Things that didn't quite make sense in Harry Potter?

[Moonshroom]

My memory is a little rusty, but I seem to recall that in one of the books they mentioned that, when Muggles tried to see Hogwarts, all they encountered were castle ruins and I always thought that that part of the lore was carelessly thrown in... because, what would happen if someone tried to inspect said ruins when the school was in season? There's no way that the entirety of England would ignore a castle and I'm sure it would be a popular sightseeing tourist attraction, too.

I don't know, I have long forgotten most of what makes the HP universe but I seem to recall that regular people can see wizards and witches no problem, so finding an entire school of them thinly hidden behind alleged ruins... yeah.

I'm definitely over thinking this, but I haven't been able to let it go for years now and I wanted to hear your opinion on it if at all possible.

[Kyng]

Yeah, some of the ways in which the magical world was hidden from the Muggle world seem a bit shaky .

In the case of the ruined castle... it wouldn't keep Muggles away, because it would be swarming with archaeologists (and then, once they've finished what they're doing, it'd become a tourist attraction). Or, if they stuck signs on to say it was dangerous, it'd become a magnet for thrill-seekers!

Another example was the Quidditch World Cup. Whenever Muggles approached the stadium, they would suddenly remember urgent appointments and rush off. Which might work for a while, but in the end, I'm sure somebody would notice the pattern of people suddenly remembering appointments whilst in the vicinity, and go in with the express intention of investigating!

I'm sure there are more... Rowling's worldbuilding is 'wide' and oozes charm, but it isn't very 'deep' .

[Moonshroom]

Yeah, some of the ways in which the magical world was hidden from the Muggle world seem a bit shaky .

In the case of the ruined castle... it wouldn't keep Muggles away, because it would be swarming with archaeologists (and then, once they've finished what they're doing, it'd become a tourist attraction). Or, if they stuck signs on to say it was dangerous, it'd become a magnet for thrill-seekers!

Another example was the Quidditch World Cup. Whenever Muggles approached the stadium, they would suddenly remember urgent appointments and rush off. Which might work for a while, but in the end, I'm sure somebody would notice the pattern of people suddenly remembering appointments whilst in the vicinity, and go in with the express intention of investigating!

I'm sure there are more... Rowling's worldbuilding is 'wide' and oozes charm, but it isn't very 'deep' .

Yeah, right now the Schlobitten Castle in East Prussia is in such a state of disrepair that not only has the area been chained off, but it also has repeated warning signs written in three languages warning about it... because it isn't like the whole thing is just "unsound", but it might actually just fall in your head and one of the areas is permanently flooded, too. Has that stopped anybody? No, people post new pictures of its ruined interiors practically every week and that's because no-one wants to be the last one to step inside of the structures while they still stand or miss out on the adventure entirely. I'm sure it would be the same for Hogwarts.

I didn't know the thing about Quidditch Cup, but I find it hilarious... I'm telling you right now, 2020 would have been the year that we would have finally proven magic to be real, because no-one would have had anything better to do XD

[Kyng]

Yeah, definitely .

Another thing that doesn't really make sense is the denominations of currency that they use. In the real world, most countries use a decimal currency (e.g. 100 cents in a dollar), because multiples of 10 are easy for us to work with. Or, you might have something like the pre-decimal pound in the UK, which was divided into 240 pennies. This was convenient for dividing things - because 240 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 .

However, the money in Harry Potter doesn't work like that at all. There are three coins (Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons) - and there are 17 Knuts in a Sickle, and 29 Sickles in a Galleon. Those are difficult numbers to work with - and they're also both prime numbers, so they can't be divided by anything except 1 and themselves. What a horribly impractical system!

[JHG]

Yeah, definitely .

Another thing that doesn't really make sense is the denominations of currency that they use. In the real world, most countries use a decimal currency (e.g. 100 cents in a dollar), because multiples of 10 are easy for us to work with. Or, you might have something like the pre-decimal pound in the UK, which was divided into 240 pennies. This was convenient for dividing things - because 240 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 .

However, the money in Harry Potter doesn't work like that at all. There are three coins (Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons) - and there are 17 Knuts in a Sickle, and 29 Sickles in a Galleon. Those are difficult numbers to work with - and they're also both prime numbers, so they can't be divided by anything except 1 and themselves. What a horribly impractical system!

493 Knuts to one Galleon. Must really suck to be a wizard pauper considering it’s several galleons needed for school textbooks and replacement robes. That’s not even taking to account broomsticks.

[Moonshroom]

Yeah, definitely .

Another thing that doesn't really make sense is the denominations of currency that they use. In the real world, most countries use a decimal currency (e.g. 100 cents in a dollar), because multiples of 10 are easy for us to work with. Or, you might have something like the pre-decimal pound in the UK, which was divided into 240 pennies. This was convenient for dividing things - because 240 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 .

However, the money in Harry Potter doesn't work like that at all. There are three coins (Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons) - and there are 17 Knuts in a Sickle, and 29 Sickles in a Galleon. Those are difficult numbers to work with - and they're also both prime numbers, so they can't be divided by anything except 1 and themselves. What a horribly impractical system!

Wow! That SUCKS.

I would go crazy in like a minute there... what's the point of having magic if such trivial things can give you so much trouble? XD

[Kyng]

Yeah, definitely .

Another thing that doesn't really make sense is the denominations of currency that they use. In the real world, most countries use a decimal currency (e.g. 100 cents in a dollar), because multiples of 10 are easy for us to work with. Or, you might have something like the pre-decimal pound in the UK, which was divided into 240 pennies. This was convenient for dividing things - because 240 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 .

However, the money in Harry Potter doesn't work like that at all. There are three coins (Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons) - and there are 17 Knuts in a Sickle, and 29 Sickles in a Galleon. Those are difficult numbers to work with - and they're also both prime numbers, so they can't be divided by anything except 1 and themselves. What a horribly impractical system!

Wow! That SUCKS.

I would go crazy in like a minute there... what's the point of having magic if such trivial things can give you so much trouble? XD

I just hope there's a spell for dividing money .

If not... then they're gonna have a very hard time splitting bills and such!

[Moonshroom]

Yeah, definitely .

Another thing that doesn't really make sense is the denominations of currency that they use. In the real world, most countries use a decimal currency (e.g. 100 cents in a dollar), because multiples of 10 are easy for us to work with. Or, you might have something like the pre-decimal pound in the UK, which was divided into 240 pennies. This was convenient for dividing things - because 240 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 .

However, the money in Harry Potter doesn't work like that at all. There are three coins (Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons) - and there are 17 Knuts in a Sickle, and 29 Sickles in a Galleon. Those are difficult numbers to work with - and they're also both prime numbers, so they can't be divided by anything except 1 and themselves. What a horribly impractical system!

Wow! That SUCKS.

I would go crazy in like a minute there... what's the point of having magic if such trivial things can give you so much trouble? XD

I just hope there's a spell for dividing money .

If not... then they're gonna have a very hard time splitting bills and such!

"Cheapendo" XD.

[Opal Fruit]

A little thing is: 

The fact that the teachers let Ron use a broken wand for the entirety of his second year. (Well, it is Dumbledore as head after all.) Surely that's just asking for trouble, and shouldn't there be safety measures in place that would at least allow him to have a spare wand in the meantime, until he could obtain a new one? How's he expected to perform in lessons with a backfiring wand? An unfair disadvantage, etc! I know this is ultimately what saves Harry and Ron from a horrible fate later on, but still... just a little thing to think about.

[Moonshroom]

A little thing is: 

The fact that the teachers let Ron use a broken wand for the entirety of his second year. (Well, it is Dumbledore as head after all.) Surely that's just asking for trouble, and shouldn't there be safety measures in place that would at least allow him to have a spare wand in the meantime, until he could obtain a new one? How's he expected to perform in lessons with a backfiring wand? An unfair disadvantage, etc! I know this is ultimately what saves Harry and Ron from a horrible fate later on, but still... just a little thing to think about.

That's an excellent point, Opal.

That could have easily gotten anyone killed and that's in a series that isn't afraid of its bloodbaths... the fact that it was ultimately a plot devise just makes it all the more egregious.