Continuity mistake: Mr. Ollivander says, "I wondered when I'd be seeing you Mr. Potter," and as he climbs down the ladder Harry is standing at the middle of the desk, away from the corner. In the next shot as Mr. Ollivander searches for a wand case Harry stands at the corner of the desk. However, in the next shot Harry stands at the middle again. (00:25:30)
Continuity mistake: When Mr. Ollivander takes the first wand out of the box to give to Harry, the board, shelf, roses, etc., are visible behind him. When Harry takes the second wand to wave, just before the vase explodes, in the close-up the hanging red feathers, black roses and notes to the left of the roses all visibly differ to the previous shot of them. (00:25:50)
Continuity mistake: The first wand Ollivander gives to Harry has a long slim handle with 5 or so grooves carved at the wand end. When Harry puts the wand down, the grooves are even with the binding of the book lying there. When Ollivander hands Harry the second wand, look to the left by the book and you can see that not only has the wand been moved, it is actually a different wand with a shorter, wider handle and only one groove at the wand end. (00:26:10)
Continuity mistake: The way in which Mr. Ollivander holds out the second wand for Harry to try differs, in the shot facing Mr. Ollivander and the next shot facing Harry. (00:26:25)
Continuity mistake: After shopping in Diagon Alley, when Harry confronts Hagrid about Voldemort, in the first overhead wide shot Hedwig's cage is right next to Hagrid on the bench and is positioned a particular way. Yet in the next shot, the cage is much farther from Hagrid and is positioned the opposite way on the bench. (00:28:45)
Continuity mistake: At Kings Cross, just as Percy Weasley is about to run through the wall onto platform 9 3/4, we see a man and a woman walking past him, but when the shot changes direction, they have both disappeared. (00:31:15)
Factual error: The Hogwarts Express leaves from platform nine and three-quarters, between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross station, London. The platforms shown in the film as nine and ten are, in fact, four and five (the only platforms that have a wall between them as shown in the film). The real platforms nine and ten are in a separate part of the real station. In addition, when Hagrid and Harry are on the footbridge, they are walking towards platform one, away from both the real platforms 9 & 10 and the film's platforms 9 & 10. No wonder Harry feels lost when Hagrid leaves him to find the train on his own! (00:31:55)
Continuity mistake: At Platform 9 3/4, when Mrs. Weasley says, "All right, Percy, you first," as Percy walks in front of her she holds her bags in her left hand. Yet in the next shot as Percy still walks in front of her, she holds her bags in her right hand. (00:32:25)
Continuity mistake: When Harry and Ron are sat on the train, Ron's hair begins with a centre parting, but soon changes to a side parting. (00:32:59)
Continuity mistake: Just as Harry runs towards the wall to reach Platform 9 3/4, it is obvious that the owl in the cage is now a stuffed one. (00:33:30)
Revealing mistake: In the shot where Harry is running through the wall for platform 9 3/4, the camera pans down slightly and you can see a rather stiff and fake looking Hedwig wobbling in her cage. (00:33:30)
Continuity mistake: When Harry and Ron are on the train to Hogwarts, we see a shot of the sweets Harry has bought. Note the position of Harry's sweatshirt and that the collar shows no defects. A couple of shots later, the sweatshirt appears to have moved and more of his left neck is showing. A few shots later, when Hermione arrives, there is another shot of the sweets arranged very differently. When Hermione points her wand at Harry, there is a small tear in his sweatshirt collar. (00:33:53)
Other mistake: In the scene where Ron and Harry are on the train to Hogwarts, the window to the compartment is open. We know this because the chocolate frog jumps out the window and is swept away by a pretty strong wind. Since the window is indeed open, shouldn't there be a visible breeze thoughout the compartment? (00:35:50)
Other mistake: Albus Dumbledore's name is spelled incorrectly on his card (after the chocolate frog escapes the container). It's spelled with an "E." (00:36:00)
Visible crew/equipment: On the Hogwarts Express, as Ron says, "This is Scabbers by the way," the acrylic string/wire which is attached to the bottom of Bertie Botts box, that is over Scabber's head, is perfectly visible. (00:36:05)
Continuity mistake: When we first see Hermione on the train, her tie is crooked. When she sits down, as Ron is about to change Scabbers yellow, her tie is straight and it remains that way while she is seated. When she leaves and turns around to tell Ron about the dirt on his nose, it is crooked again. (00:36:05)
Revealing mistake: Has anyone else noticed that Ron's rat, while on the Hogwarts Express at the beginning, is at one point fake! When he is explaining his spell to Harry, it comes into shot and is completely still, it moves like it is a toy. (00:36:25)
Continuity mistake: On the Hogwarts Express, Hermione first watches as Ron tries to turn Scabbers yellow, she then joins them inside before she actually leaves and in these consecutive shots, her tie differs. (00:36:30)
Continuity mistake: On the train, when Ron introduces Harry to Scabbers there are two Jelly Slugs lying on Ron's leg - one red-green and one yellowish-brown, but when Ron casts the spell on Scabbers both Jelly Slugs are red-green, and then it switches back again. (00:36:40)
Visible crew/equipment: As the first years amass at the top of the steps prior to being sorted, a strong, round white light is in the glass behind McGonigal. (00:38:10)
Chosen answer: There are several reasons. First, the position is cursed, so there is little reason to give Snape the job when he will not last any longer than all the previous instructors. If Snape did become the DADA instructor, something could happen to him that could result in his being harmed, having to leave Hogwarts, or be otherwise incapacitated in some way; that would render him useless to Dumbledore as a double agent. Also, Dumbledore trusts Snape, but putting him in an environment where he is teaching about dark magic on a daily basis would be too tempting and emotionally compromising to someone who had been so easily seduced by the dark side. He could possibly relapse. It would be like having a recovering alcoholic work as a bartender. Of course, he does eventually become the DADA instructor, and lasted no longer than his predecessors.
raywest ★
In the movies it is never mentioned that DADA role was cursed by Voldemort.
This is true; though it doesn't say it's not either. With trying to fit 7 long books and years worth of pages of HP information in 2 and a half hours; as long as the movie doesn't say it's not cursed, with our knowledge, there is no problem with reporting that it is. Even directors of non-book movies do this all the time; leave background information out that helps explain things they just didn't have time so they explained it behind the scenes.