10 Worst Plot Holes in Harry Potter That People Still Need Answers To

Here are ten of the most frustrating Harry Potter plot holes according to fans on Reddit.

Why didn't Remus Lupin stay inside?

In "The Prisoner of Azkaban," fans are introduced to Remus Lupin. The half-blood was bitten by werewolf Fenrir Greyback as a child and was doomed to live out his days as a werewolf.

In both the films and the books, he transforms into the beast as soon as the clouds part, indicating that it's the moonlight, not a specific time of night, that causes his transformation.

Redditors wonder – if it truly is caused by his contact with moonlight – why doesn't he just shut himself inside? Close the doors, draw the curtains, don't allow any moonlight to come in contact with the skin.

One thread theorized that the clouds had a magical trait that kept the moonlight sedated. Simply blocking out the moonlight isn't good enough – it must be covered by a cloud.

Therefore, hiding behind closed doors would be useless.

Why did Ron and Hermoine struggle so hard for food and shelter?

In "Deathly Hallows," Ron and Hermoine forage for mushrooms and steal eggs from farmers, struggling to find resources.

One Redditor asks whether they needed to struggle at all. They had muggle money; the muggle world is far bigger and easier to hide in than the magical world.

If they went into the muggle world, they didn't even need to use magic. They could have stayed at a motel and shopped at a supermarket.

On top of that, another Redditor wondered why they just didn't duplicate the food they had.

Hermoine says they are able to do so as long as they know where it is – why don't they just double what they have on hand rather than search for more?

Why is the Imperius Curse illegal – but not love potions?

The Imperius Curse – one of three Unforgivable Curses – places a victim under the complete control of the caster. Using it even once on another human is punished with a life sentence in Azkaban.

One Redditor asks why love potions are legal and considered to be nothing more than a silly prank, despite the similarities in what they accomplish.

An entire thread talked about several other spells that are somehow legal that certainly shouldn't be – but they all agreed that the love potion should not be allowed.

Why didn't Harry see the Thestrals after Cedric died?

A breed of skeletal, winged horses, Thestrals are only visible to wizards who have seen death. At the end of "Goblet of Fire," shouldn't Harry have been able to see the Thestrals?

Redditors say that he'd just experienced the death of Cedric Diggory in a traumatic, up-close way.

Some said that he should have qualified after his parents' death, but other users pointed out that he was far too young to have comprehended the deaths.

Cedric's death was the first he'd experienced closely, and Redditors argued that he certainly should have been able to see the Thestrals after that.

Why was Dennis allowed in Hogsmeade?

In "Order of the Phoenix," Hermione calls a meeting at Hogs Head, a pub in the village of Hogsmeade, for everyone to hear Harry talk about the threat of Voldemort and how to prepare.

Both of the Creevey brothers are present. Colin would have been in his fourth year, being a year younger than Harry. But his younger brother Dennis would have only been in his second year.

One Redditor asks how he could have been at the meeting at Hogsmeade when no students below their third year are allowed on Hogsmeade trips.

Some users pointed out that there were certainly secret ways into Hogsmeade, considering Harry had been there in his third year.

Others said that, knowing the brothers, they wouldn't be surprised if Colin sat on Dennis' shoulders in a long set of robes to sneak in.

How much does the number of wands matter?

In "Deathly Hallows," Harry managed to stun Greyback by using three wands and a triple spell.

If using a triple spell is more effective simply by having more wands and causing more force is more effective, Redditors ask why this isn't something more wizards use?

On top of that, other users mentioned that the OWL syllabus makes it clear that the more a wizard believes in a spell, the more power it has.

Redditors are left asking how much the number of wands matters, a question that's never answered.

Why didn't the Death Eaters take the Unbreakable Vow?

The Unbreakable Vow is a magically binding oath that leads to death if the terms of which are broken.

Redditors asked the very simple question: Is Voldemort just too proud or too delusional to think he could trust the Death Eaters?

He's trying to negate a death prophecy – wouldn't he play it safe by making his followers take the Unbreakable Vow?

Some users argued that he wanted too badly to be revered and the Vow diminishes that. Others questioned why he would risk it.

Are the living portraits sentient?

One Redditor said that J.K. Rowling specifically mentioned that the living portraits are merely imprints of the deceased, imitating their most basic of personality traits.

The portraits do not have feelings, do not retain memories, and are not treated as spirits or ghosts. The user asks, then, how Dumbledore is possibly able to give Snape advice after his death?

Down that thread, another user asks how the portraits – who are said to lack sentience – are able to show emotions toward those they had not encountered during life?

Redditors agreed that whatever magic is behind the living portraits is inconsistent.

Why didn't the Ministry use the Veritaserum to check Malfoy?

Lucius Malfoy was suspected but never convicted, of being a Death Eater. His argument was that he'd been working for Voldemort only because of the Imperius Curse.

This is taken at his word. One user didn't understand why they hadn't just used the Veritaserum to check. The Veritaserum is an incredibly powerful truth serum used in interrogation, though there are a few ways to resist it.

The user pointed out that the Ministry was shown to have no problem using the serum, considering Umbridge had been willing to use it on children.

Another user down the thread gave the theory that Lucious had simply bought his way out of the conviction, saving him from a sentence at Azkaban.

There's a troll in the dungeons – but someone else is in there, too

This one was so common, several Redditors just said, "The troll is in the dungeons!" without further explanation.

In the first book, Quirrel bursts into the dining hall shouting that there is a troll in the dungeons. Dumbledore calmly tells his students to return to their dorms.

Fans were confused by this, considering it's clearly explained later that many students are housed in the dungeons – it's literally where the Slytherin dormitory is located.

Many threads went on wondering why Dumbledore would actively send the entire Slytherin house into the arms of a troll.

One user asks if Dumbledore secretly hates Slytherins as much as everybody else does.