There are some things about the Wizarding world in Harry Potter that have always bugged me, but HBO’s upcoming remake could set them right. Of course, I don’t expect any fictional world to be perfect, especially one as quirky and whimsical as Harry’s story. For the most part, I have accepted these inconsistent or unclear aspects as part of the fun. However, since HBO’s Harry Potter TV remake has the opportunity to clear some things up and ultimately make the Wizarding world stronger, I think it should take advantage.
Part of what makes the Wizarding world so unique regarding fantasy universes is that it’s supposed to secretly exist alongside our non-magical communities. This naturally means that we readers have a little more room to be critical of how this world functions. Beyond this, the unique brand of magic present in Harry Potter makes things more complicated. Certain aspects of Wizarding society established in early books like Harry Potter and the Philosipher’s Stone seemed like no big deal at the time, but they developed into a more significant problem. It’s precisely these things that HBO’s remake must address.
9
The Wizarding Economy Makes No Sense
Are There Wizarding Expenses We Don’t Know About?
Much like the Muggle world, the Wizarding world is divided into classes. Families like the Malfoys are known to be extremely wealthy, while the Weasleys are poor. This is an important factor of Harry Potter, since it emphasizes the preference for pure blood even within a more progressive society. However, it’s difficult to understand how some Wizarding families can be so poor when magic would eliminate the most serious expenses.
HBO’s Harry Potter remake could clear things up by revealing a significant tax imposed by the Ministry of Magic.
It’s eventually made clear in the Harry Potter books that food can’t just be conjured from nothing (according to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration). However, witches and wizards can increase the quantity of food they already have, so there isn’t much need for frequent shopping trips. Additionally, the Weasleys wouldn’t need to pay electricity, water, or other common Muggle utilities. HBO’s Harry Potter remake could clear things up by revealing a significant tax imposed by the Ministry of Magic. This would further the themes of governmentally enforced classism.
8
Education In The Wizarding World Is Lacking
The Harry Potter Remake Can Explain How Kids Learn The Basics
This problem has been a topic of conversation among the Harry Potter fandom for years. From our Muggle perspective, Hogwarts’s education lacks the basics. Sure, they have Potions, Arithmancy, Transfiguration, and more, but no math or science classes are offered to the students. These would surely still be valuable in the Wizarding world since natural science and the ability to calculate sums have nothing to do with the presence or lack of magic.
My primary argument in this discussion has always been that Wizarding culture likely expects parents to teach these basics before their children attend Hogwarts. Student begin their first years knowing how to read, so their parents must have taught them, but this could potentially be a problem in some circumstances. HBO’s Harry Potter remake can put a definitive end to the education conversation by demonstrating how some children get a better education from their Wizarding parents while others suffer from neglect in this way (think the Gaunts).
7
Certain Spells Should Be Way More Of A Problem
Nothing Is Done To Control Dangerous Magic
The idea of magically powerful children is a bit frightening in Harry Potter. Ron Weasley once mentioned that Fred and George nearly entrapped him with an Unbreakable Vow, but his father stepped in to stop it. Another Weasley disaster involved the twins transforming Ron’s teddy into a spider, scarring him for life. These were mostly comical anecdotes, but they were a reminder of a very real problem in the Wizarding world.
It’s strange that things like Unbreakable Vows or the Unforgivable Curses aren’t abused more in the Wizarding World. Though the Ministry of Magic monitors magic use, Harry Potter demonstrates that this becomes more complicated in magical households and communities. The Harry Potter remake must somehow explain how the magical community doesn’t fall to pieces when everyone, even children, has access to so much power.
6
Other Wizarding Spells Are Completely Redundant
What Even Is The Point Of Locked Doors?
Harry Potter is full of useful spells, but some are too useful. A prime example of this is Alohomora, a spell to unlock locks. Hermione introduced readers to this spell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when she used it to unlock the door that kept students separated from Fluffy and the other protections around the Philosopher’s Stone. She said she read about it in the “Standard Book of Spells,” indicating that this is one of the Wizarding world’s most basic spells.
HBO’s Harry Potter remake could address this by introducing a tiered skill system for both locks and the spell itself.
If first-year wizards can master Alohomora, why does anyone in the Wizarding world bother with locks? The spell makes itself entirely redundant. HBO’s Harry Potter remake could address this by introducing a tiered skill system for both locks and the spell itself. There must be more to it than pointing a wand at any old lock and muttering “Alohomora.” Some locks (really most locks) must be impervious to the spell.
5
The Wizarding Population Seems Far Too Small
The Numbers Aren’t Consistent
One unclear aspect of Harry Potter is the size of the Wizarding world in terms of population. The books subtly address this, noting that everyone in the British magical community knows one another and is familiar with the prominent families. They also note that the idea of blood purity has become unsustainable since there are no longer enough witches and wizards for pure bloods to procreate amongst themselves. Still, the numbers, especially within Hogwarts, are inconsistent.
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J.K. Rowling has said there are about 1,000 students at Hogwarts, with approximately 250 students per house. However, there are only 5 Gryffindor boys in Harry’s year, rather than the about 40 that should have been for the 1,000 figure to make sense. Additionally, if there were so many students, there wouldn’t be nearly enough teachers at Hogwarts to make sense. HBO’s remake will have to either significantly reduce the number of kids attending Hogwarts—including those in Harry’s dorm—or significantly increase the number of staff.
4
Wizarding World Legal Restrictions Are Highly Inconsistent
We Could Use More Information About The Laws & Regulations
Plenty of silly things are illegal in Harry Potter, but there is so much more that should be against the law but, for some reason, isn’t. Potions are a prime example since things like the Polyjuice Potion, Felix Felicis, and others are legal to use. Sure, they are regulated, but even this doesn’t make much sense. There is no honest reason that someone would need to pretend to be someone else, so why isn’t the Polyjuice Potion outlawed entirely?
Enchanting Muggle artifacts to do harm is also a big no-no in Harry Potter, but it’s hardly ever enforced. Borgin and Burke is stuffed full of illegal items (along with the rest of Knockturn Alley), but the Ministry does nothing about it. The Harry Potter remake must establish further laws and restrictions to explain why dangerous activity isn’t stopped by the Ministry (while seemingly harmless behavior is punished).
3
Portrait Magic & Moving Pictures Are Puzzling
Are They People Or Not?
When you think about it, moving portraits and pictures in Harry Potter are quite disturbing. Though images in the Daily Prophet seem to be more like video capture on a loop, personal photographs and portraits have a personality all their own. This is especially odd when considering Hogwarts’ paintings. The Fat Lady, Sir Cadogan, and others are characters in their own right, with personalities, friends, and even the ability to get drunk on painted wine. The Headmaster portraits in Dumbledore’s office possess the personalities of their subjects, but are they actually real people?
Dumbledore’s portrait continued to guide Snape after the headmaster’s death, and Harry even conferred with the painting at the end of Deathly Hallows. It seems that depictions of people “living on” as paintings would be somewhat confusing and emotional in the Wizarding world. Why wouldn’t everyone have a painting made? The Harry Potter remake can detail the limitations of paintings compared to living people.
2
The Justice System Is Extremely Severe In The Wizarding World
Aren’t There Other, Less Intense Prisons?
Punishments in the Wizarding world are pretty outrageous and inconsistent. Azkaban is the only prison ever mentioned, and it is entirely run by the Dementors. Witches and wizards are thrown in here to be tortured and wither away if they are found guilty of harming others with Dark magic, but much more minor offenses are punished the same way. It’s a bit extreme, but this is all the stranger when considering how Hogwarts expulsion works.
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Students can be expelled from Hogwarts for various reasons and aren’t allowed to get their magical education elsewhere. In fact, their wands are destroyed, and they are forbidden from practicing magic altogether. Oddly, dangerous wizards who are sentenced to Azkaban aren’t in danger of having their wands destroyed. Sirius, Bellatrix, and every other escaped Death Eater reclaimed their wands once they were free. At the very least, the Harry Potter remake should acknowledge the injustice of it all.
1
Wizarding Medical Care Seems Weirdly Limited
HBO’s Harry Potter Remake Can Explain The Restrictions
People often complain that there is little regard for safety in the Harry Potter series, but I have always argued that this makes sense in a world where injuries can be magically healed. For the most part, witches and wizards can be healed of serious injuries and illnesses with the wave of a wand or a swig of potion. Harry even had the bones in his arm regrown in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
There are strange limits to magical healing, however. Muggles have developed the technology to fix a person’s eyesight, but this is, apparently, beyond the abilities of magic. Harry and many other witches and wizards wear glasses, indicating that there is no magical cure for nearsightedness or astigmatism. If this is the way it is, so be it. However, it would be nice if HBO’s Harry Potter remake acknowledged why eyesight is beyond fixing in the Wizarding world.
Harry Potter
- Showrunner
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Francisca Gardiner
- Directors
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Mark Mylod
