5 Harry Potter Plot Holes and Our (Half-Baked) Attempts to Explain Them

For such a vast and intricately created universe, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series has a myriad of plot holes that fans have been fighting over for decades.

However, some of them can actually be explained, and here's our attempt to justify five of the most prominent ones.

Dumbledore's strange reaction to the troll

When a troll was found in the Hogwarts dungeons, the Headmaster's decision to send the students to their dormitories seemed like the most logical thing to do, but one small detail ruined this storyline.

The Slytherin dormitories are actually in the Dungeons, so it looked like Dumbledore was sending the students to the slaughter. But in fact, it's unlikely that Hogwarts had only one entrance to the dungeons, so Slytherin's dormitories were probably located in the safer parts of the castle.

How Harry got the Marauder's Map back

When Harry gave the Marauder's Map to impostor Alastor Moody, fans expected it to disappear forever, so they were stunned to see it in Harry's hands again in Order of the Phoenix. Readers accused the author of a huge plot hole, as the map was apparently returned to its owner without any explanation.

Well, it looks like the real Moody simply returned the map to Harry off-screen. This may not be the prettiest explanation, but it's certainly realistic.

Voldemort and The Room of Hidden Things

When Voldemort discovered The Room of Hidden Things, he quickly assumed that he was the only one who knew about the place and hid his personal belongings among the objects contained within. However, it was quite obvious that the numerous other people knew about the location, given the amount of stuff it contained.

While this sounds like a plot hole, it can be explained by Voldemort's arrogance in thinking that the room itself created the things and showed them only to the person who discovered it.

How George and Fred learned to use the Marauder's Map

The story of how the Weasley twins stole the map from Filch may be legendary, but it's unclear how they discovered the wizarding words required to use it. Given that George and Fred were among the most mischievous students Hogwarts had ever seen, it's only natural that the map itself would have given them tips on how to activate it.

Why students brought owl cages on the train

First of all, the Hogwarts train is a lot of fun, so it's not surprising that students were keen to travel to school that way. However, why would they take giant owl cages on the train when they could just send them to Hogwarts on the Floo Network?

Well, considering the number of children attending Hogwarts, it was only a matter of time before one of them teleported their belongings to an unknown destination — and possibly travel there themselves, only to get lost forever. Safety first!