History WhatAnIdiot / HarryPotter

* The Defense Against the Dark Arts apparently has a curse on it placed by Voldemort. Each professor has never lasted longer than a year for a variety of reasons.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Dumbledore to either bring in every single curse breaker that he could to fix the position. Or alternatively, exploit LoopholeAbuse and rename the class, or hold it in a completely different location either in Hogwarts, or off-grounds via Portkey access. We're talking about a class specifically designed to teach students to recognize or protect themselves from threats.\\
'''Instead:''' He doesn't do anything.\\
'''As A Result:''' The students are left without consistent teaching, unprepared[[note]]it's noted that several Ministry officials have to resort to getting shield charm trinkets from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, since they can't cast any of their own worth a damn[[/note]], and in the end, many deaths that occur by the end of the series can be attributed to Dumbledore's inaction.

[[folder:''Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone'']]
* The Dursleys swore to keep Harry away from the Wizarding World.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' They'd raise him like their own son, or at least in a way that he is happy. That way, if he ever does learn about the Wizarding World, he'd be more tempted to stay away from it, instead preferring to stay with his family.\\
'''Instead:''' They emotionally and (implicitly) physically abuse him, give him a cupboard to sleep in, and in general leave Harry with Dudley's sloppy seconds.\\
'''The Result:''' Harry is more than happy to leave them behind and enter the Wizarding World, to a degree that the memory of doing so is such a happy one, that it helps Harry produce his Patronus.
* A teacher is sent to introduce Harry to the wizarding world.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Dumbledore to send any legitimately competent teacher or agent, preferably well versed in diplomacy and with good social skills, to tell Harry what he needs to know and gradually integrate him. Said individual would also pick up on the signs of abuse that Harry has endured and report this back to prevent said abuse in later books.\\
'''Or:''' For that matter, Dumbledore could just do it himself and ensure that there are no screw-ups.\\
'''Instead:''' Dumbledore sends Hagrid, a ManChild with NoSocialSkills who is barely a wizard at all. Hagrid completely overlooks the abuse that Harry has suffered, the Dursleys' blatant hatred of magic in general, and [[HairTriggerTemper loses his temper]], causing him to [[WouldHurtAChild curse Dudley]] (who, AssholeVictim aside, still doesn't know any better due to his upbringing), which obviously doesn't endear Harry or magic to them and only leads to greater tension in the future.
* Harry receives his first letter from Hogwarts, and the first mail he's ever gotten. Before he can read it, Uncle Vernon confiscates it, and realizes what it is. He and Petunia have a hurried talk after Vernon tosses the boys out of the kitchen. Neither of them want Harry to grow up and become a wizard because they swore that they would "stamp out" any of the weirdness that Lily and James had when they took him in as a doorstep baby. The letter does say that you need to RSVP, which is a perfect loophole.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' If they don't want Harry to attend Hogwarts, they would write back, as Petunia suggests, and say "NO". Cruel, but it gets them what they want. It turns out that Dumbledore (through Hagrid) bends the rules so that Hagrid can write in and just say he's picked up Harry, but the Dursleys don't know that. Petunia and Dumbledore have also corresponded before, so she knows he responds to letters.\\
'''Instead:''' Vernon overrides Petunia and asserts that if they just ignore the letter then they can shut out the wizarding world. Petunia reluctantly goes along with this because she fears the witches and wizards.\\
'''The Result:''' Hagrid and [=McGonagall=] are given permission by Dumbledore to use as much magic as possible to get Harry his letter. No matter what Vernon does, from sealing up the mail slot to changing Harry's bedroom, the letters keep appearing, and as Dudley puts it, "Daddy seems to have gone mad". Dozens appear over the days, and Hagrid tracks them from a remote hotel in the city to the rock on the island. The magic keeps finding them, and so does Hagrid.
* When Hagrid appears, he easily disarms Uncle Vernon, starts a fire in the grater, and cooks for Harry while educating him about Hogwarts. Hagrid is also a ten foot tall man who starts yelling at Vernon on learning that Harry knows nothing of the wizarding world.\\
'''You'd Expect''': After Hagrid ties his shotgun into a knot that Vernon would just keep his mouth shut. The jig's up, and Harry is going to be educated. You can't argue with wizards that can modify memories, and Hagrid is already shown to have a bad temper and is righteously furious on seeing how deprived Harry is.\\
'''Instead''': Each time Hagrid yells at Vernon, the man is momentarily cowed before he tries to insult Harry's parents, the Wizarding World, and Albus Dumbledore. And he tries to insist that Harry will not be going.\\
'''The Result''': Hagrid sarcastically tells Vernon, "I'd like to see a great Muggle like you stop him". He eventually goes too far by calling Dumbledore a "crackpot old fool". Hagrid wields his umbrella and uses magic on Dudley, giving him a pig tail.
* Dumbledore is aware that someone is attempting to steal the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, that they were good enough to make a serious attempt to steal it from Gringott's, and there's a strong possibility that it involves Voldemort.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Him to recruit former members of the Order to protect it, to surround it with spells that only let the right person past them and to keep its location a secret from everyone outside of that very small group of people. Hell, a Fidelius Charm would be enough, and Dumbledore has an extremely skilled Charms user on his payroll.\\
'''Instead:''' He relies on less than competent people like Hagrid to supply guards and didn't quiz Hagrid on potential problems for those guards.\\
'''Even Worse:''' His security used obstacles that were really less security and more puzzles.\\
'''As A Result:''' Admittedly, some of them were tricky, but ''first year students'' were able to get past the same puzzles that were intended to stop a dark wizard controlled by ''Voldemort''[[note]]though Ron is known as an excellent chess player for his age, and when they reach the Potion puzzle, Hermione says that many great wizards lack an ounce of logic and would never be able to successfully pass through, so it has a bit of justification even if the whole thing remains a gigantic nonsense.[[/note]]. If not for the last spell cast on the mirror, you would have to wonder if Dumbledore was unconsciously trying to let Voldemort return to life. (Which is even possible, given Harry theorizes that Dumbledore wanted him to face Voldemort.)\\
'''For that matter:''' Why keep the stone on school premises at all? They can literally Apparate anywhere on Earth, and instead it's kept in a school full of the next generation of magic users. Sure, it's one of the most well-protected places in the Wizarding World, but it is also intentionally placing hundreds of students in danger of getting caught in the crossfire, combined with the natural tendency of kids to go [[SchmuckBait specifically where they are told not to]], which is exactly what Dumbledore says at the start of the year: "Stay away from the third-floor corridor."
* After being insulted by Harry and Ron, Hermione runs crying to the girls' bathroom. Then, a [[PunctuatedForEmphasis TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON!]] appears, and the two boys realize Hermione isn't being gathered along with the rest of the Gryffindors because she is alone there and hasn't heard the warning.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Harry and Ron to tell the teachers that Hermione is in the bathroom. It might be awkward to explain them ''why'' she is there, but it's not like verbal bullying is especially punished in Hogwarts, and they can always claim she was just overreacting to a friendly joke (which is sadly used successfully as an excuse very often in the Muggle world), as it is up to her word against theirs after all. Even if not, despite all their previous actions, Harry and Ron still have enough smarts and moral fiber to conclude that risking being punished for making a girl cry is not a big deal compared to surely letting said girl die by their fault.\\
'''Instead:''' They go to the bathroom entirely on their own, taking the risk of being found by either the teachers (who will give them at least a good reprimand) or the troll (who will try to crush their heads). Luckily, after a messy battle, who includes Harry and Ron somehow forgetting Hermione is in the room before trying to lock the troll there from outside, they manage to defeat the beast.
* Following the point above, Hermione is questioned by Mrs. [=McGonagall=] about her presence out of the group. Being now thankful to Harry and Ron for saving her, she intends to cover their shameful behavior.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Hermione to tell a half-truth and admit that she went to the bathroom to cry. When they ask about the reason, she could now lie and say that she was upset for getting a 99/100 in an exam or something equally in-character for her. Given Hermione's reputation on the school, nobody would doubt of this version and it would shut any possible student that witnessed her running tearfully beforehand.\\
'''Instead:''' She makes up a self-blaming story, claiming that she snuck out intentionally because she thought herself capable to beat the troll. Aside from being a (fictitious) act of stupidity, this is so atypical of a rule-abiding student like Hermione that [=McGonagall=] is doubly disappointed on her, getting her in serious trouble.\\
'''The Result''': While this makes the Trio all friends, [=McGonagall=] is full of AngerBornOfWorry. She gives the trio five points total for bravery -- five removed from Hermione and ten added for Harry and Ron-- while telling them in the film they survived due to "sheer dumb luck".
* Voldemort, while possessing the body of Professor Quirrell, wants to kill Harry Potter without openly revealing himself so he can remain on-campus to steal the Philosopher's Stone.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That since he enjoys every possible advantage in this situation (Harry does not yet know he is a bad guy, Quirrell is one of Harry's teachers and in a position of authority over him, he is a fully trained wizard and Harry is an 11-year-old boy who is only beginning to learn elementary first-year spells), he would find it trivially easy to arrange to catch Harry somewhere alone and without witnesses and then murder him in any one of a myriad of possible ways that would plausibly look like an accident, or frame someone else for Harry's murder.\\
'''Particularly:''' If he stunned Harry, then threw him into the room with Fluffy the Cerberus and let him get eaten, which would accomplish multiple objectives at the same time -- it would kill Harry while making his death entirely look like "death by misadventure", it would politically disgrace Dumbledore that the Boy-Who-Lived died on Hogwarts grounds from a security measure set up by the school authorities, and it would force either Dumbledore or the Ministry of Magic to order the Cerberus removed from the school as a deadly hazard to students and thus remove the principal obstacle standing between Quirrellmort and the Philosopher's Stone.\\
'''Instead:''' He tries to kill Harry by jinxing his broom during a Quidditch match...\\
'''As A Result:''' ...which means his murder attempt is done in broad daylight, in front of hundreds of spectators, and in such a manner that Harry is literally not yet back on the ground before every observer with the IQ of a houseplant ([[SurroundedByIdiots all two of them]]) has figured out that someone is attempting to kill Harry Potter.\\
'''Even Worse:''' Harry falls off his broom during Quidditch matches multiple times during later books and it's shown to be trivially easy for a member of staff in the crowd to cast a spell slowing his fall, meaning this method may not have been enough to kill him even if Quirrell had managed to knock him off.
* Snape realizes that Quirrell let the troll into Hogwarts as a distraction during the Halloween feast, to get the Stone. He goes and heads off Quirrell, but Fluffy bites him badly.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Snape would go to Madam Pomfrey and get his leg healed by magic. If Poppy can handle broken bones, concussions, and missing bones, she can heal a severe dog bite. You'd also expect that Snape would tell the other teachers (or at least Dumbledore) what happened and that Quirrell can't be trusted. Thus, either Quirrell can be suspended, the teachers can improve on the Stone's many protective barriers, or both.\\
'''Instead:''' Snape doesn't in either the movie or the book. In the book, he gets help from ''Filch'' in the staffroom, that Harry happens to see, while in the movie he just limps while wishing Harry good luck before the Quidditch match.\\
'''As A Result:''' Dumbledore's the only teacher suspicious of Quirrell, and the Magic Trio becomes convinced that Snape wants to steal the Stone.
* Draco Malfoy learns that Harry will be smuggling a baby dragon up to the school astronomy tower at midnight, and makes plans to get him caught.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Malfoy to either tip off Filch again, like he did for the midnight duel, or inform another member of staff about what Harry's up to (such as his head of house, Snape, seeing as how they both share a mutual hatred of Harry).\\
'''Instead:''' Malfoy decides to lie in wait for Harry at the entrance to the astronomy tower, despite having no way of catching Harry by doing so, and putting himself in danger of being caught out of bounds.\\
'''As A Result:''' Draco gets caught and punished by Professor [=McGonagall=]. In the film he also does this, but the professor punishes him for [[HypocriticalHumor being out of bed at the time]].
* Harry, Ron, and Hermione tell [=McGonagall=] their suspicions about "someone" being after the Stone. Harry is about to say "Snape" but since there's no proof backtracks to "someone".\\
'''You'd Expect:''' [=McGonagall=] to immediately haul them into her office and demand exactly what they know about the Stone and how they know it. True, she may believe that they are talking nonsense, but if you are helping to guard a life-or-death secret, and ''eleven-year-olds'' are able to discuss the secret, nonsense or otherwise, then you have a major security leak and should try to find out what is happening. Had [=McGonagall=] acted sensibly, she could have found out, not only that Hagrid had let things slip in front of the kids, but that he did the same in front of an unknown party. Also, she could assure her students that she would take higher security measures, because Harry and Ron faced a troll to save Hermione without getting a professor and could go LeeroyJenkins again.\\
'''Instead:''' [=McGonagall=] refuses to believe the Stone is in danger and sends the kids on their way, threatening them with punishment if they don't butt out, and unwittingly making it necessary for them to go after the Stone themselves.
* Rejected by [=McGonagall=] and learning from her that Dumbledore is outside, Harry deduces that Snape will choose that night to act. Accompanied by Ron and Hermione, he sets out for the Stone's chambers, where they find out that someone has entered and passed the first traps.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Having now physical evidence of a thief inside (the harp, the damaged key, the troll knocked out), Harry and company to return and warn [=McGonagall=]. She will be surely irate at them for disobeying her previous orders, but their discovery entails that a thief has been caught red-handed and is probably still in the chambers, where [=McGonagall=] and the other teachers can arrest him (or at least contain him until Dumbledore returns), so this should give the kids a well-deserved break. Yeah, they are wrong on the baddie being Snape, but this point, if mentioned, should be irrelevant once the teachers ascertain someone has really broken in. Sending an owl to Dumbledore before telling [=McGonagall=] might be useful just in case she still shows unreasonable, as well as desirable for a matter of time, especially given the suspicions that Voldemort is involved. At the end of the process, with a bit of luck, '''''Voldemort''''' himself might end up caught alive.\\
'''Instead:''' Nope. Harry decides to follow the thief and somehow get the Stone before, even knowing that they are no match for a Hogwarts teacher in a duel. The possibility of actually reaching the villain would achieve nothing aside from getting the kids killed or held hostage, but this is never even considered. In turn, the idea of warning Dumbledore by owl actually does up to them twice, but they only execute it being already deep into the traps and facing mortal danger, to the point Harry sends Hermione to contact Dumbledore just before he confronts the thief in the last room - thus not giving Dumbledore any time window to arrive.
* In the book's climax, the Philosopher's / Sorcerer's Stone has ended up in Harry's pocket, and Voldemort and Quirrell know this. Quirrell, as described above, is a fully trained wizard, and in this scene he's been casting non-verbal wandless magic, marking him as one of the most powerful wizards we see in the series.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Quirrell to try and get the Stone by magic. Even if Rowling hadn't thought of Accio or Imperio (a summoning spell and a mind-control spell) yet, Quirrell could just kill him by magic and take the Stone from his corpse. He is, after all, a wizard -- magic should be reflexive for him. And despite Harry's protection, it is clearly shown that magic does work on him, such as the ropes Quirrell conjured; just making the ropes reach his neck and strangle him should do fine. As will be noted again later on, a modicum of creativity would have allowed him to kill Harry easily.\\
'''Instead:''' [[ForgotAboutHisPowers Forgetting about magic altogether]], Quirrell runs after Harry and grabs him physically, getting burned by the magic love protection in his skin. Even after this ugly turn of events, he tries again, now trying to strangle Harry with his hands, but obviously fails for the same reason.\\
'''As A Result:''' By the time Quirrell gets the idea to use magic (because Voldemort is ''screaming at him to''), it's too late as Harry burns him to death.

[[folder:''Chamber of Secrets'']]
* Dobby the house elf hears from his masters, the Malfoys, that they're going to unleash a great evil at Hogwarts that will endanger Harry Potter. The elf, contrary to most of his kind, is not blindly loyal; he decides he has to save the boy. The only problem is he's bound to not give away his master's secrets, or what the plot entails.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Given that the plot will be taking place at Hogwarts, that he would go to Dumbledore, the headmaster, and start dropping hints. From what we see of Lucius Malfoy, he didn't seem to bother telling Dobby to ''not'' warn anyone. Dumbledore in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix book five]] reveals that he can perform Legilimency on an unwilling house elf and thus can temporarily break the {{Geas}}.\\
'''Instead:''' Dobby goes straight to Harry Potter's bedroom, confiscating his letters from Ron and Hermione, and gets him in trouble when Harry refuses to stay home from Hogwarts. The elf then ''continues'' to do this, without explaining to Harry or giving more than a few hints about the danger.\\
'''As A Result:''' Harry gets irked at Dobby, especially since the attempt with the rogue Bludger could have killed him, and refuses to heed the order.
* Dobby tells Harry that he can't go back to Hogwarts. When Harry refuses, Dobby levitates Aunt Petunia's party pudding into the air and threatens to destroy it if Harry still insists on going. If the pudding is destroyed, Harry is going to be in huge trouble.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Harry to lie for the time being and say, "Okay, fine, I won't go back to Hogwarts."\\
'''Instead:''' Harry refuses to say he's not going back to Hogwarts. Dobby destroys the pudding and skedaddles, the Dursleys are furious, and Harry gets locked in his room with the intention of never letting him go back to Hogwarts. If not for the Weasley brothers' escape plan, Harry would have been in there for the rest of the summer.
* Harry and Ron, thanks to Dobby, cannot pass through the magical barrier leading to the Platform 9 3/4, but all the other Weasleys are already there, the train has already left, and the boys are afraid (or at least implied to be) that Ron's parents might leave the station another way upon realizing that the barrier has been closed. Harry suggests that they return to the car they arrived by, because people are starting to stare at them.\\
'''You'd Think:''' That the boys would just go to the car and wait for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to get back, since they obviously wouldn't abandon their car. It's also improbable that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would miss the fact that Harry and one of their sons have not boarded the train, so it is reasonable to expect that they would find their way back to the station to make sure the boys are ok. Failing that, as Professor [=McGonagall=] suggested, they could have just sent Hedwig, who they have with them, to Hogwarts with a message explaining the incident.\\
'''You'd Also Think:''' Ron's parents would immediately notice that the last two members of the group, Harry and Ron, have not followed them into the platform. Molly should be especially aware, considering all the motherly care she puts on Harry despite (or because) of him not being her son nor experienced with the magical world.\\
'''Instead:''' Ron gets a "brilliant" idea to steal the car and fly it to Hogwarts.\\
'''End result:''' The car's stealth mode malfunctions, it gets seen by non-wizards, Harry and Ron get detention, Arthur is fixed with a huge fine for this breach of the Statute of Secrecy, and the Weasleys lose the car. At least this one gets {{Lampshaded}} by Professor [=McGonagall=].\\
'''To be fair:''' The Hedwig option might not have worked, as Dobby had already shown a willingness (and ability) to intercept Harry's mail.
* Voldemort gives a Horcrux, his old school diary, to Lucius Malfoy, as part of his plan to reopen the Chamber of Secrets, but since he's incapable of trusting anyone, he doesn't tell Lucius what it is, just that it's a powerful magical artifact. \\
'''You'd Think:''' Voldemort would tell Lucius that he values the diary's safety more than he does Lucius', and that if Lucius does anything without Voldemort's express orders, death itself will not be enough to save Lucius and his family from very slow, very painful retribution. Hell, Voldemort could suggest that the diary has powerful wards on it that will be activated if Lucius uses it without permission, so that Lucius would hesitate to use it in a cavalier fashion even if he was 100% convinced Voldemort was dead. \\
'''Instead:''' Voldemort does none of this, apparently confident that Lucius would never take any initiative whatsoever regarding Voldemort's stuff.\\
'''As A Result:''' Lucius decides to carry out the plan anyway for his own ends, and gets a portion of his master's soul destroyed. Voldemort is less than amused when he finds out, and ultimately gets payback by forcing Draco to do an impossible task in the sixth book that he knows Draco will fail at.
* Throughout the year, muggleborn students, along with Filch's cat, suffer attacks from an unknown assailant that leave them [[TakenForGranite petrified]]. Right after the first attack, it is established that a potion known as Mandrake Draught can cure the victims.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The school to try and buy some of this Draught from an outside source as soon as possible, so that the students can be treated quickly. Granted, the person responsible for the attacks might have destroyed or contaminated all the Mandrake Draught in the country earlier to prevent the school doing this, but we see no evidence to suggest this happened, and in any case, the idea of one person being capable of this seems a bit far-fetched. As a bonus, treating a victim immediately will allow them to identify their mysterious attacker.\\
'''Instead:''' The school decides to make the Draught itself, even going so far as to grow its own Mandrakes. (The things are already planted, but ''still''.) The problem is that the Mandrakes take most of the school year to mature, and therefore become usable.\\
'''As A Result:''' The monster continues attacking people, and it's only through dumb luck that no one dies. Also, the assailant's victims miss out on a substantial part of their education for that year.
* The diary's first victim is Ginny Weasley, who starts writing in it because it happened to be in one of the books that her parents bought secondhand. Tom's memory finds out from Ginny that Harry Potter is at school. Tom also needs to feed on a living person to regenerate, and to bring Lord Voldemort back. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' That when possessing Ginny, he would compel her to give the diary to Harry. Tom manages to win Harry over, and would have in canon if he hadn't revealed that Hagrid was accused of opening the Chamber (he didn't). Then Tom could use Harry, who already speaks Parseltongue, to open the chamber and to suck his life force. Thus Tom in one sweep returns as the Heir, and gets rid of the child that defeated him. Problem solved!\\
'''Instead:''' Tom, partly because [[ItAmusedMe it amuses him]] to manipulate a naive eleven-year-old girl, uses Ginny to open the Chamber and attack students again.\\
'''As A Result:''' Ginny, despite her subsequent memory losses, realizes that she can't trust Tom, disposes of the diary, and steals it from Harry when he obtains it.
** This leads to a moment where Ginny is the one holding the IdiotBall. She's come to suspect that the diary's connected to the attacks on other students. And she's right: [[spoiler:It's possessing her and having her set a basilisk on people]]. She tries to get rid of the diary by flushing it down a toilet, but later discovers that it's in Harry's hands. Not wanting him to discover her crimes, she steals the diary back. That's understandable, but her next actions really take the biscuit.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Ginny to try and dispose of the diary a bit more thoroughly than she did last time.\\
'''Instead:''' She writes in it again. Granted, she probably wanted to confirm how much the diary had told Harry, but it was still a bad idea.\\
'''As A Result:''' The diary has her attack two more people (Hermione and Penelope Clearwater) and Ginny herself almost dies.
* Gilderoy Lockhart is an utter fraud who uses memory charms to mind-wipe people and take credit for their accomplishments, and by his own admission is rubbish with nearly all other magic. (In fact, Dumbledore hired him because Lockhart made the mistake of hexing two of Dumbledore's friends.)\\
'''You'd Expect''': That he would turn down the offer. Lockhart is being put in a position where his immense ineptitude will be immediately apparent to anyone paying attention. He has a reputation to uphold and this is going to be a stain on it.\\
'''Instead''': Lockhart tries to claim that he can do any spell possible and engages in a dangerous first class with Cornish pixies. This backfires horribly; when showing off the pixies to the class, the little monsters disarm him easily. Then he vanishes all the bones in Harry's right arm, which irritates Madam Pomfrey and Harry to no end. By the time Ginny Weasley goes missing, all the teachers know that Lockhart is useless and send him on a SnipeHunt to find the Chamber.
* Harry and Ron have figured out that the monster in the titular chamber is a Basilisk. Shortly after overhearing that Ginny has been taken to the Chamber, and then witnessing the teachers telling Professor Lockhart to deal with the monster, they decide to give him this information. When they do so, they learn that Lockhart, who has supposedly dealt with all manner of dark creatures in the past, is in fact a fraud who takes credit for deeds other wizards and witches have done.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That, since Lockhart has proven himself to be incompetent at this sort of thing, Harry and Ron would seek out the other teachers despite the orders to return to their dormitories and get ''them'' to deal with the Basilisk (Professor [=McGonagall=] at minimum, maybe Snape too). In addition, given Lockhart was about to wipe their memories and they had to disarm him, they would immobilize him in his office or make sure he's tied up securely with a note explaining the situation. \\
'''Instead:''' For some reason, they decide to bring Lockhart along anyway, even though they have thrown his wand out the window and he has no useful knowledge to serve of any help.\\
'''Result:''' While in the Chamber, Lockhart attempts to abandon Ginny and completely wipe both Harry and Ron's minds in order to stop them revealing his secrets. They only avoid this due to Lockhart using Ron's broken wand, causing the spell to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard backfire on him]]. Even if he hadn't tried this, there was virtually nothing he could have done to help the group.
* Fifty years ago, when Riddle was a student, he opened the Chamber. Several Muggleborn students were petrified, causing a huge panic.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That the students would have been put on lockdown, the way they are when the Chamber opens in the present. Also that professors would do roll call.\\
'''Instead:''' When Myrtle Warren goes missing, no one searches for her for hours. Keep in mind that Myrtle was only a kid, and she was being bullied by Olive Hornby. But even so, she was a Hogwarts student, with parents who loved her.\\
'''The Result:''' Riddle kills Myrtle in the bathroom where the Chamber entrance is located when she happens to eavesdrop on him while he's summoning the Basilisk. It's unclear if anyone could have saved her from a Basilisk's glare, but maybe her body would have been found sooner. Her parents are furious and grieving, and Hogwarts nearly closes down.
** Moaning Myrtle wasn't well-liked in life because no one tolerated her crying, and it took ''hours'' to find her body. As she mentions, she came back as a ghost to haunt her school bully Olive Hornby; the Ministry stepped in after she crashed Olive's wedding, confining her to Hogwarts. Myrtle still hangs around the bathroom where she was killed, though it's revealed she can go as far as the lake if she wishes.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Dumbledore or someone would ask her, "Do you have any idea who/what killed you?" If he hears her testimony, it probably wouldn't be too hard to find the hidden entrance to the Chamber, as he does something very similar in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince the sixth book]]. Sure, no one had ever found it before, but he's got only one bathroom to search, rather than a whole castle, and he will prove the ability to find hidden magic, as he "knows Tom Riddle's style." Let's repeat: Dumbledore had the opportunity to ''interview the murder victim,'' a chance most detectives would give their right arms for.\\
'''Or At Least:''' That Dumbledore would realize that Myrtle spends a whole lot of time in that bathroom, even though she could haunt all of Hogwarts if she wished. Maybe it's because this is where she died?\\
'''Instead:''' Myrtle is so unpleasant and miserable that no one wants to ask her anything; even Dumbledore fails to see past her traumatized ghost.\\
'''As A Result:''' It takes someone ''fifty years'' to come up with the idea to go talk to her, and it's almost done too late to save the new batch of petrified people.
* Lockhart is trying to escape but is confronted by our heroes. He then explains how he got famous and his skill at memory charms. Then he tries to Obliviate our heroes.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Lockhart to do this immediately because he has barely any skill in magic other than said spell.\\
'''Instead:''' He reaches for his wand slower than a turtle and is held at wandpoint by Harry and Ron.
* Hermione figured out via EurekaMoment that the creature attacking the students is a basilisk. She goes to the library for proof, tears out a page of a book with the information after writing "pipes" on it, and grabs a mirror to look around corners just in case. It turns out Tom cottoned on to what she was doing and wanted to stop her. He also wants to lure Harry to the Chamber to kill him personally and knows Hermione is Harry's friend.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He would leave a note with Harry taunting him to come in revenge, perhaps with Ginny writing it again on the walls where the victims are found. Perhaps a hint about a certain bathroom?\\
'''Instead''': Tom simply compels Ginny to petrify Hermione and Penelope Clearwater.\\
'''The Result''': Thanks to more restrictions, there is no way Harry and Ron can just go to Moaning Myrtle's toilet, as they figure out later that she was the murder victim. Harry also finds the piece of paper in Hermione's hand that gives him and Ron the information they need.
* Tom Riddle's ghost has returned. Harry still thinks Tom is his friend and tries to get him to help Ginny and for the pair of them to escape from the basilisk together. Tom has only a few more minutes before he consumes Ginny's life force entirely. Harry doesn't know Tom is leeching Ginny's life force through his diary.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Tom would stall for time and make sure he fully returned to life before dealing with Harry, or at least hide his diary, which is his one vulnerable spot, somewhere Harry couldn't find it.\\
'''Alternatively''': Tom could pretend to help, then subtly summon the basilisk once Harry was out of earshot, putting Harry in a position where he would have to defend Ginny, Ron, and Lockheart simultaneously.\\
'''Instead''': He immediately confesses to being Lord Voldemort and the one responsible for Ginny's state. He then sics the basilisk on Harry before he is fully corporeal.\\
'''The Result''': He puts himself in a position to be killed by Harry.
* Tom reveals that ''he'' is Lord Voldemort, a specter of his young self, and that he can control the basilisk. He has also confiscated Harry's wand, leaving a twelve-year-old boy virtually defenseless. Fawkes then arrives, along with the Sorting Hat. Tom snickers that loyalty to Dumbledore brought Harry such useless assistance.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Given that Tom's ghost is later shown to be capable of magic, he would finish what he tried to twelve years ago and simply [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim blast Harry with a Killing Curse]] (or any other lethal magical action he can use in this state). At the very least, he could restrain Harry like Quirrell did in book one so he can't run or wield a weapon, as well as getting rid of the bird and burning the hat.\\
'''Instead''': Tom summons the basilisk, with his orders giving Harry an unwitting MercyLead, and steps back to PassThePopcorn as the giant snake chases Harry around with intent to kill. He does nothing with Fawkes or the hat.\\
'''The Result''': Fawkes pecks out the basilisk's eyes, and the Sorting Hat summons the sword of Gryffindor for Harry. Harry doesn't look a gift sword in the mouth, grabs it, and manages to fatally stab the snake while getting bitten. He gets healed by Fawkes, and only then Tom thinks of using magic against him, but not before Harry stabs the diary with a basilisk fang, destroying it and Tom along with it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''The Tales of Beedle the Bard'']]
* In "Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump", a muggle king starts a mass persecution of witches and wizards while issuing a proclamation asking for someone to come and teach him magic. A con man soon shows up, claiming to be a powerful wizard.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The king to realize that with the persecutions going on, no magic user with any common sense would come forward and essentially put a bulls-eye on himself, or help the king who's been persecuting his brethren.\\
'''Instead:''' He buys the charlatan's claims hook, line, and sinker, and gives him lots of valuable goodies while getting nothing in return.
* In "The Tale of the Three Brothers", the eldest of the three receives a supremely powerful wand. Its power is soon demonstrated when he uses it to kill one of his enemies.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For him to not draw excessive attention to himself and his new weapon, essentially keeping it as an "ace in the hole".[[note]] In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Ron Weasley states this outright.[[/note]]\\
'''Instead:''' He gets drunk and [[InVinoVeritas blabs about it to everyone]], giving someone else the idea to take it while he's asleep and [[SlainInTheirSleep kill him for good measure]].
[[/folder]]

'''You'd Expect:''' There would be more commonplace methods of rooting out such impersonations at any location of importance, such as the Ministry and Gringotts. For example, as the supplanter's mind remains the same after the changes, it'd be easy to do a quick Legilimency check to see if his/her thoughts and recent memories match what is expected of the person. This admittedly would not stop a skilled Occlumens, but very few wizards are after all. Also, given that the Marauder's Map cannot be fooled by the potion, there must have some other ways to detect it. The Order of the Phoenix uses personalized {{Trust Password}}s that are fairly effective.\\

* Tom Riddle's ghost has returned. Harry, who is convinced Tom is his friend, tells them they need to run before the basilisk comes, and take an unconscious Ginny with them. Tom then reveals that ''he'' is Lord Voldemort, a specter of his young self, and that he can control the basilisk. He has also confiscated Harry's wand, leaving a twelve-year-old boy virtually defenseless. Fawkes then arrives, along with the Sorting Hat. Tom snickers that loyalty to Dumbledore brought Harry such useless assistance.\\

'''The Result:''' Harry is more than happy to leave them behind and enter the Wizarding World, to a degree that the memory of doing so is such a happy one, that it helps Harry produce his Patronus.\\

* The Dursleys swore to keep Harry away from the Wizarding World.
'''You'd Expect:''' They'd raise him like their own son, or at least in a way that he is happy. That way, if he ever does learn about the Wizarding World, he'd be more tempted to stay away from it, instead preferring to stay with his family.
'''Instead:''' They emotionally and (implicitly) physically abuse him, give him a cupboard to sleep in, and constantly leaving Harry with Dudley's sloppy seconds.
'''The Result:''' Harry is more than happy to leave them behind and enter the Wizarding World, to a degree that the memory of doing so is such a happy one, that it helps Harry produce his Patronus

'''The Result''': [[spoiler:The curse hits Snape a year after he takes the job and becomes "headmaster", when Voldemort thinks he needs to murder Snape to gain full possession of the Elder Wand. Also, he's known as the man who murdered Dumbledore, even when the truth comes out.]]

* The Polyjuice Potion can give you the appearance of anyone you can get a sample of hair from — not just a clever disguise, but it alters your body so you have the same fingerprints, hair, and body shape. Thus, ''anyone'' important can be impersonated or outright replaced[[note]]admittedly, the latter would require that the original be kidnapped, imprisoned, and used as a living source of ingredients for the duration of the replacement[[/note]].\\

'''You'd Expect:''' For him to not draw excessive attention to himself and his new weapon, essentially keeping it as an "ace in the hole".\\

** During the original attacks, Riddle misdirected the investigation by pointing the finger at Hagrid, with the monster believed to be Aragog, the young acromantula (a giant spider) which he brought into the school.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The Aurors who investigate the matter would realize that things don't add up. An acromantula should leave massive bite marks on its victim, but a basilisk death glare leaves no visible external injuries, and Myrtle's ghost form shows that her corpse was precisely immaculate. For that matter, considering that people have survived untreated bites from full-grown acromantulas in the series without much trouble (while basilisk venom kills in minutes), it's hard to see how the currently very young and small Aragog would be able to kill anyone at his current size. And that's assuming there weren't any petrification victims the first time, which should instantly disqualify a creature that isn't capable of petrifying people.\\
'''Instead:''' None of this gets brought up. Apparently, they disposed of Myrtle's corpse without even trying to ascertain the cause of death or at least merely taking a look at the body.\\
'''Result:''' Hagrid is convicted and only avoids Azkaban because his wand gets snapped instead. Apparently, the evidence (whatever it was) was so strong that this second time around, he becomes the prime suspect and gets held in Azkaban for a few months without trial. Admittedly, some of this is almost certainly down to FantasticRacism and the need to find a scapegoat, but even then...

'''As A Result:''' Admittedly, some of they were tricky, but ''first year students'' were able to get past the same puzzles that were intended to stop a dark wizard controlled by ''Voldemort''[[note]]though Ron is known as an excellent chess player for his age, and when they reach the Potion puzzle, Hermione says that many great wizards lack an ounce of logic and would never be able to successfully pass through, so it has a bit of justification even if the whole thing remains a gigantic nonsense.[[/note]]. If not for the last spell cast on the mirror, you would have to wonder if Dumbledore was unconsciously trying to let Voldemort return to life. (Which is even possible, given Harry theorizes that Dumbledore wanted him to face Voldemort.)\\

'''End result:''' The car's stealth mode malfunctions, it gets seen by non-wizards, Harry and Ron get detention, Arthur is fixed with a huge fine for this breach of the Statute of Secrecy, and the Weasleys lose the car. At least this one gets {{Lampshaded}} by Professor [=McGonagall=].

'''You'd Expect:''' For Dumbledore to send any legitimately competent teacher or agent, preferably well versed in diplomacy and with good social skills, to tell Harry what he needs to know and gradually integrate him. Said individual would also pick up on the signs of abuse that Harry has endured and report this back to prevent said abuse in later books. Or, for that matter, Dumbledore could just do it himself and ensure that there are no screw-ups.\\

** ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]''

** ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]''

** ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]''

** ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]''

** ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]''

* ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]''

* ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]''

* ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]''

* ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]''

* ''[[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]''

'''You'd Expect:''' Malfoy to either tip off Filch again, like he did for the midnight duel, or inform another member of staff about what Harry's up to.\\

* WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban

* WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire

* WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix

* WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince

* WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows

[[folder:''Prisoner of Azkaban'']]

[[index]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Goblet of Fire'']]

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Order of the Phoenix'']]

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Half-Blood Prince'']]

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Deathly Hallows'']]

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[/folder]]

'''You'd Expect:''' They would use Legilimency or the Pensive to look at the memories themselves. If they remain mistrustful, they can also use the Time Turners to send back an invisible observer and oversee the events in question.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' That when possessing Ginny, he would compel her to give the diary to Harry. Tom manages to win Harry over, and would have in canon if he hadn't revealed that Hagrid was the accused Heir (he wasn't). Then Tom could use Harry, who already speaks Parseltongue, to open the chamber and to suck his life force. Thus Tom in one sweep returns as the Heir, and gets rid of the child that defeated him. Problem solved!\\

* Related to the above, the infant Harry is the miraculously the only survivor of Voldemort's attack on his parents. It's been decided to leave him with his aforementioned relatives to be raised "out of the spotlight" in order to get a "normal childhood".\\

'''As A Result:''' Admittedly, some of they were tricky, but ''first year students'' were able to get past the same puzzles that were intended to stop a dark wizard controlled by ''Voldemort''[[note]]though Ron is known as an excellent chess player for his age, and when they reach the Potion puzzle, Hermione says that many great wizards lack an ounce of logic and would never be able to successfully pass through, so it has a bit of justification even if the whole thing still remains a gigantic nonsense.[[/note]]. If not for the last spell cast on the mirror, you would have to wonder if Dumbledore was unconsciously trying to let Voldemort return to life. (Which is possible, given Harry theorizes that Dumbledore wanted him to face Voldemort.)\\
'''For that matter:''' Why keep the stone on school premises at all? They can literally Apparate anywhere on Earth, and instead it's kept in a school full of the next generation of magic users. Sure, it's one of the most well-protected places in the Wizarding World, but it is also intentionally placing the students in danger of getting caught in the crossfire, combined with the natural tendency of kids to go [[SchmuckBait specifically where they are told not to,]] which is exactly what Dumbledore says at the start of the year: "Stay away from the third-floor corridor."

'''You'd Expect:''' Harry and Ron to tell the teachers that Hermione is in the bathroom. It might be awkward to explain them ''why'' she is there, but it's not like verbal bullying is especially punished in Hogwarts, and they can always claim she was overreacting to a friendly joke (which is sadly used successfully as an excuse very often in real life), as it is up to her word against theirs after all. Even if not, despite all their previous actions, Harry and Ron still have enough moral fiber to conclude that risking being punished for making a girl cry is not a big deal compared to surely letting said girl to die by their fault.\\

* [[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban its own page]].

See [[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban its own page]].

See [[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire its own page]].

See [[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix its own page]].

See [[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince its own page]].

See [[WhatAnIdiot/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows its own page]].

'''You'd Think:''' That the boys would just go to the car and wait for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to get back, since they obviously wouldn't abandon their car. It's also improbable that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would miss the fact that Harry and one of their sons have not boarded the train, so it is reasonable to expect that they would find their way back to the station to make sure the boys are ok. Failing that, as Professor [=McGonagall=] suggested, they could have just sent Harry's owl, who they have with them, to Hogwarts with a message explaining the incident.\\

'''End result:''' The car's stealth mode malfunctions, it gets seen by non-wizards, kids get detention, Arthur is fixed with a huge fine, and the Weasleys lose the car. At least this one gets {{Lampshaded}} by [=McGonagall=].

'''You'd Think:''' He would tell Lucius that he values the diary's safety more than he does Lucius', and that if Lucius does anything without Voldemort's express orders, death itself will not be enough to save Lucius from very slow, very painful retribution. Hell, Voldemort could suggest that the diary has powerful wards on it that will be activated if Lucius uses it without permission, so that Lucius would hesitate to use it in a cavalier fashion even if he was 100% convinced Voldemort was dead. \\

'''As A Result:''' Lucius decides to carry out the plan anyway for his own ends, and gets a portion of his master's soul destroyed. Voldemort is less than amused when he finds out.

'''You'd Expect:''' That when possessing Ginny he would compel her to give the diary to Harry. Tom manages to win Harry over, and would have in canon if he hadn't revealed that Hagrid was the accused Heir (he wasn't). Then Tom could use Harry, who already speaks Parseltongue, to open the chamber and to suck his life force. Thus Tom in one sweep returns as the Heir, and gets rid of the child that defeated him. Problem solved!\\

* The diary mentioned earlier ends up in the hands of Ginny Weasley, who eventually suspects that it's connected to the attacks on other students. And she's right: [[spoiler:It's possessing her and having her set a basilisk on people]]. She tries to get rid of the diary by flushing it down a toilet, but later discovers that it's in the hands of Harry Potter. Not wanting him to discover her crimes, she steals the diary back. That's understandable, but her next actions really take the biscuit.\\

'''As A Result:''' The diary has her attack two more people (one of which is Hermione) and Ginny herself almost dies.

'''You'd Expect''': That he would turn down the offer. Lockhart is being put in a position where his immense inepititude will be immediately apparent to anyone paying attention. He has a reputation to uphold and this is going to be a stain on it.\\
'''Instead''': Lockhart tries to claim that he can do any spell possible and engages in a dangerous first class with pixies. This backfires horribly; when showing off the pixies to the class, the little monsters disarm him easily. Then he vanishes all the bones in Harry's right arm, which irritates Madam Pomfrey and Harry to no end. By the time Ginny Weasley goes missing, all the teachers know that Lockhart is useless and send him on a SnipeHunt to find the Chamber.

'''You'd Expect:''' That, since Lockhart has proven himself to be incompetent at this sort of thing, Harry and Ron would seek out the other teachers despite the orders to return to their dormitories and get ''them'' to deal with the Basilisk. In addition, given Lockhart was about to wipe their memories and they had to disarm him, they would immobilize him in his office or make sure he's tied up securely with a note explaining the situation. \\
'''Instead:''' For some reason, they decide to bring Lockhart along anyway, even though they have thrown his wand out the window and he has no useful knowledge to serve of any help. While in the Chamber, Lockhart attempts to abandon Ginny and completely wipe both Harry and Ron's minds in order to stop them revealing his secrets. They only avoid this due to Lockhart using Ron's broken wand, causing the spell to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard backfire on him]]. Even if he hadn't tried this, there was virtually nothing he could have done to help the group.
* Fifty years ago, the Chamber was opened. Several Muggleborn students were petrified, causing a huge panic.\\

'''Instead:''' When a girl named Myrtle went missing, no one searched for her for hours. Keep in mind that Myrtle was only a kid, and she was being bullied. But even so, she was a Hogwarts student, with parents who loved her.\\
'''The Result:''' Myrtle dies in a bathroom. It's unclear if anyone could have saved her from a Basilisk's glare, but maybe her body would have been found sooner. Her parents are furious and grieving, and Hogwarts nearly closes down.
* Moaning Myrtle was a victim of the Basilisk the first time. She wasn't well-liked in life because no one tolerated her crying, and it took ''hours'' to find her body. As she mentions, she came back as a ghost to haunt her school bully Olive Hornby; the Ministry stepped in after she crashed Olive's wedding, confining her to Hogwarts. Myrtle still hangs around the bathroom where she was killed, though it's revealed she can go as far as the lake if she wishes.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Dumbledore or someone would ask her, "Gee, have any idea who/what killed you?" If he hears her testimony, it probably wouldn't be too hard to find the hidden entrance to the Chamber, as he does something very similar in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Book 6]]. Sure, no one had ever found it before, but he's got only one bathroom to search, rather than a whole castle, and he will prove the ability to find hidden magic, as he "knows Tom Riddle's style." Let me repeat: he had the opportunity to ''interview the murder victim,'' a chance most detectives would give their right arms for.\\
'''Or At Least:''' That Dumbledore would realize that Myrtle spends a whole lot of time in that bathroom, even though she could haunt all of Hogwarts if she wished. Maybe it's where she died?\\

* For that matter, during the original attacks, the main suspect fingered was Hagrid, with the monster believed to be Aragog, the young acromantula (a giant spider) which he brought into the school.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The investigators to realize that things don't add up. An acromantula should leave massive bite marks on its victim, but a basilisk death glare leaves no visible injuries, and Myrtle's ghost form shows that her corpse was precisely immaculate. For that matter, considering that people have survived untreated bites from full-grown acromantulas in the series without much trouble (while basilisk venom kills in minutes), it's hard to see how the currently very young and small Aragog would be able to kill anyone at his current size. And that's assuming there weren't any petrification victims the first time, which should instantly disqualify a creature that isn't capable of petrifying people.\\
'''Instead:''' None of this gets brought up. Apparently, they disposed of the girl's corpse without even trying to ascertain the cause of death or at least merely taking a look at the body. Hagrid is convicted and only avoids Azkaban because his wand gets destroyed instead. Apparently, the evidence (whatever it was) was so strong that he becomes the prime suspect and gets held in Azkaban for a few months without trial. Admittedly, some of this is almost certainly down to FantasticRacism and the need to find a scapegoat, but even then...

'''Instead:''' He reaches for his wand slower than a turtle and is held at wand point by Harry and Ron.

'''The Result''': Thanks to more restrictions, there is no way Harry and Ron can just go to Moaning Myrtle's toilet, as they figure out later that she was the murder victim. Harry also finds the piece of paper in her hand that gives Ron and Harry the information they need.

'''You'd Expect''': Given that Tom's ghost is later shown to be capable of magic, he would finish what he tried to twelve years ago and simply [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim blast Harry with an Avada Kedavra]] (or any other lethal magical action he can use in this state). At the very least, he could restrain Harry like Quirrell did in book one so he can't run or wield a weapon, as well as getting rid of the bird and burning the hat.\\

* It's third year, and it means that students can take electives. For some reason, Draco Malfoy signs up for Care of Magical Creatures. He pretty much shows that he uses it as an excuse to get Hagrid in as much trouble as possible, as shown by him [[TooDumbToLive deliberately taunting Buckbeak]] against Hagrid's warning that hippogriffs are arrogant.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Draco to have dropped the class by the end of this year, or for Hagrid to speak with him and his father about dropping it. Hermione mentions that you can drop classes after year one, since they are electives, and she's much happier without Divination and Muggle Studies.\\
'''Instead:''' Draco for some reason keeps taking the class, causing as much disruption as possible with his snarking, sabotaging and obvious lack of effort.\\
'''The Result:''' Hagrid's confidence is seriously messed with, especially after Buckbeak attacks Draco and is sentenced to death. That is exactly the outcome that Draco wanted, but with the addition that, as said, Draco gets attacked by a dangerous beast that might have killed him.
* In the backstory, Harry's parents are warned that they've been targeted by the BigBad and need to hide. They choose a spell that perfectly conceals one's domain, as long as a chosen person (the SecretKeeper), well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin keeps the secret]].\\
'''You'd Expect:''' One of them would become the Secret Keeper. ''Deathly Hallows'' explicitly shows that this is possible, since during that book, Bill and Arthur Weasley are able to be the Secret Keepers for their respective dwellings. Furthermore, Dumbledore was Secret Keeper for 12 Grimmauld Place in ''Order of the Phoenix'', a place that he was then able to visit and stay in freely.\\
'''Or at Least:''' The Potters would make their Secret Keeper someone they trust absolutely (duh), someone who Voldemort was already 100% determined to murder as priority one (so that being the Secret Keeper doesn't put them in any danger that they weren't in already), someone who is a Master Occlumens (so that Voldemort, a known Legilimens, cannot read their mind), and someone who can straight-up kick Voldemort's ass any day of the week and twice on Sundays (so that Voldemort can't get it out of them by main force). In other words, that they'd use Dumbledore. '''Who had already volunteered for the job.'''\\
'''Instead:''' In gross violation of the [[EvilOverlordListCellblockB Evil Overlord List #222]] (keep the forcefield generator inside the forcefield), they make another person the Keeper, and it fails. Granted, that person betrays them, but even without that, their plan wasn't as foolproof as it could have been.
* James Potter's first choice for his Secret Keeper is his best friend Sirius Black, despite the fear that someone close to the Potters is working for Voldemort. Fortunately for him, Sirius isn't that someone.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That if Sirius was prepared to die to protect the Potters, he'd accept the Secret Keeper position, and go into hiding in another country so that Voldemort couldn't find him. After all, if you want something done right, sometimes it's better to do it yourself. Also, it would be a good idea to keep a wizarding equivalent to a cyanide pill on him at all times, in case Voldemort does track him down.\\
'''Or Better Yet:''' They'd use Dumbledore, for the same reasons mentioned in the above example.\\
'''Instead:''' Sirius convinces the Potters to make their other friend Peter Pettigrew the Secret Keeper, his logic being that Voldemort would never think of going after someone as insignificant as Peter. This is despite the possible traitor within his group of friends.\\
'''As A Result:''' Peter turns out to be the traitor, sells the Potters out, and later frames Sirius for their deaths. And that's not going into the fact that, if Voldemort does go after him, he could easily interrogate Sirius on who the real Secret Keeper was.\\
'''Not to mention:''' Picking Peter due to him being considered BeneathSuspicion was never going to end well. Voldemort was operating pretty openly, and had sufficient resources and followers to track down and interrogate ''anyone'' the Potters knew. Even if Peter had been neither the Secret Keeper nor a traitor, he'd have been targeted, and unless he was courageous enough to withstand torture and face certain death (something that he was [[DirtyCoward the exact opposite of]]) and strong-willed enough to resist the Imperius curse, he would probably have been forced to divulge ''some'' information that would help Voldemort track down the real Secret Keeper. After all, Voldemort was known to have taken down wizards and witches far more powerful than Peter without really breaking a sweat, and was terrifyingly casual about murdering people in his way.
* Likewise in the backstory: when the Potters are attacked, Sirius asks Hagrid for Harry, Hagrid says that Dumbledore asked him to come to Privet Drive, and Sirius gives Hagrid his motorcycle instead.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Dumbledore to raise an eyebrow about why the supposed Dark Wizard and Voldemort's servant Sirius gave Hagrid means of safe passage for the target of his assassination. In fact, given Dumbledore's interest and knowledge of wrongful imprisonment in Azkaban and FrameUp (his own father, the House Elf of Hepzibah Smith's, Morfin Gaunt), it would be natural for him to want to take a closer look at the circumstances of Sirius' arrest and capture, especially since he didn't have a trial.\\
'''Instead:''' Dumbledore shrugs, accepts Sirius is guilty, and moves on.\\
'''You Also Expect:''' Sirius to accompany Hagrid to Privet Drive to meet Dumbledore in person and inform him about Wormtail and the SecretKeeper change, and also to fulfill his responsibility as Harry's godfather. A wizard skilled in Legilimency like Dumbledore would have no trouble ascertaining Sirius is being honest, and after doing so, they would have the perfect timing to set a trap for Wormtail.\\
'''Instead:''' Sirius charges headfirst to find Wormtail on his own, without any backup or a thought about what resources and support might Wormtail have from the Death Eaters, and gets surprised and framed.\\
'''In addition to that''': You expect Sirius to disapparate or at least disappear or try and chase after Wormtail who he knows changed into a rat after he cut off his finger, or at least try and find some way to defend himself. Instead he goes LaughingMad and becomes a textbook NotHelpingYourCase example.
* In Remus Lupin's backstory: Dumbledore accepted him into Hogwarts, knowing that he's a werewolf and once a month turns into a monster with a love of human flesh for several hours. To get around this problem, Dumbledore decides to build/designate a location near the school where Lupin can safely transform.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That they would escort Lupin there under an invisibility cloak or disillusionment charm, keep him from learning how to disable the containment mechanism, and stand guard while he's transformed.\\
'''Instead:''' They bring Lupin there without any concealment every time, and while it's implied that Dumbledore keeps remote watch over Lupin, there are no actual guards.\\
'''As A Result:''' His friends manage to sneak in and even sneak him out for walks which nearly causes some grisly accidents.\\
'''Even Worse:''' At one point, Snape sees Lupin being escorted and begins to suspect the truth, which eventually nearly leads to his death and Remus' expulsion.
* Years later, during the events of the book proper, Dumbledore employs Lupin as a teacher. This time, however, they have Wolfsbane, a remedy that allows him to retain his sanity while transformed, so he can just wait through "those times of the month" in his office. The remedy must be taken regularly for several days prior to the full moon.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That they'd provide for Lupin to have some reminders and a contingency protocol, like a lockdown on his office when the "zero hour" approaches. It's not some flu medicine he's taking — it's supposed to keep him from becoming a rabidly insane beast ''in a castle full of children''.\\
'''Instead:''' Nothing of that kind is done; on one occasion, he neglects to take the potion and nearly kills several students, as well as allowing Pettigrew to escape and return to Voldemort, and ruining an opportunity to exonerate Sirius.
* Related to that, Snape walks into Lupin's office carrying the Wolfsbane potion, only to find Remus missing and that the Marauder's Map is open with many dots leading to the Shrieking Shack.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Snape, with his prior history of visiting the Shrieking Shack on the night of a full moon, knowing that Remus is about to transform, would carry the Potion with him, and on revealing and visiting the Shack, would first ensure and force-feed that Remus would drink it, if only out of self-preservation, before starting his WhosLaughingNow spiel on Sirius and Lupin.\\
'''Instead:''' Snape forgets the Potion, forgets to remind Lupin he has not taken the potion, goes crazy about wanting to feed Sirius and Remus to the Dementors, gets knocked out and nearly gets killed by a transformed Lupin, only to be saved by Sirius who diverts Lupin's werewolf form away. Oh and in the process, Wormtail escapes to summon the Dark Lord. [[SarcasmMode Nice work, Snivellus, you truly deserve the Order of Merlin that Fudge was contemplating for you before Sirius escaped.]]
* The Weasleys win the wizarding equivalent of the lottery, gaining 700 Galleons, which is, judging by the fact that in the second book, they only had one galleon in their vault at Gringotts, significantly more money than they have ever had.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' They would put almost all of it in the bank, using it responsibly and lifting themselves out of poverty.\\
'''Instead:''' They blow most of it on a holiday to Egypt to visit Ron's brother Bill. Go figure. Though they did get Ron a new wand.
* Sirius Black, an innocent man ''believed'' to be responsible for the death of Harry's parents, wants to kill Peter Pettigrew, the traitor who ''was'' responsible (who conveniently turned himself into a rat 12 years ago and is still in disguise as Ron's pet) and prove to Harry he's innocent.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Sirius would try and get in contact with Dumbledore and other members of the Order shortly after he escaped from Azkaban, whether by Portkey, Floo Network, or something, and explain the truth to him. Again, this would serve to book a rendezvous where Dumbledore can ensure by Legilimency that Sirius isn't lying. That way, Pettigrew can be taken into custody, keeping Harry safe, and Sirius would be cleared of all wrongdoing.\\
'''Instead:''' He does absolutely nothing of this and instead tries to enter Hogwarts by force to capture Pettigrew. Even worse, he violently attacks the Fat Lady's portrait, and later breaks into Gryffindor Tower with a knife drawn.\\
'''As A Result:''' He gets no closer to finding Pettigrew by performing these actions and only manages to [[NotHelpingYourCase further incriminate himself]].
* Later on, he turns himself into a dog, grabs Ron and Pettigrew, drags them into the Shrieking Shack, and waits for Harry to follow.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The first chance he got, Sirius would cast the spell to return Pettigrew to human form and explain to Harry what happened.\\
'''Instead:''' He just leaves Pettigrew in rat form. When Harry arrives, it looks like a trap, and Sirius only says ominous things like "Only one will die tonight".\\
'''As A Result:''' This cryptic shit just confirms to Harry that Sirius wants him dead, making Harry try to kill Sirius.
* Sirius and Lupin are expositing to the trio about their backstory with Pettigrew and the whole Secret Keeper thing. Halfway through, the door opens and closes mysteriously as Snape enters under the invisibility cloak. Ron suggests it's a ghost, but Lupin says that the Shack isn't haunted.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The visible people in the room would investigate the fact that someone invisible obviously just entered. The kids have Lupin and Sirius' wands and might not know the people-detecting spell from ''Deathly Hallows'' (which probably didn't exist at this point in the books), but they could at least make an effort (''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' demonstrates one possible method).\\
'''You'd Also Expect:''' Snape would take advantage of his invisibility and stun or otherwise restrain the escaped murderer and his accomplice before getting everyone back to the castle.\\
'''Instead:''' No one does anything. Lupin and Sirius continue to exposit while Snape lurks around waiting for a dramatic moment to reveal himself. It turns out… well, not for the best, given the entry immediately below, but good enough for the series' plot, but the stupidity on display from four smart people [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Harry and Ron]] is just mind-boggling.
* Pettigrew has been captured by the trio and two adults, and they need to escort him to the castle. They know full well that he's an Animagus who can turn himself into a rat.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' They'd use a simple Stunning Spell on him then float him to the castle, like they're doing to Snape ''at the exact same time''. Or summon/conjure a jar, put him in it, and make it unbreakable so he can't transform, just like Hermione does with Rita Skeeter's bug form in the fourth book.\\
'''Instead:''' They leave the murderer awake and chain him to two of them, one of who is about to turn into a werewolf. As soon as he does, the murderer transforms and falls out of his chains, leaving Ron chained to a hungry werewolf. But just before that happens...\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Hermione, or Sirius, who's currently carrying Snape's wand, to Stun Lupin, or magically restrain him in some other way as he's in mid-transformation (e.g. Hermione's full-body-bind curse).\\
'''Instead:''' Sirius [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifts]] into his dog form in order to fight Lupin off. He succeeds, but ends up in a great deal of pain, and nearly has AndIMustScream invoked on him by Dementors as a result.
* We learn in this book that the Wizard World has Time Turners, devices which can be used to actually ''travel back in time''. Admittedly, they are limited in how far back they can go, but even a short distance would allow someone to get access to a huge amount of secret information or, if they were careful, actually interfere in the past.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The devices to be kept under the strictest guard possible, for knowledge of them to be suppressed as much as possible and for them to only be used at times of the greatest need.\\
'''Instead:''' One was given to Hermione so she could [[MundaneUtility attend more classes]]. While Hermione is certainly more competent than most adults we see, they still ran a horrible risk the moment they made it available to her, if only because someone might have realized she had one and stolen it.\\
'''In Addition:''' The school should realise that, no matter how exceptional Hermione is, letting her attend multiple classes is going to be detrimental to her. She's the sort of person who worries a lot about exams and failure, so it's going to cause her a lot of unnecessary stress. It could also encourage her to neglect her friendships so she can complete her work, which won't be good for her social development. Nothing really comes of it, but she's shown visibly starting to crumble under the pressure and who knows what could have happened to her had it continued.
* The movie version has Sirius and Harry leave the group post-exposition, to stare at Hogwarts and have a talk about how Sirius is Harry's godfather and, with his name cleared, could return to being a free man and Harry could live with Sirius, finally free from his [[AbusiveParents abusive aunt and uncle]].\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The two of them to have this talk ''while'' walking out of the tunnel from the Whomping Willow (like in the book) and not leave the group, where the whole purpose was to get the alive-after-all Pettigrew to the castle, so as to prove Sirius' innocence, as soon as possible.\\
'''Instead:''' They waste time before the event of the clouds shifting, the moon becoming visible and Lupin turning into a werewolf, just because they needed a [[RuleOfCool pretty backdrop to have the talk to]]!\\
'''As A Result:''' In the ensuing chaos, Pettigrew is able to turn back into a rat and escape, eventually winding up back at the Dark Lord's side.
* At the start of the book, Crookshanks is a lone Cat-Kneazle hybrid at the Diagon Alley menagerie, since no one wants him. He wins over Hermione, and attacks Ron while going for Scabbers, who is on the counter getting a checkup. The reason why Crookshanks is attacking is because [[EvilDetectingDog he realizes that Scabbers is an Animagus who is untrustworthy]]. Being a cat, however, he can't exactly communicate this.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Crookshanks would find some way to tell Hermione. Sirius mentions that in his dog form, he was able to convince Crookshanks to bring to him a list of passwords that Neville had written down, so Sirius could easily send a message via cat that the "rat is dangerous". If not Hermione, Crookshanks could maybe seek out [=McGonagall=] and tell her this while she's in her cat form.\\
'''Instead:''' Crookshanks keeps sneaking into the boys' dorm and attacking Scabbers / Petttigrew at every opportunity, making Ron angry on Scabbers's behalf and suspicious at how the cat understands human speech. Eventually, when Crookshanks attacks Ron and Scabbers for the last time, even Hermione is trying to shoo her pet away, because by then Pettigrew has faked his death and framed Crookshanks.
* Also, thanks to Crookshanks, Ron gets angry at Hermione for not taking the cat attacks seriously. He also points out that Crookshanks is SmarterThanYouLook and seems to be gunning to eat Scabbers.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Hermione to put a more active effort into keeping her cat away from Scabbers, or to figure out why Crookshanks seems to have a vendetta. This is straining her friendship with the boys and adding stress to her already-busy school year.\\
'''Instead:''' Hermione thinks that she can keep Crookshanks in her dorm, and refuses to take Ron's concerns seriously. This means that for most of the year Ron is yelling at her about Crookshanks, and Harry can't exactly defend her or Crookshanks.\\
'''As A Result:''' Scabbers fakes his death by biting himself and leaving blood and cat hairs on Ron's bed sheets, which leaves Crookshanks as the perfect patsy. Hagrid has to call out Harry and Ron to lead to Ron and Hermione making up, after months of the three not talking.
* Harry has received a Firebolt from an anonymous gifter. He and Ron are excited since the Whomping Willow thrashed his Nimbus 2000. Hermione gets concerned that the best broom available has been delivered to Harry, who everyone thinks is the target of a mass-murderer.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Hermione would bluntly tell Harry and Ron that Sirius Black probably sent it to sabotage Harry. If they disagree, ''then'' she can threaten to tell their Head of House unless they tell [=McGonagall=] and remind Harry that Sirius Black tried to get into the dormitories once.\\
'''Instead:''' She goes right ahead and tells [=McGonagall=] about the broomstick. Their professor comes and confiscates it. Hermione only tells them when Ron yells at her, as she's trying to hide behind a book.\\
'''The Result:''' Harry and Ron stop speaking to Hermione for several months. While she ended up being right that Sirius sent the broom — it wasn't jinxed and Sirius sent it to make up for missing several years' worth as birthdays — Ron labels her as a tattletale.
* Then Oliver Wood finds out the whole story. He thinks it's preposterous that a mass-murderer could just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a Firebolt. Wood tells Harry that his best Seeker needs a broom and he'll talk to [=McGonagall=] about getting the Firebolt back from the teachers.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Oliver would tell Minerva all of this: ''how'' would Sirius Black be able to order a Firebolt and send it to Harry anonymously? All of the wizarding world is on alert. Or, suggest that the professor ask Quality Quidditch Supplies who bought a Firebolt recently. it's not like any witch or wizard can just buy it.\\
'''Instead''': Wood tells [=McGonagall=] that it doesn't matter if the broom knocks Harry off as long as he catches the Snitch while going down.\\
'''The Result:''' [=McGonagall=] rightly tells him off for having SkewedPriorities and Quidditch isn't as important as keeping a student from being murdered. The broom fortunately ends up not being jinxed.
* Malfoy gets one that is PlayedForLaughs. He's been mocking Harry for how the Dementors have made him faint. Fred and George note that Malfoy isn't one to talk given he nearly wet himself in the monsters' presence, but the Slytherin is not deterred. When Harry has his first Quidditch match after the Dementors knock him out, Draco thinks it'd be hilarious if he, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, prank Harry by dressing as Dementors.\\
'''You'd Expect''': They would have an exit plan.\\
'''Instead''': They don't.\\
'''Predictably''': Harry has been getting private Patronus lessons from Lupin. In the heat of the moment, he casts a Patronus strong enough to knock them over and tangle them in the oversized robes. Everyone immediately realizes they aren't real Dementors because Dementors don't fall over. Minerva finds out and goes MamaBear, calling them a DirtyCoward lot. She deducts fifty points from Slytherin, gives them all detention, and makes them face a TranquilFury Dumbledore.

* Malfoy gets one that is PlayedForLaughs. He's been mocking Harry for how the Dementors have made him faint. Fred and George note that Malfoy isn't one to talk given he nearly wet himself in the monsters' presence, but the Slytherin is not deterred. When Harry has his first Quidditch match after the Dementors knock him out, Draco thinks it'd be a good idea if he and his friends prank the Seeker by dressing as Dementors.\\

'''Predictably''': They find out too late that Harry has been given Patronus lessons. In the heat of the moment, he releases a Patronus strong enough to knock them over and tangle them in the oversized robes. Everyone immediately realizes they aren't real Dementors because Dementors don't fall over. Minerva finds out and goes MamaBear, calling them a DirtyCoward lot. She deducts fifty points from Slytherin, gives them all detention, and makes them face a TranquilFury Dumbledore.

'''Instead:''' The school decides to make the Draught itself, even going so far as to grow its own Mandrakes. The problem is that the Mandrakes take most of the school year to mature, and therefore become usable.\\

'''You'd Also Think:''' Ron's parents would immediately notice that the last two members of the group, Harry and Ron, have not followed them into the platform. Molly should be especially aware, considering all the motherly care she puts on Harry despite (or because) him not being her son nor experienced with the magical world.\\

'''You'd Think:''' That the boys would just go to the car and wait for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to get back, since they obviously wouldn't abandon their car. It's also improbable that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would miss the fact that Harry and one of their sons have not boarded the train, so it is reasonable to expect that they would find their way back to the station to make sure the boys are ok. Failing that, as Professor [=McGonagall=] suggested, they could have just sent their owls, which they have with them, to Hogwarts with a message explaining the incident.\\