The Harry Potter books include many great plot twists that shocked readers the first time around, although they have now all long been absorbed into the cultural consciousness. Each Harry Potter book is its own mystery, with some storylines stretching over several or all the books. The text often uses rhetorical questions to illustrate that there are still many puzzles left to solve, with the hope that the reader will be surprised by the answer. Harry, Ron, and Hermione can’t help trying to unravel these mysteries, despite repeatedly being told to leave things to the adults.

Even the smaller plot twists in Harry Potter range from somewhat predictable to completely impossible to guess. In the latter case, it is probably due to the answer being buried under so many logistics that even the smartest characters in Harry Potter would never have figured it out. However, while some plot twists in Harry Potter are elevated by complexity and far-reaching narrative consequences, others claim a sharper, more powerful impact that can only be achieved by their relative simplicity.

10

Snape Is The Half-Blood Prince

Half-Blood Prince

Snape being the Half-Blood Prince is a revelation that highlights something interesting about Snape and Harry’s dynamic throughout the series: Snape is horrible to most of his students, but he is a brilliant wizard. Hermione learns everything she can from him, while Harry hates Snape too much to make as much of an effort at potions. However, once Snape’s instructions are coming from an anonymous source which Harry has no strong feelings about, he quickly learns to love the subject.

The reveal is kind of a last-minute detail tacked on at the end of Half-Blood Prince, at a point where Harry doesn’t even care all that much anymore in the wake of everything else that has happened. It mostly deepens the mystery of Snape heading into the final book. However, it is a good play on the reveal of a friendly character being a villain, as the figure Harry has come to appreciate is actually someone he has despised for all his time at Hogwarts.

9

Lupin Is A Werewolf

Prisoner Of Azkaban

Harry, his classmates, and the readers are all too amazed by having a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who actually knows what he is doing to read too much into Lupin’s frequent absences. The plot point is ultimately a small part of the web of discoveries made in Prisoner of Azkaban, but it is a mystery and a reveal that is almost funny in its delivery. Prisoner of Azkaban repeatedly hints that Lupin is hiding something and there are too many random occurrences surrounding his character to not be noticed.

There is no way the new professor routinely getting sick is something not to be suspicious of in a fictional context. Actually, the most obvious twist would be that the outwardly friendly character is working with the villain. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione witness Remus and Sirius’ reconciliation, this is the conclusion they jump to. Amid them throwing out accusations, Hermione shouts that Remus is a werewolf, which comes across as somewhat random and warrants a moment of dead silence. It is actually a surprise, which makes it a better twist — and, of course, Hermione knew all along.

8

Barty Crouch Jr. Impersonating Mad-Eye Moody

Goblet Of Fire

All the details surrounding Barty Crouch Jr. successfully impersonating Mad-Eye Moody are cut from the movie adaptation. The complexity of his plan is why no one ever would have guessed it, and it takes almost an entire chapter for him to explain it all (under the influence of Veritaserum). It involves Barty being completely guilty of the crimes for which he was sent to Azkaban, his father smuggling him out per his wife’s wishes, the wife dying in Azkaban with her son’s appearance (Polyjuice Potion), and Barty eventually escaping his father’s custody and returning to Voldemort’s service.

It’s a bizarre turn of events that has some very dark implications, in that a convicted Death Eater teaches a class for a year and is even in the presence of students whose families he has attacked. The mystery of why Barty Crouch Sr. was acting strangely puzzles everyone for the entire book, prompting much deliberation on the Golden Trio’s part. The answer is a harrowing segue into the war that will dominate the next three books, even if it takes too long to explain.

7

Harry Frees Dobby

Chamber Of Secrets

Harry freeing Dobby is also a last-minute occurrence in Chamber of Secrets and an act that is somewhat detached from Harry defeating the primary threat of the Heir of Slytherin. However, Harry correctly deduces that Lucius Malfoy had prompted the book’s events to happen, and has heard plenty about how the Malfoys abuse Dobby. Therefore, Harry decides to take initiative one last time in Chamber of Secrets and comes up with a fast plan (that could have easily failed) to free Dobby.

When Dobby catches the sock Lucius tosses away, and it is revealed that this was what Harry had intended to happen, it makes for one of the few surprises in the series that is actually happy. The aftermath of the plot twist is great as well — people have often commented on Lucius apparently being so angry that he was going to curse or kill a student in the middle of the castle. However, Harry gets a lifelong friend in Dobby, who protects Harry from Lucius’ attack and later in the series.

6

Harry Survives The Killing Curse A Second Time

Deathly Hallows

The reader can probably guess that Harry will somehow survive surrendering himself to Voldemort to bring the battle to an end. However, there are a lot of twists concerning how this happens that are a satisfying culmination of everything in the series. Harry is briefly reunited with his parents, Sirius, and Remus, before seeing Dumbledore again in the King’s Cross purgatory. The scene with Dumbledore has an incredible feeling of resolution as he explains all the final mysteries and says some iconic lines that essentially summarize the biggest themes of the entire series.

There is then the plot twist of one supporting character’s personal decision that affects the outcome of the war, when Narcissa Malfoy neglects to mention that Harry is still alive. Harry surviving the killing curse for a second time is not the most surprising plot twist, but the narrative gets a lot of mileage out of it. The biggest question the reader has is “How will this happen?” which is answered in a way that is interesting and logically makes sense.

5

Hermione’s Time-Turner

Prisoner Of Azkaban

The hints about Hermione and the Time-Turner are not obscured — in the book, Harry and Ron repeatedly comment on the fact that Hermione is attending multiple classes at once. Ron even goes out of his way to question some students in Hermione’s additional electives, who say she has never missed a class, making it strange that neither he nor Harry tried to confront Hermione about it. It is another random reveal that the reader never would have imagined as it has never been explained to them what a Time-Turner is.

It is an enthralling part of the story that takes the concept of Hermione always having a trick up her sleeve to the next level and contributes to the book’s themes of the complexity of time. It sets up another few twists and turns with Harry and Hermione navigating the past a few hours back to save Sirius and Buckbeak. The Time-Turner exists in isolation as the characters never use one again throughout the series, making it a strange, one-off plot twist.

4

Scabbers Is Peter Pettigrew

Prisoner Of Azkaban

Like with the Barty Crouch reveal, the Scabbers twist is weighed down by being too complicated to have a swift, gut-punch effect. Sirius and Remus announce that Scabbers is actually a presumed dead wizard, which is a shocking moment, but then they have to spend multiple chapters explaining how that is even possible. However, there are many other great reveals throughout this conversation. Harry learns that his father and his best friends were all unregistered animagi, that they penned the Marauders’ Map, and how twisted the topic of loyalty to Voldemort is.

Additionally, Prisoner of Azkaban is one of the best Harry Potter books to re-read because of how everything builds up to this. Everything from Scabbers’ odd behavior to Remus’ secrecy to Sirius’ confusing tactics of trying to get to Harry play a role. Of course, no one would have guessed the truth behind all these things because the entire twist is based on the very unlikely assumption that one of the main character’s pets is secretly the book’s villain.

3

Regulus Stole One Of The Horcruxes

Deathly Hallows

With enough time to deliberate, most readers probably could have figured out that Regulus Black was the mysterious R. A. B. as there are only so many characters of any narrative significance with those initials. However, it is still a rewarding moment when those two things come together and the Golden Trio finds the initials in the most unlikely place — even and especially if the reader was one of the people who guessed. The note Regulus leaves for Voldemort is deeply enigmatic and even poetic, making the story behind it powerful.

The Regulus reveal gets two instances where the shock comes across in a single moment: when Harry reads the note and when Regulus’ plaque is discovered at Grimauld Place. However, this then leads to the dark tale of Regulus stealing the Horcrux, which turns him into a much more interesting character. Regulus is still one of the most mysterious parts of Harry Potter, as everything he did happened long before Harry became a part of the story.

2

“I Am Lord Voldemort”

Chamber Of Secrets

Tom Riddle cuts a mysterious figure when Harry does not yet know that he is a young Lord Voldemort. Riddle’s exact role in the story is confusing when he is apparently a new character, who doesn’t even exist in the present day, and appears to be both helpful and hurtful. His detachment from the overall Harry Potter story is what may have led some people to guess the truth ahead of time. However, “I am Lord Voldemort” is still darkly dramatic, bringing the story back around to Voldemort as the ultimate embodiment of evil in this context.

This is coupled with the reveal that Ginny is the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets, something people would never have guessed as she had no reason to and did not even do so of her own volition. It also includes the new details that Voldemort’s mother was a descendant of Slytherin while his father was a muggle. The anagram reveal is also visually appealing, and has given rise to a host of memes concerning the circumstances of Voldemort coming up with his moniker.

1

Snape Kills Dumbledore

Half-Blood Prince

Snape killing Dumbledore is possibly the single most shocking moment in the entire series, when the effect of what happened is covered by the event itself. However, there is also an amazing build-up to this moment characterized by tension and dread, without even considering the later reveal that Dumbledore and Snape had planned for it. This is because throughout Half-Blood Prince, Harry’s dynamic with Snape is worse than ever, while Dumbledore still resolutely defends him. When Harry discovers that Snape delivered word of the prophecy to Voldemort, the feeling that things will boil over soon can’t be ignored.

Meanwhile, Harry is also deeply suspicious of Draco, who is evidently starting to buckle under the pressure of what he is doing. This all leads up to Snape stepping in and killing Dumbledore instead of Draco; even though the reader might have sensed something was coming where Snape is concerned, this is still a perfectly terrifying moment. It’s genuine shock value as well as its effectiveness within the broader story makes this moment the best plot twist in Harry Potter.