Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At the start of term feast, after Harry is sorted into Gryffindor, he sits down on the right side of the table next to Ron. When the feast appears, Harry is on the other side of the table, next to Hermione. (00:46:05)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This is not a mistake. In the first shot, Harry was just sorted into Gryffindor and there were still quite a few students waiting to be sorted. By the time of the second shot, all the students were sorted and the feast started. Therefore, at least a few minutes have passed and Harry had plenty of time to switch sides of the table. Doesn't make much sense why he did that, I agree, but still plenty of time to do it.

I agree, but it's not about how there's plenty of time to do it. Like you said before, there's no reason for Harry to change position. Therefore, it counts as a mistake.

Character mistake: When Wood is telling Harry the rules of Quidditch he says that if you catch the Snitch the game is over, which is true. But then he also says that which ever seeker catches the snitch, their team wins, but that isn't true. Granted that the 150 extra points probably would give you the winning lead, but as JKR pointed out in the 4th book at the Quidditch World Cup, you can catch the Snitch but lose the match. And you'd think explaining the rules to a first-timer you would want to get it right. (01:05:40)

troy fox

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The team whose "seeker" catches the "snitch" would win in over 90% of matches. At this point, in the film and the book, while Harry Potter has discovered that Quidditch is popular in the wizarding world, he knows nothing about the rules or how to play. Oliver Wood is giving Harry Potter his very first introduction to Quidditch. So maybe it is acceptable for Oliver Wood to give a general overview of how Quidditch works, rather than outline every nuance and detail of every game ever played.

Continuity mistake: At the end-of-the-year feast the Slytherin banner is green and gold, but their house colors are green and sliver, as evident by their robes. (02:11:00)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: But the problem here is, you only see the banners once (as the shot pans down at the start of the scene) before they are changing to Red and Gold of Gryffindor. In the first show they are Silver and Green.

Ssiscool

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Harry figures out that Hagrid got his dragon egg from "Snape"(Quirrell), at the begining of the scene, Harry's cloak is buttoned and still is when he, Hermione, and Ron are running to Hagrid's hut. When he reaches Hagrid's hut, it is unbuttoned even though he never unbuttoned it himself. (01:46:50)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The cloak is unbuttoned throughout the scene from as soon as we see Harry to when they run off from Hagrid's.

Ssiscool

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: If you watch closely, just before Hagrid give him the tail you can see his hands are dirty and you don't see them again after that.

Ssiscool

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone mistake picture

Other mistake: In the scene where Professor Quirrell removes his headwrap to reveal the concealed Voldemort, Quirrell is obviously bald. However, if you carefully watch the scene with the troll, Quirell's sideburns are present after he shudders as the troll exhales, as they are in a couple of other shots. (01:10:43)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The incident with the mountain troll took place on Halloween. The incident with Quirrell took place later in June. That is plenty of time for Quirrell to shave his head. Makes sense that he would as, I mean, I would rather shave my head if there was a guy on the back of it! Then I wouldn't have to worry about bumping his nose and him getting mad at me while using a comb. To be a mistake, we would need to see him with hair right before he is bald.

Revealing mistake: At the hut, when Hagrid bends Vernon's gun, if you look closely, you can see that there is a mark on the gun. When Hagrid bends the gun, the bend is exactly where the mark is. This is most visible on the DVD. (00:13:35)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This is not a mark. It is either a scratch or a small piece of dirt on the shotgun. No mistake here.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the pupils are waiting on the stairs before being sorted into their houses, Malfoy speaks to Harry and is clearly at the top of the stairs. However as the pupils go into the dining room, Malfoy is nowhere to be seen in at least the first 30 pupils. (00:41:15)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: That is because McGonnigal taps him on the shoulder, and he walks off down the steps to back with Crabbe and Goyle.

Ssiscool

Other mistake: While Harry and his classmates are on their way up to Gryffindor Tower right after the Sorting, Neville reacts with astonishment to a portrait moving. However, we learn in later films that Neville was raised in a magical household (by his grandmother), so he should have been completely accustomed to seeing pictures move. (00:46:30)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Not every magic household has moving pictures in the house.

lionhead

No, but being raised in the magical world he will have come across moving portraits. A good example (tho not explained until book 5) is at St Mungo's. He visits his parents regularly. The hospital has portraits there that would move. Thus seeing the one move at Hogwarts shouldn't have startled him.

Ssiscool

I am now doubting it's Neville who is saying it. Can't be sure it's his voice. It can also be he is mentioning they are portraits, not photographs that are moving. Maybe moving paintings are rarer.

lionhead

It could be Dean Thomas. He's a muggleborn. And his first knowledge was when he had a letter, same as Harry.

Ssiscool

Continuity mistake: When Harry, Ron and Hermione go to the third floor corridor for the first time, they all run into the corridor with Fluffy in and close the door. In the next shot, Ron walks through the door again and closes it again. (00:59:40)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: No that's not the case. Hermione says Alohamora and then opens the door towards her and the group. You then see Harry and Ron walk behind the door as the camera changes. When the angle changes Harry is walking through the door frame followed by Ron. No mistake here.

Ssiscool

Continuity mistake: When the letters start flying through the letterbox they are coming in with the address facing down and the red seal facing up. When Vernon says they are going away, the letters are now addressed side up and red seal down. (00:12:15)

Ssiscool

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This is not a mistake. The letters are magically arriving en masse, in batches, pouring in at a rapid speed, and are flying about everywhere. Some naturally are facing up and others are face down as they come through the letter slot.

raywest

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: At the Quidditch match, after Hermione sets Snape's cloak on fire and someone shouts, "Fire! You're on fire!" there is a close-up of Harry with his hands gripping the Nimbus 2000. In this shot, the wire rods which are attached/taped to the broomstick, near Harry's fingers, that lead under both of his red sleeves, are entirely visible. (01:21:35)

Super Grover

More mistakes in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Hermione Granger: I'm going to bed, before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled.
Ronald Weasley: [to Harry.] She needs to sort out her priorities.

More quotes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Trivia: For anyone who hasn't read the book: The inscription on top of the Mirror of Erised says "erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi". If you read the inscription backwards it says "I show not your face but your heart's desire".

More trivia for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Question: How did Dudley get out of the snake exhibit after falling in?

Answer: Petunia or Vernon would have ran to a zoo employee and told them what happened. The employee would then open the door to the snake exhibit letting Dudley out.

More questions & answers from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.