Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Doesn't Make Sense? 

Maybe Voldemort's brain got split in 7 peaces as well.

A school not helping you prepare for the future? Well, looks like the wizarding world and the muggle world aren't so different after all.

Something that has never quite made sense to me is why no one brings it up during Harry's hearing that yeah, Harry did magic in front of a muggle, but the muggle was his cousin who already knows about magic! Like one of the charges against Harry was that he performed magic underage, but the other charge was about the International Statute of Secrecy, so shouldn't it matter at least a little bit that the muggle Harry performed magic in front of was Dudley, who already knows about the wizarding world? Obviously the ministry is just against Harry and the hearing isn't actually fair, but it's still never quite made sense to me that no one ever even mentions that Dudley already knew about magic anyway

Voldemort Book 5: It's too risky for me to try to sneak into the Ministry, despite the government's lax security and belief I'm dead. Harry Book 7: I'll just whip up some polyjuice potion to sneak into the ministry despite being public enemy number one and the government being on high alert.

One thing the movie did better than the book throughout the serie is how ron's and lupin's bogarts were defeated

This is 100% a theory, but I’m going to say that Lupin’s boggart acts weird because his greatest fear is also his deepest desire. As a werewolf even a boggart image of the moon must hold a very powerful instinctual draw. The ridikulous spell would work well enough to get a boggart’s attention, but it’s entirely possible that the boggart reads his fear, generates the moon, and is then stuck fast because Lupin the man is afraid and Lupin the wolf has its attention firmly fixed on that moon. Could he banish a boggart? Sure. I have no doubt he could pull that off. But diminishing it might be impossible.

This isn’t a plot hole, and I suppose it’s really more an issue with the later books, but it always bothered me that Ron and Hermione never faced long-term consequences for their injuries in the Department of Mysteries, given how strange they were. I think Hermione’s curse in particular was supposed to be quite serious, plus no one really knew what it was. I was sure it would come back to haunt her at some point, but nope.

I never call their exams by acronyms, I just say “owls” and “newts.”

That Voldemort rant is why you’re my favorite BookTuber. Totally agree, by the way. Voldemort isn’t nearly as scary as Bellatrix or even Lucius or Greyback because he can’t freaking keep his crap together.😂😂

Here is a funny theory: The boggart is really confused with Lupin, because Lupin fears the full moon, but his werewolf persona relishes it.

Hey, Merphy! I don't know if other commenters addressed this, but I think it helps to understand Hogwarts if you know something about the British school system. I'm an ex-pat Brit who went to a very old English public (i.e., private) school--the kind upon which Hogwarts was modeled--from ages 11 through 18. Very briefly (you can research further if you're interested): Years 1 & 2 were foundation years where we studied a wide range of topics. Year 3 we chose subjects for "O Level" (later known as GCSEs), what Hogwarts calls OWLs. Some subjects were mandatory (iirc, Math, English, and at least one science), but we could choose from a range of additional subjects. Most took around 10-12 O Levels. The Hermiones would have taken 14 or more. At 16, you could leave school with your O Levels and get a job, or go on to Sixth Form and take A Levels (NEWTs). You would take 3 or 4 subjects at A Level (Advanced Level). Getting A Levels could get you a better job. If you wanted to go to university, the subject you study and which colleges accepted you would depend on your A Level results. That may not answer all your questions about Hogwarts. It does seem strange that 13/14 year olds would be expected to know what they want to do for a career and hence take appropriate O Levels/GCSEs. However, I think the idea is that by the time you choose your O Level/GCSE subjects, you already have an idea of your strengths and weaknesses. Those strong in STEM are going to choose more science/math subjects, and those strong in humanities/arts are going to pick more subjects in that area. Anyway... sorry for the long comment, but I hope that helps or at least piques your interest to research further. Feel free to ask questions if you have any. 😀 I hope you get better soon and have a blessed 2020!!

I've started reading the series again to follow your analysis of the series. I have no one to have these conversations with anybody without them being offended as if the series is perfect and the blasphemy of anyone criticizing the books. It is obvious you love the series but I appreciate your ability to be and remain objective. I hope you heal soon.

Regarding the house elves being "warned not to tell," it would make sense to me that this was more of a standing order rather than being specific to the incident, and Dobby overheard the conversation while doing his normal duties (such as handle food service during mealtimes). I think it's not unlikely that Umbridge would have extended her control-freak behavior over the house elves. Not telling students about anything would probably be just one of several new restrictions the house elves had to follow. She had already forbid teachers from discussing topics outside their courses.

Voldemort never keeps it simple, his sense of self importance blinds him for easy solutions

I never found dark lord to be dark enough

Never rely on Voldemort to plan your wedding

I've always wondered why Sirius could never use Polyjuice Potion to go out. Then he wouldn't have got cabin fever, could have been helpful and therefore avoided being driven to take extra risks, which ultimately lead him to death.

One other thing that never made sense to me was Sirius's mirror. Harry conveniently forgets about the magic mirror Sirius gave him when he needs it most. Man that scene angers me every time I read it! He could have simply just used the mirror instead of Umbridge's office, and Sirius might still be alive. Sigh

What if Umbridge gave the elves a general notice that they should not talk to the students in general?

I always thought about Harrys departure from Nr. 4. My guess is, despite the Order and the ministry not being on good terms at the time, Dumbledore still could have informed them about which evening they would come and get him, thus explaining the use of magic on said evening. This was before the ministry was infiltrated by Death eaters and when Miss Hopkirk and/or Fudge were informed that Harry was escorted somewhere else, they propably could not send him another letter for it. For the House elves; I think they were told by Umbridge to not warn any students of anything that Umbridge was up to beforehand, maybe even at the start of the term or when she started to fight for power over the school. Then all DObby had to do for things to happen as they did was to overhear the conversation with Marietta by accident or maybe he even spied on Umbridge all the time in an effort to help Harrys cause.

Thinking it back, mabye the Trace works differently than what we assume. Even assuming the trace doesn't trace (excuse me) Apparition, because if it did all the wizards monitoring Harry, especially in book 5, would create a huge mess in the Ministery, but there are instances in wich wizards perform magic at the Dursleys while Harry is over there and nothing happens. Tonks packing his shit in book 5 is the easiest one to point at, but in book 4, when the Weasley's go to take Harry for the World Cup, Arthus performs quite a bit of magic, and when Dumbledore goes at the Dursley's he conjures the bouncing glasses and does other small spells. Even in book 7, when they go on the mission to move Harry to the BUrrow, some kind of magic is performed im pretty sure. Harry is only accused when he does Magic or when Dobby does magic around him. This makes me think that the Trace can actually figure out if an adult Wizard is performing a spell near a student, but it cant recognize the kid's magic from the magic of a non wand user. The amount of "errors" and "plotholes" and straight up nonsense from the magic at Dursely's situation is so large we cant just assume it's a bunch of errors IMO. As i pointed out in the Book 3's video, i think the whole Remus character is explained in his "weird" interaction with Boggarts; he can fight them off, because they are just a harmless monster and he knows what to do, but his condition shapes his life so radically, and he lets it control him to much, he cant really defeat it or laugh at the Boggart. Lupin is someone who truly never went past his trauma and lets it control his existence, so he can't properly fight Boggarts. I'd assume Voldemort himself could never pop a Boggart either, since he cant dominate his fear of death, but he would be far from defenseless against a Boggart. For the records, i tried to explain Voldy's extremely convoluted plan in book 4, saying that mabye is not the best plan but it's definitely a reasonable one, but his plan in book 5 is just riddiculous. I mean, even as a teen, when Bellatrix was talking about how stupid and risky it would be for voldy to sneak in, i was like "wait, you are in right now... doesn't seem like you had ANY problems sneakin in, thefuck are we talkin abou?!?" I mean, the employee of the ministery only show up after they literally destroy half of the Department of Mysteries, a grand scale battle between tens of capable wizards occurred, DUMBLEDORE sneakd in when he was still wanted, i mean how silly can you be Voldy? Especially since it would've been so easy for Harry to check on Sirius' well being after seing the vision, based on what Voldy knows. He knows the Order of the Phoenix exists, and it's only a fucking coincidence that McGonagal is at the hospital and Harry doesn't give a shit about Snape. And dont let me started on the mirror!.

Yes, you are right, Fudge should be grasping for any excuse to expel Harry, for me order of the Phoenix is the worst offender on the trace inconsistencies subject.

What if Umbridge called a house-elf to look for the inquisitorial squad asap? Which would mean several elves could be involved and Umbridge told the one she called it had to stay top secret.

I always thought house elves were like a system of Alexa's. They're always listening, and can be summoned at a moment's notice. So, Umbridge just knew they overheard her conversation. They didn't have to be in her office to hear it.

Another thing that doesn't make sense: after the Umbridge being carried by the centaurs, Luna, Neville and Ron show up and say to Harry and Hermione how they escaped from the Inquisitorial Squad. Then, they start a conversation about how to save Sirius, but here is the thing: no one told to Neville about Sirius being friendly and also being Harry's godfather. At that time, Sirius still was known as the crazy murder that escaped Azkaban and that the Ministry of Magic was still seaching for him! And that is what Neville obviously knew, he didn't know that he is Harry's godfather, and doesn't make sense him not to argue something like "Why we need to save that crazy murder? Let's tell the Ministry of Magic about it!" at that time

My biggest issue is when Harry and Hermione are using Umbridge's fire to see if Surius is at the Ministry, why didn't they just step through right then and there. They could check to see if Kreacher was lying and if Sirius is indeed trapped at the Ministry, they are SO much closer to the ministry, not to mention the headquarters of the Order where they can at least leave a message for other Order members to find.

The career knowledge and elective classes part feels true to me tbh. I'm from Scotland and the school system I remember being pissed off with because they wanted us to choose our classes after our second year of high school and I didn't know what career I wanted to pursue. We were never informed of what subjects would help us get what career or help us get into which courses in university until about fifth year. So I'd blame the school system rather than J.K. as is reminds me it's all messed up irl too.

How does Professor Binns mark papers? He's a ghost. He can't write. The idea of "History of Magic" being taught by a ghost is comical but, logistically, it makes no sense. How are they being graded in the subject, if their teacher is unable to give them any grades or written feedback for their work, save perhaps for the O.W.L.s, which I believe are graded by external assessors. And before you say it's probably done through magic.. again; he's a ghost. He is unable to hold a wand, let alone cast a spell.

Believe me, I studied high School in a country with a school system where you should choose among 3 options of career path. Teenagers even knowing how it affects your career, they will study the subjects they feel interested in.

Lmao I never thought about the fact that Voldemort never keeps it simple. That’s such a good point and that’s why he can never get it right.

Thank you for addressing the fact that hogwarts students don’t learn math, literature, etc because during my recent adult read this bothered me beyond reason. How they become full functioning adults given the education they get I don’t buy for a minute.

I have a question. Why weren't the others alarmed that Marietta didn't come to the DA meeting, she was the most likely to tell on them. + I agree. Voldy is so dumb

I saw this on hp wiki, if Sirius was getting tortured in the department of mysteries the ministry would find Sirius and arrest him. Harry is so dumb sometimes, gets it from voldemort I guess.

Voldemort is really cared about harry's studies cause he ALWAYS comes at the end of the school year. Great! Voldys really caring about education here

HP seems to be a lesson for future author's in either A: plotting your series more thoroughly, or B: getting your work proof read before having it published.

Maybe for the classes problem, they want you to choose which classes you genuinely like before choosing a career. For example, if somebody’s parents want them to become an auror, but they don’t want to, said person chooses which classes they WANT and can choose a career based on their genuine interests, not pressurisation.

I'm surprised you didn't include the plothole that even the author knows of and shared with us in her notes on old Pottermore, that The Marauder's Map was back on Harry's Possession when he gave it to Moody on Year 4. From what I remember he didn't get it back

I could see Umbridge making house elves serve her in her office in person to make herself feel important.

My issue with the department of mysteries, along with what you said, is that there has been this HUGE emphasis on how highly protected it is... but it was super easy for the kids to just walk right in. Another thing for me is with the two way FaceTime mirror thing Sirius gave harry. If all Harry had to do to contact Sirius was call him through the mirror, why did they go through all the trouble of contacting each other through the fire? They could’ve made daily Mirror calls but chose not to... this whole thing could’ve been avoided if Harry had just called Sirius on the mirror. I wish Rowling had just left Harry rediscovering the mirror out of the ending altogether because it really annoyed me... and not once did Harry go “Hey! I could’ve just called him”... EDIT: I just watched your review lol. Didn’t realize that Harry just didn’t open it til then. Which is rude of him.. why didn’t he open it? But still, Sirius should have told him what it was and that they needed to start talking that way. Whatever. Still pissed lol

What do we do at 3am? Sleep? Nah. We watch Merphy Napier.

I love your analysis and recently have just read this book again and I'm just wondering HOW 5 teenagers were able to enter the ministry of magic through the visitor's entrance????? So is it so easy to just go in the ministry and take the elevator and just go wherever you want? They can keep an eye in the whole country but they just have no security in who gets in and out their own ministry? That pisses me off!!

About the house elves. Umbridge is the type of person who would have a house elf "assigned" to her. (after all they are a perk of her office). I can see her telling that elf to get other elves to tell the students she trust why they need to meet her at a certain time and place. Every thing else you have brought up is spot on.

He took a really long, elaborate and ultimately self defeating route when there was an easier option right in front of him... I work with people like this...

I love how you are able to point out how some of your favourite books don't make sense. I love this series, but you are right, there's a lot that doesn't make sense in this series. I love both videos you are posting for these books. :)

Unpopular opinion: The whole situation with Marietta Edgecombe was a situation where no one was the good guy. > Cho is the most blameless, but was still defending someone who sold all of them out. Cho insists that Marietta had a good reason for her actions, ignoring the fact that Cho herself was one of the people who would suffer consequences (which would include detention with _Dolores freaking Umbridge_ or even expulsion) just so Marietta could save her own skin. > Speaking of which, let's talk about Marietta! True, she didn't deserve to get scarred for life (literally), but she still sold out her so-called "best friend" and the others just to save her own reputation. At this point, there's no way that Marietta doesn't know what Umbridge does to students who displease her; we already know that Harry and Lee Jordan were both forced to carve up their hands like a Thanksgiving turkey, it can be inferred that at it this point, she had already done this to more students and even if she hasn't, Lee must've said something even if Harry didn't. Marietta is evidently willing to let _the entire DA,_ (including her "best friend") be potentially subjected to literal torture at Umbridge's hand, just to save her own skin. Also, it kinda makes Marietta look really stupid, as she should know by now that Umbridge is a lying, untrustworthy individual, so she would likely be willing to punish Marietta as well. The excuse Cho gives is that Marietta is trying to protect her mom's job at the Ministry, and even if that's true, Marietta's still being stupid because again, Umbridge is a liar and a bully. How does she know Umbridge won't just sack Marietta's mother anyway as a punishment for Marietta aligning herself with filthy rebels? > Hermione cursed the scroll without telling anyone. Nuff said. I honestly think this whole thing could've been avoided if Hermione had just told everyone about the scroll being cursed into a magically binding contract. Slight sub-unpopular opinion, but I don't think it was _completely_ unjustified for her to make the curse in the first place; they were, after all, starting a secret society that had to hide from a totalitarian dictator who would have all of them tortured if she found out they were doing this in the first place, so betrayal shouldn't be tolerated in this case as it puts all of them in very real danger. But again, Hermione could've _told_ everyone all of this like "Hey, btw, if you don't wanna end up with hideous boils on your face forever, you'd better not rat any of us out!" and the whole thing would've been avoided. This is partially on _you,_ Hermione. Marietta would likely have never ratted you guys out if she'd known about the curse. > Harry deciding to break off his relationship with Cho over this whole thing feels really petty on his part. Don't get me wrong, Harry's relationship with Cho was kind of a trainwreck that was doomed to fail anyway, but while I do think Cho's trust in Marietta was misplaced, I feel like this shouldn't have been the thing that ends their relationship. It just feels cheap, especially considering the fact that they already had a disastrous date before this that just already proved them to be totally incompatible and likely unhealthy together. Still, it's leagues better than the utterly stupid decision the movie made, where Harry dumps Cho because he _thinks_ she ratted them out and then it turns out she was forced to under truth serum...and we never get a reconciliation between them until like, movie 8. Idk, those are just my thoughts on that little subplot.

I love this woman

For the House Elf thing, you have to assume they aren't under her authority. If anything, Dumbledore probably told them specifically not to obey her orders, and they'd have to obey his, right? Otherwise, she could use them for all manner of evil, since their magic can't be stopped. I get the impression that, maybe, Dobby was eavesdropping on her for Harry's sake, and then tipped off the other Elves. It's possible, anyway, but yeah, that's definitely a plot hole.

Just a few random thoughts. The problem with the Tri-Wizard plot can be easily solved with a simple re-writing of the spell used to regenerate Voldermort. The line that involves Harry is: "Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe." Just take out "forcibly taken," and substitute "fresh from a triumph." Bingo! Now Harry having to win the Tri-Wizard Tournament before being whisked away by portkey make sense. Harry, IIRC, has Dobby spy on Malfoy in book six so the problem about Umbridge and the house elves can be solved in a similar manner. Harry, earlier in the book, could set Dobby to spying on Umbridge - something Dobby would gladly do for the "my friend, great Harry Potter." Hermionie would, no doubt, sputter with indignation but Harry need not tell her. The whole security system for the prophecies makes no sense. Only those who the prophecy is about can remove it from the shelf? What if the prophecy is about people who won't be born for decades or even centuries later? This means that, once the prophecy is put on the shelf, no one can take it down and study it - which renders the whole point of having a prophecy moot. As for how to solve the whole mess that is the fight at the Ministry of Magic - that eludes me at the moment. Nothing sort of a serious rewrite could do it.

After thoroughly breaking down “crimes of grendolwald” and it’s massive plot holes and continuity issues, I’m starting to be disenchanted by J.K. Rowling’s spells.

If Voldy broke in himself, and was undetected, then Harry would've for SURE gotten arrested when the Ministry found out the prophecy was missing. I doubt even Dumbledore would've been able to keep Harry safe.

Hermione's scheme for stopping people from ratting them out was kind of meh as well. She could have just said "Hey I've put a jinx on the piece of parchment you all signed - rat us out at your own risk" rather than keep from everyone and the jinx only kicking in AFTER someone has ratted them out. She could have also just forced them all to take Unbreakable Vows that they cannot tell any teachers about the DA. Can you imagine if Marietta goes to Umbridge to rat them out only to just drop and die as she's doing it?

surprised you did not mention how hermione's plan to stop anyone in the DA from telling umbridge was so stupid, no one new the sign up paper was jinxed and it wouldn't alert them if someone did tell or in anyway prevent them from telling

About the Bogart, maybe the first time, the spell just failed, it may have a chance of failing, depending on the competence and concentration of the wizard. I like to imagine at like this: Lupin burst in, and upon realizing what happened, he shouted the spell, but since he wasn't fully concentrated, we can see that he did it emidiately after he realized what has happened, or maybe even the Bogart was very powerful, so the spell failed. The Bogart, finding itself threatened, aquired a new target it's attacker and turned into a moon. Having regained full composer Lupin executed the spell better. It's just my opinion, but I would love to hear what you think.

With the career thing, that's actually mostly how it works in the UK- You pick your GCSE subjects as a 13 year old in year 9, and then your A levels, which will determine your uni subject and potential career, at 16 in year 11. Most people have an idea of what they want to do with their lives, so will pick accordingly even though career advice etc starts at 16. It doesnt make sense looking at it from the outside, but in the system's defence, there are around 8 compulsory subjects like English, maths, science etc which means you tend to be well rounded in your GCSEs no matter what you choose.

One of the thing that annoyed me is that Harry is, suddenly, the greatest wizard in defense against the dark arts. I mean, i get it, he knows how to conjure a patronus wich is way advance and some other spells here and there. And, yes, he has fought Voldy and survive a couple of times (bc pure luck) but beyond that he is not that great. He doesn't even bother to properly learn charms or spells that could be really useful to him when is like 110% possible he will need it. Now, something I really liked about this book particularly is that kind of complain we can do of the learning system. The way Umbridge makes them study for her class is like a picture of every class I take in school, "just eat that book and vomit it in your exam".

I do find the more critical I become of something I read or watch, the less I enjoy it.

Another plot hole is when Harry contacts Lupin and Sirius through Umbridge’s fireplace, why doesn’t Sirius mention the mirror to Harry?

“Voldy and his elaborate schemes” 😂😂😂😂😂

okay, i have been thinking about that boggart lupin thing ever since i watched ur doesn't make sense video regarding prisoner of azkaban , and i think i have a way to interpret it. so , a boggart when faced by a wizard , it turns into the thing that he/she fears the most, but what if turned to someone's fear and that someone couldn't handle it ? how can another wizard "gets its attention" to transfer to his own fear , so that he then can handle it ?! i think the answer is "Riddikulus" that would make PERFECT sense ! lupin wanted to get the boggart attention in BOTH situations u r referring to, first with harry in the class and second in the grimmauld place. and in BOTH situations the boggart has already transformed to someone other than lupin's fear and that someone couldn't handle it. so lupin steps in and cast riddikulus to get the boggart attention , and transfers to the orb/moon. and in both situations he cast Riddikulus again and he handles that boggart , the first he turns it into a cockroach and in the second he turns it to puff of smoke.

Harry talking to Remus and Lupin in the fire was such a wholesome moment for me. Harry mentioning James messing up his hair trying to look cool and those two sharing a chuckle. That just feels real. I like Neville too but he was such a hindrance at the ministry. He continuously did the opposite to what Harry kept asking.

Here is something that bugs me: Could Nagini take the prophecy? If yes, then why did it not go ahead and do so, after it attacked Mr. Weasley? Surely there was enough time to get past him before Dumbledore's interference? If NO, then what was it doing there, taking a night stroll? Also, if only Harry or Voldy could retrieve the prophecy, what was the point of the normal members of the Order standing guard? Death eaters can't take it, they had no reason to believe that Harry would come and they all knew they don't stand a chance against Voldy himself.

As for the OWLs and electives... it's possible that the goal is not to get the students into the career path they want, but the one they're most naturally suited for. That would explain why electives are chosen before they find out which ones they'd need to get their desired career.

I disagree with the classes issue, several reasons (this is basically what hermione did in 3rd year) 1) Doing every class as compulsory has massive drawbacks, including having a very broad timetable that is streched very thin. The more subjects you do, the elss you can specialise ps (training to be a maths teacher, their lack of maths skills disturbs me) 2) In the UK, we choose twice, once for GCSE (year 9 at end) and then 6th form( 17-18 year olds). Realistically most students dont know their careers at year 9 which is the age of 3rd at hogwarts (most students dont know it at at 18 even). Not all subjects have prior knowledge either including business studies 3) NEWT subects reduce your changes further, so that the subects you are most competent in are selected first. The only difference is that 6th and 7th years are compulsory at hogwarts, but subjects are chosen the same time as the UK curriculum even if the corresponding years in the UK are optional to learn in (often needed for university or more academic jobs) ps, nothing stopping students asking teachers

Feel better soon!! Loooove this one as much as the others and looking forward to HBP and DH 💝

I think that the trace must have some kind of knowledge of the people around the magic user. For instance even though Harry and Dudley were in the middle of nowhere the trace knew that Harry performed the charm in the presence of a (singular muggle) indicating that the trace knew there was a muggle nearby. However the trace didn't pick up the dementors or dobby so it mustn't pick up magical creatures just humans. So in this case the trace would've picked up Tonks in the vicinity of Harry but no muggles. It's also possible with the Tonks thing that Dumbledore told Fudge he was sending people to go pick up Harry and had made them somewhat aware of the plan.

Honestly, it'd be much easier if JK would just wrote: Well the prophecy is for those involved, but the Ministry will exclude Voldemort in this case, as an special case. So ONLY Harry could lift the prophecy. Like, the orbs are just recordings human-made and so are the protections. So much easier to explain why the so complicated plan

"he's so dumb" LOL

Hi Merphy, i get the part with the Boggart and lupin, but i must say, this also happened to molly, when she tried the "riddikulus" charm on a boggart and it kept changing to a dead body of her relative to another , So I would argue, it is not a real inconsistency in the book.

I can actually think of a reasonable scenario where Dobby himself would be in Umbridge's office when Marietta was there. In book Four Dobby explicitly states just before the second task in the lake: "“Dobby hears things, sir, he is a house-elf, he goes all over the castle as he lights the fires and mops the floors," and that's how he overheard about the Gillyweed. Now we know from Fake-Moody's confession later in that same book that he purposefully summoned Dobby so that he could overhear, but the fact still remains that house elves are around during the day, doing their duties, it's just that they are small and quiet and wizards and witches don't pay attention to them because they are "servants." It's highly possible that Dobby was in Umbridge's office, it's highly possible he was there for the sole purpose of spying on Umbridge for Harry's sake (he's very loyal to Harry after all), or it could have been random. Either way, it's possible he was there without much suspension of disbelief. When Marietta came to the office to begin with Umbridge, being the hater of all things not-human, wouldn't have even thought twice about a a lowly house-elf. However, upon hearing what she had to say, she may have had the forethought to remember his presence and turn to him and forbid him from telling, just out of precaution or maybe she was aware of the elf's connection to Harry, who knows. Because Dobby is a house elf, his ability to appear at the room of requirement before Umbridge was easy. Not only do all house-elves know the castle better than any teacher, but it's canon that a house elf can apparate on hogwarts grounds because house elves magic is different. So he could easily reach Harry first.

Lucius: Again, just to be totally clear, these orbs are protected such that only the subject of the prophecy can remove them. Harry (whispers, to the DA): Create a diversion by smashing the surrounding orbs...

I'm glad someone else thought about other classes like math. How do they know? Great series review and get well soon.

What if Lupin's fear is a werewolf. And the Moon is the "funny" form,bc it looks so inocent

It's probably a reach, but I just had a thought about the Lupin boggart situation. Maybe Lupin is able to confront his greatest fear calmly because he confronted it in real life. He and the Marauders made light of the full moon when they became Animagi - more than that, they made it FUN. Maybe Lupin doesn't need the cathartic moment of laughing every time, because he already had it in reality. Or maybe his Patronus is more subdued to reflect the complicated feelings he has about those years. Sirius says that he is able to resist the Dementors in Azkaban by holding onto one obsessive thought, so we know they can be held off in other ways. And we know not all Patronuses take a full animal form. Some are just mist. Maybe Lupin's boggart is the way it is (kind of meek and tame) because it's such an old fear it has become familiar to him. It's still a fear, but not as shocking or immediate as the fears other people have. It's been with him so long and he knows it so well, time has dulled its impact. And maybe his Patronus is subdued because the happy memories he's calling on are bittersweet now. James is dead. Sirius is deeply damaged. Peter is a betrayer. The happiest time of Lupin's life is behind him (as far as he knows in OotP) and the memories are tinged with sorrow, drawing on them now after so many years. I don't know, I just like the idea that Lupin has a special, complicated relationship with his fear, and that Patronuses can fluctuate according to more than just the strength of the memory invoked. I love overthinking Harry Potter 😅

In book 4 mad eye called an elf to clean stuff up or given him food In The teacher lounge. Sure if was to give Harry Info but I’m sure teachers do it often

I completely agree. Voldemort loves dragging things out much longer than necessary. Honestly, in every single book, if he hadn't relied on a crazy elaborate scheme and had just done it himself, he never would've died. When he kills James and Lily Potter, he's vanished and loses power and everything, but he could've just had his death eaters come and kill them instead, which would've killed Harry. Then, Voldy would still be alive and would have all the power that he could possibly want. Voldemort really is his own worst enemy because he's so prideful that he can't do anything the easy way.

I have an idea for why there could have been house elves in Umbridge's office. Maybe she was having a discussion with them about how she could put veritaserum in the food and drink. When Miss Edgecomb comes in, Umbridge doesn't realize the importance of the information that's about to be shared and ignores the house elves for the moment, typical of a magical purist. Once Miss Edgecomb tells the secret, then Umbridge realizes she needs to swear the house elves to secrecy.

I always felt like a chapter or paragraph was missing or even a sentence where Dobby could have mentioned that the house elves were also being evaluated by Umbridge and him and a few others were in a meeting when Marietta burst into the office. But like that is a super interesting concept so why not mention it if so. Including her foresight that dobby was friendly with Harry but i guess that would be weird for her to be SO insightful when near the end of the book shes all "Follow the smartest girl in hogwarts to the very dangerous forbidden forest full of my sub human adversaries? Well sign me up"

Voldemort is way more threatening on paper than in actuality. His build up was good, execution, not so much. He's a horror movie monster. What are the two rules: 1) never show the monster 2) never show the monster in day light.

You see, when Voldemort does dumb stuff like this, it only further proves my and many others beliefs to be true. Sauron is the one TRUE dark lord!

In the future, like maybe next year or the year after that or so on, do you think you'll ever be interested in making a video discussing the differences between the Harry Potter Books and the Movies and kind of talk about which version did specific things better? I feel like a lot of book to movie conversions can go south due to how much is left out and how much is true to the actual material, but Harry Potter was just too special. My mother and I would watch every movie together and then I fell in love with it again while reading some of the books and was fascinated by the differences and what the movie chose to do and such.

For the house elf issue there is a possible explanation. The DA meetings take part in the evening if I’m not mistaken and it is mentioned in book 4 that house elf’s light the fires in the offices and common rooms and that they also light the torches in the hallways during the evenings so it is possible that on her way to the room of requirement with the Slytherins she was informing them of the DA and some house elves who were lighting torches or doing some other mundane task overheard who were then told to keep quiet.

Regarding Lupin: 1st is there a chance he would transform into a werewolf as Dementor-boggart had effects on Harry? The trace: i have never understood how that worked. How can the ministery can keep track of Magic performed by under age at wizards homes?

Several things: Arithmacy is wizarding math, so really the only subject they are absolutely missing is English. Really, these wizards need some English lessons. A house elf, even Dobby, could have brought Umbridge some food in her office, where they overheard.

It mentions somewhere that Trelawney gave Harry and Ron an assignment plotting different planets which involved many angle calculations, so they would need to have learned some trigonometry at least. They also study astronomy; which to my understanding also involves math- geometry, calculations of speed and distance and more trigonometry. They're eleven and have textbooks so it's probably expected that they learn to read and write at home. I agree with most of your other points though.

I openly said in class a couple of weeks ago that while I am a huge fan of the series and have been since I was 10, there are so many plot holes, continunity errors, plot conveniences, and just other things that are simply examples of poor writing. Even classmates who never even read the books came at me, and it was hilarious.

The two things that bugged me the most: 1) Voldi won't sneak into the ministry of magic, besides nobody believes he is back and him thinking to be the most capable wizard in history. But he allows Bellatrix to go although the wizarding world is fully aware that she is out of jail. If he has no fear that she is caught, then why his fear about him getting caught. 2) When Dumbledore hears about the fight, he immediatly interrogates Kreacher. What are you doing there? There are lives at risk, especially the life of one Harry Potter, and you do something you could totally do after the battle is over? And when he finally shows up, he ends the battle with about one whip of his wand. Sirius could still be alive, if Brian got his priorities straight.

Hmmm, for the house elves thing: how about that she had troves & troves of students that she was torturing daily in her office (which she had at that point in the book, if I remember correctly - it has been a long time since I have read the series) and had beforehand instructed the elves to clean up all the blood and mess from her office daily and so they have overheard the conversation by chance and before she left the office she have forbidden them to tell anything to anyone?

I'm in desperate need of a boggart tuned to my story character - it would save so much time trying to figure out what their biggest fears are.

Let's be fair though by the end of the entire Harry Potter series voldemort has effectively for over 7 years been scooby doo'd and if you don't know what I mean by that I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for For those kids

So I just finished rereading this book and here are some things I was thinking about: 1) Why wouldn't Dumbledore just destroy the prophecy? He could've done this years ago. 2) Why doesn't Hermione check a book out of the library on Occlumency? 3) Why doesn't Harry have an inclination to learn the concealment charm that Moody put on him? I know he has a cloak, but still. 4) Why doesn't Harry want to learn the portus charm? You think that could be useful. 5) Hagrid battling the aurors is amazing. Is Dawlish a bad auror? 6) McGongagall takes 4 stun spells at once. Wow. 7) Hermione would have died if she didn't do the silencio charm to Dolohov before he cursed her with those purple flames. It's one thing for Sirius Black to die, but imagine if Hermione died there. Especially after she continually warned Harry that it was a trap. It would have broke Harry.

"because he is dumb" you killed me with that line hahahaha so true

15:25 😂 poor voldy

Also Merphy get well soon! :)

I do love "Can't I, Potter?" as a "... He's right behind me, isn't he?" sort of announcement. Dude just HAD to announce himself like a dummy, lol.

Umbridge was probably telling the house elves to serve more "Ministry" approved meals or meals she would rather eat than what the students would want-banning puddings and such lol

The trace doesnt work properly when adults are close. Thats why in wizard families, parent's magic wont be noticed and thats why theoretically children in wizard families can provoke magic without the ministry knowing either ...

Voldemort is a Drama Queen, I mean, I thought we're all agreed about that :p The thing with the House Elves is dumb, but I always thought that they were just told, before, never to tell anything that happens in Umbridge's office. A general warning to keep their mouths shut (she does torture her student with a forbidden quill on the regular). And house Elves, by their nature need to know everything that happens everywhere so they can know when it's safe to come clean and when there are people around. That's the way I see it, anyways. (not that i'm not aware the HP books are full of holes :p) The whole 'never learn math or English or anythings vaguely 'muggle'' has ALWAYS bugged me SOOOO much. And we know that most pureblood don't even go to elementary school, they are tutored. So rich one have good tutors and the others learn from their parents. That's why there is so many fix-it fanfiction that introduce the idea of Wizarding elementary school and continued classes at Hogwarts. I'm sure the Professor would like to see ggood grammar in their essay once in a while.

There is a short part in Chamber of secrets where he talks to Percy about which classes to take. It could have been in Prisoner of Azkaban. It’s kind of a blink and u miss it kind of moment but it’s there

I’m calling him Voldy from now on

it seems obvious to me that the student told her of the DA, and of the next meeting time. she must have wanted to catch them red handed-she waited until the next meeting to catch them, and told the elves prior.