If you’re anything like me, you spent your childhood dreaming about getting your Hogwarts letter, thinking about what you wanted to learn, and ignoring your real class schedule in favor of making an O.W.L. schedule.
Chances are, you never thought about the negative side of the wizarding school. Magic, however, is dangerous, especially when it can be used by youngsters.
The fact that the teenagers in the Harry Potter books didn’t abuse magic in any way is nothing short of a miracle.
We know how teenagers are. They’re adventurous, emotional, creative, and a little crazy. With access to magic, all of that would be amplified. There’s no way teenagers wouldn’t find ways to abuse magic at Hogwarts.
Curious to know how exactly magic would be abused, Redditor Animeking1108 asked:
“How would teenagers realistically misuse magic at Hogwarts?”
Watch What You Drink
"Love Potions"
"Those things are literal roofies if you're so inclined to use them that way. If the books were in any way realistic Viktor Krum would have had his pumpkin juice roofied on an hourly basis."
– Callipygian_Linguist
"The flip side would also be super common: "out of love" potions. Especially if love potions were banned or punished severely. If you can't make your crush love you, the next best thing is making them forget about their crush."
– chrismamo1
"I'm shocked I scrolled as far as I did to find this response; it was my first thought. Teenagers think they've found the love of their life and will just die if their love is unrequited."
"Source: Was a teenager once upon a time..."
– amatchmadeinregex
"Eye Of Rabbit, Harp String Hum..."
"Turning water into rum."
– CorgisDie
"I’ll keep my eyebrows, thanks."
– shifty_coder
The Obvious Answer
"Every year there's a different boy who ends up in the infirmary after using engorgio on his d*ck and fainting from the rush of blood."
– AdmiralAkbar1
"More like every week..."
– Schemen123
"The female equivalent is using that spell on their breasts…only for their sheer weight to break their spine."
– Shipping_Architect
Bibbity, Bobbity, Be Careful!
"After reading these, I think there would be a big market on putting a parental lock on certain spells on wands bought for kids."
– peachandpeony
"The wand system they have is basically giving every preteen a very complicated gun, and hope they don't learn how to pull most of its triggers."
– DKoala
Magical Bullying
"You saw that when James Potter suspended Snapes in the air for no reason. Bullying would be 100 times worse."
– sonicz3r0
"God it would be so much worse. In primary school the strong bully the weak overwhelmingly. But then things gets flipped on their head in Hogwarts. Physical strength is no longer an advantage, all that matters is magical ability. So many of these weak or small kids who have been bullied for their whole lives get a taste of actual power and want revenge. So they repeat the cycle, particularly against those they think would have bullied them without magic. And they are merciless channeling years of pent-up aggression against anyone who doesn’t pose a real magical threat."
– Alc2005
Spells Going Awry
"avada kedavra rampages would be more common."
– Bobtheguardian22
"Imagine the number of accidental deaths because you Wingardium Levio-SAH your classmates."
– FM1091
What They Require
"The room of requirements would probably be a sex room."
"Or a place to grow magically enchanted weed plants"
– aniacret
"Who said it isn't?"
– Nexusoffate17
"“It’s also known as the come and go room”"
– King_of_nerds77
Accio Anything I Want
"Using spells to steal things"
– WomenAreNotReal
"As far a I can remember, we don't know the limitations of Accio. Does the thing you summon have to be yours? Harry summoned the trophy in Goblet of Fire in the cemetery. What about distance? Harry summons his broom from the castle while being in the quidditch stadium."
– TCGHexenwahn
The International Statute of Secrecy
"Muggle Born students would get expelled because they posted videos of themselves performing magic on social media."
– Animeking1108
The All-Knowing
"wifi connection to their brain."
– NumbFuzz
That Would Be Useful
"I personally need a steady supply of something to make my hangover disappear"
– Crusader170
Since I’m an adult, I would never abuse magic that way. Hogwarts letter, where art thou?
People Explain Which Things They'd Like To Add To The Harry Potter Lore
One of the best things about art — any art — is that it sparks our own imaginations and lets us take something that exists and change or add to it. Songs can be set to new music, paintings can have new backdrops, and sculptures can have new meanings.
One of the biggest forms of art that can be changed or added to is literature. Characters can be given new motivation, the conflicts can be rewritten, and the world can gain more backstory. This doesn't mean we don't love or appreciate the way a book was written; it just means we love it enough to explore a different path.
The Harry Potter series is a great example of this. Many fans of the series have created their own stories, theories, and art depicting their own versions of the characters, the plot, and the history.
These fans have also added some amazing and hilarious things to the Harry Potter world and lore that are just waiting to be discovered.
Ready to make the discovery, Redditor lordpond asked:
"You gain control of JK Rowling's twitter account for a day. What unnecessary piece of information do you add to Harry Potter lore?"
Now That's Dedication!
"Buckbeak is an animagus who is fully intelligent and capable of turning back into a human at any time, but doesnt because its his fetish."
– varkarrus
"I love this because he was so committed he let himself be executed in the original timeline."
– Pancakemuncher
Duplication
"‘The goblins at Gringotts don’t have children. They just randomly split one day during a mitosis-like process and then go about their days. Their suits are part of this process’ ~ my amazing SO"
– leafnood
"I mean goblins are really weird so I'm not surprised"
– pls_kangarooe
Delusional
"Hermione was actually a collective delusion shared by Harry and Ron"
– Deleted User
"And Krum went with it because he's hugely unstable."
– Deleted User
"Or, Hermione and Ron are Harry’s alters and Hogwarts is actually an asylum."
– fantasticmiss
Twin Theories
"Fred came back as a ghost"
– themilkiestofmen
"Fred and George Weasley switched places during the Battle of Hogwarts. When George died, Fred adopted George's life - complete with cutting off his ear - because he figured George wouldn't want him to spoil the joke."
– TheQueq
"Makes sense as to why George ended up marrying Angelina Johnson when it was Fred who dated her at Hogwarts."
– Wand_Cloak_Stone
Vampires And Werewolves And Hybrids, Oh My!
"“Twilight is absolutely in the same universe.”"
– z0mb0rg
"How does that explain Cedric Diggory?"
– KhunDavid
"Clearly after Cedric dies he becomes a vampire."
– jmja
No Materials Left
"The composition of the wand means nothing. A wizard could use a plastic drinking straw and it would work just fine, as long as they expect it to work."
– ConsciousScolopendra
"What happens when plastic straws are banned?"
– KhunDavid
Those Collections
"Snape was a stamp collector, this is the real reason James Potter bullied him."
– Quacks_dashing
"It was really him and not the Weasleys who wrote and mailed the letter inviting him to the Quiddich World Cup. All those stamps on the envelope were his way getting back at James."
– KhunDavid
"I dunno I pegged him more as a model train kind of guy."
–Deleted User
"Dumbledore Asked Calmly"
"Harry put his name in the Goblet of Fire"
– thechelle218
"And the portion of Voldemort's soul in him allowed him to do so because it was old enough."
– CzarEggbert
"How do you know? Did you ask him calmly?"
– directtodvd
Changed Identity
"Ron grew up to become Ed Sheeran"
– OobleCaboodle
"The Lego House music video is actually Harry Potter canon."
– HMCetc
When A World Comes Crashing Down
"The whole Harry Potter Universe is just a book"
– Y-E-S--P-A-P-A
Heartbreaking
"At he end of the last book, he wakes up under the stairs"
– Z3roskill
Wizards In The Attic
"The fidelius charm and the undetectable expansion charm can be used in conjunction to allow whole wizarding communities to be living in your home at this very moment."
– PerspicaciousMarple
Time To Move
"Harry potter's first word was expecto patronum"
"He destroyed the house"
– DoublePieGaming
Too Late For This One
"That Dumbledore is gay.... wait"
– LinkTheZombie
Everyone Wants Magic
"Muggles are pretending not to know about wizards the governments trying to spy on them to figure out how to replicate their powers:"
– Banthonyv
But Occulus Reparo!
"Harry didn’t have seeing problems"
– popityscoop
This Needs To Be True!
"Sirius Black came back to life a month later after he died by just walking back through the door, and has watched over Harry and his family ever since+after coming back he was immortal."
– Deleted User
Those Phones Are So Confusing
"Muggle orphanages know about magic and when an orphan shows magical prowess they phone the ministry of magic for pickup and leave the baby outside."
"The ministry hasn't figured out how voicemail works and never come to pick up the children."
– casualblair
I'd Believe It
"Rita Skeeter wrote the Cursed Child"
– issiautng
Not A Real Ginger
"Ron is adopted and dyes his hair."
"edit: Thanks for the gold, kind stranger."
– Deleted User
"Molly sneaks into his room at night to maintain the spell that keeps him ginger"
– niko4ever
Family Is Forever
"Dudley Dursley has a muggle born daughter, she gets her Hogwarts letter and Dudley reconnects with Harry so he can learn about magic and be the opposite of his parents."
– veloca_rapper
Aww, that last one is so heartwarming. I hope that can come to fruition one day!
What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments.
Parents generally mean well, but sometimes the stuff they lead their kids to believe are more than a bit farfetched.
Whether it's passing on old wives tales they heard from their parents, or convenient lies to get kids to behave a certain way, you shouldn't believe everything your parents told you.
Reddit user i_cant_see_my_ears asked:
"What is something your parents engrained in you as a child that you now realize is ridiculous?"
Not An Allergy
"That I was allergic to sand (5 years old)."
"She just didn't want to clean the sand off of me and my clothes."
-Aperture_Kubi
"This is sad to me. There is so much fun to be had by kids in the sand."
-Electrical-Pie-8192
No Wizardry For You
"Less of a direct rule, but as a kid I wasn't allowed to watch or read Harry Potter because she thought stuff like that was bad... and then when I was 18 I saw her and my nephews watching Harry Potter in her house. She actually apologized to me for not letting me watch it as a kid because she thought it was a lot worse than it was.'
-ItsNinjaBoy
"My mom was similar. She didn't let my brother and I read Harry Potter as kids because she bought into the Satanic Panic surrounding the series. When we were older, she decided to give it another try from the viewpoint of someone who wasn't constantly panicking about everything in an attempt to shield her young children."
"She loves Harry Potter now.'
-BrittB14
"My Mom wouldn't let me watch 'The Addams Family' in school. I hate to sit in the hall. She's a wonderful mother, just got caught up in the 90's "satanic" hysteria..."
-gonzoisgood
Correlation Does Note Equal Causation
"That cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis. Not true at all. I found this out on Reddit last week after 30+ years of thinking it was true."
-1980pzx
"It's a good example of third cause fallacy."
"Cracking knuckles is indeed correlated with arthritis, but it doesn't mean it causes it, what it ends up being is that manual labor that is hard on joints and leads to arthritis also leads to an urge to crack knuckles."
"Basically, people see that B and C are correlated and assume that B causes C, when really what's going on is there's some other thing, A, where A causes B and C"
-bisforbenis
You Really Don't Have To Eat The Crusts
"Bread crust has all the nutrients. 😂"
-kre8ive1
"Well sure, it's like with all fruits and vegetables, the skin is the healthiest part! It's because when the bread is growing on the bread vines out in the bread fields, the crust absorbs all those good nutrients from the sun and the soil. It's just science!"
-Holybartender83
"My mom told me crusts were what helped me grow and I wanted to be tall so I immediately started eating my crusts and my sisters crusts (she was too little to be reasoned with)."
"I'm tall now, and my sister was always shorter than me, so I'm not gonna say my mom was wrong 😆"
-angry_amethyst
Talking About Sex Is Important
"'Sex' was a taboo word in our parents' house."
"We could not ask questions or comment on sex in any way or at any time, no matter what. It was as if sex didn't exist - a subject alien to daily living."
-Back2Bach
"I was afraid to tell my mom I was pregnant, and I had been married for two years."
-Lucinnda
"I'm glad I'm not the only one like this. I've been dating my SO for like... four years now. We live together. We're talking about marriage and possibly having kids. And it gives me so much anxiety just THINKING of having to tell my parents I'm pregnant. I don't think i could handle the shame, even if I was MARRIED. What the f**k does that say about our upbringing lol"
-Langoustina
No, It Doesn't
"Hair grows back faster/thicker after you shave it for the first time."
-debq
"Yep my mom told me that when I was young and believed it back then."
-Tracylyn8787
"My mom legitimately believed it. Presumably she was told the same. When I hit puberty and she gave me a razor etc., she specifically told me not to start shaving my upper leg because my hair there was light/fine enough to not need it. Then one day my contrarian self was like 'oops I forgot' and she was like 'welp I guess you have to shave above the knee for the rest of your life, have fun with that.'"
-debq
Just Suck It Up
"If you hate your job you just have to suck it up and make the best of it. Don't complain because you'll be pegged as a troublemaker, and if you quit you'll be seen as flaky and nobody else will hire you."
"This nugget has caused more damage to my physical and emotional well being than anything else. You really don't want to hear their views on staying in an unhappy, dysfunctional marriage (they're similar)."
-Johhnymaddog316
"I heard this from my Boomer parents, and in my career field, you pretty much have to change employers every few years to get a decent raise. The thing that blows my mind is I've explained this to my mother, and she still clutches her pearls when I tell her I'm looking for work elsewhere. "'What about your BENEFITS?!'"
"'This new employer says they'll match them AND pay me more.'"
-Bobcatluv
This One Is So Widespread
"You have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you go back in the pool, otherwise you'll get cramps and drown."
-primitivedreamer
"We were at someone's house with a pool. as a kid and they would set an alarm. One of those spinning ones that dings. All the kids would gather round and watch it. Tick tick tick. Not a minute too soon or death!!!"
-MorePieForEveryone
It's Okay To Ask Him
"That as a girl, I should never be the one to reach out to the guy first, he must be the one to make the effort first. (Ex: if I want to hangout with a boy I like or even simply text him, I need to wait for him to text me or reach out to me first) it really messed up how I talk to guys I'm attracted too, because I'm 23 years old so I can do what I want when it comes to guys but I sometimes still have this mindset."
"The crazy thing is now my parents wonder why we don't even reach out to any guys we are interested in lol"
-hitagiss
"I told a guy 'You're really cute, do you want to come on a date with me?' We're still married."
-Alohomora95
"I was already 'seeing' this boy (we were teens, hadn't even kissed yet) and I rang him one afternoon for a chat. Mum found out and said with a gasp 'you can't be chasing boys!'"
"Maybe in her generation where they went to Friday night dances and were courted by multiple men until they picked the most gentlemanly and career-minded suitor to make babies with. That doesn't happen any more Mum! We aren't lined up along the wall in our best dresses like a row of prizes."
-Lucifang
That's Not How It Works
"You catch colds simply by being exposed to cold. For some reason I just never questioned the idea that temperature itself caused viruses, but it's such a ridiculous notion once you think about it!"
-SendMeNudesThough
Sometimes parents just repeat the things their parents told them without questioning, but that can lead to everyone being misinformed. A healthy dose of skepticism can do a lot of good.
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People Describe The Silliest Thing They've Ever Seen A Religious Person Call 'Demonic'
Religion is a funny thing. I get having faith, and Lord knows I need all the help and prayer y'all want to muster for me, but some people really just go overboard with what they believe God is going to be peeved at.
There are just some things people take issue with that make them sound like they should be medicated in order to be amongst the sane people.
I promise you cartoons are not evil. Let's discuss...
Redditoru/Yaoi_MakesMewants to discuss religion and some of its guffaws, by asking:
What is the stupidest thing you've ever seen a religious person call "satanic/demonic"?
I am a lifelong Madonna fan. So I have been hearing about her Godlessness for decades. I mean you roll around on one VMAS floor with a crucifix and people get all hot and bothered. Geesh.
In Lubbock
Buddy Holly Crickets GIF by The Ed Sullivan ShowGiphy"Buddy Holly was said to make "the devil's music" by his own home church in Lubbock that he regularly tithed to still, even after making it big."
Wash Away
"An elderly woman I know was doing her laundry in her apartment building's shared laundry room when two other women who also lived there called her "demonic" and said she "had to have Satan in her" because she was doing her laundry on a Sunday."
Isn't there literally a parable in the Bible where Jesus yells at ppl for taking the whole "can't do anything on Sunday because it's the sabbath!" too literally and points out how archaic, and dumb ppl are for blowing it out of proportion. It's like these ppl don't even read the Bible."
Prince of Lies...
"Well when Pokemon first came out when I was a kid they were hating on it because evolution. Then it was Harry Potter because magic. Both equally idiotic."
"The funny thing is, Christians who studied theology would agree with you. Most churches hold (and in cases such as the Roman Catholic Church, have always held) that miracles can only come from God. Satan is the Prince of Lies explicitly because he holds no power; he can promise you the world but can never deliver. So those claiming that Harry Potter features "real spells" are in fact heretics for claiming that Satan can perform miracles and that God is not all-powerful."
- zoor90
Dragons... oh my!
"Adorable dragons that my Christian brother in law painted and sold at convention, called it devil worship and were concerned for his well being. My sister just pointed them three vendors down and said "by the way, there's an actual witch you can go talk to, please leave."
"Yet some of the best dragons and gargoyles are carved on cathedrals. St. John the Devine in New York City is one of the best."
It's a Bad World
Mickey Mouse Disney GIFGiphy"I knew a family who wouldn't let their kids watch Disney movies because they had magic in them, talking animals (witchcraft), etc."
Well, Disney I can see. They have some issues we could break into and chat with our therapists about for centuries. And I'll do my laundry whenever I wish.
Bloodletting
tom cruise crying GIFGiphy"Donating plasma, use to donate plasma in college for extra money and some of my friends did it as well but then two of them stopped because their mom said it was being used for satanic rituals."
- JP1426
Damn Frodo
"Lord of the Rings."
"My mom knew someone who claimed they were a "satanism expert" who "worked with the police" who saw me writing myself messages using the elf script in the back, and insisted they were runes and it was occult. For some reason she wanted to keep my message I wrote to myself."
Glorifying Evil
"My mom insisted Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a satanic show that would let demons in the house because it "glorified them" so I wasn't allowed to watch it. This wouldn't have been run-of-the-mill religious nonsense if The Witches of Eastwick wasn't one of her favorite movies. For those of you who haven't seen it, the plot of this movie is basically Jack Nicholson as the devil seducing some witches. We owned it on VHS and she's watched it every few months."
She Bad
"Dora the explorer."
"LOL this is like the most innocent thing of all and they STILL found a way to call it "witchcraft". I watched this show all the time as a kid, I wonder how obnoxiously afraid of everything these parents are that Dora getting magical princess powers and talking to animals is offensive to them XD."
I Agree
Drag Queen Love GIF by TeletubbiesGiphy"Teletubbies. Harry Potter. Like literally any scary movie. Monster Energy drinks. Starbucks. I have heard a lot!"
You're "Right"
"Writing with your left hand. I naturally started writing with my left hand as a young child and my mom made me fix it. Whenever she saw me writing, she would put the pencil in my right hand until I could no longer use the left one. It wasn't until I was older that I realized she was doing it because she thought left-handedness was associated with the devil. Now I have sh*tty handwriting."
Teletubbies are minions of the Devil. End of story. The rest... some of you really need to get a grip. I promise you God probably enjoys a good game of D & D now and again.
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People Break Down The Biggest Changes You'd See In 'Harry Potter' If It Were Set In The U.S.
Can you see Harry Potter at a football game in the Midwest? Chowing on a corn dog, throwing back some good ole Pepsi-Cola? Or can you picture the Harry universe living and loving in the great U. S of A? What would casting look like against the backdrop of the great harvest plains? I have so many thoughts and ideas. The first thought, the change would never work. Keep the story alive on British soil.
But, for fun, let's chat about the idea.
Redditoru/Cuishwanted all the Potter heads out there to share what American tweeks would occur in the Potterverse within America, by asking:
If Harry Potter was set in the United States, how would the story change?
I just can't see anyone else saying those words other than the people who did. And it's not that America can't do great fantasy, look at Buffy. Which also benefitted from the Brits. Coincidence?
In NJ
"Harry would probably live in New Jersey. Ron would probably live in Kentucky or Tennessee, and Hermione would probably be from California. They would go to ileverany (I spelled it wrong it's the North American wizard in school), which is in Massachusetts. There would be a train but only for people in Boston-New York-Philly-DC corridor. Everyone else would use flying cars. Outside of that it is a typical American boarding school."
- Yevin523
Travel
"Airport terminal 9 and 3 quarters."
"The kids run through a magic wall and still have to go through wizard TSA."
"Ron Weasley has to use the greyhound because he's poor but everyone else just flies."
Instead of...
"Eagles instead of Owls. Sasquatch instead of Centaurs."
"We have owls though? Eagles would be more of a flex but like, owls would still work better as they fly night and day. OK. Eagles would be an option. The useless 1 miles per gallon of gas muscle car of the owl world. Americans are super obnoxious. We suck. I get it. Sorry. Lmao."
"Too conventional. Leave it to the Wizarding World to adopt the mythical Ben Franklin's turkey idea instead. Idk how the heck that'd work as a delivery service, mind you, but still."
Relics
Happy Harry Potter GIFGiphy"The school would be a defunct military base because we don't have any incredibly old buildings, and the uniforms would be military style instead of robes. 'Murica."
Well those sound like some solid choices. Who doesn't love taco Tuesday? And why are sports always the first go to change?
Happy 5th!
Happy Birthday Dancing GIFGiphy"Taco Tuesdays at the Great Hall."
"And a freaking epic (but pointless) Cinco De Mayo party. For non Americans, it's mostly an excuse for Americans to drink on a Mexican holiday. It gets cringey. But hey, on other hand, tacos and margaritas."
Casting
"Nathan Fillion would've been cast as Guilderoy Lockhart."
"Samuel L Jackson as Mad Eye Mooney... "CONSTANT VIGILANCE, MOTHERF***ER! DO YOU KNOW IT?"
Title Cards
"They would change 'philosopher's stone' to 'sorcerer's stone'."
"The editors wanted Rowling to change the name to "Sorcerers Stone" so that the readers would know the book is about magic, and not some philosopher with a theory about a stone and sends a random guy on a mission to find it. Most people that are not American underestimates an American's brain capacity. I'm American. We are not as stupid as you think."
- Snakem69
The Drop Off
"No train ride to Hogwarts. Instead, parents will be dropping them off by car. A huge parking lot just outside Hogwarts, and instead of Diagon Alley, a large Wal-Mart exists surrounded by nothing more than another parking lot."
- cgyguy81
"It's hidden by being inside a Walmart parking lot. But when you reach the edge, almost to the building, muggles get all turned around and suddenly notice the Walmart was at the other side of the parking lot. This can repeat until the muggles either get inside a real Walmart, or go away."
- jak3rich
Commercial Gain
Flying Harry Potter GIFGiphy"This quidditch match is brought to you today on ESPN by Swiffer, the official broom of the Quidditch Cup."
"Quidditch in the old South West Conference was crazy… I remember when Texas A&M offered Eric Dickerson that gold Swiffer and he took it and rode it up to Dallas to sign his letter of intent with SMU."
- BigDrisk
Nothing here really seems necessary. It was fun to dabble in the thoughts though. Keep perfect as is.
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