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Quiz about Harry Potter and the Gaping Plot Holes
Quiz about Harry Potter and the Gaping Plot Holes

Harry Potter and the Gaping Plot Holes Quiz


The Harry Potter series is quite the masterpiece, but no book is perfect. Take a journey through the dangerous plot holes that threaten the credibility of these beloved characters.

A multiple-choice quiz by Ygdjh. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
Ygdjh
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
398,340
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
675
Awards
Editor's Choice
Last 3 plays: Guest 165 (10/10), blake_aus_nsw (6/10), steepone (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Perhaps one of the more comical plot holes is pointed out in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", when it is revealed that Ron's pet rat Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew. Who should have seen that Peter had been in the castle for years, due to the Marauder's Map? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. The Trace tracks the use of underage magic, but it actually only senses the use of magic around underage wizards. This seems impractical considering that magical parents often use magic around their children. We find out that the Trace activates when someone else uses magic around an underage wizard in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" when which house elf casts a Levitation Charm in the Dursley house? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the run and struggle to find food. However, this food shortage doesn't make sense, since what is the only way they could NOT get food? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. When James and Lily went into hiding, they used the Fidelius Charm, which hides a secret in someone's soul. The only way for the secret to be discovered is if it is revealed by the Secret Keeper. James and Lily could have been their own Secret Keepers, but instead they chose what friend who would later betray them to Voldemort? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", Harry uses three wands at once to cast an ultra-powerful spell. If using multiple wands makes a spell more powerful, it should be a common magical technique, but the only time it ever comes up is when Harry casts a Stupefy Charm against what malevolent werewolf? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. When Draco is tasked with killing Dumbledore in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", his mother goes to Snape for help. Professor Snape makes a promise to Narcissa using a magical spell that will kill him if he breaks his word. To ensure absolute loyalty from all his followers, Lord Voldemort could have easily used this spell which goes by what name? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The Triwizard Tournament was supposed to be an exciting (and dangerous) spectacle between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. However, though it certainly proved challenging for the competitors, it would actually have been very boring to watch, since only one of the three tasks could be seen by spectators! Which of the following was NOT an event in the Triwizard Tournament during "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Every first year's pride and joy is getting a new wand. However, it's surprising that wand shops are still in business. Unicorn hair, a common wand core, costs ten galleons, but buying a wand at what shop only costs seven galleons? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Portkeys turn commonplace items into magical teleportation devices, but not in a consistent way. These items are first introduced as being on a time limit. However, when Harry and a fellow competitor accidentally use one during the Triwizard Tournament in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", there doesn't seem to be a time limit, and Harry is able to reuse it. Whose death was caused by the use of this Portkey in the form of a cup? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. While J.K. Rowling has revealed that wizards do learn basic school subjects before attending Hogwarts, once they are in Hogwarts they only learn magic. Students receive limited to no education in fine arts, and which of the following is the only core subject students are REQUIRED to take? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 20 2024 : Guest 165: 10/10
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Perhaps one of the more comical plot holes is pointed out in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", when it is revealed that Ron's pet rat Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew. Who should have seen that Peter had been in the castle for years, due to the Marauder's Map?

Answer: Fred and George Weasley

The name Peter Pettigrew likely wouldn't have seemed odd to the famous duo if they didn't know the story of Sirius Black. However, it should have seemed odd that someone named Peter Pettigrew was spending so much time with their brother Ron, especially when they were familiar with Ron's closest friends.

This plot hole gets more complicated when you factor in that Scabbers was originally Percy's rat. Since Fred and George acquired the map in their first year at Hogwarts, they should have noticed that Peter was spending a lot of time with Percy before he suddenly started spending a lot of time with Ron.
2. The Trace tracks the use of underage magic, but it actually only senses the use of magic around underage wizards. This seems impractical considering that magical parents often use magic around their children. We find out that the Trace activates when someone else uses magic around an underage wizard in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" when which house elf casts a Levitation Charm in the Dursley house?

Answer: Dobby

There are a couple other problems with how the Trace operates in the books. For example, it wasn't alerted when Hagrid fetched Harry in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", or in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" when Dumbledore conjured a chair in the Dursley's living room.

However, the general plot hole is that it can be set off even if the underage wizard is not the one using the magic. J.K. Rowling tries to remedy this by mentioning later in the series that the Trace often goes off in wizarding families and the Ministry merely relies on the parents to enforce discipline.

However, if this is the case, it leads to the even worse assumption that the Trace only targets children with no magical relatives.
3. In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the run and struggle to find food. However, this food shortage doesn't make sense, since what is the only way they could NOT get food?

Answer: Conjuring food

Food is one of the exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, meaning that it cannot be conjured out of nothing. However, there are multiple other ways to get food, as shown by the answers above. Additionally, animals are not exceptions to the law, so it is possible to conjure a creature such as a bird and kill it for meat. If anything, they could have used magic to hunt or fish.
4. When James and Lily went into hiding, they used the Fidelius Charm, which hides a secret in someone's soul. The only way for the secret to be discovered is if it is revealed by the Secret Keeper. James and Lily could have been their own Secret Keepers, but instead they chose what friend who would later betray them to Voldemort?

Answer: Peter Pettigrew

James and Lily died because they put their trust in the wrong friend. However, they could have put their trust in themselves. Bill Weasley was his own Secret Keeper for Shell Cottage, and Arthur Weasley was his own Secret Keeper for Aunt Muriel's house.

It was clearly possible for one of them to hide the secret within themselves, so it doesn't make sense for them to choose an outside source.
5. In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", Harry uses three wands at once to cast an ultra-powerful spell. If using multiple wands makes a spell more powerful, it should be a common magical technique, but the only time it ever comes up is when Harry casts a Stupefy Charm against what malevolent werewolf?

Answer: Fenrir Greyback

When Harry uses three wands at once, it casts a spell with thrice the power and knocks Greyback straight off his feet. Despite this, the technique is never mentioned before or after this incident. It didn't take Harry any more effort than casting a normal spell, so it seems strange that he never practiced it before or taught it to Dumbledore's Army.

It seems doubly strange that no one else used it, especially in magical fights such as the Battle of Hogwarts.
6. When Draco is tasked with killing Dumbledore in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", his mother goes to Snape for help. Professor Snape makes a promise to Narcissa using a magical spell that will kill him if he breaks his word. To ensure absolute loyalty from all his followers, Lord Voldemort could have easily used this spell which goes by what name?

Answer: Unbreakable Vow

An Unbreakable Vow is, as one might deduce, unbreakable. Once again, however, we only see this technique being used once in the series. While it is understandable that the average witch or wizard wouldn't want to make a promise that could kill them later, Lord Voldemort could have made the Death Eaters vow to serve him and/or never betray him. Considering his nature, it is unlikely that he chose not to do so just because he trusted his followers. And Voldemort wasn't the only character who could have benefited from this magic - James and Lily could have had Peter make an Unbreakable Vow that he would never reveal their house's location.
7. The Triwizard Tournament was supposed to be an exciting (and dangerous) spectacle between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. However, though it certainly proved challenging for the competitors, it would actually have been very boring to watch, since only one of the three tasks could be seen by spectators! Which of the following was NOT an event in the Triwizard Tournament during "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"?

Answer: Find a medallion in a cave of Inferi

The first event of the Triwizard Tournament was a dashing spectacle where Harry Potter, Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour all had to individually fight a dragon for a golden egg. However, the next task took place underwater, and the final task took place within a giant maze. Since neither task could be seen by spectators, it must have been rather boring to sit there watching a lake or a giant hedge for hours.

It's possible that the viewers had some magical way of seeing the action, but if so it is never mentioned in the books or movies.
8. Every first year's pride and joy is getting a new wand. However, it's surprising that wand shops are still in business. Unicorn hair, a common wand core, costs ten galleons, but buying a wand at what shop only costs seven galleons?

Answer: Ollivanders

While the cost of other wand cores including dragon heartstring and phoenix feather are unknown, Ollivander describes them all as costly and rare materials. However, if unicorn hair costs ten galleons and the wand only sells for seven, Ollivanders is losing at least three galleons per wand.

It's possible one hair can make multiple wands or the wandmaker gets some kind of deal for buying in bulk, but that still doesn't factor in the cost of wand wood and regular business expenses. And considering that most wizards and witches use the same wand their entire life, he doesn't have a big client base, especially since poorer wizarding families don't even buy new wands and instead use hand-me-downs.
9. Portkeys turn commonplace items into magical teleportation devices, but not in a consistent way. These items are first introduced as being on a time limit. However, when Harry and a fellow competitor accidentally use one during the Triwizard Tournament in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", there doesn't seem to be a time limit, and Harry is able to reuse it. Whose death was caused by the use of this Portkey in the form of a cup?

Answer: Cedric Diggory

There are a couple problems with Portkeys. When Harry goes to an official Quidditch match, he and his friends must touch a Portkey at a specific time in order to 'catch' it. However, when he and Cedric encounter a Portkey in the Triwizard Tournament, it reacts to their touch rather than going off at a specific time.

In fact, time doesn't seem to be a factor at all since it just waits around until Harry is able to reuse it to get back to Hogwarts. It's possible that a Portkey can be made in more than one way, though it still doesn't answer the question of why Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Mad-Eye Moody) didn't just give Harry a Portkey and save all the trouble of the maze.
10. While J.K. Rowling has revealed that wizards do learn basic school subjects before attending Hogwarts, once they are in Hogwarts they only learn magic. Students receive limited to no education in fine arts, and which of the following is the only core subject students are REQUIRED to take?

Answer: History

A couple of core subjects are halfway represented in electives. For example, no Hogwarts graduate is going to know calculus or probably even basic algebra, but they might know the magical properties of numbers due to the elective Arithmancy. Students won't know any foreign language spoken today, but some might be well versed in Ancient Runes. Subjects such as Astronomy, Herbology, and Potions might be considered science classes, but it still doesn't solve the problem of fine arts.

While we know based on the movies that there is a Hogwarts choir, we see no evidence in the books or movies of any kind of art, band, or drama classes.
Source: Author Ygdjh

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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