He might have conquered the Dark Lord in his own respective fantasy universe, but Harry Potter is by no means the most brilliant character in his franchise. Most of this is thanks to his age– for most of the books and the films, we usually see Harry in a stage of his life where his life choices don’t make sense and everything he does is nearly a mistake. This is called puberty.
So really, we can’t fully blame Harry for not being a perfect paragon of protagonism. Still, most of the mistakes he did serve as valuable lessons for his growing up. After all, the Harry Potter books and movies still fall in the “coming of age” genre. Hence, there’s plenty to learn from Harry’s mistakes, speaking of which, here are 10 of such mistakes that left a mark on him.
INFLATING HIS AUNT
When your aunt is a pompous and arrogant hag who keeps insulting your dead parents in front of you, you have every right to rage at them and show them a piece of your mind. Well, Harry did that and then some more to his aunt Marge on Vernon Dursley’s side of the family. Without knowing how to do it, Harry inflated his Marge like a balloon.
Was it a fitting retaliation? Some might say it’s a bit overkill, words and snarky comebacks would have sufficed. Harry did create a bigger problem in the form of getting himself expelled from Hogwarts. He was only lucky since Sirius Black just escaped and Ministry officials wanted him tucked away safe. Perhaps a bit of restraint would have saved him from expulsion.
MISCHIEF WITH THE INVISIBILITY CLOAK
Look we get it, the invisibility cloak is pure bliss and power and basically lets you do everything you want without attracting attention. We know it and Harry knows it. That’s why he liberally uses the invisibility cloak in Hogwarts and outside of it to constantly break school rules and even Ministry rules.
Granted, some of those were necessary actions in order to help with the ongoing secret war against Voldemort but you can’t forget that one time Harry stole Neville Longbottom’s lollipop. Besides, Harry discovered some nasty lies about his godfather, in the process which made him hate Sirius needlessly. That ought to teach him a more responsible use of power.
FIGHTS WITH RON AND HERMIONE
Harry, Ron, and Hermione have always been inseparable ever since the first movie came out. However, their friendship is not all rainbows and sunshine. The three of them have been through some rough patches in their friendship and have fought many times over.
Well, it was mostly Harry and Ron doing the fighting since Hermione is more of a mediator. In any case, two of Harry and Ron’s most notable fights are during the Tri-Wizard tournament and in the Deathly Hallows movies where lives were at stake. Surely they could have gotten past their pride, ego, and anger in order to… we don’t know, save the world more efficiently maybe?
NEARLY KILLING DRACO MALFOY
The Sorting Hat wanted to place Harry in Slytherin initially but ultimately punted him over to Gryffindor. Of course, we do know that the Sorting Hat is correct and Harry did have some Slytherin tendencies which became a lot more intense in The Half-Blood Prince. During that time, he discovered a new spell from a diary he should not have read (again) and he didn’t know what it does.
For some reason, he still ended up using it against Draco Malfoy in an impromptu hate-driven duel. The result? Harry nearly killed Draco and would have if not for Severus Snape’s intervention. Sure, the Malfoys (any of them) deserve all lessons that can be inflicted upon them but Harry should have been more cautious and less murderous with a fellow Hogwarts student.
BEING IMPATIENT WITH SNAPE’S LESSONS
For most of the film and the books, Severus Snape was Harry’s most hated teacher in Hogwarts. The two of them simply had bad blood that Snape couldn’t let go. However, Snape did genuinely care for Harry and even taught him one of the best defense he could do against Voldemort: Occlumency.
Well, Snape tried anyway. Turns out Harry was too much of a hormonal teenager to accept some valuable lessons from Snape without turning angsty or impatient every minute or so. If only Harry listened and acted a little bit wiser, Voldemort would not have caused as much damage as he should have in Order of the Phoenix.
USING TOM RIDDLE’S DIARY
Speaking of damage that should not have been inflicted on Hogwarts, Harry could have easily spared the school that much if only he decided to turn in a weird diary he found in his bag. Oh but instead of doing that, he opened and used it to communicate with Voldemort himself.
Well, back then, he was only 12 years of age and his actions could have easily been excusable but as it is, his curiosity got the best of him. Funny thing is, other students, such as Hermione, would have reported the diary’s weird quirks and the crisis could have been averted. However, this was Harry we’re talking about and he just had to indulge his curiosity.
ASSAULTING HIS OWN GODFATHER
Thanks to a false rumor he heard in Hogsmeade, Harry grew to hate Sirius Black despite not meeting him. Such prejudice against his own godfather and one of the only remaining family he has left could have been avoided if only he didn’t abuse his invisibility cloak too much.
Sadly, this mistake had a domino effect in The Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry, upon meeting Sirius Black in the flesh, assaulted and nearly killed him– he was poised to blow him to bits anyway. Really, Harry should have kept his cool and listened to what Sirius has to say instead of being a dense hothead.
LETTING PETER PETTIGREW ESCAPE
In addition to nearly killing his own godfather, Harry also contributed much to the escape of Peter Pettigrew or Wormtail. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were nearly at the end of their plan and arrangement to bring justice to Pettigrew before Harry ruined everything. Hermione was also in it but Harry mostly messed up.
Snape came to the rescue and could have set things straight but Harry also attacked him just to hear Pettigrew tell a story about his parents. Was it worth it? Well, let’s just say they could have used the spare time to avoid the full moon which turned Lupin into a werewolf, providing an opportunity for Pettigrew to escape. At this point, Harry should have learned to start thinking like Hermione instead.
USING UNFORGIVABLE CURSES
Most of the unforgivable curses in Hogwarts are used by Voldemort’s Death Eaters so you know they’re evil bad people who are up to no good. The movies and the books make that pretty clear enough. However, there were instances where Harry himself, out of pure loathing, used a Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix Lestrange.
This was after Bellatrix managed to kill Sirius Black and ran away mocking Harry. Harry did have every right to hate her but using a curse on her is just something uncalled for. You’re no better than your enemies if you also do the same thing they do, after all.
FALLING FOR VOLDEMORT’S RUSE
Harry just had a taste of the true extent of Voldemort’s powers when the Dark Lord started invading his minds and luring him into traps. He could have avoided these traps if only he listened to Snape’s teachings but the damage has been done. Voldemort successfully baited Potter and caused the biggest mistake in his life.
Sirius was forced to rescue Harry with the Order of the Phoenix in tow and this result in Sirius’ death. It really was something that could have been prevented if only Harry did not act out of impulse. Then again, he would be Harry Potter if he hadn’t, would he?
