Harry Potter is a franchise that honestly needs no introduction. The first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, was published in 1997 and took the world by storm. It was published during a time when most of us were growing up and just beginning to read full books, and we were hungry for interesting stories. Harry Potter surpassed everyone’s expectations and became a billion-dollar franchise that includes the aforementioned books, side novels, movies, toys, a website called Pottermore, and even a play. The series has become one of the most iconic pieces of literature of all time, and has inspired millions of die-hard fans.

Even though the series has millions of fans who have poured over the books and read them countless times, there are still a few plot lines in the story that not many fans noticed, or even realized they were there. Harry Potter is a diverse and extremely complex story, and not all of it can be seen, or read, on the surface of the novels. Sometimes you need to go deeper into the story to realize just how complex it can be.

In this list, we will look at some of the interesting plot lines in Harry Potter that are not explored in-depth in the novels, and that fans may have missed while reading the books. Warning: this list may make you look at the Harry Potter novels with a renewed love and cause you to re-read them for the thousandth time. Let’s jump into it!

20 Hide And Seek Champion

During the first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone if you’re from anywhere outside the USA), an interesting character showed up at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. This character was the sniveling Professor Quirrell. It was revealed at the end of the novel that Quirrell was actually working with the evil Lord Voldemort, whom he had found and aided, biding his time in the forests of Albania.

How did Professor Quirrell find Lord Voldemort in Albania?

This plot line is never expanded upon in the novels. Lord Voldemort had been missing for years, and none of his most dedicated followers could find him. How then, did Quirrell do it? This is a plot line that I would have loved to see more of in the novel.

19 Why Wands?

One of the most interesting aspects of Harry Potter that is barely expanded upon in the novels is wand lore. Why do wizards and witches use wands? Why do they amplify magic so well? Who was the first wizard or witch to start using wands? Nobody questions this in the Harry Potter novels, but I definitely did while reading it.

Wands are a large part of the Harry Potter series, but we never really find out more about them. They seemingly have minds of their own, they choose their own wizard or witch to be their owner, even the best wandmaker in the Harry Potter universe, Ollivander, stated he didn’t know everything about wands. It’s a hidden plot line in the Harry Potter story that I’ve always found very fascinating.

18 If Only He Could Love

One main plot line in the Harry Potter series is that Lord Voldemort is incapable of love, which makes Harry, who is full of love for his friends and family, extremely dangerous to him. One thing fans may have missed is the reason that Voldemort can’t love. And yes, there’s actually an explanation!

Lord Voldemort was created with the use of a love potion.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series, it is detailed how Lord Voldemort’s mother tricks his father, her obsession, into loving her with a love potion. Once Voldemort’s father found out, he left her and never looked back. It’s a subtle plot line that is barely mentioned in the novels, but because he was conceived magically without love, he cannot love, himself.

17 Time Travel

One of the most controversial plot lines in the entire Harry Potter series are the Time Turners. Time Turners are special magical devices that allow the user to turn back time. Hermione used one in the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, to attend more classes than anyone should be able to attend, and Harry used one to save Sirius Black’s life.

Time Turners caused many people to see plot holes within Harry Potter. The hidden plot line in Harry Potter about Time Turners has to do with the person who created them. Who was this amazing wizard or witch? It is never stated in the novels how they came to be, but I was always fascinated by the witch or wizard that could have come up with such a powerful device.

16 Know It All

Hermione is a nerd. Let’s get that out of the way. She’s a “know-it-all” who spends all of her time studying the Wizarding World. But I believe the reason she is so bookish is actually a hidden plot line in the series. Hermione is a “mudblood,” which is a bad word for someone who has non-wizard parents. She grew up her entire life in the “muggle” world. Muggle referring to non-magical people.

Obviously, she would want to know everything there is to know about the Wizarding World, to catch up.

The reason Hermione studies so much, in my eyes, is because she missed out on the Wizarding World for her entire childhood up until she got her Hogwarts letter when she was eleven years old. This is never explicitly stated but it makes sense as a subtle, hidden plot line for Hermione’s character to me.

15 I Solemnly Swear...

During Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third novel in the series, Harry gets a magical map of Hogwarts called the Marauder’s Map. The map is a very powerful magical object that allows the user to see where anyone is inside Hogwarts. The Marauders turn out to be Harry’s father and his friends.

We find out that the Marauders are extremely skilled wizards, not only creating this powerful map while still in school, but also learning how to become Animagi, or how to magically morph into the form of an animal. This process is described as incredibly hard to learn, so hard that there are barely any wizards or witches who know how to do it. The Marauder’s school days is somewhat of a hidden plot line, and is barely expanded upon in the novels, only being hinted at.

14 R.A.B.

Probably the most well-known hidden plot line in the entirety of the Harry Potter novels is the story of Regulus Black. Regulus Black was the younger brother of Sirius Black, Harry Potter’s godfather. He was originally in league with Lord Voldemort, but had a change of heart and betrayed Voldemort, stealing Voldemort’s powerful locket Horcrux.

Regulus is barely mentioned in any of the novels.

However, in order to betray the most powerful dark wizard of all time, Voldemort, there must have been an internal struggle inside of Regulus. How did he make this choice? Why did he decide to turn? It would have been a very interesting subplot to see in the novels, but it is only hinted at, and we never know the full story behind Regulus Black.

13 The Impostor

One hidden plot line in Harry Potter that I’ve always been curious about, is the plot line of Barty Crouch Jr. capturing Mad-Eye Moody. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters, Barty Crouch Jr, attacks, captures, and then impersonates Mad-Eye Moody, a powerful Auror (dark wizard catcher) and becomes a teacher at Hogwarts. How did Barty Crouch Jr. subdue Mad-Eye Moody?

Mad-Eye Moody is supposed to be one of the best and most powerful Aurors in the entire Harry Potter universe. You would think this would make him an extremely powerful wizard. How then, did Barty Crouch Jr. overpower him so easily? This plot line is only glossed over in the fourth book and never really expanded upon, unfortunately.

12 A Love Story?

One of the most infamous hidden plot lines in Harry Potter is the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. Grindelwald was a dark wizard who tried to take over Europe. He also happened to be very good friends with Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore hesitated to stop his friend’s evil antics until he could no longer ignore it, and they had a legendary duel, which Dumbledore won.

J.K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, stated later that Grindelwald and Dumbledore were actually in love with each other.

This relationship is never explicitly stated in the novels, but it is definitely hinted at. It caused controversy among fans, some stating that since it was never fully stated in the books that it can’t be real. But most fans have come to accept this hidden plot line as canon.

11 The Founders

Another plot line in the Harry Potter series that is generally only hinted at, is the relationship between the founders of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The founders were four extremely prominent and powerful wizards who all came together and decided to create Hogwarts for students in Great Britain. Their names were Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff. The houses in Hogwarts are named for them.

The founders’ relationships with each other are never truly expanded upon in the novels. We never really get to know the four founders throughout the novels, and their exploits are really only mentioned in passing. In my opinion, this is one of the most interesting hidden plot lines in all of Harry Potter, and I wish there was more written about it.

10 Mad-Eye's Mad-Eye

One plot line in Harry Potter that I have always been interested in is Mad-Eye Moody’s magical eye. According to the books, it was a very powerful object, even being able to see through Harry’s invisibility cloak in one instance, even though Harry’s cloak is a Deathly Hallow and is basically impenetrable by magical spells.

Where did Mad-Eye Moody obtain his mad-eye?

Did he create it himself? If so, he would be one of the most powerful wizards of all time. Did someone create it for him? If this is the case, who was it? And why aren’t there more magical eyes like his throughout the magical world? You would think an object like that would be very useful. I’ve always wondered about it, and it’s not talked about in the novels.

9 The Hidden Slytherin

This hidden plot line in Harry Potter is actually hidden in plain sight, especially during the fifth novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In this novel, a new teacher shows up named Dolores Umbridge. On the surface she is quite bubbly and sweet, but on the inside she is pure evil. Did you know that Professor Umbridge was actually a Slytherin?

She really doesn’t fit the standard brooding, obviously evil Slytherin motif that is present within the rest of the novels. At first, she seems harmless and actually kind of nice. But that exterior is nothing like what lies beneath, hidden away in her real personality. While reading the books, I never realized that Professor Umbridge was a Slytherin, but once I found out, it made perfect sense.

8 Tactical Genius

Professor Dumbledore is the quintessential “guide” character for Harry Potter during the novels. He comes off like a sweet old wizard, who loves Harry. But in reality, in my opinion, Dumbledore is a magnificent tactician, doing whatever he can to win the war against Lord Voldemort.

Professor Dumbledore knows how to perfectly manipulate people to do what he wants.

The best example of this is his relationship with Severus Snape. Snape was a former Death Eater for Voldemort who switched sides when Voldemort ended his one true love, Lily Potter. Dumbledore perfectly used Snape’s guilt over her passing to manipulate him into becoming a double agent against Voldemort, and to keep him from betraying the Order of the Phoenix. He didn’t do this because he liked Snape. He did it because he wanted to win. The novels are full of hidden strategies like this that Dumbledore uses throughout the war.

7 Deep Regrets

Piggybacking off of the last point in this list, Snape’s hidden love for Lily Potter, Harry’s mother, is actually hinted at in the very first book! When he asks Harry the following question in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” he is really saying that he regrets Lily’s passing. That seems like a weird way to say that, doesn’t it?

But according to Victorian Flower Language, asphodel means “my regrets follow you to the grave,” and wormwood means “absence.” So what he is really saying to Harry is that he regrets Lily’s absence, or passing! That’s a pretty clever way to hide a very important plot line. Nice job, J.K. Rowling.

6 The Bravest Man He Ever Knew...

Piggybacking one more time on my previous point, even though Snape regretted Lily’s passing, and used it to become a double agent for Dumbledore, he was not a good person. Most people forget what an absolutely terrible guy he was during pretty much his entire life, only because he helped Harry defeat Voldemort.

Snape was a bully, vindictive, selfish, and didn’t really care for anyone but himself and his obsession with Lily.

The novels tend to hide this fact due to his heroism and bravery while being a double agent against Lord Voldemort, but just because he was brave does not absolve him of his other crimes, which seems to be what most readers felt about his character. Harry even goes so far as to name his son after Snape! I really felt that was out of character.

5 I See Your Future...

One of the more comical characters within the Harry Potter universe is Professor Trelawney. Trelawney is the Divination teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Divination is the study of techniques to help magically see into the future. Trelawney is pretty much seen as totally inept at this skill by everyone at the school. And she is a very funny looking and eccentric figure. The hidden plot line is that Professor Trelawney is actually a powerful Seer.

In the novels, Trelawney makes a number of very important prophecies about Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, and they all come to fruition. The prophecies she made were so important that they’re the reason Dumbledore gave her the job at Hogwarts, so that he could keep her close (also another example of Dumbledore’s tactical genius).

4 Draco's Plan

Throughout the Harry Potter novels, there are mentions sprinkled here and there of a magical vanishing cabinet. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, it is mentioned by the ghost Nearly Headless Nick. It is also mentioned in the magic shop called Borgin and Burkes. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Fred and George Weasley shove a Slytherin into a vanishing cabinet and he ends up in the u-bend of a toilet in Hogwarts.

All of these small mentions reveal a hidden plot by Draco Malfoy.

Draco put together what the vanishing cabinet could do by hearing it mentioned by other students. He used the cabinet to sneak in Death Eaters into Hogwarts right under Dumbledore’s nose! Talk about a “long con” of a hidden plot.

3 Pass The Locket

One of the most infamous hidden plot points in all of Harry Potter arrives in the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We all know that one of Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes, the things that make him “immortal,” is his treasured Slytherin locket. But did you know that the locket actually showed up in the fifth novel? It’s even passed around the main characters, and they all try to open it!

While the kids are cleaning The Burrow, the Weasley’s special house, a locket that cannot be opened is found. Each character takes turns to try to open the locket, but each one fails. The locket is subsequently forgotten about. Little did they know just how important that locket would be in the next few books!

2 Rise Of The Lycans

When it is discovered in the third novel that one of Harry’s teachers, Remus Lupin, is a werewolf, as a young reader I was shocked and interested. The treatment of werewolves in the Harry Potter universe, and how they were segregated into their own castes in society, was a hidden plot in Harry Potter that fascinated me.

It was a world within a world that I wanted to know more about.

I especially wanted to know more after the introduction of the evil werewolf Fenrir Greyback. He seemed like a character with a crazy backstory that just added to the Harry Potter world building. If I could get a novel about Remus Lupin’s time among the werewolves when he was spying for Dumbledore, I’d be a happy reader (and yet another example of Dumbledore’s strategic mind).

1 High Turnover Rate

My absolute favorite hidden plot within the Harry Potter universe is the curse that was put on the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During every single Harry Potter novel, the professor who was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts somehow loses their job at the end of the year. We find out later that this is no coincidence. It is due to a curse put on the position by Lord Voldemort.

Professor Quirrell was Voldemort in disguise, Gilderoy Lockhart was an impostor and lost his memory, Remus Lupin was a werewolf who was forced out, Alastor Moody was a Death Eater in disguise, Dolores Umbridge was forced out by centaurs, Severus Snape left after *spoiler* ending Dumbledore, and the Carrows left after the Battle of Hogwarts. That’s a lot of professors!