Harry Potter: 7 Non-Canon Things Fans Tricked Themselves into Believing Are Real

7. The Marauders Called Themselves That

Whenever we refer to James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew as a friend group, we call them “the Marauders.” This nickname has stuck to these four, but guess what? They never referred to themselves as “the Marauders.” The only time they used this word was in the name of the unique artifact they created.

But even then, think about it: wouldn’t the Marauder’s Map be called “the Marauders’ Map” if they wanted to immortalize their group’s glory in the artifact’s name?

6. The Fidelius Charm Blocks Apparition

Many fans believe that Lily and James Potters couldn’t apparate from Godrick’s Hollow when Voldemort arrived due to the Fidelius Charm concealing the house. But in The Deathly Hallows, Harry constantly has to apparate to the doorstep at Grimmauld Place so that the Fidelius Charm would hide him from the Death Eaters.

The real reason Lily and James couldn’t apparate to save their and Harry’s lives was that neither of them had wands when Lord Voldemort arrived at their house.

5. Hogwarts Letters Arrives on One’s Eleventh Birthday

Harry Potter finally got his hands on his Hogwarts letter on his eleventh birthday, and this led one too many fans to believe that’s how they worked. But even in Harry’s case, the only reason he got to read his letter on his birthday was that the Dursleys kept hiding and burning the previous ones for days before Hagrid finally arrived!

Hogwarts sends all the letters on the same date, as simple as that. It’s not like Professor McGonagall waits for midnight to send an owl to some birthday boy.

4. The Goblet of Fire Creates a “Binding Contract”

Fans often misinterpret Barty Crouch Sr.’s words that the Goblet of Fire’s decree amounted to a binding magical contract. These words never meant that if an elected Champion would betray the Goblet’s decision, they would die or anything like that. This meant that the Goblet’s decision could not be overruled by the committee.

The Goblet doesn’t work like the Unbreakable Vow and it certainly doesn’t kill Champions…itself, anyway. There was no “binding contract” forced upon students.

3. Voldemort Was the Greatest Legilimens Ever

Lord Voldemort being the strongest Legilimens ever is another misconception based on one character’s words. Severus Snape says that during his talk with Narcissa and Bellatrix, but if you remember, he was lying his bottom off trying to convince them of his loyalty to the Dark Lord. Snape was merely exaggerating Voldemort’s abilities.

In reality, Voldemort repeatedly fails to recognize his traitors’ and enemies’ intentions and even Harry Potter, the most pathetic Occlumens ever, blocks him off in the end.

2. The Diary Was Voldemort’s First Horcrux

This one is weird. Albus Dumbledore once referred to the Diary of Tom Riddle as Voldemort’s first Horcrux, but it doesn’t fit into the timeline. The Diary was created during Riddle’s fifth year at Hogwarts when he was fifteen or sixteen. But! Tom made the Ring Horcrux in “the summer of his sixteenth year” — right before his fifth year.

Effectively, this suggests that Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring Horcrux was created before the Diary Horcrux. Perhaps, Dumbledore didn’t have full information when he said that.

1. Ron Weasley Eats Like a Pig

The most important misconception we’d like to debunk today is that Ron Weasley was ill-mannered in his passion for food. In the Harry Potter books, there was only one scene that could have implied that: when Ron offended Nearly Headless Nick and immediately tried to apologize despite having a mouthful. He was just that nice.

Having majorly downplayed Ron as a character in other regards, too, the Harry Potter movies added more scenes with Ron eating like a swine. But that’s not canon!