Harry Potter has an immeasurable value in pop culture, and it’s no surprise that even decades later, the franchise is still relevant. The upcoming reboot is proof of just how anticipated the Wizarding World remains. But among all the characters in this famous story, one managed to land on the list of the greatest antagonists in fiction: Lord Voldemort. He’s without a doubt one of the most talked-about figures when it comes to both the films and the books, but that doesn’t mean everything about him actually makes sense. Many of the Dark Lord’s choices are, at the very least, questionable. He’s powerful, cruel, and strategic, but also inconsistent in key moments that make fans raise an eyebrow.
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Breaking down these decisions isn’t just about nitpicking; it’s about understanding how the saga builds its central villain. And when you take a closer look, a few flaws stand out more than others. Here are 3 things about Voldemort that just don’t make any sense.
3) Racism Against Muggles
Lord Voldemort is one of the greatest villains, largely because he embodies that classic, prejudiced figure obsessed with segregation: he absolutely hates Muggles and half-bloods. The most ironic part? He’s a half-blood himself. He spends his entire life preaching that pure-blood wizards are superior while trying to erase every trace of his own background. Logical? Absolutely not. What it really shows is that Voldemort is driven by fear and insecurity, mixed with an oversized ego. He wants to control everything and everyone, but this obsession with proving he’s “superior” says way more about his weaknesses than about any supposed threat others pose to him.
And the racism doesn’t just stop at his words, because Voldemort builds an entire army around that twisted logic. Even the wizarding world itself leaves plenty of room for this kind of thinking to thrive. Characters who are framed as “good people” sometimes reveal small prejudices without even noticing. So it’s not just Voldemort being unhinged, because the entire magical society feeds into this blood hierarchy that he simply takes to the extreme.
2) Choosing Between Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom
When it comes to the Harry Potter story, the core of everything lies in the prophecy that made Harry “the Chosen One.” But it’s later revealed that it could’ve just as easily applied to Neville Longbottom. So the question is: why did Voldemort believe it was Harry? For someone obsessed with blood purity, he chose to go after a half-blood. That’s a pretty contradictory decision when you consider Neville’s pure lineage and, in the villain’s belief, his supposed superiority, which could have been seen as a much more direct threat to Voldemort’s power.
But the truth is that Voldemort is so consumed by self-hatred that this might actually be the only answer we get. In the end, that insecurity blinded him to properly assessing his enemies. By focusing on Harry, he unintentionally reinforced the magical protection Lily Potter left behind when she sacrificed herself, essentially creating a stronger, more determined opponent. If he had chosen Neville, the entire story would have played out differently.
1) He Didn’t Realize Harry Potter Was a Horcrux
Arguably, Voldemort’s biggest strategic mistake was never realizing that Harry was an accidental Horcrux. He spent his life obsessing over creating Horcruxes in the most meticulous way possible, but when a piece of his soul ends up inside Harry, he doesn’t even notice. How does that make sense? If Albus Dumbledore figured it out, how could Voldemort not? The Headmaster of Hogwarts is regarded as one of the most powerful wizards of all time, but Voldemort is supposed to be on that same level, which makes this oversight even harder to justify.
And the irony? This mistake is exactly what leads to his downfall. The soul fragment inside Harry is destroyed when Voldemort attacks him in the Forbidden Forest, and that’s the turning point of the entire war. If he had realized the truth earlier, he might have avoided his own collapse. Sure, narratively, the story needed a way for good to triumph over evil, but within the logic, it makes little sense that someone as obsessive and calculating as Voldemort could completely miss something so crucial. It’s a flaw that’s impossible to ignore when thinking about how he built his entire identity around mastering Horcruxes.
Ever thought about these things? What else do you think doesn’t make sense about Voldemort? Let us know in the comments!
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