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As someone who has read an absurd amount of fanfiction, I’m willing to bet that this (adults holding the idiot ball) was done on purpose because if the adults aren’t morons then there’s no plot tension for our protagonists to resolve.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AdultsAreUseless
I don't know if this is quite the correct trope, but it's close, at least. It's common in any kid/teen story that the adults are complete screw-ups, and it's up to the brave child heroes to do anything about it. I always think of it as the Goonies plot (my first obvious exposure to the trope) but I'm sure it goes back way further than that.
“Why is everyone so dumb?”
Inbreeding. The answer is inbreeding. It makes sense of Hermione being the smartest person at hogwarts.
Hey, not all the adults are incompetent. Some of them, like Dumbledore, are malicious.
I remember first hearing Big D talking about letting Harry die for the cause. Oh, my preteen heart couldn't handle the thought! "Like cattle?? How dare he!" and so on.