Harry Potter is Overrated

Yeah, I said it.  And most of you who read the headline are probably already so pissed off that you won't bother to read the reasons why before (over)reacting.  The Harry Potter series is riddled with so many holes that it looks like a swarm of moths tore through J.K. Rowling's manuscript and ate all the parts which were explanatory or rational.  The general explanation for why things are the way they are in the Harry Potter universe seems to be "because, that's why."  I'm not going to waste any more time with preface here, because this is already going to be way more words and time than I want to devote to the subject, so without further ado:

1) [Seinfeld Voice] What's the Deal with Muggles? [/Seinfeld Voice]  How is it that the wizarding world is still a secret from muggles?  There are, by the most conservative estimates, at least hundreds of thousands of magic users in the Harry Potter universe.  Some, like Hermione are even born to Muggle parents.  Put yourself in the shoes of either of her parents: when your daughter turns 11 an unsolicited owl delivers a letter to your house saying that she's a witch and she has been invited to attend a magical school for which you can find no information other than possibly some brochures or pamphlets delivered by other owls.  I assume there's also something in there about "by the way, we know you're new to the whole magic thing, so don't mention this to the authorities because they don't know about us."  How terrible of a parent do you have to be to not only refrain from contacting the authorities, but to actually send your kid off to that school?  How do you explain any of that to your friends or family?  "Where's Hermione?  She's at a special school you've never heard of.  No, your kid can't get in, stop asking questions about it."

On top of that, most wizards and witches all seem to have jobs relating to magic (which makes sense because you never see Hogwarts teaching math, literature, non-magical history, or anything else that would be practical in the Muggle world) so for all intents and purposes these people are non-existent in the Muggle work force.  What do they list as their employment when filing taxes?  Are all their records just erased from all databases when they turn 11 and start going to magic school?  What if someone drops out of Hogwarts, or even graduates and wants a regular, non-magical job?  How do they list their educational history when applying for said job?  How do they cope with the fact that their education basically ended at the age of 11 when they went to a school that teaches nothing but things relating to magic?

More importantly, no scientifically-minded Muggle has ever found magical paraphernalia?  If just one moving picture went public the entire wizarding world would be exposed, and there have to be millions if not billions of those things floating around.  They print entire newspapers with moving pictures, referencing the use of magic and places that can't be located on any Muggle map.  Is there just an entire division within the Ministry of Magic that specializes in wholesale memory erasing, Men In Black style, because I find it hard to believe that people like Neville Longbottom haven't ever let something like that slip.  Keeping the magical world a secret would have to be literally the world's largest conspiracy, and to do so 24/7/365 for thousands of years and indefinitely into the future would be such a monumental effort that the majority of magic users' jobs would have to be related to the cover up.

2) Magic Defies the Laws of Physics  Even the most basic feats of magic seem to be in opposition to all known laws of physics.  If you make the end of your wand light up you're creating an quantifiable exothermic reaction.  The amount of light produced could be measured, and the result would have to require an equal transference of energy from somewhere else.  Where does that energy come from?  Is the core of a wand a ridiculously powerful battery, or does magic drain energy from the user? Both seem unlikely since some magic seems to stay in effect long after the wand or caster have perished.  The stairs in Hogwarts have been moving for hundreds of years without someone continually willing them to do so, where is the energy that allows that to happen coming from?  If magic users can actually create energy rather than just transferring it, aren't they kind of the ultimate assholes for using it to fly around and throw spells at each other while billions of Muggles toil for everything they have?  The way the stairs in Hogwarts move is almost the definition of a perpetual motion machine (I say almost because I don't know what the decay rate of that movement is) if you could harness something like that for the energy it's apparently generating it would change the entire world.  It would certainly eliminate the need for coal-burning power plants.  Likewise, if magic users allowed Muggles to use their transportation methods we wouldn't have to release countless tons of carbon into the atmosphere and waste hours of commuting time with our current inefficient cars and planes.  They could use their magical healing potions (or whatever it is they have that heals) to significantly reduce the suffering of billions of people, but instead they seem to be more concerned with keeping all of this secret from Muggles rather than helping them in any way.  Presumably they don't teach ethics at Hogwarts.

3) Why Do Wizards Hate Technology?  Seriously, how is it that Ron Weasley's dad is the only person who sees the value of Muggle technology?  No one sees the irony in taking a train to Hogwarts, having a magical public transportation bus, but being generally dismissive of Arthur's invisible (by the way, how are invisibility cloaks such a rare thing if Arthur Weasley can turn a flying car invisible?) flying car?  Other than those few examples, the most technologically advanced thing in the wizarding world is apparently the modern flush toilet, invented in the 18th century.  I understand that in their world magic has seemingly infinite uses, thereby eliminating most need for any kind of technology, but if a magic user misplaces or breaks their wand, they're effectively useless since to them a wand is used for everything from lighting to defense against the dark arts.  This is especially true when you consider that (again) wizarding schools don't seem to teach anything other than things relating to magic.  It's not even just technology which they seem to scorn, but basic actions which could easily be completed without magic.  Voldemort kills Harry Potter's parents and is alone with a baby Harry and he goes right for the killing curse because to a magic user the idea of doing it any other way is inconceivable.  It's like the old saying "if all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail."

4) Hogwarts is a Terrible Place for Kids  I'm far from the first person to point this out, but why do parents keep sending their kids to Hogwarts?  Surely at least one of those kids came back from the first couple of years in Harry's class and told their parents how a few kids almost died at the hands of old secret magic stuff and the headmaster's response was to award them points for bravery.  Not only that, but from their very first day they're sorted into factions which are made to compete against each other and be generally distrustful of everyone not in your own faction.  At 11 years old the sorting hat basically decides which of your classmates will be your friends and which will be enemies for life (or at least the next 7 years).  Why would you continue with that tradition?  Sure, it fosters unity within your own group, but at the same time your group is now pitted against the other three quarters of the students in the school in just about every activity the school offers.  It's as if the school administrators saw how different gangs compete with one another on the streets and decided that was a good system for a school, even going so far as to assign specific colors for each faction.

And the staff of Hogwarts is at best uncaring (again, Dumbledore seems to reward reckless behavior and disregard for the rules, he actually gives Hermione a time traveling device so she can take extra classes instead of just saying "extra classes aren't worth messing with the fabric of reality") and at worst an ex-war criminal who seems to despise children.  Having Snape teach kids is like having an ex-SS officer teach high school chemistry.  Sure he's technically qualified, but only because he was the guy cooking the Zyklon B used in the concentration camps.  I don't care how much Dumbledore vouches for him, that guy should not be around children, he's lucky enough to even be walking around freely.  If that's not bad enough, every single one of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers is a trainwreck who doesn't last more than a year.  In chronological order the seven teachers we see are: death eater/Voldemort's host, incompetent, werewolf, disguised death eater, malicious power hungry conspiracy theorist, ex-death eater, and pair of death eaters.  Any one of these should be enough to question the school's vetting process, after the first three even the most trusting parent should admit that it's time to find a new school for their kids.

5)  Voldemort is the Stupidest Villain Ever  Not even counting the treating everything like a nail thing I mentioned earlier, how many times do you have to be thwarted by a kid before you decide to maybe stop going near that kid?  Or maybe just try a slightly different tactic than magical force.  I'd be willing to bet that young Harry Potter doesn't know a spell to prevent a shotgun from ripping through him.  Just hire someone to shoot him instead of putting yourself in the same room as him every time.  You could make it even easier by going after him when he's not at school surrounded by people who know how to use magic.  He lives with a family so stupid that they make Neville look, well not smart, but at least of average intelligence.  You wouldn't even need magic to get to him there, just wait until the family's asleep, tamper with their gas line, and wait for an spark to blow the whole house up.  They don't have gas?  Ok, wait until he's walking on the street and hit him with a truck.  If you're as determined to kill a kid as Voldemort seems to be, it really isn't hard (at this point I'd like to note that I do not endorse killing kids no matter how easy it is).

Where the Wind Meets the Mountain

Where the wind meets the mountain
Snow falls light,
Dew drops turn to frost.
There at the peak the moon takes its seat
Somehow both bright and dark.

The sea at its base reflects the face
Of the moon's ethereal glow.
Calmly repeating yet not understanding
Secrets the wind only knows.

The sky and the sea stretch on past the mountain
Chasing the sun's fleeting rays.
The moon follows them and as it grows dim
The mountain begins a new day.

Where the wind meets the mountain
Frost melts to dew,
Snowfall turns to rain.
The sun in the sky smiles as it climbs
And the sea and the sky play their game.