# What's your least favorite plot device/character/section of the Harry Potter books (OPEN SPOILERS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593 "2009-07-28T20:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/181 "2009-08-06T19:19:40Z")
My biggest complaint is really one of style more than a specific plot device. Rowling has said she knew how the series would end from the start. And I believe her, because the first couple books were short young adult novels. And the last book was a short novel stretched out to fill a uniquely long book, all wrapped up with a fast, pat ending. The last book’s pacing is really awkward and tiresome, and I genuinely believe it’s because she wanted to make it epically-sized but still wanted to use the plot she’d cooked up years ago. If I wanted to point out something more specific, it’s how limited magic got over the course of the series. In the first few books, wizards seem POWERFUL and like they have all sorts of THINGS they can do, but after the fourth or fifth book, it seems more like wizards have about a dozen tricks. Obviously Rowling realized that she couldn’t just keep adding new amazing powers without the whole thing getting silly, but it felt to me like a bad attempt to add “realism” to an inherently unnatural situation. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/182 "2009-08-06T19:53:51Z")
Kid’s awestruck perspective followed by practical experience? ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/183 "2009-08-06T20:18:38Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > I have to cut Ron some slack on this. > > 1. he was profoundly jelous that she was getting some and he was not. > > 2. She was kinda written like the school bicycle. She stayed out all night with Neville (and gave him the time of his life) when she was _twelve_. Add to that the fact that he lives in a Dorm with 4 other guys and by book 6 (her fourth year) she had manged to date 3 of them, including his best friend and those were just the ones we hear about, Ron’s complaining suggested there were more boyfriends that were ‘offstage’ and not part of the story. I think for even a tolerent borther having is sister working her way clockwise around his roomates is going to wear on him. I think is a little harsh. First, she went on _one date_ with Neville, and all signs point to the idea that they went only as friends. The out-all-night, time-of-his-life date is a fabrication of the movies. Didn’t happen in the book. So I don’t think we can count Neville. Okay, so then we’re left with Michael Corner, who she dated for an entire year, Dean Thomas, who she dated for half a year, and Harry, who she ended up marrying. There is no evidence for other boys off stage. So, three boys in two years, and all long-term relationships. Yeah, what a skank! Oh, and she was in Fifth Year in the sixth book…she’s only one year behind Harry. So she was 13 for the Yule Ball. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/184 "2009-08-07T04:57:32Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Snape did hand out points pretty freely to his own house, but if that wasn’t the fault of the students. And as a novice Potter fan, I can’t get over the fact that ANYBODY would realize that letting professors hand out points to their own houses is a Titanic sized conflict of interest in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/185 "2009-08-08T02:49:13Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > And as a novice Potter fan, I can’t get over the fact that ANYBODY would realize that letting professors hand out points to their own houses is a Titanic sized conflict of interest in the first place. True dat. Always bugged me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/186 "2009-08-08T02:59:55Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > And as a novice Potter fan, I can’t get over the fact that ANYBODY would realize that letting professors hand out points to their own houses is a Titanic sized conflict of interest in the first place. But it’s an inescapable trap, isn’t it? How are you going to guarantee that Snape ALWAYS gives the proper points to Slytherin, for example, and isn’t unfair? ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/187 "2009-08-08T05:49:46Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > But it’s an inescapable trap, isn’t it? How are you going to guarantee that Snape ALWAYS gives the proper points to Slytherin, for example, and isn’t unfair? Are there enough classes so “unaffiliated” professors could give out points without losing too much? Maybe a system where one could only give positive points to other houses and only negative to their own. That way, worst case scenario every house breaks even. Professors would still be on the honor system to give points and take them away when it’s due but at least you’ve prevented someone from stuffing the ballot box so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/188 "2009-08-08T12:56:25Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Are there enough classes so “unaffiliated” professors could give out points without losing too much? Maybe a system where one could only give positive points to other houses and only negative to their own. That way, worst case scenario every house breaks even. Professors would still be on the honor system to give points and take them away when it’s due but at least you’ve prevented someone from stuffing the ballot box so to speak. But every professor had a house when they were at Hogwarts, so everyone’s got “their own” house. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/189 "2009-08-08T14:08:34Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > …(or, God forbid, told some responsible adult),… We must be reading different books. I’ve read all seven multiple times and have yet come across this ‘responsible adult’ you seem to intimate exists in the HP universe. It’s my main beef with the books, in fact. Harry lives with people who lock him in a closet under the stairs. No one tells him important information that could keep him alive. He has teachers who abuse him. Everyone doubts what he is telling them even his friends. He has a half-giant protector who is far more likely to get him killed due to idiocy about dangerous monsters than his main nemesis is. Kids walk around with the equivalent of loaded guns in school and are quite willing to use them on each other at the drop of a hat. The janitor is a psychopath. Ghosts of murdered children wander the halls, but no one attempts to find out who killed them. Just the hazards that are left around and brought into a kids school should make lawyers giggle with glee at all the potential lawsuits. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/190 "2009-08-08T16:21:11Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > And as a novice Potter fan, I can’t get over the fact that ANYBODY would realize that letting professors hand out points to their own houses is a Titanic sized conflict of interest in the first place. Well, you see there is this spell that solves that problem. It isn’t mentioned, but it is implied. It is the same spell that keeps anyone from screaming. “My God! the rules to Quidditch are idiotic!” ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/191 "2009-08-08T16:40:40Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > But every professor had a house when they were at Hogwarts, so everyone’s got “their own” house. Not every prof at Hogwarts has a house. Hermione’s Alchemy prof does not head a house, nor does Trelawney. I’m sure there are others–the Muggle Studies prof for another. I have no problem believing that Harry is surrounded by irresponsible adults. I had a teacher in middle school who raged at us and threw chalk, erasers or anything else she could get her hands on. We never thought to tell anyone–this was 1975 and adults did all kinds of crazy shit in my world. IMO, there are more kids that have lives like Harry then we care to think about (except the bit about the wands, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/192 "2009-08-08T16:47:35Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Are there enough classes so “unaffiliated” professors could give out points without losing too much? Maybe a system where one could only give positive points to other houses and only negative to their own. That way, worst case scenario every house breaks even. Professors would still be on the honor system to give points and take them away when it’s due but at least you’ve prevented someone from stuffing the ballot box so to speak. That sounds like a terrible system to me. The purpose of all this house points stuff is to promote good behavior and discourage bad behavior. But if for instance Professor McGonagall wasn’t allowed to deduct points from any House but Gryffindor, students from other Houses aren’t going to take her classes as seriously. Someone like Draco could act up with impunity. Well, I guess REALLY bad behavior would still get him sent to the Headmaster or sentenced to detention, but point deduction is the Hogwarts method for dealing with minor offenses like talking in class, forgetting your homework, or bothering other students. No good would come of forcing a professor to use different methods of dealing with bad behavior for students from different Houses. A weak-willed professor would probably just try to ignore all but the worst naughtiness. Someone like Snape would probably be putting naughty Gryffindors in detention for every little thing and deducting the minimum possible points from misbehaving Slytherins. Someone like McGonagall might come up with some alternative method for punishing minor offenses from other Houses, like factoring “classroom behavior” into their final grades, but even that would not really be fair to the whole class. It would also largely remove peer-pressure as a way to encourage good classroom behavior. If Draco makes a bad grade in Transfiguration because he talks in class and never does his homework, the other Slytherins won’t care. If the same behavior is bringing down their House points total, his dormmates are going to call him on it. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/193 "2009-08-08T18:18:11Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Not every prof at Hogwarts has a house. Hermione’s Alchemy prof does not head a house, nor does Trelawney. I’m sure there are others–the Muggle Studies prof for another. It’s not that every teacher is head of a house, it’s that every teacher was a member of a house when he or she was a student at Hogwarts. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/194 "2009-08-08T19:18:26Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh, that. Yes, it is a conundrum. It’s not such a problem James being an only child, but James’s parents also being last surviving scions of their families? That _is_ a bit thick. I think this was done to compare/contrast Harry and Tom Riddle. Wasn’t Riddle the last in HIS line too? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/195 "2009-08-08T19:41:42Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I think this was done to compare/contrast Harry and Tom Riddle. Wasn’t Riddle the last in HIS line too? Yeah, but only because he murdered his father and grandparents - though he could still have second cousins alive. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/196 "2009-08-08T21:55:25Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > You misunderstood me. She doesn’t have access to galleons prior to her acceptance to Hogwarts, but once she’s in Diagon Alley, the goblins take her Muggle money in exchange for wizard money. > > So, what do the goblins DO with it? They must have somewhere/somehow to use this money, so therefore some type of market must exist for it (and for the exchange itself). Therefore, Muggles somewhere know about wizard money. This is very poor logic. The market for ‘Muggle Money’ could very easily exist entirely among wizards. There is absolutely zero need for Muggles to know about wizard money, anymore than you have a need to know about … dirhams if I exchange Canadian dollars for dirhams (and back). Goblins could, if one is to look at this logically, merely be exchanging said monies back with wizards who for various reasons need “hard currency.” At a proper spread I am sure. Oddly in reading this thread, although I never particularly liked Potter, it seems about 75% of the complaints about supposed holes of logic in HP are really about preference or poor logic themselves. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/197 "2009-08-09T01:54:41Z")
“Dirhams”? What are those? Are those the unit of currency for Canadian wizards? My God, are _YOU_ a Canadian wizard? Have you been spying on us all for the past seven (okay, six-and a half) years? This explains EVERYTHING! ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/198 "2009-08-09T03:05:48Z")
> [@wmfellows](#): > > … dirhams if I exchange Canadian dollars for dirhams (and back). Last month I exchanged Canadian dollars for Dirhams in Dubai. The rate at the time was around 3.25 Dirhams per dollar. Or am I being whooshed here somehow? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/199 "2009-08-09T03:32:54Z")
When Harry goes to the Ministry for his hearing in the _Order of the Phoenix_, the goblin/dwarf guy walking through the crowd is saying something about there being a lot of galleons being traded. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593/200 "2009-08-09T03:45:57Z")
I just recently re-read the sixth and seventh book, and here’s one plot device that bugs me a bit: In the sixth book, we see that the Horcruxes that Dumbledore discovered the hiding places of had powerful curses and/or gateways requiring elaborate knowledge of magic to discover. Main example: In book 6, in the cave where Voldemort hid the locket Horcrux, Dumbledore had to offer it blood, propel the boat by magic, drink the potion, and then, for anyone who got to that point, there was a lake full of Inferi to contend with. If Dumbledore hadn’t discovered that one, there’s no way Harry knew enough to get to it. Lucky for Harry, the Horcruxes he had to locate himself in book 7 were merely hidden - there was certainly a degree of security about them, but nothing that required advanced, Dumbledore/Voldemort-level magic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-least-favorite-plot-device-character-section-of-the-harry-potter-books-open-spoilers/504593.md?page=11)