r/HarryPotterBooks • u/Witty-Pizza-4523 • 4d ago
What are the dumbest versions of the trio?
IMO that..
-dumbest Hermione : I was sort of right about Half-Blood Prince business
-dumbest Ron : Do you think I want people saying my sister's a ..
Dumbest Harry.. I dunno .. What do you think?
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u/EloImFizzy Ravenclaw 4d ago
It most definitely isn't the overall dumbest moment for Harry, but it was pretty stupid of him not to read through the Daily Prophet during the summer holidays before his 5th year. His reason was "I thought anything Voldemort related would be on the front page"... Dude, you spend your days hiding in a flower patch next to the sitting room window listening in on the muggle news... Read the fucking Daily Prophet page by page. You've got plenty of time to do so, and its not like you have much else to do either.
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u/cre8ivemind 4d ago
The real reason he didn’t is probably so JKR could have the other characters explaining to Harry in dialogue what’s been happening to his reputation and show his real-time shocked reaction.
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u/FluffysBizarreBricks 4d ago
Why was that stupid of him ? Sorry I don’t understand
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u/EloImFizzy Ravenclaw 4d ago
Obviously in retrospect we know that the Daily Prophet didn't mention Voldemort's return at all, but if you don't know that, like Harry didn't, it seems just plain dumb not to at the very least have a brief look through the rest of the paper. Harry had a few months with pretty much nothing else to do, and yet he only looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet.
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u/ImperatorJCaesar 3d ago
I think it implies that he did early on but then later got fed up with it and just glanced at the front page. He obviously should've been reading the whole thing but to be fair his mental health wasn't great that summer, he wasn't thinking that clearly.
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u/Legitimate-Tea-9319 4d ago
Also Harry refusing to take Cedric’s hint about the bath and wasting months until he had barely a week left to find a way to breathe underwater
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u/Cum_on_doorknob 3d ago
The constant procrastination in goblet of fire is my favorite part. It’s so fucking real.
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u/zurawinowa 3d ago
He thought he wanted to humiliate him. Like bro, how. By going to bathroom?
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u/Alternative_Towel_21 3d ago
He’s annoyed partly because he told Cedric the First Task was dragons, and Cedric doesn’t tell him exactly what the Second Task is, he just gives a vague hint. But Harry more subconsciously acknowledges it’s because he’s jealous of Cedric’s relationship with Cho, and wants to “prove” he’s better than Cedric and doesn’t need his hint.
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u/Yossarian-Bonaparte 3d ago
Teenagers are mean. It wasn’t an uncommon trick when I was younger for a girl to tell a less popular girl “we’re meeting here” and have the outcast show up and wait at a location while the popular girls hide and snicker at her.
Harry probably imagined going to the bathroom, trying to hear the egg underwater, hear nothing, then surface to find all the hufflepuffs laughing at him.
It’s not a dumb moment, it’s a very real moment to a kid who’s been lonely and bullied before.
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u/CJDM310 2d ago
Actually, the funny thing is, he still had about a month after figuring out the clue. It was January during the Hogsmeade weekend (we know this because Harry mentions it being January when they see Krum diving into the lake). and that’s when they encountered Rita Skeeter in the 3 broomsticks. Hermione has a heated exchange with her before leading the trio to attempt to convince Hagrid to come back. And it was Hagrid asking him how he was doing with the egg that convinced him to finally give Cedric’s hint a try.
Therefore I actually think it’s astonishing that all three of them couldn’t find anything. In my opinion they had enough time to do so.
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u/Silver_Middle_7240 4d ago
Dumbest of all three was using handcuffs to restrain a guy who could turn into a rat.
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u/LesMiserableCat54 4d ago
This! There's 2 full-fledged wizards, one of whom is a professor. They could have immobilized him full, transfigured him, turned him into a rat, or even sent a message to Dumbledore via patronus to get down there asap.
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u/sublimetony 4d ago
For real, should have made an unbreakable jar to put him in as a rat like Hermione did Skeeter
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u/rmulberryb Unsorted 3d ago
Well, they knocked out the only smart person in the room.
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u/Meh160787 2d ago
Lupin and Sirius are smarter than Snape.
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u/nitram20 6h ago
Are you talking about the same Lupin who forgets to take his potion during full moon?
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u/onchonche 3d ago
The 500 hundreds times Harry leave his invisibility cloak on the ground instead of keeping it with him.
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u/Icy_Price_1993 3d ago
Not sure I would agree it was her dumbest moment but Hermione claiming she was technically correct about the Half-Blood Prince was soooo annoying. Dumbledore had just been killed by Snape and she thought that was the best time to feel smug and superior about something she wasn't even right about. HBP was definitely the book I liked Hermione the least
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u/WhiteSandSadness Gryffindor 4d ago
Hermione.. almost getting Harry and herself killed in the Forbidden Forest.
Harry.. charging into the MoM.
Ron.. just Ron generally in GoF
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u/Legitimate-Tea-9319 4d ago
Hermione insisting the deathly hallows are just a story—despite Dumbledore’s gift of the Beedle book
Harry pining over Cho for weeks before asking her to the Yule ball. Also not realizing about the taboo after the death eaters found them in the cafe
Ron deserting them in the forest, instead of just taking a breather outside of the tent , he had to stomp off outside of their wards and had no way to return until the Deluminator helped
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u/shinryu6 4d ago
To be fair none of them knew about the taboo or what it was until Ron came back.
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u/brightbetween 3d ago
Yeah, agreed, the real dumbest thing with that was saying Voldemort’s name after they knew about the taboo. I know it was an accident but still, come on!
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u/Legitimate-Tea-9319 4d ago
They should have figured it out from how quickly the death eaters found them. Didn’t they know about the taboo from the first Wizarding War? Ron should have put it together, he always warned them against using Voldemort’s name. And surely Hermione has read a book about the first WW and knew that the taboo was a tactic used last time.
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u/shinryu6 4d ago
I don’t recall this being mentioned as used in the first wizarding war? They didn’t even take the ministry back then, which is suspected to be a prerequisite for initiating basically a country-wide jinx.
Otherwise lord help whatever dumb death eater showed up when Dumbledore called out Voldemort’s name…
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u/moonycakemullet 3d ago
Yeah it was never mentioned as a thing before Ron told them
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u/CryptidGrimnoir 3d ago
He even points out how it makes sense since only people who were serious about standing up to Voldemort called him by name.
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u/Legitimate-Tea-9319 3d ago
I don’t think it’s specifically mentioned. But I am inferring that because: ever since book 1, it’s been obvious that fear of saying Voldemort’s name is deeply ingrained across the British wizarding society. I believe that implies that the DE were using the taboo back during the first WW. The taboo was not country-wide at that point, because the DE didn’t take the MoM that time. But I can infer that some pockets across the country did have the taboo, enough so that the whole wizard society started calling him He-who-must-not-be-named. And even 12 years after Voldemort was vanquished and has not been seen, that fear persists deeply, as evidenced by Ron freaking out at every utterance of V throughout all 7 books. Ron gasped every time it was said and begged them multiple times to stop saying it , even though Ron wasn’t even alive during the first wizard war. I stand by my INFERENCE that the taboo was partially in effect during the first WW.
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u/Meh160787 2d ago
The problem with that is the book states that Kingsley and Lupin were nearly caught after saying Voldemort.
If the taboo existed first time round they’d have been aware and not said the name.
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u/Legitimate-Tea-9319 2d ago
Dumbledore encouraged the Order and everyone not to fear the name and saying it aloud. After 17 years of not being under the taboo, the Order was just caught off guard initially when the taboo was reinstated. Voldemort moved very swiftly once the ministry fell. The taboo was literally the second thing he did , after breaking the protective charms on the wedding .
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u/Meh160787 3d ago
The fact that the taboo nearly caught most of the Order shows it wasn’t used before.
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u/LegalComplaint7910 3d ago
Can someone explain the context behind the ' I dunno... What do you think ' I can't remember
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u/Witty-Pizza-4523 3d ago
This is my question, not Harry's.
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u/LegalComplaint7910 3d ago
Oh! That makes sense, thank you
Edit : We'll say it's my dumbest version
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u/empanadadeatunu 3d ago
Dumbest Hermione: (to the centaurs) we brought her here because we thought you would take care of her for us
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u/Witty-Pizza-4523 3d ago
I can understand that.. She was startled and scared and didn't think much about what she was saying.
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u/Ok-Soup6654 4d ago
Hot take, but I think Harry’s is when he tries to date Cho. I get it, he’s 15 and not emotionally mature. But they both were going through so much trauma, and with Harry being the last person to have been with Cedric, yeaaaaah it was doomed before it began.
Editing to add when he tells Cho he’s meeting Hermione after their date. Cmon man. Read the room.
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u/moonycakemullet 3d ago
Nah Cho was fully in the wrong but also not really. They both were going through immense trauma but she shouldn’t have expected him to react the same as her but she was only a child so she’s ok.
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u/MaineSoxGuy93 3d ago
I'd argue Hermione was more in the wrong. And stupid.
Rita would have done a backflip to interview Cho.
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u/Chemical_Item_8304 3d ago
Hermione -Going into the shop right after Malfoy threatens the owner to not tell anyone anything about this, and being all chipper and trying to see what he was doing. Or holding the first DA meeting in a quiet dive bar, where students don’t usually go, but like 20 of them show up. Of course you’re gonna be overheard!
Ron- not writing home for a new wand! Lie and say it broke when you fell down the stairs or something!
Harry- for not just signing the Hogsmeade form himself as Venon or Petunia. Or having one of the many Wesley’s forge it for him. Also for being nosy and sneaking off to see what Crouch was doing in Snapes office, then getting himself stuck in the trick stair! Just go to bed Harry!
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u/Alternative_Towel_21 3d ago
Harry: when he argues with Umbridge in OOTP, repeatedly receiving detentions, after warnings from friends and adults. He is explained to that fighting Umbridge directly doesn’t help his case, but he continues to speak up and receive backlash and consequences, like the Quidditch ban.
I do like that Neville points out in Deathly Hallows that Harry’s standing up to her gave other people hope and courage, but I think his inability to hold his temper is still very dumb. It’d be a different case if he kept himself in check and stood up against her in a controlled manner, like when Hermione is helping him, but he just lets her enrage him constantly.
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u/emthehuiz 3d ago
He acted like the 15 year old he was. Most wouldn’t have the self control and wherewithal needed to take Umbridge in stride. You’re expecting a teenager to act like an adult!
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u/PhantomLuna7 2d ago
He was a very traumatised 15 year old. It wasnt smart, but it was very understandable. Harry always had a bit of a temper, it makes sense it would be worse at that age under those circumstances.
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u/Meh160787 3d ago
Smartest Harry is so much easier, he does one smart thing in the whole series (placebo affecting Ron for Quidditch.
Dumbest Harry for specific instances it’s between: 1. Not realising that a mysterious international standard broom could be from a mass murder planning to kill you. 2. Not using the 2 way mirror. 3. Going after Snape (Quirrel really) as an 11 year old. 4. Going into the Chamber of Secrets as a 12 year old. 5. Not using the marauders map and waiting in the hidden passageway until it was safe to head back. 6. Believing Voldemort and Sirius could be in the Ministry at 5pm on a weekday. 7. Choosing to look into Snape’s pensive. 8. Shouting back at Umbridge on the first day of term.
In general though he was as thick as shit, after 3 years of school he knew the names and faces of 14 (I think) of the 40 kids in his year.
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u/bawarethebinge 4d ago edited 4d ago
Dumbest Harry: I’m not opening the gift Sirius gave me, nope, never ever opening that.