The Messed-Up Part Of Harry Potter That Fans Don't Bring Up Enough
The "Harry Potter" franchise has, for better or worse, endured the test of time. This is obviously all in spite of its creator, J.K. Rowling, embroiling herself in many real-world controversies since the original book and movie series both concluded. Sure, there have been some lingering signs of franchise fatigue. "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore," the latest film in Rowling's spin-off prequel film series, grossed a mere $400 million at the worldwide box office (per The Numbers), the lowest take yet for a Wizarding World film. But there's also plenty of evidence to suggest that the franchise as a whole still has plenty of life left in it. The upcoming video game "Hogwarts Legacy" recently topped Steam's best-selling list and it hasn't even been released yet (per Game Rant).
Regardless of its status in the pop culture zeitgeist nowadays, a franchise as popular as "Harry Potter" has, like many popular series before and after it, been the subject of various deep dives into its lore and story. After all, it's a massive world with seemingly limitless potential, especially since the brunt of the story was focused only on Harry Potter and his friends and their experiences rather than giving readers or viewers a larger look at the Wizarding World.
However, there's one particularly messed-up portion of the story that not nearly enough fans or critics bring up when talking about the "Harry Potter" series.
The Hogwarts staff is dangerously incompetent
Look, suspension of disbelief is an essential concept in enjoying almost any piece of fictional entertainment, especially something so rooted in unknowable magic systems like "Harry Potter." But there are times when even something as fantastical as this story just straight up strains credulity in the worst ways. There's perhaps no bigger example of this than the dangerous ineptitude of the Hogwarts staff, especially the school's legendary headmaster, Dumbledore. Nowhere is this more clear than in his treatment of the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at the school.
During Harry's time at the school, no teacher ever lasts more than a year in the DADA position. It is rumored early on in the series that the position is cursed, and Dumbledore himself confirms this in the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" novel. Essentially, Dumbledore continued to fill the position while actively knowing that it was cursed by none other than Voldemort himself. Not only that, he hires fraudulent or actively dangerous people for the job while seemingly taking no steps to perform any sort of routine background check. Remus Lupin is certainly a competent teacher, but his werewolf affliction does make him dangerous to students, and the school's solution for dealing with his transformation is woefully untenable.
As for the curse itself, wouldn't Dumbledore, who is considered one of the greatest wizards of all time, be able to come up with some sort of clever workaround or, better yet, a counter-curse? J.K. Rowling apparently decided on this storytelling avenue as a reference to the fictional Spinal Tap band and its cursed drummer position (per Radio Times). Still, realistically speaking, it just makes Dumbledore look dangerously incompetent and sort of just dumb.