety of issues that make little to no sense. No we’re not saying these memes will completely ruin how you look at this beloved franchise. But they will make you question how you never saw some points for how they truly are.
For one to believe there exists a world where magic exists, there have to be some liberties taken. Many times the fans are required to let any reservations rest in order to enjoy the fantasy world so richly created by J.K Rowling. However, you can still apply some logic that should no doubt have been present. There are times when there is no excuse for something that could be easily explained, and the Harry Potter series is littered with this.
You have been warned from proceeding further. But like the Golden Trio in the series, you just have to be nosy and go snooping in despite several disclaimers.
With that in mind, here are 25 memes that prove the Harry Potter series doesn’t make any sense.
25 But It's Chilly Out There!
Quidditch makes no sense any way you look at it. For one it’s supposed to be the most popular sport in the Wizarding World. Yet without any access to televisions, and so few wizards in the world, the game’s viewership must be sparse at best.
To top it all off, Quidditch seasons are scheduled in the most absurd times of the year. For instance, in Hogwarts, the majority of the matches take place in torrential downpour such as the one seen in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. What do you expect when the game is set in November? That means fans have no choice but to attend these matches while sitting way up high fifty feet above the ground with the extreme gusts of winter winds blowing in their faces. It wouldn't be a surprise if a majority of the students turn up sick in the hospital wing in that time of the year.
24 Why Bother At All?
To start things up, it was logically a stupid decision to expel Hagrid from Hogwarts for harboring a dangerous creature only to rehire the then teenage half-giant straightaway as the Keeper of Keys. How does that solve the problem? He’s still around the school, isn’t he?
Proving the decision more nonsensical is the fact that keys have no use in the Harry Potter universe. First years are taught the basic spell Alohomora, which grants the user the ability to unlock doors that haven’t been sealed off by a magical enchantment. Then why does Hagrid bother to carry around a sack full of spare keys with him at all times? He really should have tried branching out and getting a real job.
23 What Did You Expect From Her?
Hermione is easily among the top names as far as genius levels are considered in the Harry Potter series. Without her smarts and quick wit, Harry would never have even made it past the first year, let alone survive till the end. But Hermione is hopelessly narrow-minded. She intends to uphold her integrity and is reluctant to use the device for any means other than studies.
Yet if she had only expanded her horizons a little more, she could have figured out solutions to a host of problems. For one, she could’ve turned back time to prevent Crookshanks from harming Scabbers, as was originally thought, and saved months of animosity against Ron. Or she could’ve used the time turner to warn Harry before his Quidditch game against the impending attack from the dementors. There are all sorts of things she could’ve fixed. So it’s just bonkers she never considered any of it.
22 What A Nerd
James Potter must have frequently employed the use of the family heirloom Invisibility Cloak for debauchery with his pals. But little Harry would never dream of it and to put matters into perspective, what does the chosen one do as his first act with the Invisibility Cloak? That’s right, he goes to the library!
No one’s saying every boy should philander about trying to impress the ladies. But surely one can think of something more entertaining to do than visiting the library after hours! Also, at the time Harry acquires the Invisibility Cloak, there were much more pressing matters than uncovering the identity of Nicholas Flamel. He could have used the cloak to spy on Snape, whom he suspected of being in cahoots with Voldemort. But Harry chooses to be a bookworm instead.
21 YOLO
Harry and his friends are admittedly a bunch of prying kids who stick their noses in issues that don’t concern them. For example, The Philosopher’s Stone events wouldn’t have played out if Harry wasn’t so darn curious with what was on the third floor corridor. And the reason for these children to be so nosy is because of the lax security of Hogwarts.
All Dumbledore does is warn a room full of juveniles not to go on the third floor corridor and expect them to abide. That’s the opposite of what you tell a bunch of kids. Of course they’re not going to listen. The least the old man could’ve done was place some security on the floor to divert trespassers. But instead, he left it to good old luck to help children if they encountered the rabid three headed dog door on the third floor corridor.
20 Gotta Catch 'Em All
Harry, you idiot. Firstly, why did you open the first letter you’ve ever received in your life in clear view of the Dursleys? We could give the kid a pass for being taken aback by this anonymous correspondence. But there’s no excuse for when Harry leaps into the air and flails around like a maniac for one of the thousands of letters falling from the ceiling.
Who in their right mind would do that? There are literally hundreds of letters scattered across the ground, and the Dursleys are too distracted to notice by that point, so Harry could’ve just snared one and locked himself in the cupboard under the stairs to read it. Truth be told, it's idiocy to this degree that deserves to be punished.
19 I Whip My Stairs Back And Forth
Imagine you’re an eleven year old who’s spent all their life in your house waiting for the day you’ll be joining Hogwarts. Naturally, you’ve never been anywhere the scale of the great castle of the school. However, on your very first day you’re meant to figure out exactly where you’re supposed to be in this enormous maze where the staircases seem to be sentient!
How does anyone expect kids to navigate their way through Hogwarts without providing them with any means to guide them to their classes? Harry and Ron even get reprimanded by Professor McGonagall for their tardiness the first day of classes, despite their valid excuse that they were lost. Now that’s just harsh.
18 RIP Gravity
The Harry Potter film series always did take liberties where logic was concerned. At times you had to contend with moments where nothing made sense. One of these was right at the end of the franchise during the final battle between Harry and Voldemort. They soared the skies, grappling one another in an attempt to push the other into submission.
This makes for some cool viewing, but here’s where it starts to lose any semblance of a point. The two fall over a hundred feet to solid Earth. To highlight the absurdity, Harry has his glasses locked tight to his face. Now, that’s some real magic in display. Wonder which brand those rims are!
17 Dumbledore Logic
Before the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, this meme wouldn’t have been possible, judging by what we had seen the time turner to be capable of in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was believed the object could only turn back a few hours. However, the latest series installment has debunked that notion, and the time turner does have the ability to bend reality.
Shouldn’t a genius mind like Dumbledore have been able to figure some clause out so as to spare the lives of Harry’s parents? Dumbledore had an extreme longevity in life, so he had ample time to construct a framework to revive Lily and James. But the old man was happy to use the time turner to save Buckbeak. Because Hippogriff lives matter more than humans, right?
16 It's All A Blur
One of the many things that don’t make sense in the Harry Potter world is the wide number of inconsistencies that are present. On one hand you have some magical solution to any problem but on the other you have a flaw that is too ridiculous to ignore.
Take for instance, the issue with Harry’s eyesight. On one hand, the magical community has perfected medicine to the point that wizards have longevity lasting up until centuries. Ailments such as cancer don’t seem to exist, and you can be out of the hospital after one night after losing all the bones in your arm.
Then why is it that poor Harry still has to wear glasses? The series expects us to believe any disease can be prevented by magic, but no wizard has been able to come up with a spell to cure a blurry eyesight.
15 Thanks For The Directions, Madam
Once again Hogwarts proves lax in their enrollment techniques. First, they expect people to believe that magic actually exists in the world. Then they instruct a kid to get to a platform called Platform 9¾ in a muggle train station and expect him to hitch a ride without problems.
The only reason Harry was able to locate the entrance was due to Mrs. Weasley’s loud rants. But even then her instructions were ludicrous to say the least. Let’s recap: you’re supposed to run headfirst in a brick wall with a trolley filled with stuff after placing faith on a random woman you’ve just met. Oh yeah, seems legit all right! Imagine if Harry had run onto the wrong wall instead. It would’ve made for a much shorter film.
14 You Should Be Expelled
This was a flaw in logic right from the get go. Adding to the nonsensical nature of this is that it was committed by Hermione Granger of all people. No one comes more straight laced than her, and yet she’s guilty of the one of the biggest head scratchers in the series.
It is said out loud hundreds of times–especially in the first year–that underage wizards aren’t allowed to do magic outside of school. Hermione must have memorized the rule book, so why does she so openly do magic before the start of her second year?
In a scene during Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione encounters a shabby Harry in Diagon Alley and instantly mends his broken glasses, in plain view of witches and wizards. Surely the ministry must have detected this. But no, she’s free to break the law with no repercussions.
13 You Chose The Wrong Animal
Someone was probably too scared to point this out to the original founders of Hogwarts way back thousands of years ago that it doesn’t make sense to allocate a symbol to something which has an entirely different meaning. The name of the house is Ravenclaw, and yet what represents said house? An eagle.
You could argue that Ravenclaw was the name of the person rather than her name being derived from a Raven itself. However, the choice of a crest for her house was probably Rowena Ravenclaw’s very own and, with a perfectly adequate bird to choose from, she goes with an eagle. This could’ve been okay had it been a house which wasn't known for its wits such as Hufflepuff. But considering Ravenclaws are the smartest, it’s silly that they couldn’t even make this slight association.
12 You Guys Suck At Goverment-ing
Going by the sense the Ministry of Magic runs things, you know it’s headed by a bunch of morons who don’t stop to consider the hypocrisy of their own laws.
Harry is unceremoniously expelled from Hogwarts for use of magic in the presence of a muggle. At this point the ministry had had it in for Harry and were looking for any excuse to wipe him from the Wizarding World. But if you want to make it seem legitimate, at least make it realistic. The muggle in question in front of whom Harry performed magic was the same muggle a talking envelope was in the presence of.
By this logic, the ministry itself should be expelled from the government for their revealing of the Wizarding World. None of it makes a lick of sense, and it’s not a surprise Harry got cleared of all charges.
11 Good Guy Voldemort
Each Harry Potter novel covers an entire school year from the end of the summer vacation to the beginning of the next. Each time Voldemort is MIA until the climax of the book when he decides to launch his attack on Harry.
That’s quite convenient, as by this point The Boy Who Lived generally learns a few tricks in the school year and uses that to survive the encounter. Maybe Voldemort is just too lazy to attack in the middle of the year, since Harry has homework. So he chooses to delay his attempts right up until the end of the year exams so that his foe has at least completed his education. That’s a classy arch nemesis to have! Harry should feel quite appreciative.
10 Woe Is Me
The Harry Potter films are guilty of perhaps the biggest nonsense of the series. Severus Snape had only one motivation to assisting Harry: his love for Lily. He never cared for The Boy Who Lived and his hate only grew due to Harry’s resemblance to his father. But the only thing that reminded Snape of Lily were Harry’s eyes, an important aspect of the story.
Then it’s a good thing he never paid close attention Harry’s eyes as, in the movie series, they don’t remotely resemble Lily’s. Instead of those clear green eyes, they are blue in color. So it’s hilarious to think what may have been going in Snape’s mind during his final moments when he asked Harry to look at him, hoping to see Lily once again.
9 Oh Look It's My Favorite Student
We can all agree that Dumbledore was one in a million. The headmaster always put the school first and himself second when it came to priorities. What is dubious, though, is his partiality toward Harry. Of course he had a special place in his heart for the boy, seeing as they grew so close during Harry’s years in the school. But it came at the cost of giving him way too much leeway.
Can you ever recall a time where Dumbledore treated Harry the same way as any other student? He’s supposed to be the headmaster, and in that position should always remain unbiased. Yet, there he went awarding Harry points just because he was there, or preferring Gryffindor over other house. Remember when he screwed over Slytherin for the House Cup?
8 But... Why?
It is never made clear what ethics are in place for a child’s enrollment at Hogwarts. At first glance, it seems as if legal guardians don’t have much say in the matter ,considering the Dursleys were thwarted repeatedly. Of course, the insistence on Harry’s enrollment was due to the fact that the Dursleys had been abusing him for years and had hidden his true lineage. But then what's the point of entrusting them with granting Harry further permission for school activities?
Uncle Vernon hates anything that would make Harry happy. Is Dumbledore thick enough to believe he would casually sign the Hogsmeade permission slip for him? Of course he wouldn’t! Get your rule book out, guys, and check out the policies behind these matters.
7 A Little Too Trusting
Who among us didn’t fantasize about one day receiving that elusive letter from Hogwarts inviting us over to be witches and wizards? It was a lovely dream for any child, but that’s because we read books and movies catering to our fantasies. Imagine a life where you never were exposed to Harry Potter material. A huge boorish man threatens your uncle with an umbrella and claims you truly belong in a big dirty castle learning to turn teacups into mice. What would your reaction be?
You would run as far away as you can from this burly stranger. There’s no way any of that would ever sound legit. Did you catch the bit about where he claimed he ‘flew’ all the way over to the abandoned lighthouse where the family was camping? Good thing Harry was a gullible kid.
6 Let's Be Buddies
Talk about your egotistical spoiled rich kids; Malfoy takes the top spot in this list. The rotten kid was brought up in house filled with dark magic and parents who worshipped the Dark Lord. Thus, the boy turned out to be a real piece of work. However, that’s no excuse for him being stupid enough to expect Harry Potter to become chums with him.
Get it in your head, Malfoy, your parents work for the guy who killed Harry’s parents! He doesn’t even give Harry any reason to believe there’s any promise for a friendship after so casually insulting Ron’s family over their poverty. Malfoy, in this case, deserved to be put to shame by Harry.