Reboots are controversial at the best of times, but when it comes to Harry Potter – a beloved mega-franchise that only wrapped up 15 years ago – some people consider the topic downright blasphemous.Not that that’s stopped Warner Bros. A TV reboot of the series is currently underway for HBO (having originally been announced for Max), with the plan to adapt one book per season and premiere the first season (officially titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) in December.Credit: Warner Bros.Obviously, considering the fact that they’re all now well into their thirties, none of the original young cast are expected to return.While we wouldn’t rule out a few cameos, the odds of the Golden Trio (AKA Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint) reprising their roles are probably very slim, considering the fact that Harry Potter creator – and executive producer – JK Rowling has openly criticized them for disagreeing with her controversial views on gender identity and the transgender community.A rant shared by Rowling on X, formerly known as Twitter, and directed towards Watson (with a quick slight on Radcliffe) doesn’t help matters. However, with Grint set to reprise the role of Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, we wouldn’t necessarily put him in the same category as his former castmates.Feelings on the reboot are pretty mixed within the Harry Potter fandom. The original eight films are beloved for a reason, and it’s hard to picture anyone other than Radcliffe stepping out with the iconic scar and glasses.Credit: Warner Bros.At the same time, we’re very conscious that the OG films left some fans wanting in the accuracy department. One major drawback of filming and releasing the movies while the books were still coming out was that certain characters (cough, Ginny Weasley and all of the Marauders) didn’t get the attention they deserved, and key details that later became crucial were often left out.This forced the writers to scramble for explanations or, in some cases, skip them entirely and push forward without addressing certain plot points.For that reason, we’re not entirely against the reboot – just as long as it manages to fill in these seven Harry Potter plot holes from the films.Why Won’t Voldemort Use His Wand?In the books, a strange phenomenon occurs in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. During the duel in the graveyard, Harry and Voldemort’s wands connect due to the fact that they share the same cores (phoenix feathers from none other than Fawkes, Dumbledore’s pet phoenix). Why does Dumbledore have a side hustle of handing over his bird’s feathers to wandmakers? That’s a whole other baffling discussion we’ll save for another day.Credit: Warner Bros.For that reason, they experience something called Priori Incantatem, a phenomenon reflecting the wand’s recently cast spells. In the case of the Dark Lord, these happen to be killing curses, which is why his most recent victims, such as Cedric Diggory, emerge from the ether to help Harry.This happens in the films, too, but we never get a proper explanation about how Priori Incantatem impacts their wands. That also makes Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) subsequent refusal to fight Harry with his own wand – instead borrowing Lucius Malfoy’s (Jason Isaacs) wand to finally try to do so in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) – pretty confusing.In the books, it’s clear why Voldemort won’t use his own wand. But in the films, it comes off as if he simply can’t be bothered to face off against the teenager who keeps unraveling his elaborate schemes to take over the wizarding world. Whoever plays Voldemort in the reboot (rumored names have included everyone from Marvel’s Paul Bettany to Tilda Swinton), we hope he’s given a better explanation.Where Did Harry’s Mirror Come From?There are scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) where Harry stares into a fragment of a mirror. If you’re a film fan, it seems like Harry’s just a strange, shattered glass hoarder. However, this makes perfect sense to book fans.Credit: Warner Bros.In Rowling’s original Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather, gives Harry a mysterious Christmas gift to use any time he needs to talk to him. He never opens it, concerned about what Sirius would do if he tried to contact him from Hogwarts.After his godfather is killed, however, he opens it to reveal a magic two-way mirror, which he then smashes in frustration after discovering it won’t help him talk to Sirius from beyond the grave.This is the shard that Harry uses, having kept it for sentimental reasons. In the book, it’s later revealed that Aberforth Dumbledore (Ciarán Hinds) procured Sirius’s (the Academy Award-winning Gary Oldman) mirror, which is how he communicates with Harry and sends Dobby to save him from Malfoy Manor.In the film, however, Dobby just randomly appears. Considering the lack of explanations all around, it’s odd that the filmmakers even bothered to add that mirror shard at all.Where Did Dobby Go?Speaking of everyone’s favorite house-elf – where has he been for all this time?The films only give Dobby two outings – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, the latter of which sees him killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) while helping Harry and friends escape the clutches of Death Eaters.Credit: Warner Bros.In the books, however, Dobby reappears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. During each appearance, he helps Harry out of a few sticky situations.For example, in the fourth Harry Potter book, it’s revealed that he’s now working in the Hogwarts kitchens, and he gives Harry the Gillyweed to survive the Second Task (in the films, it’s Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) who does this).The next two books see him give Harry the idea of running Dumbledore’s Army from the Room of Requirement (again, it’s Neville who just happens to stumble across the room in the film) and be tasked with tailing Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) when Harry rightly suspects him of having become a Death Eater.Dobby (who will be played by Lenny Rush in the series) and Harry form more of a friendship in the books, making his noble sacrifice in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows even more affecting.In the films, however, it just feels a bit more random that he pops up out of nowhere. Instead of bumping into Kreacher in Diagon Alley, the books have Dobby meet Kreacher at Hogwarts when Harry sends him to the school kitchens after inheriting him post-Sirius’ death. (Yes, Harry really inherits a slave in the books. Watch this space to see how HBO handles that in several years’ time.)Does Harry Ever Get His Wand Back?!In both the book and the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry’s wand is accidentally broken by Hermione while the pair are fleeing Godric’s Hollow when Voldemort’s snake, Nagini, attacks. Harry is left using substitute wands for the rest of the last installment’s events, eventually wresting one from the grip of Draco Malfoy.Credit: Warner Bros.The good news is that after becoming the Master of the Elder Wand – the most powerful wand in the world – he finally has the only wand capable of fixing his original. He does so at the end of the last book before announcing that he’ll leave the Elder Wand to rest in Dumbledore’s tomb.In the film, things don’t exactly go this way. Harry does become Master of the Elder Wand, but he doesn’t fix his wand. He also doesn’t return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore’s tomb. Instead, he snaps it and throws it off a bridge. (A bridge that magically appears outside Hogwarts in the last film for the sake of cinematography, but that’s a whole other plot hole.)Credit: Warner Bros.Fans were left screaming at the screen, wondering why on earth Harry wouldn’t fix the wand he loves so much. Harry genuinely mourns his wand when it breaks in the books, so for him to just be like, “Oh well, guess that’s over” in the film makes zero sense.How Do Death Eaters Keep Finding Harry, Ron, and Hermione?Uttering Lord Voldemort’s name is taboo at the best of times in both the books and films, with wizards preferring to say “He Who Must Not Be Named” or “You Know Who” instead. In “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” an actual magical taboo is placed on the name, which means Death Eaters are alerted every time someone dares to utter it out loud.Credit: Warner Bros.This is how Death Eaters manage to find Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger in London after escaping the wedding, and how Snatchers kidnap them to Malfoy Manor when Harry accidentally blurts it out loud in the woods. This is all explained in the books, but in the films, it looks like the Death Eaters just have a lucky habit of stumbling across the trio in the oddest places.Why Is Harry’s Stag Patronus Important?A Patronus tends to reveal something about a person’s self in the Harry Potter universe. Harry’s Patronus is a stag, just like his father’s Patronus – and his identity as an Animagus. It’s revealed in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that the Marauders (the name given to James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew) learned how to transform into animals to keep Lupin company during his werewolf transformations.Credit: Warner Bros.The films never bother explaining this. While we see Harry’s Patronus as a stag, we never find out why that’s relevant. It eradicates one of the strongest emotional ties between Harry and his parents from the story and also makes the whole concept of the Marauders and their nicknames (Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs) pretty confusing.The Lies About Harry’s Mother’s EyesFew remarks are uttered quite as often in the Harry Potter series as “You have your mother’s eyes.” In the books, it’s always said that Harry’s startlingly green eyes are just like those of Lily Potter, his mother. That’s one of the key reasons why Snape can’t bear to look at him – and why he continues to help him, out of a lingering love for Lily.Credit: Warner Bros.Daniel Radcliffe has blue eyes, which would’ve still worked if they’d cast an actress with blue eyes as his mother. But when we flashback to a young Lily in Snape’s memories, however, we’re immediately treated to a close-up of her lovely, yes, but unmistakably brown eyes.She’s only in brief scenes, so it’s confusing why the filmmakers never chose to use either on-set contacts or post-production to strengthen this link between the characters – especially when the flashback scenes show Snape quite literally saying, “You have your mother’s eyes,” to Harry just minutes earlier.Dominic McLaughlin is our new Harry Potter, and, just like Radcliffe, his eyes are blue. Whether or not HBO will tweak this through contacts or post-production magic remains to be seen – as does the identity of the actress portraying his mother. This is one mystery that may not be solved until we see Lily Potter on the screen.What are your most frustrating Harry Potter film plot holes?The post 7 Plot Holes That Desperately Need Fixing in the ‘Harry Potter’ Reboot appeared first on Inside the Magic.