History Headscratchers / HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets

* During the first Qudditch practice, Oliver Wood comments that Colin Creevey could be a Slytherin spy. How does he not recognise a first-year who he witnessed get sorted into his house less than a week earlier?

** Please remember in the last book they DID tell Minvera but she didn't believe them. And then Ron&Harry tried to stand guard outside the third-floor cooridor and that didn't work since Minvera showed up again and said "You think you're harder to get past than a pack of protections" and Hermione was supposed to be trailing Snape..but that didn't work either.

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[[folder: Smart boa (movie)]]
* In the movie, as Harry is talking with the boa at the zoo, he asks how Burma was and if he missed his family. The boa then makes Harry aware of the sign on the outside of the window that states he was bred in captivity. How does the snake know that sign exists or what it means? Can it understand English?

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* So Lockhart’s plan is to track down wizards that accomplished amazing tasks, wipe their memories, and then claim he did the tasks himself. However, in order for Lockhart to know about these acts of heroism, he had to have heard about them from someone else which means the story has spread far enough for a large number of people to have already heard it. He does this enough times to write several books and not one person goes “I thought so-and-so killed that thing/saved that village/cured that disease? The number of people that know he’s lying must be staggering, how does he get away with it?

** *sigh*. ''They were going to tell her.'' What, did they suddenly remember in the middle of it: "Oh yeah, it's [=McGonagal=], she's a bitch and probably won't listen to us!" Even if so, how that excuses not even trying, when Giny's life is at stake?! Besides, this occurence was ''nothing'' like the previous ones. With the stone, MG (seemingly) dismissed them because she believed that there was no danger[[note]]On the surface. She actually did it because they were supposed to go after the stone themselves. Also explains her harshness - she's distraught and afraid for them, but cannot show it.[[/note]]. On the other hand, this time it's a (seemingly) legitimate emergency, and MG loudly aknowledged that she's out of ideas, and they'd have to close the school. There's no reason why the kids would think she wouldn't grasp at the straw and listen to them.

** Again, under the current ministry with the Minister in his pocket, sure. If another Crouch takes the helm? Not so sure at all. Severe or not, Burke would've still been a threat. It just seems to me that the ostensible profit couldn't possibly be worth the risk, however small.

** WMG: Dumbledore thought the ministry would be against Lockhart, [[CensorDecoy so then he would be able to install someone else (Lupin, Moody or Snape or someone else with not much public approval but actual skills) as "not quite as good replacement, but you leave me no choice".]] He just didn't predict the ministry [[SpringtimeForHitler actually liking the obviously incompetent Blabbermouth.]]

** To me, the way the trace works that is most consistent with canon is that it's simply set up near muggleborn homes and detects any magic cast, then just assumes the magic came from the muggleborn kid. They set it up for Harry because he was being raised by muggles. It can't actually differentiate between Harry's magic and house-elf magic, nor is it very accurate at guessing the type of magic used. There were lots of other instances of underage magic mentioned, but all of those would have happened far from a muggleborn household (like Riddle murdering the Gaunts, Harry duelling Voldemort in a graveyard, the Weasley household in general) or when there's adults nearby who could have informed the ministry that there would be false alarms.

* After Dobby levitates and drops a cake on the heads of the Dursley's houseguests Harry receives a letter from the ministry warning him that any further uses of magic outside of school prior to age 17 will result in immediate expulsion. So clearly the ministry can track the location but not the user, so how do they handle families with multiple children? Wouldn't Ron have gotten in trouble every time one of his parents or older siblings used magic?

** If you subscribe to that Umbridgian logic, how was the first ever wizard born? It's a Pureblood myth that all wizards have to come from the union of other wizards

** He hated the "Tom" and the "Riddle" part of his name. He ''liked'' the "Marvello" part, because it was a wizarding name and his strongest connection to his mother's pureblood heritage. Rather than get rid of his name entirely, ''including'' the part he did like, he chopped it up and rearranged the bits, so at least a little of his grandfather's identity survived in his chosen alias.

*** Ron's "spell" didnt work because it wasnt a spell at all. Nothing to do with Scabbers being an Animagus.

** Doesn't Ginny or Tom knowing answer the question?

** He was genuine yes. Hogwarts was his only home. He even begged to be allowed to stay there during the summer holidays. He didn't know the school would be closed if he opened the chamber. And there's nothing saying he intended to do anything with the basilisk. He only opened the chamber to find out what was down there. Remember that Myrtle's death was an ''accident''. Riddle didn't know she was in the toilet. She opened the door to tell him to go away and came face to face with the basilisk.

** He wanted Harry to think that he (Riddle) was an heroic guy who cared for his schoolmates so much that he'd take the risk of investigate the case and confront the culprit. Yeah, Hagrid was innocent, but Harry'd thought that either Hagrid was framed by the real murderer or Riddle made an honest mistake.

** He says he cannot ''expell'' them.

** Again, ''a monster'' is attacking people. Simply taking Hagrid away obviously is not going to eliminate it or stop it from doing what it does. So the only boost to morale could come from the prospect of interrogating him and to learn something that would help to find and kill it. Which shouldn't take long. So like the next day after Fudge cheerfully announces that they took in someone who might be connected to the attacks, the people would just as cheerfully ask: "Well, did you make him tell where's the monster and what it is?" And what is he going to tell them then?

* Regarding Hagrid's expulsion 50 years prior to the events of the books and his incarceration during the 2nd year. So, Riddle blamed him for Myrtle's death. Ok, what exactly did he tell then? That Hagrid was the Heir of Slytherin, opened the Chamber of Secrets and conspired to murder the non-wizborns with the Slytherin's Monster? But surely the authorities would've questioned Hagrid about the location of the Chamber, and the identity of the monster and such, which he, of course, wouldn't be able to give them? Riddle could be as charming and popular as he wanted, that doesn't mean squat when the accused doesn't posses the knowledge he would need to commit the crime he's accused of. And if they believed Riddle none the less, then how in the hell could Hagrid get away with a mere expulsion rather than landing in Azkaban right away?

** He probably forgot after being briefed in the beginning of the year.

* The golden dunderheads made no money from the poly juice, so a compensation charge would be more likely, what with one of them being the child of medical professionals and the other being an inheritor to a fortune.

* When Harry accidentally teleports into the "Borgin & Burkes", he finds there Lucuis selling some illegal potions from his stock in view of Ministery raids. Uhm, why is he ''selling'' them? Malfoys are supposed to be filthy rich, and "B&B" is a pawnshop, which means Lucius will definitely not get a good bargain, so does that paltry profit really matters to him so much, that he's prepared to compromise his secrets by involving a greedy unscrupulous profiteer? Why not simply re-hide or even destroy the potions?

** Draco comes from a family which is obsessed with status and prestige, given that he is their only son, and possibly the only male Malfoy heir in existence, he probably has a lot riding on his shoulders. It's reasonable to assume that the Malfoy's invested a lot of time and money into Draco's education before Hogwarts, including private tuition. Draco's parents are probably the pushiest parents in the wizarding world, and so Lucuis would be understandably livid when he learnt that a muggle-born student with no prior magical education was beating his son academically. He would consider Draco to be wasting his potential, and un-confirming the Malfoy's thinly veiled prejudice against muggle-born wizards. So it actually makes a lot of sense that Draco was the second best in the year, since he had lots of prior education, and constantly had his parents pushing him to meet their incredibly high standards.

** The thing inside Harry might not technically be a 'horcrux' at all. Horcruxes are souls stuck inside non-living things, and when you destroy the thing they're in, they are destroyed. Aka, the 'opposite of souls'. The part of Voldemort's soul inside Harry is notably ''not'' destroyed when his body 'dies'. Not 'his body is destroyed', it just dies, or not even that. And yet that soul piece goes to limbo along with Harry, just like a normal soul. (Well, except it can't function because it's not enough like a person.) It doesn't follow the stated horcrux rules at all, ever! Which seems like a mistake until you remember it wasn't created as as a horcrux either, and it's probably our mistake to assume it works like one.
** Whether or not ''Nagini'' followed the horcrux rules is an interesting question. Was it purely the horcrux prep, in which case yes, she should follow the rules, or was it something in 'living thing', in which case she shouldn't, or was it something to do with the piece attaching to Harry soul, in which case...do snakes have souls?

* Harry accidentally floos into said shop and then quitely leaves with none the wiser. Wait, so a shady shop that deals in Dark artifacts, has no security against such intrusions and possible eavesdroppers that could crash in, accidentally or not, while the owner is conducting sensible business? Like a separate antechamber, or an alarm, or some magical lock on the fireplace? Nothing? Really?

** Or maybe it's the emergency Floo for when the Ministry raids the place and they didn't think about somone arriving via their emergency exit.

** Please remember in the last book they DID tell Minvera but she didn't believe them. And then Ron&Harry tried to stand guard outside the third-floor cooridor and that didn't work since Minvera showed up again and said "You think you're harder to get past then a pack of protections" and Hermione was suppose to be trailing Snape..but that didn't work either.

** My best guess is the same reason he chucks away his wand when he finds Ginny. Kidding aside, he probably was too shocked after hearing that Ginny was kidnapped that he didn't think of anything else. That still doesn't explain why he didn't call for any teacher after they went to find Lockhart. He probably though it was a good idea to go and fight a gigantic serpent that can kill with only looking at you with a useless professor WITHOUT a wand and Ron.

* Ok, I know I kinda abuse this idea, but it's not my fault JR introduced that kind of GameBreaker and then never bothered to set any constraints on its use beyond some vague, pointless, scary tales. I'm refering, of course, to the Time Turners. There was no need to lock down the school, and there should never have been more than one attack. Because after it'd happened somebody should've travelled back to before it happened, turned themself imperceptible, go the site of the attack, witness it, expose the culprit and then act accordingly - maybe kill/detain it on spot, maybe follow it to its lair - that's details. Any ideas why that wasn't done (and no, the [[StableTimeLoop default answer]] is not valid)?

** What is at stake if Dumbledore ''doesn't'' close down the school? Further petrifications or deaths. What is at stake if Dumbledore ''does'' close the school? ...his reputation? Every student is equally set back a few months (or a year)?

** one animal and one student has been petrified.