Dumbledore and Fudge's attempts to either slander Harry or force his guardian to Britain to be hurled into Azkaban, or Draco's attempts to show himself as the top dog often backfires in their faces.
- Draco's attempts to banish a rock at Harry at the insult of not letting Hermione fall to her death or severe injury in front of several teachers causes him to lose fifty points and a week's worth of detentions. It didn't occur to him to check to see if there were any staff about or arriving, or that the staff would be pissed at a deliberate attempt of grievous bodily harm at the least or that Harry would've spent years flying wherever he was raised at (as at the time, much of the student population was lost as to where he was raised at).
- When Draco challenges Emily to a duel and no-showed, he had expected her to get into trouble. It didn't occur that he should've done this in an area where there would be no witnesses, or that her estranged brother would get vengeance. Sure enough, when the start of Christmas holidays come about, Harry hands Lucius a packet from the ICW demanding half the Malfoy fortune for this ill-thoughted stunt. Since Lucius had lost all connections to the ICW after his French branch was wiped out, he is forced to capitulate.
- Dumbledore has Rita Skeeter and the Daily Prophet create a slanderous hit piece on Harry in the hopes to get him to react violently to cement him as a dark lord in the making. It didn't occur to him that Harry would message Steve to get an investigation into this, nor would it occur that it would unearth that Dumbledore had gifted Rita Harry's vault key. This leads to Dumbledore being suspended from the ICW, the Daily Prophet being disbanded and Skeeter arrested and sent to the Himalayas to serve an 80-year prison sentence for a variety of crimes, including banking fraud.
- Mentioned In-Universe by Steve when Fudge orders Amelia to arrest him, as the last attempt by the British Ministry to arrest an IWCO operative cost Magical Britain enough Galleons to cause a severe economic downturn that took almost 30 years to recover from.
- When Tarvos claims that the Goyles are trustworthy wizards. This was after Harry and Steve murdered all but one member, and the Chief said that he lost a brother to the Goyles 15 years ago. Lakjin didn't even know the familial name of them, and Harry and Steve hadn't told them yet. Tarvos stupidly outs himself as a traitor, and when he tries to attack Vriska, Harry intercepts it, challenges Tarvos to a fight and brutalizes him as punishment. When Tarvos sees him on Halloween, Tarvos blames Harry for losing everything and tries to kill him, only for Harry to lure him out of the castle, blast him over the bridge and get him speared in the chest by a stalagmite.
- When Snape confronts Harry over attacking Flint, Harry quickly turns it around and explains that Flint is suffering from Dementor exposure. It didn't occur to Snape to read the hospital report, that Flint had attacked his team for failing to injure or kill Emily, or that if Harry was involved in any aspects (which he is, but Snape cannot prove it) then he would be claiming that the Potter family can do impossible things. By the end of the confrontation, Snape is put on probation, and Flint is kicked off the Quidditch team when its found out he attacked his team for their loss in the game.
- Lucius' attempts to buy Boundless broom services and have it staffed by purebloods selling the brooms in the Malfoy name fails. Apparently, he believed that they would fold, not knowing that they would do a background check, and the Malfoy family's tendency to follow dark lords, crimes of bribery, Veela Trafficking and discrimination against magical creatures and first-gens (which primarily staff Boundless) would be found out. When Lucius receives the note from Boundless, it's to tell him that they will not be doing business with him and that he is permanently barred from investing in, buying or doing business in Canada.
- When Dumbledore arranges for Harry and co to have detention in the Forbidden Forest in the hopes that Ron would be able to have Harry perish in an "accident". He fails to realize that Harry was far more experienced than most wizards, Ron is a genuine idiot of the highest caliber, that whatever was hunting unicorns could kill Emily, or that McGonagall would actually be pissed over her detention (helping Professor Sprout) being overruled. When the report came in, not only were three of the four House Heads, Lily and James infuriated, but Harry outright claiming the hooded figure cast the Killing Curse on him and Emily is enough to drive Lily into Dragon Mode.
- When a group of Aurors try to arrest Harry for murdering Quirrell, it didn't occur to them that Harry might have a license to kill from the ICW, nor did it occur that the reason Harry did that was because Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort. While the last part would be hard to believe, it also doesn't help that the Head of the DMLE was there, and she could easily vouch for Harry, having seen the possessed teacher.
- Snape's outing of Hermione's Nekomata status in the hopes it would punish Harry for forcing him on Probation again by having him watch Hermione be executed backfires immensely. It didn't occur to him that the other heads would be pissed about it. Especially since Snape called Hermione a half-breed and Flitwick (a half-Goblin) would actually view Snape's mannerisms as unprofessional and insulting. Sure enough, by the end of Chapter 20, Snape is stripped of his ability to assign detentions, give or take points after his stunt falls flat on its ass. The only reason he isn't fired for trying to get Hermione killed is because Dumbledore gave him tenure when he was hired.
- Fudge's attempts to order the execution of Hermione at the end of second year in front of the whole school unless Steve is brought to Britain to face trial for the murder of purebloods falls flat for three reasons: One, all the purebloods Steve had killed were involved in serious crimes, from Veela trafficking to outright terrorism and were sanctioned by the IWCO, meaning it is an international affair that Britain has no control over. Two, it is a blatant violation of international law. Said law was signed by all countries, including Britain, over 500 years ago. And three, if he had went through with it, not only would he be removed from office, it would be highly likely that the vast majority of the Fudge Administration would be arrested for various crimes, and most of the purebloods who supported Voldemort would likely be arrested and facing death for their crimes, as Fudge being removed means their main form of protection would be gone. Sure enough, by the end of this, the Fudge Admin is on thin ice for this stunt.
- Intentionally done with Peter and his Animagus form. As Fudge and Dumbledore move Pettigrew to a normal cell, claiming that he never registered his Animagus form. Dumbledore knew Peter had a Animagus form and exploited the fact that Fudge didn't, nor did the Minister believe it wouldn't be done due to him using it for criminal activity. Summed up by Susan in Chapter 21.Susan: Apparently if you aren't registered as an Animagus, then by default you aren't one. I'd love to know what the fuck Dumbass and Fudge were smoking when they decided that.
- When Dumbledore tries to bar Emily from going to Hogsmeade, he fails to realize that the Potters were not too happy about the magical binding contract to wed her to Lockhart. When Harry mentions that he did nothing about the contract, Dumbledore is forced to fold to avoid any investigations into that mess, knowing he could lose his Hogwarts position if the full truth came out.
- When Snape reveals that Hermione is sold to MacNair to Harry in a bid to get a violent reaction. Apparently, the concept that Harry would've learned the Obliviate spell was foreign to him. Even if he knew Harry had mastered the Obliviate spell, it didn't occur to him that if this got to the staff, Snape would be fired and arrested for selling a magical creature protected by ICW law, and Dumbledore wouldn't be able to protect him. Sure enough, Snape is forced to do the Time Warp and by Christmas, Harry kills MacNair in retaliation.
- Most of Dumbledore's actions backfire in many manners and repeatedly, and his constant attempts to put Ron with Emily fail every step of the way. By the Quidditch World Cup, Ron is currently being closely monitored by the Hogwarts staff for anything suspicious, and Dumbledore is facing a lot of suspicion and scrutiny.
- The Triwizard Tournament is being held at Hogwarts and Dumbledore intends to have Harry's name enter so the kid can be killed off. The problem is that Harry is very adaptive and that if this fails, he'll be in very deep shit. When this inevitably fails, he will lose his ICW position and probably lose his Chief Warlock and Headmaster positions as well.
