17 "Harry Potter" Opinions That Are Pretty Unpopular, But Have Probably Crossed Your Mind Too

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

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It’s been 20 years since Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone was first released.

Yeah, we’re old now.

I genuinely love Harry Potter, but there are far too many questionable things we all seem to overlook.

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BTW, this list contains A LOT of spoilers, so if somehow you haven’t seen these films, scroll at your own risk!

1. Hogwarts wasn’t fun, it was a death-trap.

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When Harry started, Hogwarts should have been shut down already. I can’t believe parents sent their kids to this school of death every year. For decades, basilisks, trolls, dementors, and the occasional Voldemort visit did nothing to dissuade anyone of the school’s issues. Dumbledore was lucky there wasn't a Wizarding Ofsted.

2. The moving staircases were a terrible idea.

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While this seemed cool when we were first introduced to them, it’s ridiculously impractical. How many students would've been late for class because the stairs decided to move, again? As if there weren’t enough dangers in the school already..

3. And the Triwizard Tournament was pretty sadistic.

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Literal children were competing in a tournament where death was a risk. You might be thinking, "well, they chose to enter," or "there was an age restriction," but look how that turned out for Harry.

4. Harry wasn't that good of a wizard.

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Harry's loved affair with expelliarmus just couldn't be stopped. If you really think about it, most of the time, Harry relied on Hermione, luck, and the same five spells.

5. Let's be real – Snape was weird.

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Now bear with me here, I know you probably love Snape, but if we consider his actions and obsession with Lily Potter, then you can’t deny how weird he was. He somehow managed to keep his obsession with Lily going on for decades. Now you might say "but he redeemed himself in the end" and to that, I say, "he was a grown man who spent years picking on a child."

6. And I'm sorry but, whenever it mattered the most, Dumbledore was kinda useless.

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Greatest wizard of all time aside, Dumbledore was often careless, manipulative, and cold. I can't count the number of times Dumbledore just let Harry walk into traps, and he completely missed a giant basilisk roaming the halls for an entire school year. 

7. The recruitment at Hogwarts was the worst.

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Apart from our beloved McGonagall, most of the teachers were dreadful! Within the space of a few years, Dumbledore hired a former death eater, an actual death eater, a fraud, a werewolf, and Voldemort. A simple DBS check would've solved so much.

8. The House system didn't make sense.

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Imagine being put into a house and knowing that this house is famous for producing dark wizards – welcome to Hogwarts. The house system was outdated and encouraged cliques and bullying. McGonagall even sent the entire Slytherin house to the dungeons for a comment one student made! No wonder Harry begged the Sorting Hat to spare him.

9. And the school rules weren't much better, either.

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The Forbidden Forest was so dangerous it was strictly out of bounds. Except when it was the perfect spot for First Years' detention. Ummm, what?

10. For a hero, Harry was kinda annoying.

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Be honest, you know you've thought this too. The boy who lived? More like the boy who whined.

11. Draco was underused and neglected.

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While we're on the subject of honesty, I bet you secretly prefer Draco to Harry.  From being surrounded by death eaters to having to hug Voldemort, Draco should have been saved but was neglected by everyone. He also had a better arc, plus he said "Potter" in the most satisfying way.

12. Quidditch is an awful game.

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Firstly, the game is ridiculously dangerous, but we’ve already established that Hogwarts wasn’t exactly the safest place to go. Worse than that, the game is too obsessed with the golden snitch. Imagine dodging bludgers and whacking quaffles, just for it to be all over when someone catches the golden snitch.

13. Pretty much every adult was incompetent.

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Harry, Ron and Hermione basically spent their time at Hogwarts solving problems that the adults should have been fixing. Every time they tried to go to a responsible adult, they were rebuffed. I’ve lost count of the number of times they were left to deal with things that other adults could have helped with.

14. The time turner was stupid.

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Dumbledore only saw fit to introduce one of the most powerful weapons at his disposal to save a Hippogriff?! OK, maybe it wasn’t that simple, but the introduction of the time turner did more harm than good in the Harry Potter Universe. Why didn’t Dumbledore use it again? How common are these things? Why wasn’t it mentioned again? So many questions, so little time.

15. I love him, but let's be real – Hagrid shouldn't have been working at a school.

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Hagrid was responsible for so many problems during his time at Hogwarts, I’m surprised he wasn’t sacked earlier. Hagrid’s love for dangerous beasts very nearly got Harry and co killed. He raised Aragog, kept dragons in the school, and generally underestimated the danger of every beast he encountered. 

16. Voldemort wasn’t all that impressive.

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 For someone regarded as one of the most powerful wizards of all time, Voldemort was pretty incompetent. He had multiple opportunities to kill Harry (a boy who knew about four spells) and failed. He was always doing too much.

17. And last but definitely not least, Hufflepuff is the best house.

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Hufflepuff is criminally underrated and overlooked in the films. Gryffindors were shown as brave, Ravenclaws were smart, Slytherins were cunning, and Hufflepuffs? Boring. Hufflepuffs are basically all the best qualities of the other houses all mixed into one. This entry isn’t influenced by the fact that I was sorted into Hufflepuff. Definitely not. 

Now it's your turn – what are your most controversial Harry Potter opinions? Tell us in the comments!