7 Most Frustrating Mistakes in the Best Harry Potter Movie

7. Where Did Firebolt Get Stuck?

One of the first things Sirius Black did after escaping from Azkaban was sending Harry, his godson, a gift: Firebolt, an amazing broom. It arrived early in the book while everyone still considered Sirius a murderer and a traitor, and served as an important plot point. In Cuarón’s movie, however, Firebolt only appeared in the finale, completely neglecting — among other things — our next point.

6. Why Was There No Canon Drama?

Scared for Harry’s life after the latter received Firebolt from the notorious criminal Sirius Black, Hermione got the broom confiscated with the help of Professor McGonagall to protect The Boy Who Lived. For Harry and Ron, that was a betrayal, and the boys were furious with their friend; Ron didn’t even speak to Hermione for half of the book. The movie completely ignored their fallout.

5. Who Were Those Marauder Types?

The Prisoner of Azkaban introduces a bunch of Potter family lore, especially when it comes to James Potter and his best friends, the Marauders. All three of them first appear in the third book, and Harry gets to learn a lot about his parents and their friends. The movie, unfortunately, remained oblivious to this being a crucial plot point, which led to quite a few plot holes later down the line. Like…

4. What’s Up with Lupin and the Map?

Thanks to the lack of the Marauders' lore, the Marauder’s Map largely remains a mystery. The viewers don’t understand why Professor Lupin is able to use the Map and why it insults Professor Snape; they have no idea that Lupin is Moony, one of the Map’s creators. Similarly, no other nickname is ever explained as characters casually refer to each other differently with no context.

3. Did Harry Go Mental After the Attack?

Another problem with the lack of the Marauders’ lore and nickname explanation is that in Cuarón’s movie, it’s never explicitly stated that James Potter, Harry ’s father, was Prongs — and why. His Animagus form, the stag, isn’t mentioned, and neither is Harry’s Patronus (also the stag). When in the finale, Harry claims he saw his father in that magical stag, it’s almost like he went insane thanks to the Dementors.

2. What Happened to Poor Ron?

Most Harry Potter movies did Ronald Weasley unbelievably dirty, stripping the poor boy of any plot significance, but The Prisoner of Azkaban was among the worst. In the book, the 13-year-old Ron stood up in front of Harry, though wounded, and told a convicted murderer that he’d have to kill him to get to Harry, which never happened in the movie — and neither did Ron’s fury at Wormtail, his “favorite pet.”

1. When Did the Wizarding Fashion Change?

Alfonso Cuarón undoubtedly added a lot of style to the Harry Potter franchise, but his changes came at a price. The Prisoner of Azkaban became the first movie that largely neglected Hogwarts uniforms and portrayed students wearing Muggle clothes at school most of the time. After Chris Columbus’s movies, it felt frustratingly lame — after all, are only the younger students expected to dress properly?