Movies | TV | Books | Quotes Easter Eggs | Drink Recipes
[Slipups.com Logo] The Slip-Up ArchiveTM
SLIPUPS.COM
Google
Web slipups.com
Home > Movies > E - H > Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Bloopers Add a Slip-Up | Help | Discussion
Where To Next?
    
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Lumos Maxima
Witches and Wizards under 17 aren't allowed to do magic outside of school. It says so in the books and in the movies. Harry particularly reminded the minister of magic of that in the leaky couldron. Well, if so, why was he practicing Lumos Maxima in his bedroom? Why didn't he get expelled for doing so?
Anyway, obviously they did that so they'd have a cool intro. But, still....
Special Requirements:
A movie ticket, you eyes
Avg. Rating:    7.4 of 10 - (106 votes cast)
Your Rating:   
Contributed By:
MattMarcel on 06-14-2004
Email this Slip-Up to a Friend!
Reviewed By:
MrHappyHamster
Correct this Slip-Up

Pictures Click on the thumbnails for a full-size image, or send in your own
Be the first to send us your picture of this Slip-Up!
Comments:
Strider_17 writes:
First, Harry is using the charm to do his homework. Doing the charm itself is not the homework. Second, in the books, Harry's homework consists of reading and writing, not practicing spells. And yes, a charm is a spell. It seems to be the case that the rule is only trackable within proximity of a young witch or Wizard. This explains how Harry got in trouble for Doby(sp?) doing magic. There were not any older magic folk around. Hence, Hermione could fix Harry's glasses in Diagon Alley because there were so many other witches. But, it is illegal, even though muggles are not around. The second book makes that clear.
16 of 20 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
MattMarcel writes:
Okay, let's clarify. All magic (including accidental/intentional spells, charms, enchanments, potion making, potion drinking in front of a muggle, etc) aren't allowed outside Hogwarts during summer breaks. (It's not clear if they are allowed during christmas breaks). So therefore, that was a mistake (intentional or not). I love the movie and I think it's the best one yet. But this mistake's a bit bad since his blowing up his aunt and might get expelled thing is one of the early plot points of the movie; whereas in the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione repaired Harry's glasses, was acceptable since there was no prior proclamation (in the movies of course) that Magic is not allowed outside school. Anyway, in the books, magic is even not allowed in corridors, but of course nobody really follows this rule. haha.
22 of 33 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Red Dog writes:
If you've read the books and watched the movies then you'd know homework assigned is reading and question answering IE: essays. The Ministry forbids ALL magic in front of Muggles and Harry states in the second movie to Hedwig "I can't let you out Hedwig. I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school." It is the address, not the person The Ministry detects the use of magic at. If they detected magic from the person Harry would never have gotten in trouble for Dobby's magic. Now, as for the light charm, yes Harry is performing magic and The Ministry would detect magic at 4 Privet Drive so Harry would be in trouble for this. The director REALLY needs to read the book before making the movie to catch slips like this. At purely magical places like Diagon Alley the person performing the spell wouldn't be detected. If George and Fred ever learned of this then they'd be using magic all the time outside of school because their family is an all magical family. Of course I wouldn't want to cross Mrs Weasley. Now in the 5th book Harry gets in trouble for performing magic in front of Dudley in the alley. This in itself doesn't make for an error as Fudge wants to pin something on Harry to stop him from spreading stories about Voldemort's return. So Fudge could have put a magic detector on Harry to catch him doing magic away from home.
13 of 18 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Caitlin writes:
Red Dog, refering to your last paragraph, the Ministry detected magic in the area of Little Whinging, and they have no record of other wizards living there, so the obvious thing to do would be to blame Harry. Your other comments were right, though.
9 of 11 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Chelly writes:
Highland, it's magic that isn't to be used outside of school. That includes charms, spells, everything.
9 of 14 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Movie Lens writes:
Well here is a quote from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the book), " It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in bed, the blanckets drawn right over his head like a tent, a flashlight in one hand and a large leather-bound book (A history of magic by Bathilda Bagshot) proppred open against the pillow." In case some of you need to know, I read it in Book three, Page one and Paragraph two. In the movie, I remember seing him reading a book. He was looking at a picture of a cowboy with a rope (A magical rope). Somewhere in the book he was reading said "Lumos Maxima". He could not read witghout light so he must have tried to use this magic. The problem is that no magic is allowed outside of the school, so the director must have use the excuse of the forgiving Cornelious Fudge to let Harry do it. However, Harry was well aware that magic was illegal so my conclusion is that either the director did not read the books well enough or he just though it would make an excellent entry scene. They mention Hermoine doing magic in Diagon alley during the second movie. In book two it was actually Arthur Weasley who did the cleaning. So, there are errors in the movies.
7 of 11 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Lord Pinky writes:
Ever hear of a thing called homework? In the other books, Harry is also doing homework. I believe in the fourth book (not positive) he is writing an essay on witch burnings and saying that he HAD to do his homework, or risk getting detention. Just think, maybe Prof. Flitwick assigned homework: 'Practice the "Lumos Maximus" charm and write an essay on the correct wand movement and pronunciation.'
14 of 27 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Errica writes:
I noticed this too, but like other people have said, maybe it was homework or not serious enough to be considered illegal. But in response to the thing someone said about only spells being illegal and that you could do charms without getting in trouble, that isn't true. In either the second book or movie, when Harry gets the letter about Dobby levitating the cake, it says it was a Hover CHARM, therefore you can get in trouble for using charms.
4 of 7 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Kier writes:
Teachers don't assign homework over the summer (someone mentions it in book one or two) Harry would have been in big trouble. i.e. Patronus in book 5 Levitation charm in book two and aunt marge in book 3. I cant belive you are arguing about it read the books if you think he shouldn't get in trouble cause you are wrong.
4 of 7 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
SimonTemplar writes:
It would seem that simple and innocuous spells (ie: Lumos (Maxima) and Nox) don't count, in case a student finds himself in a particularly dark room, for instance.
3 of 6 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Crimson caity writes:
I don't know why they did that..Maybe it was homework??? lol And yes it did look cool it made you WANT to pay attention.:)
6 of 13 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
CrowMaiden writes:
Can I just point out: there was no one there to witness it. There was no one around to give a witness statement that there had been magic. No one could confirm it. They wouldn't be able to accuse him because there's no evidence other than Harry. Also they didn't expel him because, y'know, the man that was accused of mass murder was apparently hunting him - or was I the only person who heard/read any mention of Sirius Black in the entire film/book? I think they had bigger problems than a kid doing his homework in a dark room with an owl.
0 of 1 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Roseanne_fan writes:
Correction: the rule is no major magic which is why in the second movie Hermione fixes Harry's glasses in Diagon Alley
7 of 17 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Jordyn writes:
Ok, MattMarcel, You say All magic (including accidental/intentional spells, charms, enchanments, potion making, potion drinking in front of a muggle, etc) aren't allowed outside Hogwarts. Well, when he was using Lumos Maxima, It was in his room, by himself. There were no muggles to see him do it.
9 of 21 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
moviebluebird writes:
You MattMarcel are taking it just as you see it. When Harry performs this charm it is done so as part of his homework set by his teachers. The rule does not include homework. Also by Performing this charm he is not doing any harm as he's alone in his bedroom in the dark and is not in view of muggles! The school and the ministry of magic is therefor not going to press charges. Next time do your research and use your common sense
5 of 15 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Xykon writes:
During some of the books it says that the teachers assign much homework. If thats so then he MUST do mgic outside of school. Lumos Maxima is a charm so it was probably homework from the charms professer
2 of 10 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
cat writes:
The Lumos charm just makes the wand tip light up- like a torch/flashlight. That is not illegal because even if a muggle did see you it just looks like you have a torch. So they wouldn't become suspicious of that and its not breaking the decree for underage wizardry!
3 of 13 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
hsbug writes:
Okay, here is what happened. During break, you are supposed to keep up with your learning. Some teachers even assign work over the break, it could have been homework. Also, in the Decree of Mususe of Underage Wizards, it is only against the law when you are in the pressence of muggles. There were no muggles, so it was not against the law.
4 of 15 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Guy Person writes:
The reason the Ministry of Magic doesnt allow magic outside of school (I am referring to underage wizards)is that they dont want to risk exposure to muggles. So thats why they don't really penalize you unless you did something that might even hint at the muggles that you are a witch/wizard. So if its something like fixing your glasses (what hermione did to harry), they dont care. P.S. i cant believe i just typed all that :)
2 of 11 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
Firekid writes:
He's not allowed to do magic in front of muggles. There aren't any Muggles in Diagon Alley or Harry's bedroom, but the Mason's noticed the cake (duh) and I'm sure Aunt Marge noticed she was being blown up.
1 of 9 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
ThaLittlePinkOne writes:
It's like when Hermione fixes Harry's glasses. She never got in trouble for using charms so it can't be breaking any laws.
1 of 12 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
spike3lt writes:
Greetings, fellow members. I have the movie and I just checked the part that you are all foolishly arguing over. Did any of you people bother to even think of reading what the pages in this book say????? I did. On the left page, it clearly says; LUMOS MAXIMAR! On the right page it has some pictures of a cowboy wizard and below the picture it says "step 1." and you see another picture below that. So clearly, Harry is slightly able to see in the dark (like I can)and is reading what the book says. I am sure Harry, who is the irresponsible one, along with Ron(LOL), would not read a book that is used for homework, for pleasure! So clearly, Prof. Flitwick assigned homework for his students to do over the Summer! And Harry would do this or risk getting detention. And remember how Dumbledore said that he wrote that rule himself??????? Well don't you think that he would make an exception for homework??????? I meen, us Wizards have to practice to suceed in life, don't we? And beside it was just a small charm that Harry used, like the Repairo charm in the last two movies. I dought the Ministry is going to expel Harry for doing his homework, would they? I rest my case. Thankyou for taking the time to read my comment. And now I leave you. Oh, and could you muggles please stop trying to dig up dirt to make a fantastic movy look great?
6 of 24 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes
HighlandToffee writes:
Lumos Maxima is not in fact a spell. It is a charm and therefore can be used outside of school.
9 of 41 people found this comment helpful. Did you? Yes


Register - My Settings - FAQ - Privacy Policy - About Us - Contact Us