
Expecto...oh.
JK Rowling has done so well at creating the world that Harry Potter inhabits that we now have an understanding that allows (dangerously) for speculation. And fans love to speculate.
u/eL7Square asked Reddit:
What are some R-rated things that probably happen in the world of Harry Potter that the story doesn't address?
Here were some of the R-rated answers.
The Cost Of Love
The implications around love potions and spells are disturbing to think about. Even the books touch on it a little bit with Voldemort's parents.
And yet they're openly and legally sold to teenagers.
In fact, I cannot think of a single "good" use for a love potion.
Rowling did not think this through. The Imperious curse that removes free will is "Unforgivable", but the potion that forces you to love someone you normally wouldn't is A-Ok?
Luck Of The Cauldron
I guarantee there is at least one person out there who is addicted to Felix Felicis (the luck potion from Half-Blood Prince). I mean, if it can get you a "perfect day", don't you think there is someone out there who brews that stuff on bulk, or even a company that just sells that, and uses it every day to try and have a perfect life? Maybe there's a rehab center or a "Feliciholics Anonymous" for people who are Felix Felicis addicts trying to quit (similar to actual drugs in the muggle world).
Creative Goals
Someone probably at one point stuck their wand up their own a** and used an illumination spell to turn them self into a jack-o-lantern. I know I would.
Curse Blockers
Do you ever think about how many people must work in curse-proofing? Like, there must be a pretty sizable economic sector dedicated to putting curse blockers on, for instance, basically everything that magical world leaders ever come into contact with. How many leaders around the world do you think were killed by exploding forks or furniture turning into lions or something of that nature? Magical anti-terrorism must be pretty hectic in a world where anything can theoretically be turned into a bomb with the right spell. Even when you're just casually walking through a crowd of magic users, you're essentially surrounded by a bunch of people with guns; they could all kill someone if they know "avada kedavra." I thought you can't block that curse, so how do leaders stay safe during public events? Then of course there's polyjuice potion; do you think they have a scanner to make sure everyone who enters a government building is really who they say they are? They clearly don't at the bank since Hermione was able to get in as Bellatrix.
Corporal Violence
The punishments are pretty extreme. Azkaban should be considered a crime against humanity. In the Fantastic Beasts movie it was too easy for the main characters to be sent for execution. It also bothered me that the executioners were so calm/happy helping someone die. Umbridge should not have been able to use a magical hand-scarring pen to punish people. Honestly, it feels like the law in that world has no limits, and I'd be scared if I lived somewhere in which that was normal. Wizards/witches have probably committed some pretty sick acts because their legal system is shady. For example, they could torture someone as punishment and instantly heal them, over and over again. Or they can use a spell that forces them to experience their worst nightmares.
I've Got Dragon Pox
I've always wondered how many sexual mishaps Madame Pomfrey has to deal with. Like, there has to be male students who tried an "engorging" charm at one point or another and it backfired. What about STDs? Do wizards have different STDs? Newt Scamander said that Muggles have different physiologies than wizards (in context of medications). That said, can a Muggle born introduce a new STD to the wizarding community? There has to be birth control charms or potions, as you never hear of pregnant students at Hogwarts. Is there an abortion spell/potion? Is this controversial in the wizard world? Is there a spell that girls can use to intentionally stop a period? I mean, if you can magically straighten teeth or have skelo-grow, I don't see it as being that far-fetched.
Red Flags
Let's just break some things down about the wizarding world, some red-flag stuff:
- Everyone that attends Hogwarts has a 5th grade education. You receive your Hogwarts acceptance letter between your 10th and 11th birthday (seems to be some uncertainty on that). That puts a kid roughly around 5th grade of elementary school wherein they are pulled out of their education and brought into a curriculum tailored towards magic more-so than academics. Yes, of course, learning about magic is hugely important and many education systems throughout the world are less than stellar, but I very much doubt the curriculum is tailored to help students learn and retain all the necessary levels of information to be able to actually interact with society easily.
- Muggle-society has developed in a much more sophisticated manner than the wizarding society. Reread Harry Potter and watch how Arthur Weasley gets when it comes to interacting with anything muggle related. He works for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, which is focused on making sure enchanted muggle items are kept well and clear from muggles. He is constantly amazed at muggle ingenuity. How they have developed the technology that they have. How things work and operate. Airplanes are a total mystery to him. Looking at how everything operates and looks in the wizarding world, it doesn't look like that is exclusive to him. I would argue that their dependence on magic to solve all things has led, ultimately, to a fundamental lack of innovation. They merely can make things fly, without ever attempting to understand the underlying reality of it all. Also, it's telling that both Hermione and Harry act very differently compared to many others because of their upbringing. Having no knowledge of magic or the wizarding world, they operated in a world where finding answers and getting results required actual application of knowledge, resourcefulness, and effort.
- Muggle studies. An elective taken from the third year on. Subjects include "Why muggles need electricity.", hangman, crosswords, and playgrounds. Most considered it an easy class, not worth taking the time in (Percy Weasley felt it should be important, in contrast, so as to help the magical community better understand and relate to the non-magical community). Let us not forget that within a century, two Dark Lords rose to power both believing that all muggles should be subjugated to the wizarding world, and they had a lot of support. Having a poor understanding of other groups of peoples and communities is an easy way to ultimately dehumanize them and see them as nothing more than tools and pawns.
- The government within the wizarding world is... flimsy. Now, at the end of the day, wizards are humans and human nature and politics leads to inevitable conclusions. That said, the politics and bureaucracy present in the wizarding world is nothing short of a disaster. With how easily things can change and be swayed, from peaceful and cooperate to violent and subversive, stability leaves a lot to be questioned. To be frank, the only form of clear direction and ambition is present only when the Death Eaters and Voldemort take control. Beforehand, it was stagnant and ultimately wanted to keep its fingers in its ears. It's even telling in what became the norm: He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. When you are afraid to speak a name, and thusly things related to the individual, you have granted a lot of power out of your own cowardice. And the wizarrding world gave Voldemort a lot of power.
- Clear separation of the magical and non-magical communities. Yes, you can't just drop the veil and hope all will be well. But really look at how things operate. Arthur is amazed at the Grangers exchanging their money for wizard money, and have their own for0m of currency. Transportation is by brooms and floo systems. Communication through birds. Buildings are hidden in plain sight. The magical community goes through little effort to ever actually live in the non-magical world, but wishes to do all it can to separate itself. Now, obviously such places that are separated must exist for the safety of everyone. But this constant separation only amplifies my 3rd point and that they are terrible at actually cooperating with their non-magical neighbors.
So why do I mention all of these things. It's real easy to read Harry Potter and think "Oh man! Being a wizard would be amazing! I want to be in that world!", but the reality is that things aren't better, just more of the same in a different way. They are, broadly speaking, a group of easily swayed people that wish to remain removed from a situation that cannot be solved by magic alone: interacting with non-magical people. However, they also lack the ability to take responsibility and investigate matters in a way that would actually protect those that don't even know another world exists. They wield some of the most powerful forces known to humankind, and have the education of middle schoolers and societal functionality of older kingdoms. Imagine a group of people like that existing in this world, and tell me how order is ultimately maintained?
Either it isn't, and magical members of the community regularly interact and interfere with muggle society to their own gains, with little regard to its impact. Or there is ultimately a "task force" (EDIT: I had forgotten that there is one. Obliviators. Look them up. Crazy.) that operates in such a way that they are regularly wiping people's memories or whole lives so as to keep a secret. Muggle saw a girl using a broom, wipe her memory. Muggle was brutally murdered by witch. Unsolved murder as far as the muggles are concerned. Theft? Oh well. Any illicit behavior is swept under the rug in some capacity so as to not "cause a public outcry". The magical community can talk about how muggles and wizards are equal, but they are pretty much lying. The non-magical community is at the whims of of the magical community each and every day, and they don't want you to really know it. It's like if the Illuminati were real, but full of incompetent people who don't really understand you or your world.
So, to answer OP's question, think of anything that does happen in real life with one extra caveat: The prime directive is in full effect and we can never truly know it happened. The Ministry of Magic will subvert the law and idea of justice whenever anything bad happens to an average person. Imagine watching a movie where you are watching Aurors going around, seeing all the ways Voldemort and his Death Eaters left a trail of death and destruction in their wake, and intentionally tampering with evidence and crime scenes, obstructing justice, and interfering at every turn so we can never know who did it, or that there is a magical world out there that thinks we can't actually cooperate or be trusted with such power.
And remember that Arthur Weasley was amazed by a turnstile. That most of them are probably incapable of actual problem solving and reasoning above a 5th grader level, since magic makes everything easy.
They know what's best for the non-magical community, guys.
P.S.- I know the movies aren't strictly canon, but watch them and pay attention to how the muggle side of things are presented. Being a muggle is boring, dull, uninteresting, and gray. Colors are muted. Everyone acts the same. That's pretty much how the wizarding world contrasts the muggle world. Quite frankly, a wizard or witch standing up and saying "We need to take control of the muggles. They obviously don't really have any idea what they're doing. We'll uplift them!" should happen about once a year.
It Mirrors Us
In the last book, it's mentioned that many of the first year wizarding students had simply gone missing without explanation, because of the Death Eaters on the loose. These kids are never found. It's pretty frickin dark to imagine the Hogwarts Express getting stopped and boarded, and all the young first year students getting escorted to concentration camps.
The Mandela effect is when multiple people share the same, incorrect memory.
Its name stems from when paranormal researcher Fiona Broome falsely believed that the future president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, died in prison in the 1980s.
A false memory she shared with a number of others.
Our memories have been known to deceive us, as we might frequently forget someone's name or one of our numerous online passwords.
But when we share a memory that turns out to be false with many others, convincing ourselves it wasn't the truth can be a very difficult ordeal indeed.
Redditor Mysterious_Boat_1701 was curious to hear people's most unsettling experiences with the Mandela Effect, leading them to ask:
"Which Mandela effect freaks you out the most and why?"
A mysterious gym
"Just had one personally."
"Went to a mall where there was supposedly a gym, asked around and nobody that worked at the mall knew what I was talking about."
"Looked around and couldn't find it."
"Come back a few months later and it’s right there in front of my face, you'd have to be strung out to not notice it."
"idk how or when it just appeared but it freaked me out."- prex320278
A "fruit"ful logo.
"That the fruit of the loom logo never had a cornucopia."
"What’s crazy about that one is that someone emailed the creator of the logo about it and he said even he remembers it having one."- mrcock2·
Less well intentioned than they thought.
"I Mandela effected my whole family once."
"Years ago there was a football player on a rival team that always did a dumb celebration after he got a sack and my family and I always hated it."
"One night after he did it my family started trashing the celebration and I said as a joke 'we are all going to feel terrible when we find out he is doing that celebration as a request from a make-a-wish kid'."
"Fast forward to years later and our team is playing that team again."
"The player got a sack and did the celebration."
"I rolled my eyes and said 'I hate that celebration so much' my mom instantly turned and said 'don't say that, he is doing it for a sick kid'."
"'I actually like it."
"So I was like 'what?'"
"'No there is no sick kid', my whole family then proceeded to argue with me'."
"They all vividly remembered reading articles about it, seeing special report segments before games about it, and other information."
"Some of them even thought they knew the disease the kid had and even extra details about why the kid chose that specific celebration."
"They all had these shared memories that they were sure were true."
"I was floored by all this and insisted none of that was true."
"So we looked it up.'
"Not true."
'No kid like that ever existed.'
"They still have trouble wrapping their heads around this one."
"Turned out human memory is not near as reliable as we think"
"It was American Football and the player was Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings and his cattle roping sack celebration."
"This was maybe 10 years ago."- AUSpartan37
His eyesight was better than we thought.
"Mr. Monopoly's monocle."- Additional_Day9903
It's not easy being green.
"I have a personal one that to this day a decade later still destroys my mind."
"I had an old(ish) 2001 dodge neon."
"With BLACK SEATS.'
"I drove this car for years and years, like 80,000 miles.'
'All through college."
"I took work breaks in my car, commuted hours every day total, to college and then the opposite direction to work and back."
"I even lived out of this thing on several occasions.'
'The day I go and trade it in, I'm pulling misc things out of the car at the dealer."
'And the seats are GREEN."
"Not even a little."
'Like very unmistakably GREEN."
"In my black Neon, with black interior, that ALWAYS HAD BLACK SEATS."
"My girlfriend then, wife now, goes oh they've always been green."
"EXCEPT THEY F*CKING WEREN'T DON'T LIE TO ME."
"This is still upsetting to this day..... life is a lie and nothing is real."- ZakuLegion
An urban legend was born.
"Not a global one, just a family thing."
"Back in 2002 my grandma had her 60th birthday, my father took us home at 10.00pm, ready for bed."
"We, me and brother, were 12 and 14 at this time."
'All went well."
"Over the years, a story was made up that we went missing after visiting the local playground after dinner at said grandma's birthday party."
"Some neighbors help to search us, the whole train of 'missing children in a smal village'-thing."
"Fun fact: we never went missing."
"Dad brought us home, put on 'Toy Story' on tv and left."
"My brother and I heard first about this in 2015.'
"From different people on different occasions."
"'Ah your one of the missing boys'."
"I first thought they were mocking me for a different event.'
"I got lost, but it was 2013, alcohol inflicted, different story."
"But then they ALL tell us the same story about us going missing."
'And the stories are damn close to 'true' in every story my mum is driving around the same neighbors to different locations to search, old wine yard, old mill etc."
"Sometimes I think I got lost on the most brutal way."
"I was lost and changed this plane of existence with another one."
"It sometimes made me think about my whole life."- tjorben123
Memories are a fascinating thing.
They can be changed or altered with even the tiniest suggestion.
And making the truth seem less believable than lies.
One last time. One last meal.
How do you chose a last meal?
Let's hope we never have to find out.
People on death row get that option.
Do they deserve it?
Whose to say?
But they have it.
A steak. A pizza... Burger King.
The food world is their oyster.
Oyster. Also an option.
The menu is endless...
Redditor No-Caterpillar4212 wanted to know what our menu choices would be if we faced the end. They asked:
"You're on a death row, you have one hour left, they ask for your final meal - what is it?"
I'd want 2 hours in a Golden Coral with a bar. Covers it all.
Years
"I want a nice filet mignon, medium rare, a baked potato with everything on it, and a nice Cabernet from a good year - I'm thinking 2135."
cleon42
"'Sorry, we couldn't get the Cabernet from 2135. So instead of what could have been a great wine request from a more plausible period of time, you get this crappy stuff we sourced from Wal-Mart. Enjoy your meal, I hope that maintaining your sense of humor was worth it."'
Until_Morning
Take Me
"Something badly cooked so I will be sick and want to die sooner and have diarrhea so bad it will be a last revenge!"
ratchet0101
"Taco bell it is!"
No-Caterpillar4212
"If Taco Bell makes you poop a lot, it's a sign that you probably need more fiber in your diet."
RDAwesome
The Yuck Factor
"A huge bowl of baked beans, a bowl of shredded wheat, a six egg omelette, and a gallon of apple cider. I'm gonna make it awful for everyone."
"Save yourself the hassle of eating all that, just ask for one pack of sugar free Haribo gummy bears. Should make for an interesting time for the folks watching you die."
MamaSweeney24
"You void your bowels when you die too so that should be lovely."
IDontControlTheFood
Perfect
"Fried chicken with some Fanta."
Aggravating-Year-776
Fried chicken is on the top of everyone's list!
Details
"150mg of MDMA. I’m dying happy."
W0nderfu1W0nder
"This should absolutely be allowed. If our leaders insist on the practice of capital punishment then the condemned should be able to ingest any substance they damn please."
forewontoi
Broken
"McFlurry. Those machine are always broken. I just bought myself some time."
Curiousuk_South9566
"Is this like an American thing? I worked at a McDonald's in Denmark once and our machine was never once broken when i was there."
oliv111
"I saw a video about this once. I'm a little fuzzy on the details but I think it has something to do with the contract that was signed in America. Only one company is allowed to do maintenance on the machines and they basically lock out if it's cleaned incorrectly. It's a crap system."
grilled-pbj
Sorry
"Cabbage!! Add some cabbage. I don’t know if an hour if enough to take effect but there was an old coworker on a cabbage diet. Omg she smelled, like it was coming out of her pores. She knew she smelled and kept apologizing and reminding us of the diet."
ImStillaPrick
The OG Always
"Olive Garden. Unlimited soup and breadsticks."
thegodfaubel
"I saw a sketch once, can't remember who it 2qs from. But a an inmate ordered the all you can eat buffet and had been eating for like 8 years. He's constantly on the toilet and takes micro-naps between bites."
KingOfTheGoobers
"Unlimited for 1 hour. Cool."
anticlockclock
How Golden
"If my grandma is still alive her potato soup and cheesecake. Hopefully I'd be able to cook said meal with her one last time."
ATLAS_IS_LOST
Let's hope none of us has to make this decision.
Most people have friends they've been close to for most of their lives.
But at the same time, friends evolve, and everyone finds themselves losing touch with any number of people they at one point considered their friends over time.
Most of the time, this isn't intentional, but just simply happens.
On rare occasions though, people might realize that their friends were not exactly who they thought they were, and didn't like who they revealed themselves to be.
Redditor One-Refrigerator69 was curious to hear stories of people who realized their friends were not exactly the nicest people to be around, leading them to ask:
"When was the moment you realized that your friends are assholes?"
Compared to others...
"When I started hanging out with better people."- Darklink326
All it took was getting my life together
"When I quit drinking ‘cos it was killing me."
"There were people I literally saw every single day who just disappeared as if by magic."
"12 years ago this week, as it happens."
"I’m not anti-drink, far from it."
"Some people, me included, just can’t enjoy it without it becoming a problem."
"Everyone is different."- bigdaftgeordie
A little perspective goes a long way.
"After I realized that other people don't sh*t on each other on every possible occasion in their circle."
"And that it isn't right when a 'friend' uses every known insecurity as an argument against you when you do not behave the way he/she would want you to."- ViscousPlateman
Lack of respect for other people's things
"I let my friend borrow my ps2 when I went to boot camp."
"When I came back, he said he sold it and gave me $50 I think?"
"This was in 2006."- madmike-86
Lack of mutual respect
"When he does sh*t to me and acts like it’s no big deal, then I do the same back and he gets offended."- Primary-Maybe-2749·
Constantly being taken advantage of.
"They only bothered with me when it suited them."
"I'd rather have nobody than have to deal with that."- zombi33mj
When they literally revealed themselves to be criminals
"When they robbed me at gunpoint."- Ok_Student8032
When they stopped liking them after a change of situation
"Fourth grade, when my parents economical situation went downhill and suddenly no one invited me to their birthday party."
"Until Seven years later no one had never invited me to their birthday, or to anything at all actually."- Justalittletoserious
Not being able to get a word in...
"When they tell me to shut up when I say anything."- the_golden_cheese
Violently playing with emotions
"She got a boyfriend and would let him listen to our phone calls and not tell me, even if I was crying about personal stuff that I would only ever tell her."
"Then they both started lying to me about my crush liking me back, forcing both him and me into awkward positions, telling everyone we liked each other so they'd play along, swapping places constantly to make us sit next to each other, pressuring him into giving me a lap dance, making him kiss the prettiest girl in the room, etc, and encouraged me to shoot my shot more and more."
"All the while they knew he didn't like me, he had told them both directly."
"One night I was crying on the phone cause I was so confused why my advances weren't working, and they just kept explaining it away, blaming some other bullsh*t reason and telling me to try again."
"The next day they told me they were laughing throughout the whole call, because I didn't get it and I was so upset."
"I should add I had no dating experience at all and nobody had ever liked me at this point."- Juliemj
It's always sad when our friends disappoint us.
But when our friends proved to be completely different people than we thought they were, it can be devastating.
As the saying goes, one never truly knows who their friends are.
When visiting any foreign country, one should always be familiar with the laws and customs of the land.
After all, what might be generally accepted on your home turf, might be frowned upon, if not illegal, elsewhere.
For that matter, even locals might need a refresher course on what they can and can't do while at home.
A recent Redditor was curious to hear what tourists and locals alike should avoid doing in the USA, leading them to ask:
"In the United States, what should you never do?"
Stay out of the skies!
"Don't fly a drone in Washington, DC."
"The whole D.C. Area is a no fly zone."
"It's a federal offense."
"Just don't do it."- PeytonCarrK
Cops can't be bribed.
"Don't try to bribe cops when you get pulled over."
"I had some Argentinian friends immediately pull out their wallets and start pooling their cash when they got pulled over once.'
"Fortunately someone in the car noticed and told them to put it away immediately."- PeytonCarrK
"Don't pay off the police."
"My dad has friends from several third-world nations where it is common practice to give the police some cash when you are pulled over."
"However, if you try to bribe a police officer here, you'll get into a lot of trouble."- JohnASmiley
Know your rights.
"Everyone, including foreigners, has the right to be silent and have a lawyer when being questioned."
"Don’t say anything."
"Also, even if you speak English fairly well, ask for an interpreter."- WickedLilThing
Enjoy all that nature has to offer... carefully!
"Don't wander off in the national parks."
"It's very real wilderness and you can get lost and die out there."
"This includes going over railings you aren't supposed to, or off trails."
"People have died accidentally falling into a steam geyser that looked like normal water, mauled by animals or left to the elements."- AlphaOhmega
Allow plenty of time!
"Expect consistency at TSA in airports."- WickedLilThing
Some terminology doesn't translate...
"If you’re from England, they’re called cigarettes here."- Yung_Onions
Make sure your license is up to date.
"If you come from a walkable country don’t come here expecting the same."
"There are some areas with good public transportation and bicycle/pedestrian friendly streets but for the most part, especially outside of cities, the areas are designed to accommodate cars more than anything else."
"The reason a lot of Americans drive everywhere is because, depending on where you live, we have no choice."- The_Cars93
Wait for instructions.
"Get out of your car and approach the cop when being stopped by a cop unless told to."- hildrash
Whether your'e waling down a street in a foreign country, or the street you've lived on for your entire life, it's always wise to be on guard and aware of your surroundings.
Not to mention, obey the law.