Harry Potter's Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) once said, 'I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled.' Little did she know that after the events of The Philosopher's Stone transpired, being on the brink of expulsion would be an ongoing thing for the beloved trio.
Time and time again, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione pushed their luck within the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry, and not once did they find themselves on a train back to London. Should they have been in a bog-standard muggle school, things probably would have played out a little differently.
Breaking Curfew... Repeatedly
You know, there's a curfew for a reason. Whether boarding school students like it or not, it must be adhered to. Breaking curfew multiple times, of course, would eventually lead to expulsion in most circumstances. Harry, on the other hand, well, he liked to make a habit of it.
Ever since the curious student snuck out of bed to explore the forbidden section of the library in The Philosopher's Stone, wandering about at night just became second nature. Unfortunately for Potter, should he have been without magic and in a regular old boarding school, then he'd already be on a train home to the Dursleys.
Threatening Teachers
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It was around the time both Harry and Ron had discovered the infamous Chamber of Secrets that the duo overstepped their mark. Pointing their wands at their soon-to-be-former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), of course, was immediate grounds for expulsion.
It didn't matter if Lockhart was a fraud, nor that he lacked any form of backbone when danger loomed. The fact was, both Harry and Ron seized the moment to threaten him into entering the chamber which, judging by its shadowy abyss, appeared to be nothing more than a bottomless pit that would likely kill anyone who dared drop into it. Ron, well, he only went and pushed him into it.
Attacking Neville
Now, Hermione wasn't one for breaking rules and boasting about it. However, when it came to the end of The Philosopher's Stone, rules were a thing of the past, and the only way to stop the danger that loomed beneath Fluffy's trap door was to bypass all the obstacles. Obstacles, including none other than Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis).
Before leaving the Gryffindor common room, Neville took the opportunity to lunge at the trio and halt them from breaking any more rules. Shortly after, of course, Hermione used a spell to freeze him and, as a result, have him thrown to the floor. If that were in a muggle school, and with fists instead of frost, then it would have been a one-way ticket to expulsion, no excuses.
So... Much... Vandalism
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Fortunately for the wizarding folk, spells have the power to both cure and fix almost anything. Trash a room? No problem. Break an arm? Hardly worth thinking about. It's because of this, that the troublesome trio merrily went on their travels with little care for their clumsiness. Vandalism, for trained wizards and witches, simply did not exist. Like, at all.
Throughout the Harry Potter saga, Harry, Ron, and Hermione must have broken into more rooms, vandalized more property, and damaged far more school assets than an army of cave trolls put together. A simple fix for them, of course. But to muggles? Well, let's just say it wouldn't end all that well.
Sneaking Out To Hogsmeade
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Harry's invisibility cloak turned out to be one of the greatest assets in all the known wizarding world. Yet, rather than using it to sneak into Gringotts and harvest a fortune, he used it to slyly exit the school grounds and go on a field trip for a pint of Butterbeer.
Little did Harry know, of course, was that the parental permission forms that were given out to be signed before the trip, were actually put in place for his own good. With a murderer on the loose, it was the teachers' wish to stop Potter from being out in public. He came along anyway, of course, completely oblivious to the dangers that lurked beyond the shadows of Azkaban.
Attacking Snape
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Snape (Alan Rickman) wasn't exactly a rosy-cheeked professor that liked to play fair with his students, that's for sure. Harry faced the rough end of the stick the majority of the time, which led him to build a pretty strong hatred for the potions master.
The Prisoner of Azkaban, however, was a breaking point for Harry. It was within the shrieking shack that the third-year student went one step too far by attacking Snape. Doing such an atrocious thing to a teacher, of course, should have been the final nail in the coffin for Harry. Yet, it was brushed off as if it never even happened. Perks of being the chosen one, perhaps?
Dumbledore's Army
It's fair to say that Harry's head was usually in the right place and that he only ever thought about the well-being of his fellow students and the future of Hogwarts. Still, assembling an army, on the other hand, wasn't something that teachers would have glossed over should they have discovered such a thing.
It was understandable, what with Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) turning the beloved school upside down with a ludicrous amount of rules and what have you. But having said that, building an army under her nose probably wasn't the smartest thing to do if he had hoped to finish his school years at Hogwarts.
Almost Killing Draco
The feud between Harry and Draco (Tom Felton) was one for the books. After building up over several movies, the two were bound to reach boiling point and face-off in a winner-takes-all sort of scenario. It just so happened, of course, that they had their wish granted in The Half-Blood Prince.
Unaware of its effects, Harry cast a spell on Draco, countering one of the unforgiving curses in the process. Using said spell, however, more than likely would have killed Draco should Snape not have arrived to heal his bloody wounds. If news ever got out of Harry's wrongdoing, then he probably would have been sent straight to Azkaban. Or, in the muggle world, a maximum-security prison.
Crashing Into The Whomping Willow
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Not that every student has access to a car or anything, but those that do own one should probably try and steer clear of crashing it into school property. Or, in Harry and Ron's case, The Whomping Willow, which had been a part of the school grounds for "hundreds of years" according to Snape.
It goes without saying that, if you do happen to drive directly into a piece of your school's history, then you're more than likely going to end up with a pretty lofty fine, and maybe even a prison sentence. Luckily for Harry and Ron, Dumbledore was their headmaster, meaning all was forgiven and swept under the rug.
Breaking Dumbledore's Rules
Whenever certain rules were put in place by Dumbledore, the trio were often quick to discard them and take matters into their own hands. What started as trespassing onto the third floor, eventually transpired into lurking in the halls past curfew, and even breaking into forbidden sections of the library. Amazingly, all that was in the first year.
Throughout the saga, Harry, Ron, and Hermione must have broken a few dozen school rules at the very least. Should they have been in a muggle school, then they wouldn't have gotten away with half the things they did in Hogwarts. The bottom line is: when rules are enforced by the most powerful wizard in the known world, you, as a student, should probably follow them.