10 Harry Potter Plot-Holes That Are Actually Aren't

3. Wizard Schools Are Rubbish?

Harry Potter Goblet
Warner Bros.

The Plot-Hole

Wizard children may be able to count to ten but when they go to school all they learn is magic. What about engineering and science and advanced mathematics?

But Wait...

This is not so much a plot-hole but an inevitable consequence of using magic.

Because wizards have no need of the Muggle sciences. For us, building something even as simple as a house involves a great deal of time and effort. For wizards, as seen in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, putting a devastated neighbourhood back together is the task of only a few minutes.

Hagrid exemplifies this attitude when he states that the reason why wizards remain hidden is due to Muggles inevitably wanting magic solutions to their problems. Ergo, we Muggles are inferior.

Except we are not.

Consider another ‘plot-hole.’ Why can wizards do nothing about Harry’s poor eyesight? To solve the problem we Muggles have to form a deep understanding of physiology and the genetics involved in order to determine the root cause. This can take decades. But once the cause is determined tools such as CRISPR promise to provide us with the means of rectifying the problem at the genetic level. Wizards have no such knowledge and no such tools.

Magic works quickly and can easily solve most problems. But, without the need to go any further it becomes a crutch, a self-imposed ceiling born of convenience. Wizarding schools are letting their students down, but due to understandable and myopic reasons rather than the result of a plot-hole.

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