i cant believe im nitpicking your nitpick lol, BUT Quirrel also says that Voldemort wanted to keep a closer watch on him after he failed to retrieve the stone at Gringotts, meaning Voldemort was not possessing Quirrel at the point when he shakes Harry's hand, hence why he is able to do so.
Exactly what I was gonna say! Also, Voldemort used to possess animals, snakes being his favorite ones to possess, so, Quirrel could've easily brought a possessed snake back with him without anyone knowing
Hogwarts logic: "The punishment for being in an out of bounds area is that you have to go to the out of bounds area" Moderns school logic: "The punishment for not attending school is that you aren't allowed to attend school for a while."
Also (some) moderns school logic: if someone kicks your butt and you fight back, suspended! If someone kicks your butt and you don't fight back, suspended!
DragonGamer 475 I didn’t personally experience it at my school, just heard about it from others, so I suppose it could be exaggerated? I think it’s usually under Zero Tolerance anti bullying rules when stuff like that happens (reddit has quite the story load) again maybe the stories are exaggerated (I hope they are because that seems incredibly unfair) but I don’t think they are😕 if anyone knows more let me know
When Harry meets Quirell on Diagon Alley, Voldemort wasn’t there yet. When Harry sees Quirell in the Great Hall, he notices the "very peculiar" turban, meaning he didn’t have it yet on Diagon Alley
Even if Voldy was there he didn't have to show yet. Looking at the Horcruxes in book 7 the effects develop over the course of months, not a week or two. The fall-out builds up from like August/September to December
@@TwoFlyingDutchMen Exactly. Thank you. And the OP. This always bugged me. Becuase they shake hands in the books. Yet, in the movie they make a point of Quirrel NOT shaking his hand. It's like they thought it was a plot hole too and tried to fix it. But it wasn't. As you said, Voldemort even plainly says later on that he didn't "possess" Quirrel until after the failed attempt at the bank. But I've been through the books so many times. Some people don't put certain things together because JK is good at dropping information early on that doesn't come up again until nearly the end. Easy miss to make.
I can just imagine his scowl. 🤣 “Think of your future, what would the Ministry think! You’ve got to keep working toward your goals, or you’ll never get anywhere. Having misfits for friends never ends well,” then a sad pompous shake of the head. “If only one could choose one’s own family as well. If only.”
Dumbledore: "we just have a Basailisk, Giant spider in the forest, a teacher with "you know who" on the back of his head, a giant Squid, a three headed dog, giant chest board where the peaces try to kill you, and also a tree called the womping willow that also try to kill you". "So welcome to Hogwarts"
@@schwarzerritter5724 I'd call BS on that, no offence ;) Not a lot of places have such a concentration of dangerous stuff in them. It's basically like letting your kids play in a shed full of explosives in pretty boxes labeled "You won't believe what's in here! But don't look, it's not safe".
Pertunia’s statement about Lily doing magic over the summer could be read as an exaggeration of her memory , due to Petunia’s envy of his sister’s abilities. Lily could’ve brought something home once, got a slap on the wrist from the ministry, and petunia remembers it as “she was always throwing her magic in my face!” Emotions coloring memory is actually pretty realistic writing. “Why did he take them to a restricted after curfew as punishment for going into a restricted area after curfew?!” 😂😂😂 “why did she throw herself under a bus that wasn’t moving?” I knew this video was going to be pure gold.
I was also thinking it could've been something like a wizarding toy she got from one of her wizarding friends and brought home for funzies, something like Weasly's Wizarding Wheezes. /Technically/ she wouldn't be the one performing any magic, but Petunia wouldn't know that 😄
In my opinion Petunia recalls Lily whilst doing her homework for Hogwarts. Isn't it said in another volume that Harry couldn't do his summer homework for Hogwarts because Vernon Dursley locked away all his magic stuff? Or was that just the movies?
Snape used magic when he met Lily... Also, the fact that letters had to be sent to parents at the end of term, just to remind them that students aren't allowed to do magic, indicates that it may be a rather recent directive... Probably conceived to prevent another young, dark wizard from learning something they shouldn't.
I think the generally accepted "fanon" theory is that Dumbledore purposely left Harry to face Quirrell-Mort as a way to test if Lily's protective charm would hold. Prior to this point, he only had Voldemort's rebounding curse to base this on. I can't see any other reason why he wouldn't immediately Apparate back from the Ministry. That's also why he made the protective enhancements around the Stone so ridiculously easy; both to lure Quirrell and confirm he was working for Voldemort, and to test if Harry had the bravery required to fight him. We forget just how calculating Dumbledore was. Snape said it best, 'You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter'.
Absolutely this. There are a lot of other little things that make no sense on the surface in the book but are explained by Dumbledore purposely putting Harry in danger. We know, for example, that he told Snape to watch Quirrel, and that he knew Voldemort was the one after the stone. But he still let Quirrel be one of the professors to help protect the stone. In fact, Quirrel left a troll down there as his contribution because he has a special gift with trolls. Obviously Dumbledore knew that, but he still went along with the "troll in the dungeon" alarm, knowing Quirrel can handle a troll, and sent all the students out instead of keeping them safely together in the great hall with the protection of all the teachers. He wanted Harry to find trouble.
I think that's low, even for Dumbledore. At least when Snape said "you've been raising him like a pig for slaughter", Dumbledore secretly knew Harry wouldn't really die. I don't see how deliberately letting Harry risk his life against Quirrell is the same as *knowing* he's a Horcrux (which is hardly Dumbledore's fault).
@@2602Jorno I don't think Dumbledore knew Harry wouldn't "really die." Horcrux magic is so rare and dark that even evil wizards are not all aware of it or even how it works. I think Dumbledore knew there was a possibility Harry could live through it, but I think moreso that Dumbledore understood that, as a horcrux, Harry HAD to die in order for Voldemort to become vulnerable himself to death. The whole goal was to finally, completely, and irrevocably kill Voldemort - the greatest dark wizard to have ever lived. Was the death of one innocent boy worth destroying the greatest evil in the world who, if not killed, would probably live forever and kill millions upon millions? Dumbledore was not a bad person, but he was also not hindered by any great conscience either. He was a pragmatist. This was not only war, but possibly the most important war ever waged. There was a saying on the Allied side during WW2, "When in doubt, win the war," meaning that if you had a tough choice (see above) always make the one that wins the war for the Allies and stops the Axis. Dumbledore's choice was clear. Let's not forget that Dumbledore didn't ask Harry to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself, as Dumbledore also died for the cause. I think Dumbledore thought that it was likely that Harry would die as sure as Nagini did when he was killed but that, having ended the last horcrux, Voldemort would then be mortal. Someone during the fight would hit him with a curse or something, and Voldemort would at last be dead. Honestly if I believed Dumbledore knew for certain Harry would be fine after sacrificing himself to Voldemort to end the last horcrux, I'd consider this series fairly poor.
@@wanderinghistorian In Goblet of Fire, when Harry tells Dumbledore about Voldemort taking his blood with Lily's protection, there is a gleam of triumph in Dumbledore's eye. In Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore explains that, in doing so, Voldemort has tethered Harry to life while he lives.
How about when Hagrid tells Harry, "There's not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin." At the time, one of the most famous "bad" wizards was Sirius Black, who wasn't in Slytherin. This was before Sirius was exonerated. He was in Azkaban prison and infamous for mass murder.
I guess the easy was out of that was the Hagrid was exaggerating, or wrong or prejudiced against Slytherin. Like if a Muggle falsley said there wasn't a criminal alive who didn't belong to group X.
This is the plot hole I always notice! Obviously she hadn't invented Sirius yet when writing this because there's no way Hagrid would forget the wizard from Gryffindor who they all believed at the time to be directly responsible for James and Lily's death.
Harry going after the stone is so in character for him. He consistently does "heroic" things that are not necessary. So yea, not needed but it makes sense.
@@TheJak121212 Wanting to save Gabrielle makes sense. She was a child. I think many people would want to save a child. But he did have a hero complex as evidenced by how often he tries to play the hero when no one needs saving.
I think that so many Slytherin turn evil because of shit like what happens at the end of this book. Giving Gryffindor just enough extra points to beat them at the last moment is just cruel.
Let’s be honest snape is the most bias teacher, so Slytherin will have a great advantage, mcgonagall more objective and will take points out from her own house, and let’s be honest Slytherin will do anything to win, so there is a huge chance they cheated😂 even though I hate every single house in harry potter, Slytherin is the best among the 4 and they truly deserve to win.
Will you shut up Harry stopped the darkest wizard in the world from returning and gets 60 points he comes to class late and loses 50 from snape but when slytherin come late snape does nothing they did not deserve to win whatsoever and awarding them points for saving the world isn’t cheating or biased
One thing that I noticed on a recent reread is that when Hagrid comes to get Harry from the Hut on the Rock, they take the ONLY boat back to shore. How do the Dursleys get back?
Everyone in the scene seems shocked when she does it, which makes me think it was a very unusual punishment, not what they were expecting. Mcgonnagall has a few reasons to do that here. To teach an early lesson to the three she can already see becoming worse than Fred and George, to show that she isn't biased towards her house in contrast to Snape who she's been pissed about being biased, and to stomp down on rumors that Harry is allowed to get away with stuff because he's famous.
madock345 There was no way Neville would become worse than Fred and George. Don’t forget that he was the third Gryffindor, not Ron. Also, I think it was only each because Harry was so indignant that they were getting 50 points taken and she was just “fine! I’ll make it more then!”
well i saw this always as a punishment for telling Malfoy lies to get him to sneak out of bed at night and into trouble. I mean that what McGonagall thinks has happened. Thats why she deducts so many points. To spend the detention in the forbidden forest does indeed seem a bit strange. I always explained that to myself that Hagrid tries to make the detention not too horrible as he knows why they were out of bed. So he probably went and suggested that as a punishment to McGonagall.
@@madock345 If she wanted to prove that she wasn't biased towards her house, she should have removed more points from Malfoy, as she believed that he was lying to her about the dragon when she caught him. I can't see how removing only 20 points from Slytherin, and 150 from Gryffindor is a sign of impartiality. I know there were three Gryffindors and only one Slytherin, so of course the total removed from Gryffindor would be higher, but still, either she should have taken 20 from each Gryffindor, or 50 from Malfoy to be more equal.
A lot of those can be answered with the simple realization of how manipulative Dumbledore is. He wanted Harry and Voldemort to face up. He did everything but lock Harry and Quirrel in a room together.
Exactly. Harry's first impression of Dumbledore being a kind old man, who was a little odd and very grandfatherly was entirely purposeful. The older we get the more I come to hate Dumbledore because he is that lawful evil battle chaotic evil, and part of that battle was convincing people he was actually good.
@@dawnschoonover662 Dumbledore is more like chaotic good than Lawful Evil. The cutthroat "anything for the greater good" kind of chaotic good, like your classic archetype of the guy going around murdering corrupt politicians and slave owners. Dumbledore isn't lawful because his methods are unorthodox and unpredictable, he doesn't have a personal set of rules or care about the rules of his society. He's mostly motivated by emotion, as seen in the fifth book where he admits to letting Harry stay in the dark too long because he didn't want to hurt him. He's not evil because he's not motivated by harming others, and doesn't place his own personal power or well being over the greater good. He's cunning and wise, and willing to do whatever must be done to destroy Voldemort. I don't really understand the hate for him.
@@madock345 I said Lawful Evil because he plays by his own rules, and goes waaaayy out of the way to ensure that things happen the specific way that he wants him to. Like the Elder Wand, the unbeatable wand that he could have used to defeat Voldemort at any time but especially when they were in a duel, but didn't because he wanted the prophecy to come true. Or how he let Lupin get outed, which was super convenient since he wanted to enlist him as a spy. Or how he has a habit of recruiting child armies who basically worship him, definitely not because he used his authoritative influence on them during their formative years to manipulate them. I think his character is best summed up in the fact that he refused the position of Minister of Magic because he knew he could get uncontested and he knew he would absolutely abuse that power and become a dictator, and he didn't want to be that person. So instead he controlled the only Wizarding School in GB and shaped every generation as they became adults. He's evil and he knows it, but contents himself by saying he's not THAT evil.
Dawn Schoonover When he fought Voldemort in the 5th book Voldemort still had his horcruxes which means he can’t die! So the elder wand wouldn’t be able to kill him so...
Actually, another funny thing about the security problem is that alohamora can open the door to fluffy but not for the flying key door which means that they COULD have kept students out of that door if they wanted to.
Nah man, the strangest thing is the fact that Dumbledore can create an age-line that stops young people from crossing it. And yet he decided a normal locked door would be enough... Don't mind the animal cruelty against Fluffy for being forced to live for an entire year in a small space.
When Harry first sees Quirrel in the Great Hall he does mention that he’s sporting a strange turban, possibly indicating that the turban was not present in the Leaky Cauldron
One very confusing thing for me is the part where Minerva finds Harry, Hermione and Neville out of bed and gets 50 points from each. I understand getting 50 points from Harry and Hermione, since she thought they were both trying to get Draco caught (with the dragon story), but why get 50 points from Neville, who was just out of bed? She should have taken 20 points from him, just like she did with Malfoy
Yeah agreed, especially since it's supposed to be a Gryffindor trait to do something brave 😂 Neville completly went against his own fears and went out to warn Harry and Hermione (no idea why he tried to do that in the middle of the night) and after all of that 50 points because you wanted to help a friend, but here take 10 points for trying to fight against a friend...
12:30 Fan Theory: When Dumbledore and Harry cross Voldemorts cave in Book 6 Dumbledore seems disappointed by all the trials he has to do - as in they're super shallow, like giving blood or only one full wizard being allowed to enter. In Book 1 - in Dumbledores OWN dungeon - you have to fight a troll (exhausting), there's only 1 vial that gets you to the other side of the flames and everything is trying to hurt you. In the end, the mirror alone would've done the trick. *Theory*: the trials are just a way to make Voldemort believe they are protections and Dumbledore is trying to make him go in there. He takes the long route (or says he did), and intends on trapping Quirrell and Voldemort in his Dungeon. When he finally realizes Harry is in there, he rushes in. Dumledores victim sadly can't be questioned anymore and theres not a lot of Info to get there. But you can't really blame harry for that. So instead, he just tells him how brave he was, gives him some points, and shrugs it off. Probably not the intended reading. But makes sense to me.
I ALWAYS wondered why Hermione said that!! Even when I was 9, I thought “what was wrong with that?” I thought that Harry and Ron might have gotten into trouble for going by themselves instead of getting a teacher it was the same scenario whether Hermione lied or not.
From a writing perspective, I get it. She demonstrates loyalty, and that’s what allows them to seal the deal mentally and become friends. Shared trauma helps, but adding a secret, and then choosing to take a hit for someone to protect them, that helps even more. It also brought her shame from others, to further her sacrifice, and allows some growth in Ron and Harry due to them deciding they judged without knowing her and to discard preconceived ideas about people. In writing, you need to do about five things with a scene to make it worth taking up the space and time it takes to tell it. It did several things very well. But it could have been done better. If McGonagall had seen Hermione upset at some point, if she had let the boys know by glaring at them or something (not important, but if she really wanted to connect the dots), if she had asked Hermione if she was in the bathroom to avoid particular students who were making her, such a bright young witch, have such a hard time at school, et cetera... Hermione could have told the truth, but gotten the boys in trouble. Lying would have still cost her what it did, but have made the boys a bit more in her debt because it actively prevented trouble for them. She could even be thanked by them and she could say, “You didn’t know I’d overheard you. And, well, I was a little over-enthusiastic about coming to learn magic. I thought everyone else would feel the same way.” It would show an understanding of her “know-it-all” personality and the pitfalls of it. It would also show some humility, brushing off thanks or praise. I like Hermione; I’m... basically Hermione. 😂 I get the struggle of containing your enthusiasm because it’s kinda too much for other people. There’s a time to let that memorization skill shine bright like a diamond and a time to let others shine in *their* ways. So I’m not dogging her, but I think even if she couldn’t really control her enthusiasm, acknowledging its pitfalls when possible is a good idea. Giving her a reason to straight up lie is also more in keeping with Hermione’s personality. Like when she had Harry’s broom effectively yanked away because her conscience told her she had to report it. She has to think something is the right thing to do in order to go ahead and go through with it. Giving her a reason would have by far been the best route to take.
I think it was to hide the fact that it was Ron and Harry’s conversation that made her cry in the first place and that Ron and Harry locked the troll in with her. To an 11 year old, it might seem like R and H would get in trouble for that.
Biggest reason I thought she did it was to show Harry and Ron that she knew she was a know it all and she feels bad about it and doesn't want it to keep her from being friends with them.
It's because she left out the part where they had been mean to her and took all the responsibility on herself. It showed her willingness to get in trouble for them, even though she hates getting in trouble.
The reason why Harry goes for the stone is because he fully convinced himself Snape was after it, and he wanted to expose him. And who would believe it.
Harry shouldn’t have gone after the stone but he didn’t know about the mirror protecting the stone and as a dumb 11 year old he thought only he could protect the stone from being stolen. Harry was like oh I think Dumbledores magical protection of the Stone isn’t strong enough and me an 11 year old boy must protect it from Snape/Quirrel
Yup agreed. Harry has had his hero complex right from the very beginning, and from his POV, snape was a terrible human being that Dumbly was always a fool for trusting so of course Harry just has to take matters into his own hands. And you're right, at that point I don't think he had any clue what a powerful wizard Dumbledore was
Jacqueline Sayler I do agree; it makes sense from his POV. If Snape was in on all the enchantments, it’d be easy to break them. Although, in reality I like the idea that the enchantments went up one by one in succession, so Snape would not have been present when the chess set and keys and Devil’s Snare were put up. But Harry wouldn’t know that! He also didn’t know the mirror had been moved from its previous location (Room of Requirement we think? Right?) in order to guard the Stone, and if Snape had wanted it, again, it would be protected. This way Dumbledore isn’t an idiot for letting Snape be involved, even if he is a Dark Wizard, but Harry’s still driven by some logic, at least, and since none of the adults took the threat seriously, he was the last line of defense, not the first line. He was at least smart enough to know it was something he would not be equipped for, and he wasn’t. At least not alone.
@@SunflowerSpotlight: However, he DID know that there had been a security breach (Hagrid revealing how to get past Fluffy). [A name that is so perfectly Hagrid it still makes me chuckle all these years later.]
I hear a lot of Americans that are disappointed of the philosopher's stone being translated into the sorcerer's stone, like "oh you think we are this stupid?" And I'm just like, shut up. In Hebrew its translated into the the smart people stone.
Oh, I get you. In Portuguese, it's translated into something that in English it's only possible to translate into literally The Philosopher's Stone, but in the way it is in Portuguese makes it sound like the stone is pondering about stuff and being philosophical loooool. Philosopher's (filosofal) is used as an adjective. So yeah it's pretty weird
תהלה קאופמן in finnsh it’s also called smart people stone, but it’s still the official term for philosopher’s stone in finnsh. i think i knew what it was before i came across rowling’s work
Your hair looks so cute in this video!! I also love that you’re brave enough to criticize this series. Of course we love Harry Potter, but it has its flaws. But not many book-tubers are willing to discuss them!
It's a bit sad that we consider pointing out flaws of (popular) books as bravery now... I mean, I get it, but after all the idea of reviewing something is not only to say how much you loved it, but to point out flaws as well...
Welcome to "feelings over criticism" culture. Over the past few decades we've been telling generation after generation how special they are, how "their truth" is all that matters, and telling them they don't have to prove themselves through struggle and hard work. That the world owes them something just for being in it. And we're surprised each generation has become more sensitive, more self-deluding, and able to take less criticism? Especially of things they have emotional attachments to.
I actually think it makes a lot of sense for the kids’ punishment for being in a restricted area after hours, is to be taken to a dangerous restricted area after hours. It’s kind of like, “see, this is why we have rules. Look at how dangerous this place is.”
See kids, something so evil that it would kill, and drink the blood of a unicorn is lurking around the forest, we're going to send you out with a dog, and a lantern to try to find it.
@@JonathanSmith-ge4pi To be fair, Dumbledore or the Head of House or whoever issued the punishment didn’t know that Hagrid would conduct it that way. They were simply like “you get detention with Hagrid” and then left the details up to him. And besides, Hagrid was close by and also knew that the forest was filled with Centaurs, so I’m sure he thought it was safe enough. And even if you disagree… it’s Hagrid. He’s not known for being the brightest bulb. Unless… if you check out SuperCarlinBrothers theory video on Dumbledore’s Plan for Harry’s first year, then it all makes sense that way, too.
When Harry gets to the stone at the end you find out that Voldemort didn’t merge with quirrel until after he tried to steal the stone at Gringots so it does make sense. Also petunia looked surprised when she hears where Harry’s platform is for the Hogwarts express when we know she knew what is was as she went there in book 7 when Lily and Snape started school in shapes memory
yeah this platform 9 3/4 thing also bothered me especially Mrs. Weasley asking her children which platform it is, although in the end its always the same platform the train leaves from.
@@starryk79 well but there's also the theory that she does so on purpose when she sees harry looking around not knowing what to do, she just says it very loud in order for him to grasp that the weasleys belong to the wizarding world so he isn't intimidated
@@megafonundmo1458 and there's the (dumb) theory that Mrs. Weasley only did this, not because she's a kind and caring mother-figure, but because Dumbledore paid her off.
@@drogadepc Nah, I think Dumbledore was always the typ to know everything that was going on in the castle and the grounds. He knew Harry would find the Mirror of Erised, because he gave Harry the cloak on purpose. Dumbledore probably had the right instinct about Sirius or wanted to lure him into Hogwarts, because he employed Lupin too.
Voldemort was not yet in Quirrel at that point. You can walk into Hogwarts, you just can't apparate, but if you are magical you can walk to it, that is why the dementors are guarding Hogwarts in book 3, and to catch Sirius of course.
pfed04 remember that in book 6 Dumbledore apparates himself and Harry out of Hogwarts and back into it. I think that was her point. And in book 6, Dumbledore’s explination for this was, “being me does have its advantages.”
@@whoami6711 What you're quoting happens in the film, in the book they apparate to Hogsmeade. Although, in the same book it is mentioned that Dumbledore can lift the enchantment that prevents this; he does that when the students are learning how to apparate in the Great Hall.
@@aleksandarkrastev5879 Came here to leave this comment! Hermione continues to repeat it in literally every book of HP: "When are you going to learn that apparating in Hogwarts is not possible?" Dumbledore and Harry walked to Hogsmeade to apparate and also apparated back to Hogsmeade once they picked up the locket.
Loved how you emphasized how much Dumbledore was in a rush - just not enough to apparate. It makes it sound like he definitely knew he had to head back asap, but didn't want to. So he was rushing without rushing /too fast/ 😂 Take your time Dumbledore. It's not THAT important afterall.
@@nicholasmedich7493 As she said in the video, just because a plot hole is only a plot hole later, doesn't mean it's not a plot hole. Also I don't remember apparition in the second book, only floo powder, although Hermione probably said you can't apparate from inside hogwarts once, or twice.
I think there are holes in the story, especially taking into account the later books, but 1. Isn't it possible that the rule was included after Lily was a pupil at Hogwarts? 2. Could Quirrel simply wear gloves? I honestly can't remember if it was any contact that's the problem or touching skin directly. 3. the entire thing doesn't make much sense to me. Why not locking away the precious thing instead of creating those small obstacles a group of first years can overcome. I feel like this is another thing I simply forgot by now most likely. 4. Honestly, it is a surprise not more students die every year. 5. I think I never liked the point system that much, because it is soooo arbitrary. I would have liked it if it makes sense, but in the end it was nothing but a game for the teachers to play favourites.
Yeah, puzzles are a shity way of locking something up. Like, that one room where you have to snatch the key out of the air. Why not have the key not be there? Dumbledore just has it on him the entire time, smirking at the thought that some stupid Deatheaters might chase their butts off down below the School. Or the final chamber. What kind of magical AI controlls the chess board? It seems low enough for a 10 year ild to beat. Why? Actual chess programs can't be beaten by anyone. Just make it an unbeatable chess match only a number of peopld can just skip.
The rule was a thing when Lily was young too. In Snapes memories in the Deathly Hallows, Snape tells Lily about how they can’t do magic outside of school
Now that I think about it when Petunia was telling Harry about her sister Lily she was exaggerating about her turning teacups into rats during her summer vacations. You could tell by the tone in her voice that she was jealous of Lily and she is still jealous to that day. In book 7 we see how envious she was about Lily being able to do magic while Petunia couldn't. She even wrote to Dumbledore asking to make an exception for her to go too despite that she's a muggle. Of course he politely declined.
1 - it isn't possible. The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was estabilished in 1692. Theoretically underage wizards or witches can't perform magic outside the premises of their respective wizarding school since then, unless it's convenient to the plot.
Namorat: To your second point; Quirrel probably would have worn gloves *if he had known of the need*. It seems neither he nor his master knew. Also, I think I recall that Harry, when he figured out the damage to Q's hands, reached up and grabbed his face; an even greater distraction.
One other point, alot of your points depend on logic or being logical and in the wizarding world we know from Hermione that most wizards including the best ones have little to no logic.
That's a good point. They're wizards with incredible powers, but the reasoning and understanding of 11 year olds, since they haven't been educated in anything but magic since then.
A lot of problems with the earlier books are because the story often needed something to happen, even though that wouldn't happen that way in the world she (JKR) created. Also, there's a theory that Dumbledore was setting Harry up to become the weapon for the Light, and needed him to face the challenges he did.
I also always wondered why Hagrid even took them to the forest. Why couldn't he just pretend that he did and just left them in his hut for a while? It's not like anybody checked what they were doing and where. At least that's what any reasonable adult would do. Though one can say Hagrid is too obedient and didn't even considered breaking orders.
For me the most glaring issue in this book is that Harry murdered a person. Literary disintegrated him by his hands, heard him scream in agony yet not even a sentence is dedicated to him thinking about this fact. No guilt, second guessing, nothing. He have done it in self defense but he still should be vastly impacted by this situation. Similarly after he stabs Tom Riddle in second book (apparition or a ghost but talking and feeling one, which to Harry should seemed like living person) he never ponders over the fact that he just killed second human in the span of two years. It makes him seem like sociopath.
The disintegration thing was more of a movie moment, wasn’t it? In the book, Quirrell’s skin just burns and blisters. It was the impact of being possessed by Voldemort on his body, and then Voldys subsequent ejection from Quirrell which really killed him. His body had been through too much. I guess Harry passed out before he could really register any of that, so he was saved any real shock or guilt.
In POA, Ron is punished by cleaning hospital bedpans without magic. But why do they even have bedpans if they can just magic the poop away? Come on, Jo!
I've never understood one thing : when Harry Ron and Hermione arrive at the door on the third corridor, it is open, because Quirrel has already been there and already faced the challanges they face. So there is the harp he used to make Fluffy fal asleep, and the key's wing is damaged .. BUT the chess is intact and the potions are all there...how has Quirrel gone throught these last steps without leaving trace??
@@scientificbrothers2166 Only in the movie, in the book they walk out to Hogsmeade and aparate there, then aparate back to Hogsmeade and borrow brooms from Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broom-Sticks and fly to the Astronomy Tower. Also in Order of the Phoenix he disappears from his office using an ability of Fawkes the phoenix not his own apparition skill. Nevertheless, Dumbledore could have done just that instead of flying.
What about Snape’s puzzle is anyone else wondering how it restests and refills. We know the great hall has the kitchens under it and the elves use magic to put the good on the tables. Is there an elf sitting under that room refilling bottles and making sure no one mixed them up?
Hagrid was too attached to the dragon like it was his son and he its mother.. He would have been too emotional to let Norbert go..and Harry n Hermione didnt do too much wrong until they forgot the cloack of invisibility at the tower..
Not our fault, they published it under that name. Though I’ve stopped saying it because it is just generally confusing in conversations and I like Philosophers Stone better, so....
Alex Wright Very true. But I must admit I also kinda blame the Americans that still use the term Sorcerer despite it being pointed out how it’s wrong, doesn’t fit or make sense, ignores mythology and alchemy and that the only reason why it was changed in the first place was because publishers thought US kids/people were too stupid to understand that other countries do indeed use terms, spellings and ideas ect that might not be familiar to them. That perhaps leaving the work as it is could broaden the mind of the child and give them a little glimpse of how other countries/cultures work or use words, ect. I myself am not British and by reading Harry Potter I was able to learn different terminology, among other things. I’ve noticed America doesn’t quite seem to understand that they don’t need to Americanize everything just so that they understand it, or that it’s more palatable to them. Now this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. I think every culture/country has taken aspects of other region’s stories and made them their own, put their own spin to it. Grimm’s fairytales comes to mind. But America does it with *everything*. Even the things they could leave alone they change to make it easier for them to digest. So many think the US versions of The Office and Being Human came first after all. Harry Potter is quintessentially English: British characters, British settings, written by a British woman. US publishers changed the name of the first book - which, IMPO, kinda set a tone - and certain pieces of text. When the movies started being made all these American actors kept pushing for roles, (which I in part understand because a) they like the books/characters and want to be a part of it and b) they want work and to make that cash) not getting that HP is so quintessentially British you can’t take that aspect out if it. It’s like taking the Americanness out of the president - it just doesn’t work. It’d be like making an American version of the movie Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (or an adaptation of the books)... some things are just tied to the culture/country they were written in. So... long winded of saying that America is one of the only places that calls it ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’; that it’s for a stupid reason; that people know all of those reasons now; and that those who still call it that instead of it’s true name of Philosopher’s Stone are kinda being thick and stubborn. There’s no real reason to say Sorcerer except for the US publishers went with that and maybe that’s what you used when you read the book. Cool. But IMPO that’s not a good enough excuse because we all say and do things when we’re young that we’re not aloud to say and do when we grow older - people (most of us at least) know how to grow out of habits.
Alex Wright Just thought my last comment might be a little harsh, so I’m sorry. I’m not angry at you, not even that angry about the topic anymore as it’s been too many years, but I did my usual multiple paragraph word dump on ya. So that must have sucked, lol. I say too many things. I’m just a little frustrated that the US publishers thought their customers were too stupid to understand something and practically all the Americans bought into it and then a lot of them (not all) turn around and try educate everyone else on why their way is the right and only way... when it only came about because those in charge selling them stuff thought they were uneducated, ignorant fools. Anyway have a good rest of your day/night!
Alexa Levon I agree. I read the book at age 11 (it helped me get on the road to conquering my dyslexia and becoming an editor) and adored it. When I found out the original name, I’d already gotten pretty deep into mythology, so a few things clicked. It made way more sense. 😅 So I’ve gone to The Philosopher’s Stone for good; it’s just more accurate. I guess they thought kids would imagine some ‘old,’ academic in an Ivory Tower. It’s a bummer that instead of teaching the audience, they spoke down to them.
Also a thing In the 2nd Book Percy Weasly says "5 Points from Gryffyndor." Implying he can take points (and later a slytherin prefect try's to take 5 points from Gryffyndor but got put in a vanishing cabinit." So why don't prefects be like "100000 Points to hufflepuff!" Or whatever the point system is broken.
John Bradford You can’t use the movies as a good reference. They also burn down the Burrow in the movie of HBP, but it’s NEVER burned down in the books. Movies take liberties they don’t need to.
The thing I'm still confused about is that nobody decided to go check on Harry, even after obviously knowing where he was living (The Cupboard Under the Stairs) and Hagrid getting a small glimpse into how Harry's relatives treat him. Even if he needs to stay with his blood relatives because of Lily's sacrifice (despite Voldemort still being dead and unable to harm Harry at this point in time) somebody could still check out the situation and do something about the blatant abuse Harry has to suffer through.
Oh, Dumbledore was fully aware of that. He had Figg spying on them and even told Harry at one point that he knew Harrys life wouldn't be happy when he placed Harry at the Dursleys. What I am far more confused is if child protection services didn't exist at the time, otherwise I can't understand how no-one ever called the police. I mean they aren't very subtle with Harrys mistreatment.
I only had a chance to listen to the first two and may come back for the rest. With Lily allegedly doing magic outside of school, it's not strictly an error, since we only have Petunia's (clearly biased) secondhand account, some 20+ years after the fact. Lily may in fact have simply brought her"homework" home and explained how it used to be a teacup. Or wound her sister up by pointing out an ordinary rat and claimed to have conjured it. Since Petunia was still unaware that underage wizards and witches can't do magic when Harry started, Lily apparently didn't feel the need to Clue her in. As for the second one, the reason I've seen to explain Quirrell being able to shake Harry's hand in the Leaky Cauldron is that he had not yet bonded with Voldemort; and that this is hinted at by how Harry observes Quirrell has only started wearing a turban when sees him for the second time at the school; and Quirrell (or possibly Voldemort) comments at the end of the book that at some point after Quirrell started doing Voldemort's bidding, Voldemort felt it necessary to "keep a closer eye on" Quirrell; which lead to them being bonded - but it hadn't occurred yet the first time Harry met him. Also, Voldemort/Quirrell drinking the unicorn blood probably didn't help.
Currently rereading the first book too and I found some mishaps for myself. 1. Harry first time meets Draco at Madam Malkins where Draco states that his mother was just over at Ollivander's looking at some wands while his father bought the books Draco needed. But Ollivander later on states that the wand chosses the wizard. How can any other person choose a wand for you? 2. Hagrid takes Harry from that dreaded island by boat although he flew there by himself. I asume they take the boat the Dursley's used to get to the island. NOW: After shopping in Diagon Alley Hagrid sets Harry in the train home to the Dursley's. But how did they manage to get of the island without the boat? 3. Where did Harry get his huge luggage from in which he put all his stuff for Hogwarts? They didn't buy a trunk because he ain't had trouble getting such gigantic thing in the train home to the Dursley's. And getting one from the Dursley's?!? Come on! 4. When their journey to school nears the end. The personal (didn't know the appropriate english term) announces: "We're arriving at Hogwarts. Leave your luggage in the train. It will be transported to school." (Which is a translation from my translated book.) Shouldn't they arrive at Hogsmeade instead? As it is the village where the school lies? Just some curious questions. Enjoyed your video and the "plotholes"! 😄 Will continue reading because - you can't argue - it is bloody damn just magical and amazing.
I'm going to fix some of these problems for you 😊 1. Lilly could've been using magic in or around Snape's house where his mother was using magic. 2. Quirrell said in the books that Voldy was so angry about him not being able to steal the stone at Gringotts and decided to keep a closer eye on him=share his body. (Beginning of chapter 17) 3. 11:15 Bills (Edit: Charlie's) friends. I don't think Percy has any 😉 Other than that I loved the video and I agree with you on most of these things. You are amazing and I can't wait for more HP content.
But Petunia would not have seen that if Lilly had turned teacups into rats at Snape's house :D I think it's either Petunia exaggerating or Rowling simply not thinking about every little detail of the first book
Maybe they didn't used to enforce the use of magic laws by minors very zealously or they've changed in a generation. We see in the books how arbitrary the magical justice system seems to be and how little the Ministry of Magic seems to care for the rule of law.
About the lack of security in the third-floor corridor: I think we have to understand that things were very different in the magic world. For instance, they would have a tournament in school that could get the students killed and the kids could not give up after their name was chosen; they use the Forbidden Forest as detention (and Filch said they would torture students in the past)... things in magic world always seems very dangerous and everyone is kinda cool with that, I think their world are just different, they deal with danger in a very peculiar way, is just different from 'our' world.
What I always think about for the underage Magic is the “trace” they mention later in the books. If it’s supposed to be tied to the kid itself it should still go off in wizarding households too. Plus, that should have caused the ministry to KNOW it wasn’t Harry who uses magic in book 2 since his personal trace didn’t activate. I mean that’s why they had to fly him out of the Dursley’s in book 6, but they could use magic around him during the escape?
It's in Half-blood Prince, I believe, that Dumbledore explains to Harry that the trace can only detect magic in proximity to the child it is attached to. The ministry relies on the parents to uphold the law of no underage magic. It's easy to track in muggle households since it's only the child who would be able to use magic (and you can make the assumption that a half-blood household would uphold the Statute of Secrecy reasonably well) but it's a nightmare in pureblood households. It's probably why many consider purebloods more talented at magic, since they can get away with practising at home (if their parents are lenient). In Chamber of Secrets, the trace detected Dobby using the levitation charm because Harry was in close proximity but the ministry didn't know it wasn't Harry who cast it. The Dursleys are muggles after all, and the only wizard living with them was Harry. It's only logical that he would be blamed.
Snape uses magic in the flashback. The trace doesn't tell them who used the magic, just what kind of smell and that it was used in the proximity of an underage wizard. This is explained in Order of the Phoenix when they think Harry disapparated, but it was actually Mundungus. They said that they paid close attention to Harry given past events and that no registered wizards lived in the area.
Hogwarts logic is the best logic, I try not to think to hard about all the conveniences, and the fact that no one except the main characters ever do anything involving sneaking around the castle
JKR herself addressed the "Lily doing magic" one on her website years ago. Petunia was exaggerating. Others have pointed out that it is fairly clear from the text that Quirrell was not wearing his turban, hence did not have Voldemort on the back of his head, until after the Diagon Alley meeting.
These are all dead on! A few others that I wondered about had to do with Hagrid towards the beginning. Like he rode his motorcycle to the island with the lighthouse, and then they left the motorcycle on the island? He and Harry took the boat back so does that mean that the Dursleys were trapped on the island?? Also after Hagrid and Harry went to Diagon Alley and picked up everything... Hagrid just disappears and Harry doesn't know where he went. Well Hagrid isn't allowed to disapparate and wouldn't even know how since he was kicked out of school in his third year!
Your first point could easily be explained away in one of 2 scenarios. 1, Petunia could have just been so jealous and hateful of Lily that she exaggerated and said she saw her doing magic because she wanted to make her sound worse and just bitch about her to anyone she could, even though it was a lie. I've had people, and even a teacher, tell a flat out lie about me to make me look bad just because they didn't like me. Not even a smidgen of it was true. So that's a possibility. Possiblity 2: They DID used to be able to perform magic outside of school. That could have not been an established rule when James and Lily were at school, and only became a rule when Voldy came to power and the ministry enforced it because they were scared, or maybe because too many muggles were starting to notice things.
OnceUponANovel Yes! I always thought that Petunia was trying to make her sound as strange as possible. A pocketful of frogspawn sounds repulsive and purposely making rats out of charming teacups would seem similarly repulsive to most people really, especially someone like Petunia who probably sees rats as dirty and disease-ridden.
I think the kids are allowed to do their homework at home and practice certain spells. The ministry gets notified which spells were performed each time harry gets in trouble. Not saying the times when other people perform magic around him make sense.. but I do get why lily was doing transfiguration at home. In movie 3 (I think) harry was practicing lumos under his bed
I always read that Quirrell could touch Harry in the pub because his intention at that moment wasn't to harm him, like it was in the end. That is why it didn't hurt him.
But isnt this whole "Harry can't be touched by evil" thrown out the window with the last book anyway? If Harry is a horcrux, how could he not be touched by evil? Voldemort resides in his soul but his skin is untouchable? That's silly.
This one is answered pretty easily... Dumbledore said that Lily's Magic is more powerful than Voldemort until he turns 17 or he doesn't consider 4 Privet Drive as his home anymore... Reason why the magic of the horcrux starte to increase with time (since Harry felt more attached to Hogwarts with time and because he had found a home a the Burrow...) And we he finally was free from the Dursley's the Horcrux effect became more powerful (more nightmares...)
Around 4:20 you mention that "no signs point to indicate Voldemort was not at the back of Quirrel's head".. This isn't true. In chapter 17 Quirrel explains it : "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me…decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me….”.... In other words Voldemort only attached himself to Quirrel AFTER he failed to steal the stone from the bank, which at that point had not happend yet. Hagrid takes him to Gringots where they open the vault and remove the stone and also open Potter's vault... So it does make sense.
The protections on the stone always bothered me as well. It isn't just that a trio of first year students can get through them, it's that the tasks are specifically designed for the three of them. You have the plant which is known to be weak to fire. The flying keys can be handled easily by Harry. They already defeated a troll and know how now. Ron is known as an amazing chess player and Hermione can handle logic puzzles.
The heightened security during book 6 prevented anyone from flying in,but I think in the earlier books when the world wasn't on high alert, Charlie's friends and the Beauxbatons kids were able to fly in.
The whole point was that Dumbledore designed the "protections" to test the Golden Trio. It's one of the reasons so much HP fan fiction has Dumbledore being directly manipulative, like sending Harry to be raised in abusive home so he'll have virtually no self worth and willingly martyr himself to destroy the horcrux in his scar. It honestly makes a lot more sense than Dumbledore just being THAT incompetent throughout the series, him making the mistakes on purpose to engineer a desired outcome.
@@JonathanSmith-ge4pi To my knowledge this is the only time I've commented on it on TH-cam and I didn't link anything, nor did Merphy IIRC, so I don't understand your comment in the context of a reply to mine.
I loved watching this! Your love for the series does come through. One of the things that always amazes me (and it's a wonderful thing about readers) is that many times we create answers for plot holes on our own, for example, I had just always assumed that there were two reasons that Lily didn't get in trouble for doing magic during her summer holidays: 1) She was assigned homework and this was one of the spells she was expected to practice and 2) since Snape lived nearby, there were other magic users around so it wasn't necessarily tracked to her. Obviously, none of this was ever said, it was just what I figured had happened and allowed me to go on with the story without obsessing about it.
One, I am pretty certain that the stone is a test, for Harry, to see if he is willing to sacrifice himself, afterall the tests are designed for Harry and his friends, as Neville was with them the first time they ran into Fluffy. Two, can you make sense of the timeline in the prologue? It feels like a day is missing. McGonagall is following the Dursley's around the entire day, for some reason, but Hagrid had just gotten Harry out of the ruins, before delivering Harry to Dumbledore at the Dursley's, and since Dumbledore can fly on a broom from Scotland to London and back again in relatively short time, it should only take Hagrid an hour or two at most to fly from gloucestershire to surrey. So what was he doing in all that time? And three, what about Sirius? Not only did Sirius have legal rights of Harry, when Dumbledore had him kidnapped, and McGonagall and Hagrid apparently also didn't object to leaving Harry at the Dursley's when he had a Godfather in the magical world, because at this point in time Sirius has not been accused or framed of anything yet.
The part about Petunia talking about Lily doing magic outside of school makes sense. Rules change over time. For instance, when I was a kid, we didn't have to practice what to do if someone barged into our school to slaughter us. My daughter has been practicing since she started school. When I was a kid, we could walk a mile or two to school alone. These days, many states and counties have laws banning even walking two blocks to school alone. When I as a kid, schools weren't automatically locked in case of someone trying to kill us. These days, schools without doors that automatically lock are unusual. So it's believable that Lily's class was allowed to do magic during holidays, and that something happened to change that. And everyone mentions Scabbers. I always presumed that Scabbers, being an old family pet, was a situation where everyone just ignored the rule. Fun fact: When Lord Byron was told he couldn't have a dog at Cambridge University since it was against the rules, he did the logical thing and got a pet bear since there were no rules against bears. :D
Author Alys Marchand Except the underage statute is way older than Lily. I’m of the mind that she did it once (or maybe even not at all, just talked about it) and Petunia’s jealousy clouded her memories and she exaggerated.
Big question in this first book that kinda gets left open. So voldemort, has been spending his days as Harry grew drinking the blood of Unicorn. The centaur quotes that the blood makes you immortal, but kind of sucks. Flash forward past the stone, the horocruxes and voldemorts death. So, is their a shadowy figure of voldemort still alive under the immortal curse of drinking unicorn blood, to tired/weak to carry on.
I feel like it has to have a time limit. It’s not presented that way, no, but why do it multiple times? Hagrid says something like, “Something’s been killing unicorns.” It keeps happening. Also we later find out that Voldemort could survive in rats and stuff, but they’d die. I think the blood maybe helped Quirrel maintain the bond with Voldemort. I’m going to look this up, because it’s an interesting question, and I don’t always read the first volume in my rereads. 🤔 I need to ponder.
About the last one: Harry and his friends didn't have to go to try and protect the Stone - Quirell might have know how to pass through other teacher's spells but not Dumbledore's. In the book Harry says to Ron and Hermione that Dumbledore knew that Harry was investigating the stone and didn't stop them like he wanted Harry to face Voldemort. I believe that is the reason: he gets Harry ready to defeat Voldemort, he knows the prophecy and that there is no escaping from it at this point. Also, during my latest rereading the Chamber of Secrets I realized that Harry and Ron didn't have to save the day - or didn't have to do it alone. They basically knew everything they needed to know when Ginny was taken to the Chamber and they were in the teacher's room so they could just tell them what they knew (could be difficult without telling about wandering around the forest but they said it in the end anyway and nothing that happened afterwatds didn't explain why they would keep it a secret anymore when someone's life is in danger). Harry would have to go down to the Chamber with the teachers as he was the only one to speak parseltongue which was essential in moving around the Chamber but would have some help. Again, the plot needed Harry to prove himself and besides, it would not be as thrilling and exciting to read about the showndown if it was so easy and safe.
09:03 may be the reason to take 50 points from each of them is because they are getting into this habit of being out past curfew repeatedly and also Mcgonogal thought that Harry lured Draco to be out past curfew by feeding him with dragon stories even to quote her, "It's disgusting"
When dumbledoor arrived at the ministry, fudge probably was like: oh now that you are here, please help me with... (lots of tasks). And dumbledoor is too polite to say no
It's always possible that quirrel had already broken the protective enchantments on the 3rd floor corridor lock. He's trying to get the stone and knows it's in there but when he initially gets through, he can't get past Fluffy so he backs out, locks the door, and comes up with a new plan.
I find the fact that tapping HARRY'S wand on the door is what opens the door. My theory is that Dumbledore set it up that Voldemort could use his wand to open the door -- and since Harry has the brother wand -- it was to test Harry as well. Things that make you "Hmm..."
Ooh I really like that theory. I actually never noted that Hermione grabbed Harry's wand to do the Alohamora spell before. And J K Rowling is just sneaky enough to have done that on purpose... Although wouldn't Quirrel have used his own wand to get through, not Voldemort's? But such a good idea.
I had the distinct impressions that whatever crisis Harry faced during his first 6 years of his life was because Dumbledore WANTED him to face them, and ALLOWED this to happen. My guess is that Dumbledore always knew that Harry would have to face Voldemort one way or another and that Harry will be the one to kill Voldemort. Since you can't have someone who's scared shitless of scary things to go in and kill the said scary thing, Dumbledore kind of uses "desensitization" method (not sure if this is the right term here lol) by using lesser versions of Voldemort so that Harry gets used to being independent and facing things that are deadly and scary. IMO this also makes sense as to why Dumbledore kept Harry from the wizarding world for the first 10 years of his life. I think the book explanation was so that Harry didn't get bigheaded or something but that never really made sense to me. Who cares if people worship Harry? Why does Dumbledore even care? What if the real reason was to keep Harry from the fear of Voldemort? Wizarding world is terrified of Voldemort and Harry would have learned to fear him as well growing up with other wizards. But because he grew up with muggles, Harry doesn't really fear Voldemort which is why I think it's easier for him to keep standing up to him.
1. You're right about Quirrel. In the movies you can see JKR realized her mistake because Quirrel doesn't shake his hand. 2. "If you add layers later on that creates a plot hole it's still a plot hole." You're right again. In Tolkien's letters, he told a friend that later on he wanted to say that only Elves and Dwarves could do magical stuff and that Men were totally non-magical, but then he remembered that in Fellowship he'd said the magical daggers the Hobbits find in the Barrows were made by the Men of Numenor and so he decided not to make that Canon as it would contradict something he'd already printed. Just another reason Tolkien had more integrity.
Love your hot take on the house cup! There needs to be a rubric for student expectations. Because all those teachers are showing favoritism to their own houses. With Dumbledore choosing to fly - doesn’t he say in book 5-6 that he prefers to fly? Either he says it or Hagrid does explaining the thestrals. But the real reason is prob JK didn’t invent apparating until book 4 (right?)
Lori Allison book 2 when Harry asks Ron how his parents will get home from Kings Cross Station, because they are hijacking the flying car, Ron says they know how to apparate.
She might not have invented the word, but certainly the principle was there... and of course predates Potter itself. But if I remember correctly, the first time we ever see Dumbledore, he appears out of thin air in the street. That must be an apparation.
The first one is actually on the first page: the day of the week doesn't match with the day Voldemort killed the Potters (October 31, 1981). It seems she had a general idea at that point of what time of year it was - hence the "Bonfire Day isn't until next week" comment on the news - but it just doesn't work.
Lily probably also got a written warning for turning her annoying sister's teacup into a rat one time when she was winding her up. The thing that really made no sense to me was that Quirrel couldn't take the stone out of the mirror. He didn't want to use the stone himself either, he wanted to give it to Voldemort. He even says that the mirror shows himself giving it to Voldemort.
Wow. I've read and watched everything nitpicking thing in the fandom (no exaggeration, of course lol) and you still had so many new thoughts I never heard anyone talk about. I'm even more excited about the rest of your HP content now
When I was a kid, I heard all of the hullaballoo about Harry Potter from my classmates and tried to read the first book. I could barely get through it because it was so unappealing and boring. Bear in mind that I don't have any reading disabilities or anything (At least not any that I'm aware of). I only read the rest of the series because there were no other books that I was interested in and my teachers forced independent reading onto us.
Re: teacups into rats: She was dating James Potter who was in a crew of people who knew their way around school restrictions and charms, given creation of Marauder’s Map, etc. Between that, pre-packaged magic that wouldn’t trigger underaged magic detection (magic car, port keys, magical jokes and charms, etc), and liberal use of threats, I wouldn’t be surprised if Petunia did think Lily was doing magic at every opportunity. Harry terrorizes Dudley for a bit just because he doesn’t really know Harry’s not allowed to do anything.
packaged magic that wouldn't trigger underaged magic detectauon (magic car, portkeys, magical jokes w charms idk) and liberal use of threats honestly i woundnt be surprised if lilly thought petunia was doing magic at every opportunity
I think what Petunia said could be easily explained. Like, sure we know that minors are not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, but we also know magical stuff happens by their doing or around them because it did happen to Harry. Yes, these were extraordinary situations, but it is not impossible Lily would have some drama and adventures happen to her during her time at Hogwart's. Some elf showing up, or some wizard for whatever reason and she would get accused of doing magic. Petunia said it in a plural form as if it was a regular, but that could be easily an exaggeration because she was mad. She could even lump in a few magic tricks Lily performed after graduating. Humans don't always say things exactly as they were and they tend to exaggerate especially when they are upset so this is completely possible.
Great video! I think in a lot of children's books, mostly, you get illogical things like this because the child has to be the protagonist instead of the more capable adults. It's still fun to point it out, though. XD
I always wondered about that scene from the book. But I love how in the movie they didn't let Quirrel touch Harry in the Leaky Cauldron because that makes sense because he was already bound to Voldemort at that time.
im so late to this series, but i love it! and about the not protected third floor corridor, i think its because fluffy needs foods, and hagrid wasnt supposed to use magic.
For the Lily/Petunia one, it's possible that when Lily went to Hogwarts they were allowed to perform magic at home, but because Dumbledore kept getting letters from people like Petunia asking why they didn't have a place when their sister did, a rule was introduced to stop it.
@@timwindlingI wouldn’t put it past her but it’s a very specific spell mentioned and it’s confirmed to be real in the books. We know petunia was never at Hogwarts so lily would have had to perform it for petunia to know about it
@@pelly_44 i thought about that but I doubt it. Petunia pretty obviously hated Lily once she found out she couldn’t go to hogwarts so I think she would have given the cold shoulder to Lily and therefore would have needed to see it to know what lily was up to. I also think it would be unlikely petunia would remember a specific spell she heard about in passing one time about 20 years beforehand, and the way petunia worded it, "she was always turning mice into teacups" makes it sound like something she witnessed.
Another small thing that crossed my mind about Mcgonagall's ridiculous punishment of -50 points each is that she basically ruins Harry's (and to a lesser extent Hermoine's and Neville's) Hogwarts life by punishing them this way. I can't believe that someone as clever as Mcgonagall would not be able to imagine that these kids would get bullied for the rest of the year (unless they somehow earn a large amount of points that is exactly enough to make them win the housecup) if not longer.
A little late to the party, but Quirrel grabbing Harry’s hand is not a plot hole. Voldemort was not strapped to the back of his head at that point, it was only after Hagrid grabbed the Sorcerer’s Stone from the vault and thus thwarted Quirrel’s plans that Voldemort latched himself on to be suffocated by a turban for like 10 months
How can Hermione, who is Muggle born, knows how to use spells in the train? Most who did not grow up with magic at home like Harry needed training to control their magic. Another note: Ron couldn't turn his "poor rat yellow" because Scabbers isn't a rat.
She had gotten her schoolbooks and supplies and perhaps paired with reading all of them before school started (as she goes on about) and her natural talent, as soon as she could do magic, she tried it, and got some positive results. I don’t know about the “he’s not a rat,” thing. It’s true, but since spells aren’t in English, I don’t see it working. If it could, then why aren’t all spells in English? Would open up another inconsistency.
This is my favorite kind of video. Being able to see certain flaws/inconsistencies in your favorite books but still enjoying them. I love nitpicking my favorite books because it adds a different element and gets you to think a little differently. I feel we sometimes hold a story so close to us that if anyone tries to pick at it people go on the defensive. There's nothing wrong with poking fun at your favorite books, nothing is ever going to be perfect (just like real life, haha). As long as you enjoy the story I think it's perfectly fine to poke fun.
I would screw that pet rule and bring a bat with me. That's my "owl." What would be my excuse? Simple: Me: Professor, I understand the rule, but I'm bringing my bat with me because I'm partially blind, and it would be easier for me to distinguish my pet from the hundreds of owls during the mail delivery time at breakfast. I'm sure that my decision will keep things efficient for my disability. Thank you." I know Miss Rowling has a policy of "no disabilities at Hogwarts," but I say screw it to that rule too.
Rats are no longer allowed since the "new" rules went into place, but the Weasleys got the rat during Charlie's (Bill's? Forget who was the oldest boy) tenure, which was the last year rats were allowed, and so it was grandfathered in until the rat died or Ginny graduated, whichever happened first. Remember the spans of time dealt with in the Wizarding world, and how long reforms take in such a tradition-minded society
Harry not going for the stone might not have changed that particular moment in the book, but this is where he learns that when lily sacrificed herself for him it put a long-lasting protection on him that exists in his blood and that Voldemort can't touch him without injuring himself
Comment on Charlie's friends getting into Hogwarts - I think the charms to stop people flying in were specifically added in HBP, as there was nothing to stop them in book 1, nothing to stop the car in book 2, nothing to stop Sirius entering the grounds in book 3, nothing to stop Beauxbatons entering in book 4. Book 6 explicitly states that dumbledore added enchantments on the castle that year, and was actively undoing them whilst him and Harry flew in.
Another problem with the first books was the stone's security measures. I understand that there have to be multiple defense mechanism because betting everything on an unguarded mirror is not a wise move, but the fact that all of the defense stages are designed to be fair challenges to the person who attempt to bypass them makes no sense. They're there to make sure no one can get to the stone, not final exams to the intruder. For example, the chess game, why don't they have a mechanism that, after a long game, when the defense team is losing, they immediately get 10 queens on the board, it would have been so much more secure while still wasting a lot of time of the intruder, baiting them into thinking it's a chess game before they figure it out. I mean, wasting their time was the point of it, wasn't it ? Otherwise, they would have use a made up game, with made up rules, so that no intruder can win, instead of using one of the most popular game in the world that everybody know. Or the flying keys sections, but when they got the keys, 1000 of bludgers will immediately chase after the owner of the key to knock them out. And the potion riddle section, but it doesn't matter what you choose, you'll get burn anyway because the puzzle are there as distractions and nothing can get pass the fire, hell, why don't all the potions are actually all poisoned, so that anyone try getting through that one get stopped? Why didn't they just leave the potions there without any clues? Why even provide clues at all if the sole purpose of the defense is to stop anyone from going forward? And why are the potions still there after Quirrell went through the room? The devil's snare room is probably the most idiotic one, it's fairly intuitive for anyone before going to a dark room would be to have light first. It was really stupid for the trio to jump into the dark room that they know must have traps and defense mechanism without any light, but it was not as stupid as a defense system that fail the moment there is light. Which is basically useless if the intruders have any common sense. They could have just put spikes, sharp, pointy spikes there, and the trio as well as any one stupid enough to jump into the dark blindly would have died. I mean, the fact 3 first years students, with little knowledge and no preparation of the challenges ahead, got to the mirror on their first attempt is the testament of how bad the system is, I imagine that it's fairly easy to have a heist team that know how to play quidditch, the most popular magical sport game, chess, the most popular board game, as well as solving a good damn puzzle conveniently with clues right next to it.
I think the deal with Quirrell is that he didn't yet have Voldemort posessing him continuously at the time he met Harry at the Leaky Cauldron. Not 100% sure on this but I THOUGHT the first mention of the turban was at the feast on the first day of class, which would seem to suggest that he wasn't wearing it at the Leaky Cauldron. Also, the scene much later in the book in the Forbidden Forest when Harry sees Voldemort drinking unicorn blood, isn't that a sort of disembodied Voldemort that he sees, or is that the movies contaminating my memory and it was actually Quirrell? My kid ran off with my copy of book 1 and I don't know where he left it so I can't check. But in any case, my understanding of this was that Voldemort was at first only intermittently posessing Quirrell, but in between posessions he was sort of hanging out in the forest, waiting for progress reports. He was, as he said, "less than the meanest ghost," but nevertheless he did exist in that form in Albania for 10 years, occasionally posessing snakes and other small animals (as he recalls at the end of book 4). So it's entirely possible he was doing that here. It wasn't until later when, I think the way Quirrell put it was that his master wanted to keep a closer eye on him, and began continuously inhabiting his body. Totally agree with you about the security measures at Hogwarts, not just in book 1 but throughout the series. And I think this also ties in with the whole omniscience of Dumbledore thing as well, which is also one of the biggest plot holes in the whole series. I feel like I have at least one moment of outrage in each book where the kids either narrowly avoid death, or stumble upon some very dangerous situation and there's like absolutely laughable security in place to prevent it. And Harry laughs it off as "Dumbledore wanted to let us try," which shows that Dumbledore has faith in children to do extraordinary things, which is nice in theory, and sure, an 11 year old would think like that, feeling invincible and oblivious to danger. But really, Fluffy hanging out behind a door that can be opened with alohomora, which, throughout the rest of the series is always the spell they try first to unlock doors, except it almost NEVER works because it's the most basic, elementary unlocking charm and so everyone wanting to actually lock a door puts extra security place to make alohomora not work. And then the whole thing with the Chamber of Secrets - how many people WOULD have died from the basilisk but for a series of wildly improbable lucky breaks that caused them to only see the basilisk in a mirror or a puddle, and not only do they not close the school - they seem to be waiting for someone to actually die before they do that - but Dumbledore apparently lets these 12 year olds go down into the chamber and face the basilisk? I mean you think they're doing it without Dumbledore being aware, just like with the Philosopher's Stone, and of course Dumbledore has already been outsted from the school at this point, but then when they get back he's already back in the castle, and seems completely nonplussed to find Harry covered in blood and venom saying he found and killed the basilisk and saved Ginny Weasley. And Dumbledore is just like, oh yeah, that's pretty much what I figured was going to happen. Really? And you didn't think to maybe, I dunno, send some backup down after him once you got back to the school? And then in book 4, letting Harry compete in the Triwizard Tournament even though he was underage and Dumbledore KNEW that there was some kind of foul play going on and likely a plot on Harrys' life, but he lets him compete anyway because imperiused Crouch says "magical contract, can't break it" and...yeah, we wouldn't want to go against anything the Ministry says, because Dumbledore's always been such a by-the-books rule follower. "Hey kid, I know you never actually signed up for this dangerous competition that you're too young to even be allowed to participate in, and it's gonna be full of dangers that will threaten your life, and everyone here will think you're a jerk if you do it, and it's most likely part of a plot to kill you, but you know this goblet spat your name out so looks like you're going into the ring." What is this, the Hunger Games? Or in book 6, when Dumbledore knows that Malfoy is trying to kill him but lets him keep flailing around with clumsy attempts which, again, were it not for incredible luck, would have certainly killed either Katie Bell or Ron or Slughorn or someone else, but that's all ok because Dumbledore wanted to protect Malfoy from Voldemort and luckily none of the innocent bystanders died. Then Harry warns Dumbledore that Malfoy has just succeeded in fixing something in the Room of Hidden Things and is probably going to do something dangerous TONIGHT while they're off school grounds, and Dumbledore brushes him off, and lo and behold, they arrive back to find Death Eaters battling students. But no it's fine, because no one died thanks to luck and Felix Felicis, although Bill got pretty greviously injured. But that was all part of Dumbledore's plan? There are so many of these and they drive me crazy. Either the kids are running around breaking rules and risking their lives behind Dumbledore's back and he has no idea, in which case he should really be SURPRISED occasionally, maybe even a little angry? Or else he knows pretty much everything that's going on at Hogwarts all the time, in which case he should really be intervening occasionally when he's aware of these really dangerous things going on that could endanger children, and it's only by luck and occasionally Harry playing the hero that people aren't killed at Hogwarts in every single book. Anyway I've noticed a lot of the inconsistencies you pointed out, although a couple of them were new to me. But that's all to say, this is why the first couple books are actually my least favorite in the series. I guess I'm a stickler for consistency - plot holes really detract from my enjoyment of the book, and I feel like when she was writing the earlier books, even though she had the story arc of the series pretty much figured out, she hadn't yet fleshed out all the details of the magical world, which expands considerably in the later books. By book 4, I feel like the rules were pretty much figured out, at least to the degree that they needed to be for internal consistency, and the books become more enjoyable because there aren't as many of these gaping plot holes. But that's just me.
i cant believe im nitpicking your nitpick lol, BUT Quirrel also says that Voldemort wanted to keep a closer watch on him after he failed to retrieve the stone at Gringotts, meaning Voldemort was not possessing Quirrel at the point when he shakes Harry's hand, hence why he is able to do so.
Yes that kinda makes sense.
Bingo. Came here to say this.
Haven't finished the video but came down here to see if someone commented this. Thanks :)
Exactly!
Exactly what I was gonna say! Also, Voldemort used to possess animals, snakes being his favorite ones to possess, so, Quirrel could've easily brought a possessed snake back with him without anyone knowing
Hogwarts logic: "The punishment for being in an out of bounds area is that you have to go to the out of bounds area"
Moderns school logic: "The punishment for not attending school is that you aren't allowed to attend school for a while."
😂😂😂
Fuuuuuck touche lmao
Also (some) moderns school logic: if someone kicks your butt and you fight back, suspended! If someone kicks your butt and you don't fight back, suspended!
@@beccag2758 what school do you go to. Unless you provoke the fight at my school you get off scott free if you don't fight back.
DragonGamer 475 I didn’t personally experience it at my school, just heard about it from others, so I suppose it could be exaggerated?
I think it’s usually under Zero Tolerance anti bullying rules when stuff like that happens (reddit has quite the story load) again maybe the stories are exaggerated (I hope they are because that seems incredibly unfair) but I don’t think they are😕 if anyone knows more let me know
When Harry meets Quirell on Diagon Alley, Voldemort wasn’t there yet. When Harry sees Quirell in the Great Hall, he notices the "very peculiar" turban, meaning he didn’t have it yet on Diagon Alley
And voldemort actually mentioned that he decided to keep a closer eye on quirrel after he failed to get the stone from gringotts
Yes I forgot about that
Even if Voldy was there he didn't have to show yet. Looking at the Horcruxes in book 7 the effects develop over the course of months, not a week or two. The fall-out builds up from like August/September to December
I was just getting ready to write this :).
@@TwoFlyingDutchMen Exactly. Thank you. And the OP. This always bugged me. Becuase they shake hands in the books. Yet, in the movie they make a point of Quirrel NOT shaking his hand. It's like they thought it was a plot hole too and tried to fix it. But it wasn't. As you said, Voldemort even plainly says later on that he didn't "possess" Quirrel until after the failed attempt at the bank. But I've been through the books so many times. Some people don't put certain things together because JK is good at dropping information early on that doesn't come up again until nearly the end. Easy miss to make.
LOL you said "Percy" instead of "Charlie". and is so hilarious to think Percy could have such troublemakers friends
I can just imagine his scowl. 🤣 “Think of your future, what would the Ministry think! You’ve got to keep working toward your goals, or you’ll never get anywhere. Having misfits for friends never ends well,” then a sad pompous shake of the head. “If only one could choose one’s own family as well. If only.”
Yeah, I got confused by this
c yes
Percy doesn't have any friends, though; let's be real.
I was wondering if any one else noticed this 🤣
“Why did she throw herself under a bus that wasn’t even moving.” Loved that 😂👍🏻
Yes, but Hermione had no idea what McGonagall was going to do or get mad about so it makes sense that she would overreact.
Manaal Siddiqui For real!! I never did understand why Hermione lied.
Best quote ever!
I know lol
This is still the most confusing part for me. I’m not even sure if she was lying or not!
Edit: around 8:50
Merphy you should be aware that “there’s no safer place than Hogwarts” is the biggest running joke among potter fans hahahahah
Hell The finale took place at Hogwarts as well and there was SO MUCH DEATH during the Battle of Hogwarts!! Lol
Dumbledore: "we just have a Basailisk, Giant spider in the forest, a teacher with "you know who" on the back of his head, a giant Squid, a three headed dog, giant chest board where the peaces try to kill you, and also a tree called the womping willow that also try to kill you". "So welcome to Hogwarts"
Well, maybe Hagrid didn't know the plot of the Harry Potter series.
The wizard world is dangerous. Hogwards is safe by comparison.
@@schwarzerritter5724 I'd call BS on that, no offence ;) Not a lot of places have such a concentration of dangerous stuff in them. It's basically like letting your kids play in a shed full of explosives in pretty boxes labeled "You won't believe what's in here! But don't look, it's not safe".
Pertunia’s statement about Lily doing magic over the summer could be read as an exaggeration of her memory , due to Petunia’s envy of his sister’s abilities. Lily could’ve brought something home once, got a slap on the wrist from the ministry, and petunia remembers it as “she was always throwing her magic in my face!” Emotions coloring memory is actually pretty realistic writing.
“Why did he take them to a restricted after curfew as punishment for going into a restricted area after curfew?!” 😂😂😂 “why did she throw herself under a bus that wasn’t moving?” I knew this video was going to be pure gold.
I was also thinking it could've been something like a wizarding toy she got from one of her wizarding friends and brought home for funzies, something like Weasly's Wizarding Wheezes. /Technically/ she wouldn't be the one performing any magic, but Petunia wouldn't know that 😄
I chalked that up to rules changing over the years.
Author Alys Marchand Same. Maybe it’s because of students like Lily using magic outside of school that they made that rule a thing.
In my opinion Petunia recalls Lily whilst doing her homework for Hogwarts. Isn't it said in another volume that Harry couldn't do his summer homework for Hogwarts because Vernon Dursley locked away all his magic stuff? Or was that just the movies?
Snape used magic when he met Lily... Also, the fact that letters had to be sent to parents at the end of term, just to remind them that students aren't allowed to do magic, indicates that it may be a rather recent directive... Probably conceived to prevent another young, dark wizard from learning something they shouldn't.
I think the generally accepted "fanon" theory is that Dumbledore purposely left Harry to face Quirrell-Mort as a way to test if Lily's protective charm would hold. Prior to this point, he only had Voldemort's rebounding curse to base this on. I can't see any other reason why he wouldn't immediately Apparate back from the Ministry. That's also why he made the protective enhancements around the Stone so ridiculously easy; both to lure Quirrell and confirm he was working for Voldemort, and to test if Harry had the bravery required to fight him. We forget just how calculating Dumbledore was. Snape said it best, 'You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter'.
Absolutely this. There are a lot of other little things that make no sense on the surface in the book but are explained by Dumbledore purposely putting Harry in danger. We know, for example, that he told Snape to watch Quirrel, and that he knew Voldemort was the one after the stone. But he still let Quirrel be one of the professors to help protect the stone. In fact, Quirrel left a troll down there as his contribution because he has a special gift with trolls. Obviously Dumbledore knew that, but he still went along with the "troll in the dungeon" alarm, knowing Quirrel can handle a troll, and sent all the students out instead of keeping them safely together in the great hall with the protection of all the teachers. He wanted Harry to find trouble.
I think that's low, even for Dumbledore. At least when Snape said "you've been raising him like a pig for slaughter", Dumbledore secretly knew Harry wouldn't really die. I don't see how deliberately letting Harry risk his life against Quirrell is the same as *knowing* he's a Horcrux (which is hardly Dumbledore's fault).
@@2602Jorno I don't think Dumbledore knew Harry wouldn't "really die." Horcrux magic is so rare and dark that even evil wizards are not all aware of it or even how it works. I think Dumbledore knew there was a possibility Harry could live through it, but I think moreso that Dumbledore understood that, as a horcrux, Harry HAD to die in order for Voldemort to become vulnerable himself to death. The whole goal was to finally, completely, and irrevocably kill Voldemort - the greatest dark wizard to have ever lived. Was the death of one innocent boy worth destroying the greatest evil in the world who, if not killed, would probably live forever and kill millions upon millions?
Dumbledore was not a bad person, but he was also not hindered by any great conscience either. He was a pragmatist. This was not only war, but possibly the most important war ever waged. There was a saying on the Allied side during WW2, "When in doubt, win the war," meaning that if you had a tough choice (see above) always make the one that wins the war for the Allies and stops the Axis. Dumbledore's choice was clear. Let's not forget that Dumbledore didn't ask Harry to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself, as Dumbledore also died for the cause.
I think Dumbledore thought that it was likely that Harry would die as sure as Nagini did when he was killed but that, having ended the last horcrux, Voldemort would then be mortal. Someone during the fight would hit him with a curse or something, and Voldemort would at last be dead.
Honestly if I believed Dumbledore knew for certain Harry would be fine after sacrificing himself to Voldemort to end the last horcrux, I'd consider this series fairly poor.
@@wanderinghistorian In Goblet of Fire, when Harry tells Dumbledore about Voldemort taking his blood with Lily's protection, there is a gleam of triumph in Dumbledore's eye. In Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore explains that, in doing so, Voldemort has tethered Harry to life while he lives.
Ok, I'm going to be the Hermione if this section of the comments. You can't Apparate in Howarts, this is explained in a History of Howarts.
How about when Hagrid tells Harry, "There's not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin." At the time, one of the most famous "bad" wizards was Sirius Black, who wasn't in Slytherin. This was before Sirius was exonerated. He was in Azkaban prison and infamous for mass murder.
Nice one!
I guess the easy was out of that was the Hagrid was exaggerating, or wrong or prejudiced against Slytherin.
Like if a Muggle falsley said there wasn't a criminal alive who didn't belong to group X.
In Suburbia true, but that doesn’t happen in the first book
Except that Sirius was falsely accused and hasn’t actually gone bad. I’m pretty sure Hagrid didn’t believe Sirius was bad.
This is the plot hole I always notice! Obviously she hadn't invented Sirius yet when writing this because there's no way Hagrid would forget the wizard from Gryffindor who they all believed at the time to be directly responsible for James and Lily's death.
Harry going after the stone is so in character for him. He consistently does "heroic" things that are not necessary. So yea, not needed but it makes sense.
Totally. Harry did all sorts of unnecessary nonsense when motivated by his hero complex. *cough* Gabrielle Delacour *cough*
@@TheJak121212 Wanting to save Gabrielle makes sense. She was a child. I think many people would want to save a child. But he did have a hero complex as evidenced by how often he tries to play the hero when no one needs saving.
Also mentioned by Hermione in book 5 where she says that Harry has a "saving thing".
I think that so many Slytherin turn evil because of shit like what happens at the end of this book. Giving Gryffindor just enough extra points to beat them at the last moment is just cruel.
Let’s be honest snape is the most bias teacher, so Slytherin will have a great advantage, mcgonagall more objective and will take points out from her own house, and let’s be honest Slytherin will do anything to win, so there is a huge chance they cheated😂 even though I hate every single house in harry potter, Slytherin is the best among the 4 and they truly deserve to win.
Will you shut up Harry stopped the darkest wizard in the world from returning and gets 60 points he comes to class late and loses 50 from snape but when slytherin come late snape does nothing they did not deserve to win whatsoever and awarding them points for saving the world isn’t cheating or biased
Well Slytherin already won for 6 years before what happened at the end of book 1.
They've been winning the past few years though
U have a problem if you think what u said is normal brother
One thing that I noticed on a recent reread is that when Hagrid comes to get Harry from the Hut on the Rock, they take the ONLY boat back to shore. How do the Dursleys get back?
Maybe Vernon had a company cell phone. You should look up "Grunnings" on Pottermore.
I like to picture petunia and dudly clinging onto Vernon while he floats on his back
I once saw a fan cartoon in which Hagrid realizes this and he flings the boat all the way back to the island!
Who cares
@@Squigglycluff The way I choked on my coffee laughing at this lskjfalskjf lmao
The 50 points each for being out of bed and the detention in the forest is an egregiously ridiculous punishment
Everyone in the scene seems shocked when she does it, which makes me think it was a very unusual punishment, not what they were expecting. Mcgonnagall has a few reasons to do that here. To teach an early lesson to the three she can already see becoming worse than Fred and George, to show that she isn't biased towards her house in contrast to Snape who she's been pissed about being biased, and to stomp down on rumors that Harry is allowed to get away with stuff because he's famous.
madock345 There was no way Neville would become worse than Fred and George. Don’t forget that he was the third Gryffindor, not Ron.
Also, I think it was only each because Harry was so indignant that they were getting 50 points taken and she was just “fine! I’ll make it more then!”
well i saw this always as a punishment for telling Malfoy lies to get him to sneak out of bed at night and into trouble. I mean that what McGonagall thinks has happened. Thats why she deducts so many points. To spend the detention in the forbidden forest does indeed seem a bit strange. I always explained that to myself that Hagrid tries to make the detention not too horrible as he knows why they were out of bed. So he probably went and suggested that as a punishment to McGonagall.
Clearly Hogwarts has no concept of appropriate punishment.
@@madock345 If she wanted to prove that she wasn't biased towards her house, she should have removed more points from Malfoy, as she believed that he was lying to her about the dragon when she caught him. I can't see how removing only 20 points from Slytherin, and 150 from Gryffindor is a sign of impartiality. I know there were three Gryffindors and only one Slytherin, so of course the total removed from Gryffindor would be higher, but still, either she should have taken 20 from each Gryffindor, or 50 from Malfoy to be more equal.
A lot of those can be answered with the simple realization of how manipulative Dumbledore is. He wanted Harry and Voldemort to face up. He did everything but lock Harry and Quirrel in a room together.
Exactly. Harry's first impression of Dumbledore being a kind old man, who was a little odd and very grandfatherly was entirely purposeful. The older we get the more I come to hate Dumbledore because he is that lawful evil battle chaotic evil, and part of that battle was convincing people he was actually good.
I absolutely DESPISE Dumbledore.
@@dawnschoonover662 Dumbledore is more like chaotic good than Lawful Evil. The cutthroat "anything for the greater good" kind of chaotic good, like your classic archetype of the guy going around murdering corrupt politicians and slave owners. Dumbledore isn't lawful because his methods are unorthodox and unpredictable, he doesn't have a personal set of rules or care about the rules of his society. He's mostly motivated by emotion, as seen in the fifth book where he admits to letting Harry stay in the dark too long because he didn't want to hurt him. He's not evil because he's not motivated by harming others, and doesn't place his own personal power or well being over the greater good. He's cunning and wise, and willing to do whatever must be done to destroy Voldemort. I don't really understand the hate for him.
@@madock345 I said Lawful Evil because he plays by his own rules, and goes waaaayy out of the way to ensure that things happen the specific way that he wants him to. Like the Elder Wand, the unbeatable wand that he could have used to defeat Voldemort at any time but especially when they were in a duel, but didn't because he wanted the prophecy to come true. Or how he let Lupin get outed, which was super convenient since he wanted to enlist him as a spy. Or how he has a habit of recruiting child armies who basically worship him, definitely not because he used his authoritative influence on them during their formative years to manipulate them.
I think his character is best summed up in the fact that he refused the position of Minister of Magic because he knew he could get uncontested and he knew he would absolutely abuse that power and become a dictator, and he didn't want to be that person. So instead he controlled the only Wizarding School in GB and shaped every generation as they became adults. He's evil and he knows it, but contents himself by saying he's not THAT evil.
Dawn Schoonover When he fought Voldemort in the 5th book Voldemort still had his horcruxes which means he can’t die! So the elder wand wouldn’t be able to kill him so...
Actually, another funny thing about the security problem is that alohamora can open the door to fluffy but not for the flying key door which means that they COULD have kept students out of that door if they wanted to.
Nah man, the strangest thing is the fact that Dumbledore can create an age-line that stops young people from crossing it.
And yet he decided a normal locked door would be enough...
Don't mind the animal cruelty against Fluffy for being forced to live for an entire year in a small space.
When Harry first sees Quirrel in the Great Hall he does mention that he’s sporting a strange turban, possibly indicating that the turban was not present in the Leaky Cauldron
One very confusing thing for me is the part where Minerva finds Harry, Hermione and Neville out of bed and gets 50 points from each.
I understand getting 50 points from Harry and Hermione, since she thought they were both trying to get Draco caught (with the dragon story), but why get 50 points from Neville, who was just out of bed? She should have taken 20 points from him, just like she did with Malfoy
Yeah agreed, especially since it's supposed to be a Gryffindor trait to do something brave 😂
Neville completly went against his own fears and went out to warn Harry and Hermione (no idea why he tried to do that in the middle of the night) and after all of that 50 points because you wanted to help a friend, but here take 10 points for trying to fight against a friend...
12:30
Fan Theory:
When Dumbledore and Harry cross Voldemorts cave in Book 6 Dumbledore seems disappointed by all the trials he has to do - as in they're super shallow, like giving blood or only one full wizard being allowed to enter.
In Book 1 - in Dumbledores OWN dungeon - you have to fight a troll (exhausting), there's only 1 vial that gets you to the other side of the flames and everything is trying to hurt you. In the end, the mirror alone would've done the trick.
*Theory*: the trials are just a way to make Voldemort believe they are protections and Dumbledore is trying to make him go in there. He takes the long route (or says he did), and intends on trapping Quirrell and Voldemort in his Dungeon.
When he finally realizes Harry is in there, he rushes in. Dumledores victim sadly can't be questioned anymore and theres not a lot of Info to get there. But you can't really blame harry for that. So instead, he just tells him how brave he was, gives him some points, and shrugs it off.
Probably not the intended reading. But makes sense to me.
I really like this explanation.....I just kinda waved it off as you know, a kids book, but this makes so much sense!
I ALWAYS wondered why Hermione said that!! Even when I was 9, I thought “what was wrong with that?” I thought that Harry and Ron might have gotten into trouble for going by themselves instead of getting a teacher it was the same scenario whether Hermione lied or not.
Eh, I always shrugged it off as nervous being-confronted-by-an-authority-figure-after-almost-dying kid logic.
From a writing perspective, I get it. She demonstrates loyalty, and that’s what allows them to seal the deal mentally and become friends. Shared trauma helps, but adding a secret, and then choosing to take a hit for someone to protect them, that helps even more. It also brought her shame from others, to further her sacrifice, and allows some growth in Ron and Harry due to them deciding they judged without knowing her and to discard preconceived ideas about people. In writing, you need to do about five things with a scene to make it worth taking up the space and time it takes to tell it. It did several things very well. But it could have been done better.
If McGonagall had seen Hermione upset at some point, if she had let the boys know by glaring at them or something (not important, but if she really wanted to connect the dots), if she had asked Hermione if she was in the bathroom to avoid particular students who were making her, such a bright young witch, have such a hard time at school, et cetera... Hermione could have told the truth, but gotten the boys in trouble.
Lying would have still cost her what it did, but have made the boys a bit more in her debt because it actively prevented trouble for them. She could even be thanked by them and she could say, “You didn’t know I’d overheard you. And, well, I was a little over-enthusiastic about coming to learn magic. I thought everyone else would feel the same way.” It would show an understanding of her “know-it-all” personality and the pitfalls of it. It would also show some humility, brushing off thanks or praise.
I like Hermione; I’m... basically Hermione. 😂 I get the struggle of containing your enthusiasm because it’s kinda too much for other people. There’s a time to let that memorization skill shine bright like a diamond and a time to let others shine in *their* ways. So I’m not dogging her, but I think even if she couldn’t really control her enthusiasm, acknowledging its pitfalls when possible is a good idea.
Giving her a reason to straight up lie is also more in keeping with Hermione’s personality. Like when she had Harry’s broom effectively yanked away because her conscience told her she had to report it. She has to think something is the right thing to do in order to go ahead and go through with it. Giving her a reason would have by far been the best route to take.
I think it was to hide the fact that it was Ron and Harry’s conversation that made her cry in the first place and that Ron and Harry locked the troll in with her.
To an 11 year old, it might seem like R and H would get in trouble for that.
Biggest reason I thought she did it was to show Harry and Ron that she knew she was a know it all and she feels bad about it and doesn't want it to keep her from being friends with them.
It's because she left out the part where they had been mean to her and took all the responsibility on herself. It showed her willingness to get in trouble for them, even though she hates getting in trouble.
The reason why Harry goes for the stone is because he fully convinced himself Snape was after it, and he wanted to expose him. And who would believe it.
Harry shouldn’t have gone after the stone but he didn’t know about the mirror protecting the stone and as a dumb 11 year old he thought only he could protect the stone from being stolen. Harry was like oh I think Dumbledores magical protection of the Stone isn’t strong enough and me an 11 year old boy must protect it from Snape/Quirrel
Yup agreed. Harry has had his hero complex right from the very beginning, and from his POV, snape was a terrible human being that Dumbly was always a fool for trusting so of course Harry just has to take matters into his own hands. And you're right, at that point I don't think he had any clue what a powerful wizard Dumbledore was
Jacqueline Sayler I do agree; it makes sense from his POV. If Snape was in on all the enchantments, it’d be easy to break them. Although, in reality I like the idea that the enchantments went up one by one in succession, so Snape would not have been present when the chess set and keys and Devil’s Snare were put up. But Harry wouldn’t know that! He also didn’t know the mirror had been moved from its previous location (Room of Requirement we think? Right?) in order to guard the Stone, and if Snape had wanted it, again, it would be protected.
This way Dumbledore isn’t an idiot for letting Snape be involved, even if he is a Dark Wizard, but Harry’s still driven by some logic, at least, and since none of the adults took the threat seriously, he was the last line of defense, not the first line. He was at least smart enough to know it was something he would not be equipped for, and he wasn’t. At least not alone.
Lol Harry is a Leo. He can't help having a Hero Complex.
@@SunflowerSpotlight: However, he DID know that there had been a security breach (Hagrid revealing how to get past Fluffy). [A name that is so perfectly Hagrid it still makes me chuckle all these years later.]
And with THAT attitude walks into the Chamber of Secrets in the next year, without a thought of alerting actual teachers
I hear a lot of Americans that are disappointed of the philosopher's stone being translated into the sorcerer's stone, like "oh you think we are this stupid?" And I'm just like, shut up. In Hebrew its translated into the the smart people stone.
Oh, I get you. In Portuguese, it's translated into something that in English it's only possible to translate into literally The Philosopher's Stone, but in the way it is in Portuguese makes it sound like the stone is pondering about stuff and being philosophical loooool. Philosopher's (filosofal) is used as an adjective. So yeah it's pretty weird
תהלה קאופמן
in finnsh it’s also called smart people stone, but it’s still the official term for philosopher’s stone in finnsh. i think i knew what it was before i came across rowling’s work
In Sweden the first book is called The wise's stone.
The German translation was actually perfect, lol. It was literally called what a Philosophers stone is called in German.
French is the worst one : Harry Potter à l’école des sorciers so in English Harry Potter at the Wizards’ School
Your hair looks so cute in this video!! I also love that you’re brave enough to criticize this series. Of course we love Harry Potter, but it has its flaws. But not many book-tubers are willing to discuss them!
It's a bit sad that we consider pointing out flaws of (popular) books as bravery now... I mean, I get it, but after all the idea of reviewing something is not only to say how much you loved it, but to point out flaws as well...
Welcome to "feelings over criticism" culture. Over the past few decades we've been telling generation after generation how special they are, how "their truth" is all that matters, and telling them they don't have to prove themselves through struggle and hard work. That the world owes them something just for being in it. And we're surprised each generation has become more sensitive, more self-deluding, and able to take less criticism? Especially of things they have emotional attachments to.
I actually think it makes a lot of sense for the kids’ punishment for being in a restricted area after hours, is to be taken to a dangerous restricted area after hours.
It’s kind of like, “see, this is why we have rules. Look at how dangerous this place is.”
See kids, something so evil that it would kill, and drink the blood of a unicorn is lurking around the forest, we're going to send you out with a dog, and a lantern to try to find it.
@@JonathanSmith-ge4pi
To be fair, Dumbledore or the Head of House or whoever issued the punishment didn’t know that Hagrid would conduct it that way. They were simply like “you get detention with Hagrid” and then left the details up to him.
And besides, Hagrid was close by and also knew that the forest was filled with Centaurs, so I’m sure he thought it was safe enough. And even if you disagree… it’s Hagrid. He’s not known for being the brightest bulb.
Unless… if you check out SuperCarlinBrothers theory video on Dumbledore’s Plan for Harry’s first year, then it all makes sense that way, too.
When Harry gets to the stone at the end you find out that Voldemort didn’t merge with quirrel until after he tried to steal the stone at Gringots so it does make sense. Also petunia looked surprised when she hears where Harry’s platform is for the Hogwarts express when we know she knew what is was as she went there in book 7 when Lily and Snape started school in shapes memory
yeah this platform 9 3/4 thing also bothered me especially Mrs. Weasley asking her children which platform it is, although in the end its always the same platform the train leaves from.
@@starryk79 well but there's also the theory that she does so on purpose when she sees harry looking around not knowing what to do, she just says it very loud in order for him to grasp that the weasleys belong to the wizarding world so he isn't intimidated
@@megafonundmo1458 and there's the (dumb) theory that Mrs. Weasley only did this, not because she's a kind and caring mother-figure, but because Dumbledore paid her off.
I have a feeling Dumbledore knew all about Charlie's friends.
A plothole, yes, but I could imagine him keeping an eye on all people coming and going
@@mythra7174 Totally! At least in the first books, it's very open. Quirrell brought in a freaking troll!
It's still a plot hole but maybe Hogwarts had less protection in early moments and only later they would add more protective charms
@@drogadepc
Nah, I think Dumbledore was always the typ to know everything that was going on in the castle and the grounds. He knew Harry would find the Mirror of Erised, because he gave Harry the cloak on purpose. Dumbledore probably had the right instinct about Sirius or wanted to lure him into Hogwarts, because he employed Lupin too.
Voldemort was not yet in Quirrel at that point.
You can walk into Hogwarts, you just can't apparate, but if you are magical you can walk to it, that is why the dementors are guarding Hogwarts in book 3, and to catch Sirius of course.
pfed04 remember that in book 6 Dumbledore apparates himself and Harry out of Hogwarts and back into it. I think that was her point. And in book 6, Dumbledore’s explination for this was, “being me does have its advantages.”
@@whoami6711 What you're quoting happens in the film, in the book they apparate to Hogsmeade. Although, in the same book it is mentioned that Dumbledore can lift the enchantment that prevents this; he does that when the students are learning how to apparate in the Great Hall.
Aleksandar Krastev omg, you are right. I totally forgot that. I’m sorry.
@@aleksandarkrastev5879 Came here to leave this comment! Hermione continues to repeat it in literally every book of HP: "When are you going to learn that apparating in Hogwarts is not possible?"
Dumbledore and Harry walked to Hogsmeade to apparate and also apparated back to Hogsmeade once they picked up the locket.
Loved how you emphasized how much Dumbledore was in a rush - just not enough to apparate.
It makes it sound like he definitely knew he had to head back asap, but didn't want to. So he was rushing without rushing /too fast/ 😂
Take your time Dumbledore. It's not THAT important afterall.
Apparation wasn't introduced until book 2. Just saying...
@@nicholasmedich7493 As she said in the video, just because a plot hole is only a plot hole later, doesn't mean it's not a plot hole. Also I don't remember apparition in the second book, only floo powder, although Hermione probably said you can't apparate from inside hogwarts once, or twice.
You can’t apparat on Hogwarts grounds
I think there are holes in the story, especially taking into account the later books, but
1. Isn't it possible that the rule was included after Lily was a pupil at Hogwarts?
2. Could Quirrel simply wear gloves? I honestly can't remember if it was any contact that's the problem or touching skin directly.
3. the entire thing doesn't make much sense to me. Why not locking away the precious thing instead of creating those small obstacles a group of first years can overcome. I feel like this is another thing I simply forgot by now most likely.
4. Honestly, it is a surprise not more students die every year.
5. I think I never liked the point system that much, because it is soooo arbitrary. I would have liked it if it makes sense, but in the end it was nothing but a game for the teachers to play favourites.
Yeah, puzzles are a shity way of locking something up. Like, that one room where you have to snatch the key out of the air. Why not have the key not be there? Dumbledore just has it on him the entire time, smirking at the thought that some stupid Deatheaters might chase their butts off down below the School.
Or the final chamber. What kind of magical AI controlls the chess board? It seems low enough for a 10 year ild to beat. Why? Actual chess programs can't be beaten by anyone. Just make it an unbeatable chess match only a number of peopld can just skip.
The rule was a thing when Lily was young too. In Snapes memories in the Deathly Hallows, Snape tells Lily about how they can’t do magic outside of school
Now that I think about it when Petunia was telling Harry about her sister Lily she was exaggerating about her turning teacups into rats during her summer vacations. You could tell by the tone in her voice that she was jealous of Lily and she is still jealous to that day. In book 7 we see how envious she was about Lily being able to do magic while Petunia couldn't. She even wrote to Dumbledore asking to make an exception for her to go too despite that she's a muggle. Of course he politely declined.
1 - it isn't possible. The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was estabilished in 1692. Theoretically underage wizards or witches can't perform magic outside the premises of their respective wizarding school since then, unless it's convenient to the plot.
Namorat: To your second point; Quirrel probably would have worn gloves *if he had known of the need*. It seems neither he nor his master knew. Also, I think I recall that Harry, when he figured out the damage to Q's hands, reached up and grabbed his face; an even greater distraction.
One other point, alot of your points depend on logic or being logical and in the wizarding world we know from Hermione that most wizards including the best ones have little to no logic.
Thank you for pointing that out.
Yes... Adult wizards specially are incredibly roundabout and inefficient...
That's a good point. They're wizards with incredible powers, but the reasoning and understanding of 11 year olds, since they haven't been educated in anything but magic since then.
A lot of problems with the earlier books are because the story often needed something to happen, even though that wouldn't happen that way in the world she (JKR) created.
Also, there's a theory that Dumbledore was setting Harry up to become the weapon for the Light, and needed him to face the challenges he did.
I also always wondered why Hagrid even took them to the forest. Why couldn't he just pretend that he did and just left them in his hut for a while? It's not like anybody checked what they were doing and where. At least that's what any reasonable adult would do.
Though one can say Hagrid is too obedient and didn't even considered breaking orders.
Юстин Бейлиш Plus, Malfoy has a big mouth.
theory: lily was the reason the “no magic outside of hogwarts” rule was put in place
Have you forgotten The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery was put into effect in 1875?
@@JonathanSmith-ge4pi its a joke jonathan
@@snoozuu Well plenty of other people are posing this theory non-sytterically, and I don't know what the joke was.
@@snoozuu 😭😭
For me the most glaring issue in this book is that Harry murdered a person. Literary disintegrated him by his hands, heard him scream in agony yet not even a sentence is dedicated to him thinking about this fact. No guilt, second guessing, nothing. He have done it in self defense but he still should be vastly impacted by this situation. Similarly after he stabs Tom Riddle in second book (apparition or a ghost but talking and feeling one, which to Harry should seemed like living person) he never ponders over the fact that he just killed second human in the span of two years. It makes him seem like sociopath.
The disintegration thing was more of a movie moment, wasn’t it? In the book, Quirrell’s skin just burns and blisters. It was the impact of being possessed by Voldemort on his body, and then Voldys subsequent ejection from Quirrell which really killed him. His body had been through too much. I guess Harry passed out before he could really register any of that, so he was saved any real shock or guilt.
It's alright Merph, J. K. Rowling can just tweet a few changes ;D
JK rowling tweet: You the reader are gay
In POA, Ron is punished by cleaning hospital bedpans without magic. But why do they even have bedpans if they can just magic the poop away? Come on, Jo!
This comment didn’t age well, haha.
this didn’t age well..
Hagrid was actually gay do you can't blame him for anything he did. Problem solved.
I've never understood one thing : when Harry Ron and Hermione arrive at the door on the third corridor, it is open, because Quirrel has already been there and already faced the challanges they face. So there is the harp he used to make Fluffy fal asleep, and the key's wing is damaged .. BUT the chess is intact and the potions are all there...how has Quirrel gone throught these last steps without leaving trace??
Perhaps the chess pieces self repair
I want videos like this for all the books! or at least a couple of them
"You can't apparate in hogwarts"
Hermione Granger every book
@@scientificbrothers2166 Only in the movie, in the book they walk out to Hogsmeade and aparate there, then aparate back to Hogsmeade and borrow brooms from Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broom-Sticks and fly to the Astronomy Tower.
Also in Order of the Phoenix he disappears from his office using an ability of Fawkes the phoenix not his own apparition skill.
Nevertheless, Dumbledore could have done just that instead of flying.
"Being the Headmaster has its privileges"
@@justaguy105 MOVIE Dumbledore
According to _Hogwarts, A History_ . . .
I miss polls in your videos. You should add polls in these kind of discussion videos. Would make it more interesting. 😘
What about Snape’s puzzle is anyone else wondering how it restests and refills. We know the great hall has the kitchens under it and the elves use magic to put the good on the tables. Is there an elf sitting under that room refilling bottles and making sure no one mixed them up?
Hagrid might have needed an invisibility circus tent to pull that off.
She said to cover the dragon only, and carry it in a crate. Hagrid didn't need to be invisible, as he is allowed to be in any area at any time.
Hagrid was too attached to the dragon like it was his son and he its mother.. He would have been too emotional to let Norbert go..and Harry n Hermione didnt do too much wrong until they forgot the cloack of invisibility at the tower..
every time someone calls it Sorcerer's Stone JK Rowling retrofits a new theory into the Potterverse
The biggest plothole is when Americans call it "Sorcerer's Stone."
Not our fault, they published it under that name.
Though I’ve stopped saying it because it is just generally confusing in conversations and I like Philosophers Stone better, so....
It's the American publisher Scholastic's fault I gather for underestimating their audience and seemingly not caring about mythology.
Alex Wright
Very true. But I must admit I also kinda blame the Americans that still use the term Sorcerer despite it being pointed out how it’s wrong, doesn’t fit or make sense, ignores mythology and alchemy and that the only reason why it was changed in the first place was because publishers thought US kids/people were too stupid to understand that other countries do indeed use terms, spellings and ideas ect that might not be familiar to them. That perhaps leaving the work as it is could broaden the mind of the child and give them a little glimpse of how other countries/cultures work or use words, ect. I myself am not British and by reading Harry Potter I was able to learn different terminology, among other things.
I’ve noticed America doesn’t quite seem to understand that they don’t need to Americanize everything just so that they understand it, or that it’s more palatable to them. Now this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. I think every culture/country has taken aspects of other region’s stories and made them their own, put their own spin to it. Grimm’s fairytales comes to mind. But America does it with *everything*. Even the things they could leave alone they change to make it easier for them to digest. So many think the US versions of The Office and Being Human came first after all.
Harry Potter is quintessentially English: British characters, British settings, written by a British woman. US publishers changed the name of the first book - which, IMPO, kinda set a tone - and certain pieces of text. When the movies started being made all these American actors kept pushing for roles, (which I in part understand because a) they like the books/characters and want to be a part of it and b) they want work and to make that cash) not getting that HP is so quintessentially British you can’t take that aspect out if it. It’s like taking the Americanness out of the president - it just doesn’t work.
It’d be like making an American version of the movie Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (or an adaptation of the books)... some things are just tied to the culture/country they were written in.
So... long winded of saying that America is one of the only places that calls it ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’; that it’s for a stupid reason; that people know all of those reasons now; and that those who still call it that instead of it’s true name of Philosopher’s Stone are kinda being thick and stubborn. There’s no real reason to say Sorcerer except for the US publishers went with that and maybe that’s what you used when you read the book. Cool. But IMPO that’s not a good enough excuse because we all say and do things when we’re young that we’re not aloud to say and do when we grow older - people (most of us at least) know how to grow out of habits.
Alex Wright
Just thought my last comment might be a little harsh, so I’m sorry. I’m not angry at you, not even that angry about the topic anymore as it’s been too many years, but I did my usual multiple paragraph word dump on ya. So that must have sucked, lol. I say too many things. I’m just a little frustrated that the US publishers thought their customers were too stupid to understand something and practically all the Americans bought into it and then a lot of them (not all) turn around and try educate everyone else on why their way is the right and only way... when it only came about because those in charge selling them stuff thought they were uneducated, ignorant fools.
Anyway have a good rest of your day/night!
Alexa Levon I agree. I read the book at age 11 (it helped me get on the road to conquering my dyslexia and becoming an editor) and adored it. When I found out the original name, I’d already gotten pretty deep into mythology, so a few things clicked. It made way more sense. 😅 So I’ve gone to The Philosopher’s Stone for good; it’s just more accurate. I guess they thought kids would imagine some ‘old,’ academic in an Ivory Tower. It’s a bummer that instead of teaching the audience, they spoke down to them.
Also a thing In the 2nd Book Percy Weasly says "5 Points from Gryffyndor." Implying he can take points (and later a slytherin prefect try's to take 5 points from Gryffyndor but got put in a vanishing cabinit." So why don't prefects be like "100000 Points to hufflepuff!" Or whatever the point system is broken.
In the film, Quirrel wears his turban from the beginning, but avoids shaking Harry's hand when offered.
John Bradford You can’t use the movies as a good reference. They also burn down the Burrow in the movie of HBP, but it’s NEVER burned down in the books. Movies take liberties they don’t need to.
The thing I'm still confused about is that nobody decided to go check on Harry, even after obviously knowing where he was living (The Cupboard Under the Stairs) and Hagrid getting a small glimpse into how Harry's relatives treat him. Even if he needs to stay with his blood relatives because of Lily's sacrifice (despite Voldemort still being dead and unable to harm Harry at this point in time) somebody could still check out the situation and do something about the blatant abuse Harry has to suffer through.
To be fair dumbledore does confront them about it in HBP
Oh, Dumbledore was fully aware of that.
He had Figg spying on them and even told Harry at one point that he knew Harrys life wouldn't be happy when he placed Harry at the Dursleys.
What I am far more confused is if child protection services didn't exist at the time, otherwise I can't understand how no-one ever called the police. I mean they aren't very subtle with Harrys mistreatment.
I only had a chance to listen to the first two and may come back for the rest.
With Lily allegedly doing magic outside of school, it's not strictly an error, since we only have Petunia's (clearly biased) secondhand account, some 20+ years after the fact. Lily may in fact have simply brought her"homework" home and explained how it used to be a teacup. Or wound her sister up by pointing out an ordinary rat and claimed to have conjured it. Since Petunia was still unaware that underage wizards and witches can't do magic when Harry started, Lily apparently didn't feel the need to Clue her in.
As for the second one, the reason I've seen to explain Quirrell being able to shake Harry's hand in the Leaky Cauldron is that he had not yet bonded with Voldemort; and that this is hinted at by how Harry observes Quirrell has only started wearing a turban when sees him for the second time at the school; and Quirrell (or possibly Voldemort) comments at the end of the book that at some point after Quirrell started doing Voldemort's bidding, Voldemort felt it necessary to "keep a closer eye on" Quirrell; which lead to them being bonded - but it hadn't occurred yet the first time Harry met him.
Also, Voldemort/Quirrell drinking the unicorn blood probably didn't help.
Currently rereading the first book too and I found some mishaps for myself.
1. Harry first time meets Draco at Madam Malkins where Draco states that his mother was just over at Ollivander's looking at some wands while his father bought the books Draco needed. But Ollivander later on states that the wand chosses the wizard. How can any other person choose a wand for you?
2. Hagrid takes Harry from that dreaded island by boat although he flew there by himself. I asume they take the boat the Dursley's used to get to the island. NOW: After shopping in Diagon Alley Hagrid sets Harry in the train home to the Dursley's. But how did they manage to get of the island without the boat?
3. Where did Harry get his huge luggage from in which he put all his stuff for Hogwarts? They didn't buy a trunk because he ain't had trouble getting such gigantic thing in the train home to the Dursley's. And getting one from the Dursley's?!? Come on!
4. When their journey to school nears the end. The personal (didn't know the appropriate english term) announces: "We're arriving at Hogwarts. Leave your luggage in the train. It will be transported to school." (Which is a translation from my translated book.) Shouldn't they arrive at Hogsmeade instead? As it is the village where the school lies?
Just some curious questions.
Enjoyed your video and the "plotholes"! 😄 Will continue reading because - you can't argue - it is bloody damn just magical and amazing.
I'm going to fix some of these problems for you 😊
1. Lilly could've been using magic in or around Snape's house where his mother was using magic.
2. Quirrell said in the books that Voldy was so angry about him not being able to steal the stone at Gringotts and decided to keep a closer eye on him=share his body. (Beginning of chapter 17)
3. 11:15 Bills (Edit: Charlie's) friends. I don't think Percy has any 😉
Other than that I loved the video and I agree with you on most of these things. You are amazing and I can't wait for more HP content.
Bill works as a cursebreaker for Gringott's, it's Charlie that works with dragons in Romania.
But Petunia would not have seen that if Lilly had turned teacups into rats at Snape's house :D I think it's either Petunia exaggerating or Rowling simply not thinking about every little detail of the first book
@@neilstinston1457 Goddamit, you're right. 😳😳😳😳
@@giuliakenway6500 But If they did it around his house she might have seen. She had a habit of following them around in order to see them do magic.
Maybe they didn't used to enforce the use of magic laws by minors very zealously or they've changed in a generation.
We see in the books how arbitrary the magical justice system seems to be and how little the Ministry of Magic seems to care for the rule of law.
About the lack of security in the third-floor corridor: I think we have to understand that things were very different in the magic world. For instance, they would have a tournament in school that could get the students killed and the kids could not give up after their name was chosen; they use the Forbidden Forest as detention (and Filch said they would torture students in the past)... things in magic world always seems very dangerous and everyone is kinda cool with that, I think their world are just different, they deal with danger in a very peculiar way, is just different from 'our' world.
What I always think about for the underage Magic is the “trace” they mention later in the books. If it’s supposed to be tied to the kid itself it should still go off in wizarding households too. Plus, that should have caused the ministry to KNOW it wasn’t Harry who uses magic in book 2 since his personal trace didn’t activate. I mean that’s why they had to fly him out of the Dursley’s in book 6, but they could use magic around him during the escape?
They _did_ know, but they needed an excuse to enact their plan, and the use of magic in close proximity to Harry gave them plausible deniability
It's in Half-blood Prince, I believe, that Dumbledore explains to Harry that the trace can only detect magic in proximity to the child it is attached to. The ministry relies on the parents to uphold the law of no underage magic. It's easy to track in muggle households since it's only the child who would be able to use magic (and you can make the assumption that a half-blood household would uphold the Statute of Secrecy reasonably well) but it's a nightmare in pureblood households. It's probably why many consider purebloods more talented at magic, since they can get away with practising at home (if their parents are lenient). In Chamber of Secrets, the trace detected Dobby using the levitation charm because Harry was in close proximity but the ministry didn't know it wasn't Harry who cast it. The Dursleys are muggles after all, and the only wizard living with them was Harry. It's only logical that he would be blamed.
Snape uses magic in the flashback. The trace doesn't tell them who used the magic, just what kind of smell and that it was used in the proximity of an underage wizard. This is explained in Order of the Phoenix when they think Harry disapparated, but it was actually Mundungus. They said that they paid close attention to Harry given past events and that no registered wizards lived in the area.
Hogwarts logic is the best logic, I try not to think to hard about all the conveniences, and the fact that no one except the main characters ever do anything involving sneaking around the castle
JKR herself addressed the "Lily doing magic" one on her website years ago. Petunia was exaggerating.
Others have pointed out that it is fairly clear from the text that Quirrell was not wearing his turban, hence did not have Voldemort on the back of his head, until after the Diagon Alley meeting.
These are all dead on! A few others that I wondered about had to do with Hagrid towards the beginning. Like he rode his motorcycle to the island with the lighthouse, and then they left the motorcycle on the island? He and Harry took the boat back so does that mean that the Dursleys were trapped on the island?? Also after Hagrid and Harry went to Diagon Alley and picked up everything... Hagrid just disappears and Harry doesn't know where he went. Well Hagrid isn't allowed to disapparate and wouldn't even know how since he was kicked out of school in his third year!
Your first point could easily be explained away in one of 2 scenarios. 1, Petunia could have just been so jealous and hateful of Lily that she exaggerated and said she saw her doing magic because she wanted to make her sound worse and just bitch about her to anyone she could, even though it was a lie. I've had people, and even a teacher, tell a flat out lie about me to make me look bad just because they didn't like me. Not even a smidgen of it was true. So that's a possibility.
Possiblity 2: They DID used to be able to perform magic outside of school. That could have not been an established rule when James and Lily were at school, and only became a rule when Voldy came to power and the ministry enforced it because they were scared, or maybe because too many muggles were starting to notice things.
OnceUponANovel Yes! I always thought that Petunia was trying to make her sound as strange as possible. A pocketful of frogspawn sounds repulsive and purposely making rats out of charming teacups would seem similarly repulsive to most people really, especially someone like Petunia who probably sees rats as dirty and disease-ridden.
The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery of 1875 wants to know your location.
I think the kids are allowed to do their homework at home and practice certain spells. The ministry gets notified which spells were performed each time harry gets in trouble. Not saying the times when other people perform magic around him make sense.. but I do get why lily was doing transfiguration at home. In movie 3 (I think) harry was practicing lumos under his bed
I always read that Quirrell could touch Harry in the pub because his intention at that moment wasn't to harm him, like it was in the end. That is why it didn't hurt him.
The reason is much simpler and explained in the book: Voldemort wasn't possessing Quirell yet.
omg I loved this 😂 it's so fun to notice these little details! you did a great job with this video
But isnt this whole "Harry can't be touched by evil" thrown out the window with the last book anyway? If Harry is a horcrux, how could he not be touched by evil? Voldemort resides in his soul but his skin is untouchable? That's silly.
This one is answered pretty easily... Dumbledore said that Lily's Magic is more powerful than Voldemort until he turns 17 or he doesn't consider 4 Privet Drive as his home anymore... Reason why the magic of the horcrux starte to increase with time (since Harry felt more attached to Hogwarts with time and because he had found a home a the Burrow...) And we he finally was free from the Dursley's the Horcrux effect became more powerful (more nightmares...)
Around 4:20 you mention that "no signs point to indicate Voldemort was not at the back of Quirrel's head".. This isn't true.
In chapter 17 Quirrel explains it : "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me…decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me….”.... In other words Voldemort only attached himself to Quirrel AFTER he failed to steal the stone from the bank, which at that point had not happend yet. Hagrid takes him to Gringots where they open the vault and remove the stone and also open Potter's vault... So it does make sense.
The protections on the stone always bothered me as well. It isn't just that a trio of first year students can get through them, it's that the tasks are specifically designed for the three of them. You have the plant which is known to be weak to fire. The flying keys can be handled easily by Harry. They already defeated a troll and know how now. Ron is known as an amazing chess player and Hermione can handle logic puzzles.
The heightened security during book 6 prevented anyone from flying in,but I think in the earlier books when the world wasn't on high alert, Charlie's friends and the Beauxbatons kids were able to fly in.
The whole point was that Dumbledore designed the "protections" to test the Golden Trio. It's one of the reasons so much HP fan fiction has Dumbledore being directly manipulative, like sending Harry to be raised in abusive home so he'll have virtually no self worth and willingly martyr himself to destroy the horcrux in his scar.
It honestly makes a lot more sense than Dumbledore just being THAT incompetent throughout the series, him making the mistakes on purpose to engineer a desired outcome.
@@JonathanSmith-ge4pi To my knowledge this is the only time I've commented on it on TH-cam and I didn't link anything, nor did Merphy IIRC, so I don't understand your comment in the context of a reply to mine.
I loved watching this! Your love for the series does come through. One of the things that always amazes me (and it's a wonderful thing about readers) is that many times we create answers for plot holes on our own, for example, I had just always assumed that there were two reasons that Lily didn't get in trouble for doing magic during her summer holidays: 1) She was assigned homework and this was one of the spells she was expected to practice and 2) since Snape lived nearby, there were other magic users around so it wasn't necessarily tracked to her. Obviously, none of this was ever said, it was just what I figured had happened and allowed me to go on with the story without obsessing about it.
One, I am pretty certain that the stone is a test, for Harry, to see if he is willing to sacrifice himself, afterall the tests are designed for Harry and his friends, as Neville was with them the first time they ran into Fluffy.
Two, can you make sense of the timeline in the prologue? It feels like a day is missing. McGonagall is following the Dursley's around the entire day, for some reason, but Hagrid had just gotten Harry out of the ruins, before delivering Harry to Dumbledore at the Dursley's, and since Dumbledore can fly on a broom from Scotland to London and back again in relatively short time, it should only take Hagrid an hour or two at most to fly from gloucestershire to surrey. So what was he doing in all that time?
And three, what about Sirius? Not only did Sirius have legal rights of Harry, when Dumbledore had him kidnapped, and McGonagall and Hagrid apparently also didn't object to leaving Harry at the Dursley's when he had a Godfather in the magical world, because at this point in time Sirius has not been accused or framed of anything yet.
THIS ^
The part about Petunia talking about Lily doing magic outside of school makes sense. Rules change over time. For instance, when I was a kid, we didn't have to practice what to do if someone barged into our school to slaughter us. My daughter has been practicing since she started school. When I was a kid, we could walk a mile or two to school alone. These days, many states and counties have laws banning even walking two blocks to school alone. When I as a kid, schools weren't automatically locked in case of someone trying to kill us. These days, schools without doors that automatically lock are unusual. So it's believable that Lily's class was allowed to do magic during holidays, and that something happened to change that.
And everyone mentions Scabbers. I always presumed that Scabbers, being an old family pet, was a situation where everyone just ignored the rule. Fun fact: When Lord Byron was told he couldn't have a dog at Cambridge University since it was against the rules, he did the logical thing and got a pet bear since there were no rules against bears. :D
Author Alys Marchand Except the underage statute is way older than Lily. I’m of the mind that she did it once (or maybe even not at all, just talked about it) and Petunia’s jealousy clouded her memories and she exaggerated.
Big question in this first book that kinda gets left open.
So voldemort, has been spending his days as Harry grew drinking the blood of Unicorn. The centaur quotes that the blood makes you immortal, but kind of sucks.
Flash forward past the stone, the horocruxes and voldemorts death. So, is their a shadowy figure of voldemort still alive under the immortal curse of drinking unicorn blood, to tired/weak to carry on.
I feel like it has to have a time limit. It’s not presented that way, no, but why do it multiple times? Hagrid says something like, “Something’s been killing unicorns.” It keeps happening.
Also we later find out that Voldemort could survive in rats and stuff, but they’d die. I think the blood maybe helped Quirrel maintain the bond with Voldemort. I’m going to look this up, because it’s an interesting question, and I don’t always read the first volume in my rereads. 🤔 I need to ponder.
Part of the curse to using unicorn blood is that you have to continue to do so or it loses its power to keep you alive.
@@slytherinslioness okay, but what is it?
Is Prof. Quirrle, after being bound to voldemort, or a part of voldemort that just cannot die?
About the last one: Harry and his friends didn't have to go to try and protect the Stone - Quirell might have know how to pass through other teacher's spells but not Dumbledore's. In the book Harry says to Ron and Hermione that Dumbledore knew that Harry was investigating the stone and didn't stop them like he wanted Harry to face Voldemort. I believe that is the reason: he gets Harry ready to defeat Voldemort, he knows the prophecy and that there is no escaping from it at this point. Also, during my latest rereading the Chamber of Secrets I realized that Harry and Ron didn't have to save the day - or didn't have to do it alone. They basically knew everything they needed to know when Ginny was taken to the Chamber and they were in the teacher's room so they could just tell them what they knew (could be difficult without telling about wandering around the forest but they said it in the end anyway and nothing that happened afterwatds didn't explain why they would keep it a secret anymore when someone's life is in danger). Harry would have to go down to the Chamber with the teachers as he was the only one to speak parseltongue which was essential in moving around the Chamber but would have some help. Again, the plot needed Harry to prove himself and besides, it would not be as thrilling and exciting to read about the showndown if it was so easy and safe.
The rules on allowing magic among Muggles might have changed between Lily's and Harry's childhoods.
Maybe it became scarier to people in the interim.
09:03 may be the reason to take 50 points from each of them is because they are getting into this habit of being out past curfew repeatedly and also Mcgonogal thought that Harry lured Draco to be out past curfew by feeding him with dragon stories
even to quote her, "It's disgusting"
When dumbledoor arrived at the ministry, fudge probably was like: oh now that you are here, please help me with... (lots of tasks).
And dumbledoor is too polite to say no
It's always possible that quirrel had already broken the protective enchantments on the 3rd floor corridor lock. He's trying to get the stone and knows it's in there but when he initially gets through, he can't get past Fluffy so he backs out, locks the door, and comes up with a new plan.
I find the fact that tapping HARRY'S wand on the door is what opens the door. My theory is that Dumbledore set it up that Voldemort could use his wand to open the door -- and since Harry has the brother wand -- it was to test Harry as well. Things that make you "Hmm..."
Ooh I really like that theory. I actually never noted that Hermione grabbed Harry's wand to do the Alohamora spell before. And J K Rowling is just sneaky enough to have done that on purpose... Although wouldn't Quirrel have used his own wand to get through, not Voldemort's? But such a good idea.
It’s not Percys friends it is Charlie’s friends. Percy is the prefect. Charlie is the Dragon Keeper
I had the distinct impressions that whatever crisis Harry faced during his first 6 years of his life was because Dumbledore WANTED him to face them, and ALLOWED this to happen.
My guess is that Dumbledore always knew that Harry would have to face Voldemort one way or another and that Harry will be the one to kill Voldemort. Since you can't have someone who's scared shitless of scary things to go in and kill the said scary thing, Dumbledore kind of uses "desensitization" method (not sure if this is the right term here lol) by using lesser versions of Voldemort so that Harry gets used to being independent and facing things that are deadly and scary.
IMO this also makes sense as to why Dumbledore kept Harry from the wizarding world for the first 10 years of his life. I think the book explanation was so that Harry didn't get bigheaded or something but that never really made sense to me. Who cares if people worship Harry? Why does Dumbledore even care? What if the real reason was to keep Harry from the fear of Voldemort?
Wizarding world is terrified of Voldemort and Harry would have learned to fear him as well growing up with other wizards. But because he grew up with muggles, Harry doesn't really fear Voldemort which is why I think it's easier for him to keep standing up to him.
1. You're right about Quirrel. In the movies you can see JKR realized her mistake because Quirrel doesn't shake his hand.
2. "If you add layers later on that creates a plot hole it's still a plot hole." You're right again. In Tolkien's letters, he told a friend that later on he wanted to say that only Elves and Dwarves could do magical stuff and that Men were totally non-magical, but then he remembered that in Fellowship he'd said the magical daggers the Hobbits find in the Barrows were made by the Men of Numenor and so he decided not to make that Canon as it would contradict something he'd already printed. Just another reason Tolkien had more integrity.
Love your hot take on the house cup! There needs to be a rubric for student expectations. Because all those teachers are showing favoritism to their own houses. With Dumbledore choosing to fly - doesn’t he say in book 5-6 that he prefers to fly? Either he says it or Hagrid does explaining the thestrals. But the real reason is prob JK didn’t invent apparating until book 4 (right?)
Lori Allison book 2 when Harry asks Ron how his parents will get home from Kings Cross Station, because they are hijacking the flying car, Ron says they know how to apparate.
She might not have invented the word, but certainly the principle was there... and of course predates Potter itself. But if I remember correctly, the first time we ever see Dumbledore, he appears out of thin air in the street. That must be an apparation.
@@dan4lau Yeah, for me I saw a lot of hints at apparition in the first book when re-reading.
The first one is actually on the first page: the day of the week doesn't match with the day Voldemort killed the Potters (October 31, 1981). It seems she had a general idea at that point of what time of year it was - hence the "Bonfire Day isn't until next week" comment on the news - but it just doesn't work.
Lily probably also got a written warning for turning her annoying sister's teacup into a rat one time when she was winding her up.
The thing that really made no sense to me was that Quirrel couldn't take the stone out of the mirror. He didn't want to use the stone himself either, he wanted to give it to Voldemort. He even says that the mirror shows himself giving it to Voldemort.
Wow. I've read and watched everything nitpicking thing in the fandom (no exaggeration, of course lol) and you still had so many new thoughts I never heard anyone talk about. I'm even more excited about the rest of your HP content now
"Just realized I should have Harry Potter stuff on display..."
The whole thing is over her left shoulder the whole time.
J Whippet It wasn’t at the beginning of the video, that’s why she said she went and got that box set to put it there
@@aaronemerson8049 , look over her shoulder. (Left on the screen, it's her right shoulder.)
When I was a kid, I heard all of the hullaballoo about Harry Potter from my classmates and tried to read the first book. I could barely get through it because it was so unappealing and boring. Bear in mind that I don't have any reading disabilities or anything (At least not any that I'm aware of). I only read the rest of the series because there were no other books that I was interested in and my teachers forced independent reading onto us.
Re: teacups into rats: She was dating James Potter who was in a crew of people who knew their way around school restrictions and charms, given creation of Marauder’s Map, etc. Between that, pre-packaged magic that wouldn’t trigger underaged magic detection (magic car, port keys, magical jokes and charms, etc), and liberal use of threats, I wouldn’t be surprised if Petunia did think Lily was doing magic at every opportunity. Harry terrorizes Dudley for a bit just because he doesn’t really know Harry’s not allowed to do anything.
packaged magic that wouldn't trigger underaged magic detectauon (magic car, portkeys, magical jokes w charms idk) and liberal use of threats honestly i woundnt be surprised if lilly thought petunia was doing magic at every opportunity
I think what Petunia said could be easily explained. Like, sure we know that minors are not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, but we also know magical stuff happens by their doing or around them because it did happen to Harry. Yes, these were extraordinary situations, but it is not impossible Lily would have some drama and adventures happen to her during her time at Hogwart's. Some elf showing up, or some wizard for whatever reason and she would get accused of doing magic. Petunia said it in a plural form as if it was a regular, but that could be easily an exaggeration because she was mad. She could even lump in a few magic tricks Lily performed after graduating. Humans don't always say things exactly as they were and they tend to exaggerate especially when they are upset so this is completely possible.
Great video! I think in a lot of children's books, mostly, you get illogical things like this because the child has to be the protagonist instead of the more capable adults. It's still fun to point it out, though. XD
I always wondered about that scene from the book. But I love how in the movie they didn't let Quirrel touch Harry in the Leaky Cauldron because that makes sense because he was already bound to Voldemort at that time.
YAY ! Murphy uploaded a video !
And it's about HARRY POTTER
Hey that's you! Wotcher Harry!
Narcissist.
im so late to this series, but i love it!
and about the not protected third floor corridor, i think its because fluffy needs foods, and hagrid wasnt supposed to use magic.
For the Lily/Petunia one, it's possible that when Lily went to Hogwarts they were allowed to perform magic at home, but because Dumbledore kept getting letters from people like Petunia asking why they didn't have a place when their sister did, a rule was introduced to stop it.
@@timwindlingI wouldn’t put it past her but it’s a very specific spell mentioned and it’s confirmed to be real in the books. We know petunia was never at Hogwarts so lily would have had to perform it for petunia to know about it
@@emmawagner8915unless she told her about the spell?
@@pelly_44 i thought about that but I doubt it. Petunia pretty obviously hated Lily once she found out she couldn’t go to hogwarts so I think she would have given the cold shoulder to Lily and therefore would have needed to see it to know what lily was up to. I also think it would be unlikely petunia would remember a specific spell she heard about in passing one time about 20 years beforehand, and the way petunia worded it, "she was always turning mice into teacups" makes it sound like something she witnessed.
Another small thing that crossed my mind about Mcgonagall's ridiculous punishment of -50 points each is that she basically ruins Harry's (and to a lesser extent Hermoine's and Neville's) Hogwarts life by punishing them this way. I can't believe that someone as clever as Mcgonagall would not be able to imagine that these kids would get bullied for the rest of the year (unless they somehow earn a large amount of points that is exactly enough to make them win the housecup) if not longer.
Wait a minute. If proffy Q only wanted the stone to give it to Big V, then isn't he trying to "find it but not use it?"
he wanted to use it to bring back the dark lord and for that he needed to give it to him
A little late to the party, but Quirrel grabbing Harry’s hand is not a plot hole. Voldemort was not strapped to the back of his head at that point, it was only after Hagrid grabbed the Sorcerer’s Stone from the vault and thus thwarted Quirrel’s plans that Voldemort latched himself on to be suffocated by a turban for like 10 months
How can Hermione, who is Muggle born, knows how to use spells in the train? Most who did not grow up with magic at home like Harry needed training to control their magic.
Another note: Ron couldn't turn his "poor rat yellow" because Scabbers isn't a rat.
i never realized the rat thing. You are so right.
She had gotten her schoolbooks and supplies and perhaps paired with reading all of them before school started (as she goes on about) and her natural talent, as soon as she could do magic, she tried it, and got some positive results.
I don’t know about the “he’s not a rat,” thing. It’s true, but since spells aren’t in English, I don’t see it working. If it could, then why aren’t all spells in English? Would open up another inconsistency.
This is my favorite kind of video. Being able to see certain flaws/inconsistencies in your favorite books but still enjoying them. I love nitpicking my favorite books because it adds a different element and gets you to think a little differently. I feel we sometimes hold a story so close to us that if anyone tries to pick at it people go on the defensive. There's nothing wrong with poking fun at your favorite books, nothing is ever going to be perfect (just like real life, haha).
As long as you enjoy the story I think it's perfectly fine to poke fun.
I would screw that pet rule and bring a bat with me. That's my "owl."
What would be my excuse? Simple:
Me: Professor, I understand the rule, but I'm bringing my bat with me because I'm partially blind, and it would be easier for me to distinguish my pet from the hundreds of owls during the mail delivery time at breakfast. I'm sure that my decision will keep things efficient for my disability. Thank you."
I know Miss Rowling has a policy of "no disabilities at Hogwarts," but I say screw it to that rule too.
Rats are no longer allowed since the "new" rules went into place, but the Weasleys got the rat during Charlie's (Bill's? Forget who was the oldest boy) tenure, which was the last year rats were allowed, and so it was grandfathered in until the rat died or Ginny graduated, whichever happened first. Remember the spans of time dealt with in the Wizarding world, and how long reforms take in such a tradition-minded society
Harry not going for the stone might not have changed that particular moment in the book, but this is where he learns that when lily sacrificed herself for him it put a long-lasting protection on him that exists in his blood and that Voldemort can't touch him without injuring himself
Yes!!! 🎉 all I wish was that this was longer 🤷♀️🎉
Comment on Charlie's friends getting into Hogwarts - I think the charms to stop people flying in were specifically added in HBP, as there was nothing to stop them in book 1, nothing to stop the car in book 2, nothing to stop Sirius entering the grounds in book 3, nothing to stop Beauxbatons entering in book 4. Book 6 explicitly states that dumbledore added enchantments on the castle that year, and was actively undoing them whilst him and Harry flew in.
Another problem with the first books was the stone's security measures. I understand that there have to be multiple defense mechanism because betting everything on an unguarded mirror is not a wise move, but the fact that all of the defense stages are designed to be fair challenges to the person who attempt to bypass them makes no sense. They're there to make sure no one can get to the stone, not final exams to the intruder.
For example, the chess game, why don't they have a mechanism that, after a long game, when the defense team is losing, they immediately get 10 queens on the board, it would have been so much more secure while still wasting a lot of time of the intruder, baiting them into thinking it's a chess game before they figure it out. I mean, wasting their time was the point of it, wasn't it ? Otherwise, they would have use a made up game, with made up rules, so that no intruder can win, instead of using one of the most popular game in the world that everybody know. Or the flying keys sections, but when they got the keys, 1000 of bludgers will immediately chase after the owner of the key to knock them out. And the potion riddle section, but it doesn't matter what you choose, you'll get burn anyway because the puzzle are there as distractions and nothing can get pass the fire, hell, why don't all the potions are actually all poisoned, so that anyone try getting through that one get stopped? Why didn't they just leave the potions there without any clues? Why even provide clues at all if the sole purpose of the defense is to stop anyone from going forward? And why are the potions still there after Quirrell went through the room? The devil's snare room is probably the most idiotic one, it's fairly intuitive for anyone before going to a dark room would be to have light first. It was really stupid for the trio to jump into the dark room that they know must have traps and defense mechanism without any light, but it was not as stupid as a defense system that fail the moment there is light. Which is basically useless if the intruders have any common sense. They could have just put spikes, sharp, pointy spikes there, and the trio as well as any one stupid enough to jump into the dark blindly would have died.
I mean, the fact 3 first years students, with little knowledge and no preparation of the challenges ahead, got to the mirror on their first attempt is the testament of how bad the system is, I imagine that it's fairly easy to have a heist team that know how to play quidditch, the most popular magical sport game, chess, the most popular board game, as well as solving a good damn puzzle conveniently with clues right next to it.
I think the deal with Quirrell is that he didn't yet have Voldemort posessing him continuously at the time he met Harry at the Leaky Cauldron. Not 100% sure on this but I THOUGHT the first mention of the turban was at the feast on the first day of class, which would seem to suggest that he wasn't wearing it at the Leaky Cauldron. Also, the scene much later in the book in the Forbidden Forest when Harry sees Voldemort drinking unicorn blood, isn't that a sort of disembodied Voldemort that he sees, or is that the movies contaminating my memory and it was actually Quirrell? My kid ran off with my copy of book 1 and I don't know where he left it so I can't check.
But in any case, my understanding of this was that Voldemort was at first only intermittently posessing Quirrell, but in between posessions he was sort of hanging out in the forest, waiting for progress reports. He was, as he said, "less than the meanest ghost," but nevertheless he did exist in that form in Albania for 10 years, occasionally posessing snakes and other small animals (as he recalls at the end of book 4). So it's entirely possible he was doing that here. It wasn't until later when, I think the way Quirrell put it was that his master wanted to keep a closer eye on him, and began continuously inhabiting his body.
Totally agree with you about the security measures at Hogwarts, not just in book 1 but throughout the series. And I think this also ties in with the whole omniscience of Dumbledore thing as well, which is also one of the biggest plot holes in the whole series. I feel like I have at least one moment of outrage in each book where the kids either narrowly avoid death, or stumble upon some very dangerous situation and there's like absolutely laughable security in place to prevent it. And Harry laughs it off as "Dumbledore wanted to let us try," which shows that Dumbledore has faith in children to do extraordinary things, which is nice in theory, and sure, an 11 year old would think like that, feeling invincible and oblivious to danger. But really, Fluffy hanging out behind a door that can be opened with alohomora, which, throughout the rest of the series is always the spell they try first to unlock doors, except it almost NEVER works because it's the most basic, elementary unlocking charm and so everyone wanting to actually lock a door puts extra security place to make alohomora not work.
And then the whole thing with the Chamber of Secrets - how many people WOULD have died from the basilisk but for a series of wildly improbable lucky breaks that caused them to only see the basilisk in a mirror or a puddle, and not only do they not close the school - they seem to be waiting for someone to actually die before they do that - but Dumbledore apparently lets these 12 year olds go down into the chamber and face the basilisk? I mean you think they're doing it without Dumbledore being aware, just like with the Philosopher's Stone, and of course Dumbledore has already been outsted from the school at this point, but then when they get back he's already back in the castle, and seems completely nonplussed to find Harry covered in blood and venom saying he found and killed the basilisk and saved Ginny Weasley. And Dumbledore is just like, oh yeah, that's pretty much what I figured was going to happen. Really? And you didn't think to maybe, I dunno, send some backup down after him once you got back to the school?
And then in book 4, letting Harry compete in the Triwizard Tournament even though he was underage and Dumbledore KNEW that there was some kind of foul play going on and likely a plot on Harrys' life, but he lets him compete anyway because imperiused Crouch says "magical contract, can't break it" and...yeah, we wouldn't want to go against anything the Ministry says, because Dumbledore's always been such a by-the-books rule follower. "Hey kid, I know you never actually signed up for this dangerous competition that you're too young to even be allowed to participate in, and it's gonna be full of dangers that will threaten your life, and everyone here will think you're a jerk if you do it, and it's most likely part of a plot to kill you, but you know this goblet spat your name out so looks like you're going into the ring." What is this, the Hunger Games?
Or in book 6, when Dumbledore knows that Malfoy is trying to kill him but lets him keep flailing around with clumsy attempts which, again, were it not for incredible luck, would have certainly killed either Katie Bell or Ron or Slughorn or someone else, but that's all ok because Dumbledore wanted to protect Malfoy from Voldemort and luckily none of the innocent bystanders died. Then Harry warns Dumbledore that Malfoy has just succeeded in fixing something in the Room of Hidden Things and is probably going to do something dangerous TONIGHT while they're off school grounds, and Dumbledore brushes him off, and lo and behold, they arrive back to find Death Eaters battling students. But no it's fine, because no one died thanks to luck and Felix Felicis, although Bill got pretty greviously injured. But that was all part of Dumbledore's plan?
There are so many of these and they drive me crazy. Either the kids are running around breaking rules and risking their lives behind Dumbledore's back and he has no idea, in which case he should really be SURPRISED occasionally, maybe even a little angry? Or else he knows pretty much everything that's going on at Hogwarts all the time, in which case he should really be intervening occasionally when he's aware of these really dangerous things going on that could endanger children, and it's only by luck and occasionally Harry playing the hero that people aren't killed at Hogwarts in every single book.
Anyway I've noticed a lot of the inconsistencies you pointed out, although a couple of them were new to me. But that's all to say, this is why the first couple books are actually my least favorite in the series. I guess I'm a stickler for consistency - plot holes really detract from my enjoyment of the book, and I feel like when she was writing the earlier books, even though she had the story arc of the series pretty much figured out, she hadn't yet fleshed out all the details of the magical world, which expands considerably in the later books. By book 4, I feel like the rules were pretty much figured out, at least to the degree that they needed to be for internal consistency, and the books become more enjoyable because there aren't as many of these gaping plot holes. But that's just me.