Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix follows the journey of the wizarding world have Voldemort has returned. In this book, he is still hiding in secret however, as he wasn’t prepared for Harry to escape and inform Dumbledore of his return. This is a dark chapter for Harry and his friends.
The entire wizarding world believes Harry is a delusional liar and the Ministry of Magic is also against him. This book also introduces the vile character of Dolores Umbridge. However, it does give us the reformation of the Order of the Phoenix too. We’re taking a look at 10 of the biggest unresolved plot holes from The Order of the Phoenix.
Why don’t they extract Harry’s memories during his hearing?
Harry is forced to go to court due to performing “underaged magic,” when he has to defend himself and his cousin Dudley from a Dementor attack. He is summoned to the Wizengamot to give his defense before Cornelius Fudge and other members of the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore and Miss Figg are eventually called as his witnesses.
Why doesn’t anyone simply put Harry’s memories of the event into a Pensieve so they can see what actually happened? Obviously, Fudge is determined not to believe Harry since he is on a mission to discredit him and his story about Voldemort’s return but it would make things much simpler and remove room for bias.
How does Bellatrix recognize Neville?
Bellatrix Lestrange is the Death Eater responsible for torturing Neville Longbottom’s parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, into insanity by using the Cruciatus Curse on them. Her actions land her in Azkaban.
In the fifth book, there is a mass breakout at Azkaban due to Voldemort’s return and the lacking allegiance of Dementors. Bellatrix somehow instantly recognizes Neville in the films. There’s no way that would be possible as she had been locked away for a long time. If she ever saw Neville before he would have been a child.
Harry should have been able to see Thestrals earlier
This has been discussed before and many times by Harry Potter fans but it makes no sense that Harry wasn’t able to see Thestrals until this book. He had witnessed the death of his mother, Lily Potter, and Professor Quirrell.
He is only able to see the Thestrals after watching Cedric Diggory die by Voldemort’s hand at the end of book four. J.K. Rowling claims this is because Harry had to truly understand what that death meant and essentially let it “sink in” before he would be able to see the creatures. But we can assume that already would have been the case for his mother and Quirrell.
Couldn’t Voldemort have retrieved the prophecy himself?
Dumbledore claims the only way someone could retrieve a prophecy from the hall at the Ministry of Magic is if that prophecy was made about them. In that case, then why couldn’t Voldemort simply retrieve the prophecy himself instead of going through all the difficulties of getting Harry there to take it?
You could argue that it would be hard for Voldemort to get into the Ministry but that doesn’t seem to be the case considering a group of teenagers and Death Eaters are able to get inside without triggering any alarms. Surely the Dark Lord himself could have easily done so without running into much trouble.
Who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts after Umbridge was promoted?
In the fifth book, Dolores Umbridge is hired as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She also promotes herself to High Inquisitor, with the Ministry’s help, of course. But then after Dumbledore leaves, Umbridge becomes the new Hogwarts headmaster.
While she’s headmaster, who takes over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? We can assume she wouldn’t have really had time to do all three jobs simultaneously.
Does Moody know a Boggart’s true form or not?
At one point in the novel while at Grimmauld’s Place, Molly asks Moody to take a look at a desk in the drawing-room to determine if there is a boggart inside. She wants to know for sure before she opens it as part of the house’s decontamination process.
Moody confirms easily that it is a boggart simply by looking up through the ceiling with his magical eye. Does that mean Moody knows what the Boggart’s true form is? Or, as a magical creature, does the Boggart know that Moody is looking at it and it takes the shape of Moody’s biggest fear?
Why did the trace detect the magic when the Order retrieved Harry?
We know that the trace on underage wizards will detect magic in the presence of a young witch or wizard. This is especially true for those who live in Muggle households. There are obvious exceptions to the rules for people like Ron Weasley, who lives in a house full of wizards who do magic all the time. But Harry is documented as living in a Muggle residence.
When Dobby did magic he was blamed for it. So why then, would the Ministry not be informed or freak out when the entire Order of the Phoenix came to retrieve Harry from the Dursley’s and performed several different spells to get him prepared? You’d think, given that the Ministry was very anti-Harry at the time, it would have been a great opportunity to get him expelled.
The movie randomly adds Ginny, Luna, and Neville to a scene
When leading up to the climax of the film, Harry enlists the help of Ron and Hermione to find out whether Sirius is home and safe or if he is indeed being held captive in the Department of Mysteries. In the book, Harry also gets Luna, Ginny, and Neville to help.
The entire group eventually goes to the Department of Mysteries and the grand fight ensues. However, in the film, Luna, Neville, and Ginny are randomly caught by Malfoy and brought to Umbridge, despite there never being any indication that Harry asked them for assistance. Had you not read the books, it seems like a massive plot hole.
Why didn’t Fawkes help Arthur?
It is established in the second book that Fawkes, Dumbledore’s loyal pet Phoenix, has healing tears. His tears heal Harry from Basilisk venom at a crucial moment. When Arthur is attacked and almost killed by a snake in the fifth book, when didn’t Dumbledore take some of Fawkes’ tears to him at the hospital?
Surely it wouldn’t have been a problem considering how loyal the bird is and would have saved a great deal of trouble for the Weasleys.
Does the Ministry of Magic have no security protocols?
We mentioned this briefly above but it seems crazy that a group of underage teenagers and an entire horde of Death Eaters in addition to the Order of the Phoenix, were all able to get into the Ministry of Magic at night without triggering any alarms.
By the end of the battle, people begin to arrive but you would think as the headquarters of magical law enforcement that the Ministry would have much stricter security or at least some alarms or something!
Next: Harry Potter: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Ministry Of Magic
