The wizards in HP are a weird mixture of so reliant on magic that simple logic and basic low tech solutions to problems are mystifying, but also, they forget to use magic, like, all the time. They are always doing things like getting rained on when the impervious charm exists, forgetting that the accio charm exists when they need to grab something before someone else finds it, when they bind someone in shackles instead of magically stunning or binding them, when their clothes don’t fit, when they don’t just duplicate items that dont break Gamps laws, when they make Filch and Hagrid do so much manual labor that could be accomplished with swipe of a wand, etc.
Notably, they absolutely botch the “rescue” mission at the end of Order of the Pheonix and get Sirius killed in trying to save him becuase they fail to utilize the many magical means they have to communicate and travel.
First, they forget that Harry was given a magic mirror to contact Sirius at any time for moments just like this. But let’s chock that up to human error, fine.
But then they also forget that they have a contact in the castle that can also visit the Black house, the painting of Phineas Nigellus. Even if they aren’t sure they can get to the headmaster’s office (even though he definitely could as he does later in the book), they know that the painting’s inhabitants can travel between frames and could go to retieve him. But, ok, chock that up to human error number 2.
Instead they decide to break into Umbridge’s office to use her fireplace to speak to Sirius through the floo network. Cool. But then instead of just walking through and going look for him, Harry just sticks his head in and starts yelling which allows Kreacher to control the narrative and trick Harry into Voldemort’s plot. And of course he gets caught by Umbridge because his ass is still in her office (and Hermione gets caught too because she inexplicably rmeoved the invisibility cloak).
But then, even later when they get rid of Umbridge and her slytherin minions, and they are trying to figure out how to get to London, nobody realizes that Harry’s head was just fucking in London. The fireplace is completely unguarded now and they know you can floo in directly to the ministry. Alternatively, they could just get to Hogsmeade and hail the Knight Bus, or find a sympathetic adult who can do side along apparation to get them there immediately. Or go back to the castle and get Snape’s help getting there or to the Order.
Instead they ride the Thestrals which takes “several hours” to reach London by which time they should totally have expected Sirius to already be dead. They don’t bring the cloak to the ministry either even though they are under the impression that they will have to break in too. All of this is just dumb dumb dumb.
The wizards in HP are a weird mixture of so reliant on magic that simple logic and basic low tech solutions to problems are mystifying, but also, they forget to use magic, like, all the time. They are always doing things like getting rained on when the impervious charm exists, forgetting that the accio charm exists when they need to grab something before someone else finds it, when they bind someone in shackles instead of magically stunning or binding them, when their clothes don’t fit, when they don’t just duplicate items that dont break Gamps laws, when they make Filch and Hagrid do so much manual labor that could be accomplished with swipe of a wand, etc.
Notably, they absolutely botch the “rescue” mission at the end of Order of the Pheonix and get Sirius killed in trying to save him becuase they fail to utilize the many magical means they have to communicate and travel.
First, they forget that Harry was given a magic mirror to contact Sirius at any time for moments just like this. But let’s chock that up to human error, fine.
But then they also forget that they have a contact in the castle that can also visit the Black house, the painting of Phineas Nigellus. Even if they aren’t sure they can get to the headmaster’s office (even though he definitely could as he does later in the book), they know that the painting’s inhabitants can travel between frames and could go to retieve him. But, ok, chock that up to human error number 2.
Instead they decide to break into Umbridge’s office to use her fireplace to speak to Sirius through the floo network. Cool. But then instead of just walking through and going look for him, Harry just sticks his head in and starts yelling which allows Kreacher to control the narrative and trick Harry into Voldemort’s plot. And of course he gets caught by Umbridge because his ass is still in her office (and Hermione gets caught too because she inexplicably rmeoved the invisibility cloak).
But then, even later when they get rid of Umbridge and her slytherin minions, and they are trying to figure out how to get to London, nobody realizes that Harry’s head was just fucking in London. The fireplace is completely unguarded now and they know you can floo in directly to the ministry. Alternatively, they could just get to Hogsmeade and hail the Knight Bus, or find a sympathetic adult who can do side along apparation to get them there immediately. Or go back to the castle and get Snape’s help getting there or to the Order.
Instead they ride the Thestrals which takes “several hours” to reach London by which time they should totally have expected Sirius to already be dead. They don’t bring the cloak to the ministry either even though they are under the impression that they will have to break in too. All of this is just dumb dumb dumb.