Mistakes in the Harry Potter books

"As obsessive fans will tell you, I do slip up! Several classrooms move floors mysteriously between books and these are the least serious continuity errors! Most of the fansites will point you in the direction of my mistakes. But the essentials remain consistent from book to book because the story has been plotted for a long time and it is clear in my mind."

- J.K. Rowling on the errors within the franchise.

Below is a list of mistakes that occur in the Harry Potter book series.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

 * Much of the first chapter talks about wizards celebrating the fall of Voldemort all day long, yet Harry's family was attacked at night; unless it took Hagrid 24 hours to get Harry from his parents' ruined house to Little Whinging, this does not make sense.
 * Actually, it does not say when Hagrid pulled him from the house. It could have been a full day until they could respond, or he could have kept Harry with him until night, when he could easily fly under cover of darkness to Little Whinging. He could of also gone to get the baby Harry checked over to see if he had been harmed. The day, however, is November 1st, the day after Voldemort's downfall, so the celebrations are happening after his downfall the evening prior.
 * The beginning of the story akes place on a "dull grey Tuesday." In 1981, however, Oct 31 was on a Saturday, placing the celebrations on Nov 3. This makes what the TV weatherman wrong as he admonished people that Bonfire Night was the next week. In fact, it would have been in two days.
 * The boa constrictor at the Zoo winked at Harry during their conversation. And while snakes do have eyelids, it is impossible for snakes to blink like the boa constrictor did to Harry, because their eyelids are 'tied' down all the time and transparent.
 * Harry's 11th birthday, 31 July, was a Tuesday. But in 1991 in the real world, that date was a Wednesday.
 * When Harry and Hagrid are leaving the little shack out in the middle of the sea, they used the rowboat that the Dursleys' had borrowed in order to leave the rock. This leaves the Dursleys with no way to get back to shore, yet there is no mention of retrieving them, and it is implied Harry goes straight back to Privet Drive after his shopping at Diagon Alley.
 * On Harry's Hogwarts list of school supplies, "1 Wand" is listed twice, as both the first and last item on the list. (Rectified in later editions)
 * It states in the Hogwarts letter that you can bring an owl, toad, or cat. Ron brings his rat Scabbers.
 * It is possible that this could be a result of the rules being leniently enforced, instead of a mistake. It's also never mentioned that students can't bring a rat.
 * The air in the tunnels to the Gringotts vaults is described as getting colder as they go deeper. This only happens very near the surface, and only when the weather has been relatively warm. Once you get below the level where the temperature depends heavily on the seasons at the surface, the geothermal gradient takes over, and it gets hotter as you go deeper. In the world's deepest mines, the miners can only work for a short time before being brought back up, because of the risk of heat stroke.
 * It is possible this is due to some magic. And that's not to mention the presence of The Thief's Downfall, the waterfall that washes away all magical enchantments.
 * As we now know that much importance is placed on the theme of wandlore and wand ownership, it seems ridiculous that, during Harry's first meeting with Draco Malfoy in Madam Malkin's, he should mention that his mother is away looking at wands. Indeed, it's just as odd to hear that Ron has been equipped with Charlie's old wand.
 * This might not necessarily be a mistake. On the first point, it is mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and on Pottermore that there are old superstitions about wands and what kind of people are chosen by certain wands. Perhaps Narcissa Malfoy had certain beliefs along those lines? On the second point, Ron's parents probably couldn't afford to buy him a new wand at the time. This was probably meant to show that his family wasn't very well off in terms of wealth. Even though it's better to have your own wand, a person can still do magic with another person's wand.
 * When Harry is talking to Hagrid about his first meeting with Draco Malfoy, Hagrid says that "there's not a single witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin." At the point when this conversation takes place, Hagrid (along with the rest of the wizarding world) would have been under the impression that Sirius Black, a Gryffindor, was responsible for betraying Harry's parents.
 * Additionally, it is not very likely that all Dark Wizards were Slytherin, especially given the fact that there are likely to be multiple witches or wizards that are not even from Europe, and are still Dark. In other words, there is most likely a witch or wizard from another school who is Dark.
 * However it is possible that Hagrid did not know that Sirius had supposedly gone bad, as in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hagrid appears to be distressed by the news that Sirius betrayed James and Lily, suggesting that he did not already know. This would, however, indicate a lack of attentiveness on Hagrid's part, given that Sirius had been imprisoned in Azkaban for around eleven years at the time of the conversation, in what was apparently a high profile case.
 * Without a trial, though, it is likely the news never really leaked out, as Barty Crouch Sr. didn't even give him one.
 * The most likely explanation is that Hagrid's statement is simply an example of the use of the literary device of hyperbole ("the use of a statment to evoke strong feelings or create a strong impression, but not meant to be taken literally"), rather than ever being intended as an accurate historical statement.
 * It is mentioned in the first book that Hagrid borrowed his motorcycle from Sirus Black.
 * Hermione Granger says that she has been practising spells at home, but this is against the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and she should have received a warning letter.
 * However, being that Hermione is Muggle-born, and not yet in her first year, Hermione couldn't know this and it's possible this would be covered under the same provisions as underage wandless magic.
 * While being Sorted into houses, Harry looks up at the Sorting Hat's stool, and there are only three people left to be sorted. Professor McGonagall then calls out the names of four more students. (Rectified in later editions)
 * When Harry first met Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the ghost says he had not eaten in nearly 400 years. Yet he had, at the time, already been dead for 99 years longer than that. (Rectified in later editions)
 * Harry buys the book One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, but later, he looks up "dittany" in One Hundred Magical Herbs and Fungi. (Rectified in later editions)
 * Fred Weasley says that Gryffindor hasn't won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie left. According to J.K. Rowling, Charlie is three years older than Percy who is in his 5th year, meaning that Charlie would've left the year before. So basically Fred is saying that Gryffindor hasn't won since last year. Professor McGonagall also said that Gryffindor was flattened in the last game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. While this is not an outright mistake, it is still somewhat confusing. Another confusing part is that we (fans) confuse the Quidditch Cup with the House Cup. At this time Slytherin was on a six-year winning streak with the House Cup, not the Quidditch Cup.
 * During the Halloween feast, when the troll is let in, Professor Dumbledore sends the students to their dormitories. However, the troll is said to be in the dungeons, and that's also where the Slytherin dormitories are, meaning Dumbledore has put them directly in harm's way by sending them there.
 * He did send the sixth and seventh years with them. It is doubtful even a troll could take down around 50 witches and wizards at once, no matter their age.
 * Before the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match, Ron and Hermione wish Harry luck outside the locker rooms in the afternoon. But Harry couldn't have just been getting to the locker room in the afternoon; Quidditch matches take place in the late morning: the school teams are usually dressed and already on the pitch by 11:00 A.M.
 * During the match against the giant chess set, Ron says, "Well Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle." But the castle is next to the knight, not the bishop.
 * It's possible he meant "next to him" to mean "on the same side of the king and queen".
 * At the beginning of the chess match, Ron is the knight in the giant chess set. However, it later says that he had to "move ahead one" so the Queen could take him, opening the path for Harry to checkmate the king. If he was a knight, he could only move 1) ahead one, sideways two, or 2) ahead two, sideways one, like an "L."
 * It's possible this meant "one" as in a single move, but it's still an odd construction regardless.
 * Flint is referred to as a burly 6th year, but he is in book 3, meaning either his age was forgotten by JK Rowling, or he dropped a year.
 * It was later confirmed by JK Rowling that Flint failed his N.E.W.T.s and had to repeat his seventh year.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 * The Hogwarts' equipment list mentions the Lockhart book "Wanderings With Werewolves," but later, Lockhart refers to the book as "Weekend With a Werewolf". (Fixed in later editions)
 * After Harry, Ron, Fred, and George arrive at the Burrow after getting Harry, Mrs. Weasley shouts at Fred first. "You will not," then she says ""And you two,"" glaring at Ron and Fred. It should say George, as she has already yelled at Fred. (Fixed in later editions)
 * Dumbledore tells Harry at the end that Lord Voldemort is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin. But ancestors are in the past - he means Voldemort is the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin. (Corrected in later printings.)
 * Hermione says Moaning Myrtle haunts the bathroom on the first floor. However, when Harry sees the writing on the wall outside her bathroom, he is on the second floor. (This, however, is explained by the fact that in the UK, the ground floor is the floor on which the entrances are, and the floor above it is the first floor, and this was one of the few edits made for the North American release, despite the criticism on edits for Philosopher's Stone.)
 * When Harry is viewing the memory from Tom Riddle's diary, Tom Riddle says to Hagrid at one point, "The dead girl's parents will be here tomorrow." It is stated elsewhere in the book that Myrtle is Muggle-born. Muggles cannot enter Hogwarts.
 * However, it is possible that an exception was made for them (the Muggle-Repelling Charm could be lifted a day or two, for this reason. Considering the Grangers were able to enter Diagon Alley without any problems when normal Muggles couldn't see The Leaky Cauldron, this is somewhat strengthened).
 * When Harry is in the Chamber of Secrets, Riddle says that it took him "five whole years" to discover the entrance. This cannot be correct because earlier, when he showed Harry his memory, he said it took place during his fifth year.
 * However, he could've found it at the end of the fifth year, making it (almost) "five whole years", assuming he started at the beginning of his first year.
 * When Harry speaks Parseltongue to the snake during his duel with Draco, everyone hears him hissing. Therefore, when Harry hears the basilisk speaking in the walls, Ron and Hermione should hear hissing, yet they claim to hear nothing. (They may just have thought the pipes had gone wrong.)
 * In the duel it was Harry talking but in the walls it was the basilisk. So maybe they can hear people talking Parseltongue, but not snakes.
 * Alternatively, they might hear pipes hissing but subconsciously ignore it, because it makes more sense than Harry hissing.
 * The first day of term is always the 1st September, the next day is always a Monday. This is impossible, due to the fact that we don't have 364 (divisible by 7) days in a year.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
On page 74, it states that "Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment, but all were full except for the one at the very end of the train. This one had only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep next to the window." They had just put their belongings into an empty compartment, so they didn't need to look for another. On page 76, it states, "A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. They looked all around the compartment. 'It's coming from your trunk, Harry,' said Ron, standing up and reaching into the luggage rack." Their trunks couldn't have been in that compartment as they had stowed them in another one.
 * It is stated in book two that the third years only take subjects, they do not drop any current subject, but those taking Arithmancy will have to drop Transfiguration because the Arithmancy and Transfiguration exams are at the same time(nine o'clock).
 * However, there could be multiple exams for both subjects, and Hermione was forced to take those particular exams at those times.
 * Although, even in the real world there are examples of students exams overlapping and there are ways around that.
 * Fred and George Weasley had the marauders map before Harry did, so if Harry can see Peter Pettigrew in the map, then Fred and George must have noticed the fact that Peter Pettigrew was sleeping with Ron every night, but it isn't mentioned anything about them having seeing him.
 * The first chapter says that A History of Magic was written by Adalbert Waffling, rather than Bathilda Bagshot. (rectified in later editions)
 * Given that Remus Lupin had a transformation sometime after Halloween but before the following weekend (the day of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match), the full moon would have had to be sometime in the first week of November, probably the 4th or 5th of November as he was absent from class on the Friday before the match. As the full moon occurs every 29-30 days, by that time frame the December and January full moons would also have occurred sometime around the 3rd-5th of those months. Therefore a full moon during the Christmas Eve to Boxing day period is not possible. Yet Dumbledore explains to Trelawney that Lupin's absence from the Christmas dinner is that he is not well again - implying either a transformation or post-transformation exhaustion, especially as Snape is mentioned as having brewed his potion for him.
 * However it is not specified in the books how long a werewolf might suffer ill-effects from transformation, and how much variation there is between months. Therefore, he may simply be suffering pre-transformation effects and, as the Wolfsbane potion must be taken in the week preceeding the full moon, then the next full moon may be as late as New Year's Eve.
 * Before Harry and Hermione go back in time, it mentions that Buckbeak is tied to a tree. But when they go back in time, Buckbeak is tied to a fence.
 * When Harry is buying his books at Flourish and Blotts, it mentions that he is being served by the manager. But when Harry was staring at the book 'Death Omens', it says that he is being served by the assistant of the store.
 * Well, a manager is usually the assistant to the owner of the shop. This could have just been vague wording.
 * The length of time Sirius Black has known Pettigrew is hiding at Hogwarts might be inconsistent. From Mr. Weasley's conversation at the Leaky Cauldron in chapter four, Sirius has known about it for several months; and that while Minister Fudge was at Azkban the night he escaped, Fudge was told about sleep-talking - "He's at Hogwarts". But later we learn that Minister Fudge gave Sirius the newspaper with Pettigrew on it during his last inspection. We don't know if that inspection was the reason Minister Fudge was at Azkaban that night, or not; although it seems likely that they were two septerate visits.
 * In June, Fred and George Weasley find out they have scraped "a few O.W.L.s apiece". However, in subsequent books, it is firmly established that O.W.L. results are sent home by owl and are not received until August. Yet it is possible that they snuck into an office and retrieve the information of their results or were assuming that they got low marks.
 * Mr. Weasley says that Ron and Harry have ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice. But only Harry has been in the forest twice. Ron went once to see Aragog with Harry in Chamber of Secrets, but the other time Harry went was for detention in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Ron wasn't there (he was in the movie, but not the book).
 * In chapter fifteen, during the Quidditch match, three quarters of the crowd supported Gryffindor but it's also written that there were two hundred people supporting Slytherin. Assuming that all eight dormitories share similar numbers to Harry's, this would be impossible, as there are not two hundred Slytherins or eight hundred students in the school. (There is the possibility however, that there are Quidditch fans in attendance that are neither staff nor students at Hogwarts.) (There is also debate over the number of students at Hogwarts, see the paragraph in the behind the scenes section of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry)
 * Chapter sixteen (Professor Trelawney's Prediction) takes place in June 1994. In the beginning of that chapter, Harry Potter reads a note from Hagrid and says, 'Buckbeak's appeal — it's set for the sixth.' The night after the Hippogriff's appeal, Remus Lupin is forced into a werewolf form by the full moon, which means that this happened on the night of June 6th, 1994. The web page HP-Lexicon.org also backs this up. However, a brief look at lunar phase calendar sites such as 1994 and lunar phases in 1994 definitely shows June 9, 1994, as a new-moon night, which means that a full moon could not possibly rise three days earlier.
 * On the American version of the cover, the front art is the night that Harry and Hermione save Sirius and Buckbeak. However on the back side of the cover (Lupin appears as a werewolf), the moon is crescent when it should be a full moon.
 * When Lupin looks at the Marauder's Map and sees Harry, Hermione, and Ron going to Hagrid's hut for Buckbeak's appeal, the Harry and Hermione from the future are not far behind them. Doesn't this mean that Lupin would have seen two sets of Harry and Hermione on the map? Also Snape saw the map and would have seen the same thing. (Professor Lupin claims the map never lies), although it could have been the time-turner's magic or possibly Lupin kept his eyes on the trio and ignored the other two names.
 * Not to mention teachers were aware of Hermione's use of the Time-Turner, but that doesn't mean Snape in particular wouldn't spill the beans about its use if he did see them on the map.
 * The cover of the Scholastic edition depicts Harry and Hermione riding Buckbeak. Harry's legs are shown to be in front of Buckbeak's wings. However, when Harry was in Care of Magical Creatures and rode Buckbeak for the first time, Hagrid had told him to sit behind the wing joint (as he did in the movie). Although, it could be because Hermione is sitting behind him.
 * Sirius Black says that Voldemort has been in hiding for fifteen years. He's actually been in hiding for twelve years (almost thirteen at the time that he says it), about the same amount of time since Black was imprisoned. Voldemort went into hiding right after he was ripped from his body after failing to kill Harry. Of course, Black could just be rounding off to an approximated number (fifteen years), but this seems unlikely since he keeps talking about being in Azkaban for twelve years, being that the two time frames are almost exactly the same. Sirius also says to Pettigrew 'you haven't been hiding from me for 12 years, you've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters'. Voldemort could, however, have been hiding to escape capture and operating secretly before killing Lily and James Potter.
 * In the first book, Hagrid was quoted saying this: "There hasn't been a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin". However this does not make sense as Hagrid believed Sirius to be guilty and he was in Gryffindor. Later, we discover that he was actually framed by his old friend Peter Pettigrew. Both were Gryffindors, making this statement that only Slytherin went bad untrue. This, however, could have been just the usual prejudice expressed to Slytherins by some wizards such as Hagrid and Ron. Also, Hagrid may not have known about this.
 * It is likely the news hadn't really been public, given that he was sent straight to Azkaban without a trial. When Black escaped, the article about his escape will have explained it all to people like Stan Shunpike, who were too young at the time to really be aware of the goings on.
 * In the last chapter on page 284 there's a spelling mistake. It says Dumblefore instead of Dumbledore.
 * On the back cover it says Harry blew up his horrible Aunt Petunia instead of Aunt Marge.
 * Ernie Macmillan's last name is misspelled McMillan.
 * In Chapter 14, when Harry is trying to sneak off to Hogsmeade via the back of the statue of the one-eyed witch, he meets Neville. A while later, Snape finds them there. We are told that Neville was looking at something (Snape) over Harry's shoulder. This means that Snape was behind Harry, but soon after we are told that Neville takes a quick step behind Harry. This would mean that Neville would have just become much closer to Snape, instead of getting further away, which was obviously his intention.
 * It is possible that harry had turned around, and Neville was diagonally behind him and stepped directly behind Harry in order to conceal himself.
 * On page 79 of the American paperback, it states: "Draco Malfoy and Harry had been enemies ever since they had met on their very first train journey to Hogwarts." It is correct that they were enemies since their first train journey to Hogwarts, but incorrect that they first met there. They first met in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions when they were being fitted for robes (page 76-79 of Sorcerer's Stone, American Paperback)
 * It is very possible however that this is not a mistake at all. The phrase "since they met on their first train journey to Hogwarts" could refer to when on their first train journey they became enemies, since it was not until part way through the train journey, when Draco entered the compartment Harry was in and insulted Ron, that they actually became enemies.
 * In addition, they hadn't actually met prior to the incident on the train. In Madam Malkin's, Draco is referred to simply as 'the boy' or 'the other' repeatedly. On the train, "Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop". Harry does not know who Draco is, and Draco does not know who Harry is. It is on the train that Harry confirms he is Harry Potter and Draco introduces himself as Draco Malfoy. Typically one does not say they have 'met' someone unless they know, at least, what their name is.
 * On page 379-380 of the American paperback, when exiting the tunnel that lead out of the Whomping Willow, it was Crookshanks, Lupin, Pettigrew, Ron, Snape, Sirius, Harry, and Hermione. Later on when Hermione used the Time-Turner (page 408), and she and Harry were watching the Whomping Willow to see themselves coming out the order changed to Lupin, Ron, Pettigrew, Hermione, the unconscious Snape, Harry, and Sirius. They could have simply missed Crookshanks exiting, though there is no explanation for the change in order of the visible humans.
 * Lupin, Pettigrew and Ron are all tied together and so will have appeared together.
 * In the American version, page 72, first paragraph, it states that "Harry and Ron led the way to the end of the train, past packed compartments, to a carriage that looked quite empty. They loaded the trunks onto it, stowed Hedwig and Crookshanks in the luggage rack, then went back outside..."
 * The empty compartment at the end of the train where they put their trunks could be the same "compartment [...] at the very end of the train" where they sat.
 * Sybill Trelawney told Lavender Brown that the worst thing for her would come true on Friday, 16 October. However, 16 October, 1993 was a Saturday.
 * Oliver Wood said that Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff's seeker, was fifteen years old. But in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire only seventeen years old could enter the tournament. And Cedric was seventeen. Which mean that he skipped sixteen.
 * You had to be at least seventeen to enter the tournament. If he was eighteen, he still would have been able to enter.
 * On page 101 of the american hard cover edition, Sybill Trelawney's name is misspelled as 'Sibyll'.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 * Towards the end of the book when Voldemort puts the Imperius Curse on Harry the book says "For the third time in his life," when towards the middle of the book it states Harry had the Imperius Curse put on him four times by Moody (Crouch).
 * While Harry and Vernon are discussing Harry's invitation to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry reminds himself not to say "Hogwarts", as no one ever said the name of the school in 4 Privet Drive. However, Harry himself mentioned the school three years previously, when he was asking Vernon on whether he would drive him to King's Cross.
 * Harry's fourteenth birthday is on July 31, 1994 but in his letter to Sirius at the beginning of the book he mentions that his cousin Dudley got really angry and chucked his PlayStation out of the window. The PlayStation wasn't released in Europe until September 29, 1995. It could not have been imported either, because the PlayStation wasn't released in Japan until December 3, 1994. However, it is possible that the Dursley's had signed up to be product tester, which would mean that they would receive the product (in this case, a PlayStation, and a couple games) months before the product was released. Alternatively, Harry might not have been paying attention to Dudley's activities, and probably confused the PlayStation for a similar device.
 * In what is now known as the "Wand Order Mistake," when Harry and Lord Voldemort's wands engage in Priori Incantatem while in the graveyard James Potter exits the wand before Lily Potter. It has always been said that James died first as he was trying to give Lily and Harry time to flee, and since victims of Lord Voldemort were exiting the wand in reverse order of being killed it was thought to have been a clue from J.K. Rowling. Rowling later said that "late night writer's fatigue" was the reason and the error has been fixed in later editions.
 * In the first task, nowhere has it been stated that one could not retrieve the Golden Egg through the use of a Summoning Charm, but none of the champions even attempted this most simple system to do so. However, it is stated that the first task was designed to test the champions' daring and courage; thus, using a Summoning Charm would be too easy – almost to the point of cheating. It is possible that use of this spell would have resulted in a bottom score, or that there were enchantments on the eggs to prevent Summoning. The champions may also have simply overlooked this, looking for complex solutions when none were needed.
 * Or the Egg was protected to counter this easy solution.
 * During the meeting between Fudge, Dumbledore and Moody, Fudge is mistakenly referred to as both "Crouch" and also as his first name, "Cornelius."
 * In the European and Canadian versions of the book, Snape shouts "Ten points from Hufflepuff, Fawcett! And ten points from Ravenclaw too, Stebbins!". Really, Fawcett is in Ravenclaw, and Stebbins is in Hufflepuff. It may, of course be, that Snape, angry as he was, mixed up the two student's affiliation to the houses. The American version corrects this error, but in a deleted scene from the film, included in the uncut DVD, Fawcett is again the Hufflepuff, and Stebbins the Ravenclaw.
 * In Quidditch Through the Ages, it says that the first ever World Cup was in 1473, with a match being held every 4 years. Yet the World Cup in 1994 is number 422. There cannot be 422 world cups in 521 years with a four-year gap in between. Calculated correctly, the World Cup that the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry attend is actually the 131st, and it should have been held in 1993.
 * Maybe the Ministry was too scared or too busy to hold the Quidditch World Cup in 1993 with Sirius Black on the loose.
 * In regards to the number of World Cups, earlier World Cups may have been held every year, with the four-year rule being only newly applied.
 * Before the third task starts, Molly Weasley reminisces about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, named Ogg. But in other books, it is implied that Hagrid has held that post since his expulsion from school in 1943. Since Hagrid's years as gamekeeper appear to overlap Molly's years at school, it seems unlikely that she knew a previous one. Either that or Hagrid originally started off as Ogg's assistant.
 * Hagrid was more than likely to start off as his assistant as he was still very young when he was expelled from Hogwarts, as Hagrid himself states in the first book.
 * When Fred and George bet on the Quidditch match with Bagman, it says Fred put the paper with their wages in his robes, but Fred was wearing Muggle clothing.
 * Barty Crouch Sr. mentions that his son got twelve O.W.L.s. Once again this is inconsistent with the time-table clashes from Prisoner of Azkaban. However, given Crouch Sr.'s damaged state of mind, he could have just been rambling insanely. Either that or with his position in the Ministry, it is possible that he obtained a time-turner for his son. Another possibility is that it is not necessary to take a class in order to sit an O.W.L. This is logical since Remus Lupin mentions in Deathly Hallows that until Voldemort took over the Ministry, parents were allowed to educate their children at home, though virtually all British magical children attended Hogwarts. These students would presumably need the credentials given by an O.W.L. or an N.E.W.T. in order to obtain employment in many occupations. It is thus possible that a highly motivated student may be able to do "independent study" to achieve an O.W.L., or that a student was already so familiar with the Muggle world, for example, that they could easily pass an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies without attending classes.
 * In some printings, the spell to revive Krum and Crouch from unconsciousness is enervate. The correct spelling is ennervate, as enervate would have the opposite effect.
 * The notice that says classes will end a half hour early for the arrival of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students states that October 30, 1994 is a Friday. However, it was really a Sunday.
 * In the American paperback on page 148, Harry asks Ron if he can dump his things upstairs in his room. It then states: "'What's up Harry?' said Ron, the moment they had closed the door of the attic room behind them." In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets American paperback page 41 Ron says "...I'm right underneath the ghoul in the attic" referring to his room. Therefore the sentence in Goblet of Fire where he closes the attic door (to his room) does not make sense because that is where the ghoul resides.
 * However, taking into account that Bill and Charlie were in the Burrow as well, Ron could have been moved to the attic for the time being, giving Bill and Charlie his room.
 * In the American paperback page 498 (Ch 26 - The Second Task) it says that Ron was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. After Harry cuts Ron loose, it says on page 500 that Cho's head was on Hermione's shoulder, but wouldn't they be too far apart for her head to be resting on Hermione's shoulder?
 * Maybe they had a spell cast on them to pull them together or possibly they had, being under water, drifted over to each other now that Ron was out of the way.
 * Near the beginning of Chapter 14, Neville is assigned the task of disemboweling horned toads as punishment from Professor Snape. When Hermione teaches him the Scouring Charm to remove the filth from under his fingernails, they're referred to as "frog guts". However, the horned toad is actually a species of lizard, despite the name.
 * Along the lines of the Summoning Charm in the First Task Mistake above, the Age Line surrounding the Goblet of Fire seems to only prevent people underage from walking over it. That doesn't mean they can't use Wingardium Leviosa to levitate their parchment into the Goblet. In the movie version, on the other hand, it is somewhat fixed, as the Goblet of Fire hexes the twins after they put their names into it, meaning the Age Line Dumbledore imposed may have been part of the magic of the Goblet to filter the younger students out.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
But it is also possible that the door have not been closed properly, and thus reopened, so Harry checked the door to be properly closed in order to be alone.
 * In the American paperback page 161, when talking about the old Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, Harry says, "One sacked, one dead, one's memory removed, and one locked in a trunk for nine months." referring to Lupin, Quirrell, Lockhart, and Moody respectively. However, according to PoA 'American paperback page 423, Lupin did not get sacked, he resigned.
 * Moody was locked in a trunk for ten months (from the beginning of September to the end of June.)
 * Also, Fred does not mention either of his first 2 DADA teachers, even though in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Dumbledore says that the job is jinxed and that nobody has lasted more than a year.
 * In Chapter 3, when the Advance Guard arrives at 4 Privet Drive to take Harry to 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry is already in trouble for casting a Patronus Charm in the presence of a Muggle. Yet, Tonks casts several spells (Lumos, a packing spell, Scourgify, Locomotor Trunk) and Moody casts a Disillusionment Charm on Harry while they still at 4 Privet Drive. Lupin had clearly stated that they weren't using the Floo Network because they were being watched (by the Ministry), so of course the Ministry was not aware that any Wizards that are allowed to do magic were inside Harry's house. If the Ministry can detect magic, and Harry is the only known wizard in Little Whinging, then he should've either had another owl sent from the Improper Use of Magic Office or the uses of those spells should have been brought up at some point during his trial.
 * Sirius Black told Harry Potter that Bellatrix ran in the same crowd as Severus Snape while at Hogwarts, but her date of birth makes this impossible. Bellatrix would have attended Hogwarts from 1962 to 1969, or possibly 1963 to 1970, depending on which month in 1951 she was born in, whereas Snape began his schooling in 1971. This may simply be an error, as J. K. Rowling has admitted that math is not her strong suit.[8] Another possible explanation could be that both Bellatrix and Snape went around with the same type of people, some of whom may have overlapped depending on age.
 * During Harry's hearing, Cornelius said that he blew up his aunt three years ago. However, the incident when Harry inflated Marjorie Dursley occurred almost exactly two years previously.
 * In chapter 9, Ron's prefect badge is described as scarlet and gold. Page 162 of the American paperback states: "A large P was superimposed on the Gryffindor lion. He had seen a badge just like this on Percy's chest on his very first day at Hogwarts." However, Percy's badge in Philosopher's Stone is described as silver with a P on it.
 * It is possible that the design of the Prefect Badge has been changed between the time Percy and Ron became Prefects.
 * During the meeting in the Hog's Head, Dennis Creevey shows up for the meeting. However, in Harry's fifth year, Dennis would only be a second year, and therefore would not be able to visit Hogsmeade. He could, however, have snuck out of the school with his brother.
 * In chapter 9, when Harry lets Hermione borrow Hedwig, Harry remains bent double until he hears Hermione close the door. However, when he hears Hermione and Hedwig had gone, he hurries across the room and closes the door, but the door had already been closed.
 * In chapter 13, Professor Grubbly-Plank assigns the Care of Magical Creatures class to draw bowtruckles and label their body parts to be turned in at the end of the class. Later during dinner, Harry is going over all the homework that he has to do including finishing the bowtruckle drawing. This is incorrect because Professor Grubbly-Plank said it was to be turned in at the end of class.
 * After Harry has seen his father bully Snape in a memory, he remembers Professor McGonagall saying that James and Sirius were troublemakers at school, but no more so than the Weasley twins. This is incorrect. She said in the Prizoner of Azkaban that she had no memory of anyone else being so troublesome, and Hagrid said Fred and Geogre could have given them a run for their money.
 * In chapter 30 of the American hardcover, Harry and Hermione find seats in the topmost row at the Quidditch match. But when Hagrid comes to tell them about Grawp, he squeezes his way through the row behind them. If Harry and Hermione are in the topmost row, there cannot be a row behind them. They may also have just been in the topmost row of students and there may have been empty rows behind them. (Corrected in later editions)
 * In Chapter 31 "O.W.L.s", it is stated that the Astronomy test of O.W.L. began at 11 o'clock at night, and Harry observed Venus. However, in real world, Venus can only be observed shortly before sunrise, or shortly after sunset, but it can never be seen at midnight.
 * They likely have magical telescopes that can view certain stars and planets at anytime.
 * When Hagrid returns and begins teaching his class again, he comments that he has been bringing Thestrals for his fifth years' O.W.L.s for years. But he only became a teacher two years ago, in Prisoner of Azkaban.
 * But he has been a gamekeeper for many years, and it is very much possible that teachers have asked him to bring them over the years.
 * Of course Harry and his co-students were in their 5th year at the time and it is most likely that Hagrid meant to bring the Thestrals for the 5th year students and wasn't referring to himself at all.
 * In chapter 37, after Sirius' death, Harry reminisces about when Sirius watched him play Quidditch in Harry's third year. Harry wonders if Sirius had come to see if he was as good a player as James had been, and regrets never having asked him. However, in Prisoner of Azkaban Sirius specifically tells Harry that he did watch him for that exact reason, and that he was as good as his father.
 * It is possible that Harry could have forgotten this.
 * During the Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations, Hannah Abbott was doing her transfiguration practical at the same time as Harry Potter. This is odd as the examinations are done by surname, meaning that Hannah should have finished a while ago, unless she was a rather incompetent student, or unless she had a fit of anxiety in the middle of the examination and had to be calmed, which could take time, and then resume the exam when Harry started his.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

 * On page 225, it states that Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote join Katie, Demelza and Ginny in the stands for the selection of their last team member, the Keeper. Yet, on the next page, when McLaggen missed the 5th goal, he told Harry concerning Ron's success, "His sister didn't really try.... She gave him an easy save," implying that Ginny and the other team members had been out on the pitch testing the potential Keepers instead of sitting in the stands.
 * It is possible that Harry gave the Keepers other tests before trying them with the Chasers. Or, he may not have called the Chasers up at the time of Peakes and Coote sitting down and so they were still sitting in the stands where they had gone during the Beater's try-outs.
 * On page 101 of the British version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ron mentions that Hermione got ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations for Defence Against the Dark Arts giving her a total of eleven O.W.L.s. However, as she dropped both Divination and Muggle Studies in her third year, she couldn't possibly have got eleven O.W.L.s as she was only doing ten subjects - Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. This error was corrected in later editions.
 * On Harry's sixteenth birthday, Remus Lupin tells Harry that Garrick Ollivander has gone missing. But in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it said that Ollivander had been in the Malfoys' cellar "a year". However, if he had been captured at the beginning of the sixth book, he would have been held in the cellar for about two years. However, this could mean that Ollivander was held in a separate place for a year before being moved to Malfoy Manor.
 * Considering Lord Voldemort had only recently started using Malfoy Manor as his base by the time of DH Chapter 1, and more than one raid was done on the manor itself by Arthur Weasley and his office and he wasn't found, the latter option seems the likely case.
 * Harry's sixteenth birthday happens on July 31st, 1996. Looking at any full moon calendar, in that year full moon was on July 30th. Remus Lupin was recovering from the after effects of his werewolf transformation and it is therefore difficult for him to go to birthday parties. It is said, though, that he was looking "gaunt and grim", so he might have transformed the night before.
 * There are other times when the full moon doesn't occur in the books the day it did in real life. It doesn't line up.
 * At Christmas, however, it is stated that Remus Lupin comes over to the Burrow and even uses Bill's bedroom. December 24, 1996 is the exact date of a full moon and, since Lupin was already living with the werewolves, there was little chance he could get the seven days doses of Wolfsbane potion required to make him harmless. Therefore, on that night he would have been a dangerous transformed werewolf.
 * In the chapter titled "The Secret Riddle", "... Dumbledore entered the room ... It was a small bare room with nothing in it except an old wardrobe and an iron bedstead." A couple paragraphs later, "Dumbledore drew up the hard wooden chair beside Riddle, so that the pair of them looked rather like a hospital patient and visitor." Of course, since Dumbledore is a wizard, this may not be a mistake at all, as Dumbledore may have conjured a chair as he has done in other books.
 * But then Riddle would not have had any reason to accuse Dumbledore of coming to take him to the asylum.
 * On page 342 of the American version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, there is a punctuation error when Molly Weasley says "Have a little purkey, or some tooding...I mean-" to Rufus Scrimgeour. There are no quotation marks in front of the have in the statement. This is corrected in the newer editions, however.
 * When talking to Katie Bell about Quidditch, Harry says to her, "you don't need to try out, I've watched you play for five years..." Harry had only watched her play for four years, since Quidditch was cancelled in his fourth year for the Triwizard Tournament.
 * But it may be possible that Katie continued to fly around Hogwarts, on the pitch before the bushes were planted or even just in remote places. Harry may have been passing whilst walking around and seen her. Harry may have also meant that he first saw Katie fly five years ago and has seen her fly often enough in between (including during his fifth year) that she does not need to try-out)
 * When Harry and Ron are speaking with Fred and George at the Burrow, George says they're off to see a "pretty [Muggle] girl who thinks my card tricks are something marvellous... almost like real magic..." However, if George did indeed use magic he would have been breaking the Statute of Secrecy. He could have been using an enchanted deck, however, and most likely was, as he and his brother have been creating things for years.
 * However, George may be showing the girl completely non-magical card tricks that he is very good at.
 * They have a section of Muggle magic tricks in their shop, so it's only resonable that they used one from there
 * When Ron is in the hospital on his birthday, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Fred and George are present. When Hagrid enters, however, the description says "The dormitory doors [flew] open." This should be 'The hospital doors'.
 * Rowling may have been referring to the "hospital dormitory," the name for the room that houses the patients and the room that Ron was in.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 * When they are at the Burrow, celebrating Harry Potter's seventeenth birthday, Molly raises her wand threateningly above Charlie's head and says he is about to get a proper hair cut, but it is and always has been Bill who had the long hair.
 * However, Molly stating that Charlie is about to get a 'proper' hair cut doesn't necesserily imply that he has long hair, but would more likely imply that due to his hectic job and lifestyle, he doesnt take as much care of his appearance as he should, and in fact just needs to be neatened up a little, it doesn't actually state that he has 'long' hair.
 * Ron does state at one point before the wedding that the noise outside his bedroom "could be Charlie going to regrow his hair" implying that he did have much longer hair and not just an untidy hair cut because of job and lifestyle.
 * Bill and Charlie could BOTH have long hair.
 * When Harry, Ron and Hermione are camping and they get caught by the Snatchers, Hermione pretends she is Penelope Clearwater, but Penelope was Petrified in book 2, therefore she is Muggle-born so she would also be on the Muggle-Born Registration Commission list.
 * However, Penelope could've been half-blood like Hermione said, and she could've just happened to have been with Hermione when she was Petrified.
 * Yes, possible, because Penelope was involved only by chance. She was the first person Hermione ran into after leaving the library and discovering the info about Basilisks. The two girls used Penelope's small hand mirror to navigate the school hallways, they looked the Basilisk in the eye through the reflection of the mirror, Petrifying them both.
 * Near the end of chapter thirty, it says that the only people left in the Room of Requirement are Harry, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur. But on the next page Percy (who had recently entered the room) apologises to Mr. Weasley, but Mr. Weasley had left the room along with all the other people.
 * When Harry is viewing Snape's memories, he witnesses a scene on Platform 9 3/4 between his mother and Aunt Petunia, in which Petunia tugs her hand out of Lily's grasp. Her hand is then back in Lily's and she tugs it out again.
 * When Harry stuns Umbridge and Yaxley in the courtroom, he "whirls around" to see dementors approaching Mrs. Cattermole. But Harry was already facing her, having been seated behind Umbridge, Yaxley, and Hermione.
 * It might have been that the dementors were approaching Mrs. Cattermole at a distance, and they were not directly in Harry's line of vision.
 * When Harry talks to Griphook about breaking into Gringotts, Griphook has the Sword of Gryffindor in his hands. When Harry stands up to leave a few moments later, the sword is now beside Griphook's bed.
 * At the beginning of chapter two, it says that Harry can't use magic due to not coming of age for 4 days. In chapter six, days have passed since the Battle over Little Whinging, but Harry states the Trace will break in 4 days.
 * However with everything that was going on Harry's mind may have become confused or he could have just said the wrong thing.
 * When Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave the Great Hall after the Battle of Hogwarts ends, Harry is under his Invisibility Cloak, and remains under it when they reach the Headmaster's office. When Harry raises his arms to silence the headmaster and headmistress portraits, he is suddenly visible to everyone, but there's never any mention of him taking the Cloak off.
 * However, there may have simply been no mention of Harry removing the Cloak.
 * When Harry, Ron and Hermione are at the front door of Xenophilius Lovegood's house, Hermione says to Harry, "You better take off the Invisibility Cloak, Harry, it's you Mr. Lovegood wants to help." and he handed her his Cloak to place in the beaded bag. But later after the Death Eaters arrive Hermione says "Harry give me the Invisibility Cloak, Ron, you're going to put it on." However it is possible that Harry was given the Cloak again without a mention about it in the book (for example, he could have taken it while Hermione was reading The Tale of the Three Brothers)
 * Also, in the Room of Requirement when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are talking with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, it says that Crabbe's voice was soft. But in the second book, when Ron turns into Crabbe after drinking Polyjuice Potion, Ron's voice also changes along with the appearance. So his voice became Crabbe's, which was said to be like a grunt. So how could Crabbe's voice be a grunt when he was twelve but then soft when he was seventeen or eighteen, unless of course he went under an abnormal voice change where his voice goes from lower to higher instead of higher to lower? It also says that Harry had hardly ever heard Crabbe speak before, but he would have heard his voice a lot when Ron spoke after taking the Polyjuice Potion in their second year at Hogwarts.
 * Another possibility is that Crabbe was frightened in the Room of Requirement, so he spoke quietly.
 * In chapter twenty-three, Narcissa says that Draco "is home for his Easter holidays." In chapter twenty-four, the sun is described as rising at Shell Cottage in Cornwall. But shortly after this, Harry sees into Voldemort's mind at Hogsmeade, where it is "still dark, because it was so much farther north." Since Easter never comes until the Vernal Equinox, and Hogsmeade can hardly be more than a bit west of Shell Cottage, the sun should have risen at Hogsmeade by the time it rose at Shell Cottage. And even if the sunrise was blocked by a mountain, the sky would be light.
 * When Ron returns after having walked out on the other two, he informs them about the Taboo that has been placed on Voldemort's name, and that saying his name would break any protective enchantment placed on and around the person, and that this was how the Death Eaters had found them so easily on Tottenham road. This does hold true, when the trio are later captured by a gang of Snatchers. However, this Taboo fails to come into effect when they say Voldemort's name at Grimmauld Place, as the Fidelus Charm continues to hold.
 * However, the Death Eaters do patrol outside of it, but due to the fact that they do not know that the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix are located at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, they can't access it. They could be aware that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are at Number 12, as it is not there, and the disturbance comes from the area, but because they do not know that the Headquarters is located there, they cannot cause it to appear. However, once Yaxley is brought within the enchantment, there is no reason to suspect that, were they to stun him and obliviate him, they couldn't keep hiding there.
 * Harry's worries about the Trace are unfounded. In A Place To Hide, he never used magic to clue in anybody as to his location: it was only the fact that they said Voldemort's name. No one used magic until after the Death Eaters found them. (Technically, Hermione used Apparition to get them there and Ron and Harry were side-along.) Later in the book Harry comments that it would be very hard to be on the run if he couldn't perform magic, implying that a person is not traceable merely because they have the Trace, they would have to perform magic to cause the spell to make them able to be located.
 * Furthermore, if the Trace can detect underage magic for a specific individual, than that means that there would be no question of who cast a spell. This would mean that Dobby's use of magic in Chamber of Secrets and Tom Riddle's in Half-Blood Prince would not have been attributed to Harry and Morfin Gaunt respectively.
 * This cannot be true as in a previous book it says that the Ministry can only detect magic and depends on the parents to enforce the rule.
 * In Half-Blood Prince, the Death Eathers enter Hogwarts via the Room of Hidden Things, yet a year later Voldemort is certain that no one else knows of the room's existence.
 * In the two chapters, A Place To Hide and Kreacher's Tale, they say "Voldemort" aloud several times; however the Taboo was in place before this. One interpretation would be that the protection of the Fidelius Charm or other protective charms on 12 Grimmauld Place allowed this to be so.
 * As stated above, the only reason they could not access it was because they didn't know the location of the Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters, and thus, they were denied.
 * When Lupin comes to visit the trio at Grimmauld Place he states, "I would have been here sooner, but it took 3 days to shake the Death Eaters that were tailing me..." Just a few sentences later while speaking of how the Death Eaters located the trio in the Cafe, that it is "Impossible to trace someone who Apparates, unless they grab hold of you..." Great forshadowing of the later event of Yaxley grabing ahold of Hermione, but this also implies that Lupin either couldn't Apparate from his house to Grimmauld Place or that the Death Eaters in question were touching him for 3 days. Unlikely in both cases.
 * However, it is possible to watch where someone Apparates to, considering Pius Thicknesse making it illegal to Apparate to and from 4 Privet Drive, which would force them to fly. It never says they couldn't Apparate if they wanted to, which means they could, but due to a) the protective enchantments on the safe-houses and b) this potential watch, they must have been forced to use brooms and were given no alternative some way.
 * When discussing Godric's Hollow, Harry implies he has never read A History of Magic, and indeed may have only opened it once when he bought it. However, he spent a considerable amount of time flipping through it and his other textbooks in Philosopher's Stone while waiting for 1 September to arrive, and read the section on witch burnings for homework in Prisoner of Azkaban. Furthermore, it is Hogwarts, A History which Harry is typically portrayed in earlier novels as having never read.
 * He could have simply lost interest in it, considering Binns is described as making even the most violent Giant Wars seem dull and uninteresting.
 * When Harry sees the dead in the Great Hall, he sees that Colin Creevey has been killed. But Colin could not have attended Hogwarts that year due to the Ministry's system requiring students to give blood status because he is a Muggle-born, which is pointed out by both his attacking in Chamber of Secrets and Malfoy calling him slime, obviously meaning Muggle-born, in the Slytherin common room.
 * However, he could have found a way to lie about his blood status and get away with it, but if he used his real name, and not a fake one, the Ministry could have just looked him up in their records. They may have not kept track of wizards' blood status before Voldemort took over, however.