If you’re anything like me, you spent your childhood dreaming about getting your Hogwarts letter, thinking about what you wanted to learn, and ignoring your real class schedule in favor of making an O.W.L. schedule.
Chances are, you never thought about the negative side of the wizarding school. Magic, however, is dangerous, especially when it can be used by youngsters.
The fact that the teenagers in the Harry Potter books didn’t abuse magic in any way is nothing short of a miracle.
We know how teenagers are. They’re adventurous, emotional, creative, and a little crazy. With access to magic, all of that would be amplified. There’s no way teenagers wouldn’t find ways to abuse magic at Hogwarts.
Curious to know how exactly magic would be abused, Redditor Animeking1108 asked:
“How would teenagers realistically misuse magic at Hogwarts?”
Watch What You Drink
"Love Potions"
"Those things are literal roofies if you're so inclined to use them that way. If the books were in any way realistic Viktor Krum would have had his pumpkin juice roofied on an hourly basis."
– Callipygian_Linguist
"The flip side would also be super common: "out of love" potions. Especially if love potions were banned or punished severely. If you can't make your crush love you, the next best thing is making them forget about their crush."
– chrismamo1
"I'm shocked I scrolled as far as I did to find this response; it was my first thought. Teenagers think they've found the love of their life and will just die if their love is unrequited."
"Source: Was a teenager once upon a time..."
– amatchmadeinregex
"Eye Of Rabbit, Harp String Hum..."
"Turning water into rum."
– CorgisDie
"I’ll keep my eyebrows, thanks."
– shifty_coder
The Obvious Answer
"Every year there's a different boy who ends up in the infirmary after using engorgio on his d*ck and fainting from the rush of blood."
– AdmiralAkbar1
"More like every week..."
– Schemen123
"The female equivalent is using that spell on their breasts…only for their sheer weight to break their spine."
– Shipping_Architect
Bibbity, Bobbity, Be Careful!
"After reading these, I think there would be a big market on putting a parental lock on certain spells on wands bought for kids."
– peachandpeony
"The wand system they have is basically giving every preteen a very complicated gun, and hope they don't learn how to pull most of its triggers."
– DKoala
Magical Bullying
"You saw that when James Potter suspended Snapes in the air for no reason. Bullying would be 100 times worse."
– sonicz3r0
"God it would be so much worse. In primary school the strong bully the weak overwhelmingly. But then things gets flipped on their head in Hogwarts. Physical strength is no longer an advantage, all that matters is magical ability. So many of these weak or small kids who have been bullied for their whole lives get a taste of actual power and want revenge. So they repeat the cycle, particularly against those they think would have bullied them without magic. And they are merciless channeling years of pent-up aggression against anyone who doesn’t pose a real magical threat."
– Alc2005
Spells Going Awry
"avada kedavra rampages would be more common."
– Bobtheguardian22
"Imagine the number of accidental deaths because you Wingardium Levio-SAH your classmates."
– FM1091
What They Require
"The room of requirements would probably be a sex room."
"Or a place to grow magically enchanted weed plants"
– aniacret
"Who said it isn't?"
– Nexusoffate17
"“It’s also known as the come and go room”"
– King_of_nerds77
Accio Anything I Want
"Using spells to steal things"
– WomenAreNotReal
"As far a I can remember, we don't know the limitations of Accio. Does the thing you summon have to be yours? Harry summoned the trophy in Goblet of Fire in the cemetery. What about distance? Harry summons his broom from the castle while being in the quidditch stadium."
– TCGHexenwahn
The International Statute of Secrecy
"Muggle Born students would get expelled because they posted videos of themselves performing magic on social media."
– Animeking1108
The All-Knowing
"wifi connection to their brain."
– NumbFuzz
That Would Be Useful
"I personally need a steady supply of something to make my hangover disappear"
– Crusader170
Since I’m an adult, I would never abuse magic that way. Hogwarts letter, where art thou?
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads