Harry Potter fans complain about major plot hole in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

‘It doesn’t make sense,’ wrote one viewer

Fans of the Harry Potter franchise have spotted a major plot hole in the latest spin-off, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

The film, set years before the events of the Harry Potter film series, features a number of characters introduced in the books, including Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen).

However, some viewers were left scratching their heads as they were confronted with a younger version of Professor McGonagall, played in the original film series by Maggie Smith.

In The Secrets of Dumbledore, McGonagall is played by 39-year-old Irish actor Fiona Glascott.

The film is set in the 1930s, around six decades before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

This would possibly the character of McGonagall over 100 years old around the time of the Harry Potter books.

The official online resource for Harry Potter, WizardingWorld.com, confirms this discrepancy, listing McGonagall’s date of birth as 4 October 1935.

If this were the case, it would mean that she would have to have been a child during the events of The Secrets of Dumbledore – not a fully grown woman teaching at Hogwarts.

Maggie Smith in ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' (Warner Bros)

“How is Mineva McGonagall in Fantastic Beasts?” one fan wrote on Twitter. “The timeline doesn’t make sense!”

“Beasts 3 was amazing,” another wrote. “Will the McGonagall plot hole be explained or is it different to the HP books?”

“The McGonagall plot hole in Fantastic Beasts annoys me so much,” someone else wrote.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is out in cinemas now.