Harry Potter — Books Vs Movies

The most of us are familiar with Harry Potter, either from the novels or the films. I finished all of the novels and even saw the movies. This series was influential in my life since it exposed me to fantasy, wizards, witches, and magic. J.K. Rowling is also a great inspiration for me when it comes to writing stories. I’m not here to compare books and movies; rather, I’m here to inform you about the changes that were made when novels were turned into movies.

Here are differences between the books and the movies:

Warning: Contains spoilers

1. Dumbledore had a funeral

We see the heartbreaking incident where Dumbledore falls off the Astronomy Tower when Snape casts the killing spell on him in Half-Blood Prince.
Sadly, the funeral scene, which was attended by hundreds of people, including the ministry, was not featured in the films. If the funeral scene had been included in the films, it would have been absolutely heartbreaking.

2. Two more obstacles in the “Sorcerer’s Stone”

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione meet Hagrid’s three-headed dog Fluffy, get entangled in Professor Sprout’s Devil’s Snare, pursue Professor Flitwick’s enchanted keys, and play Professor McGonagall’s game of Wizard’s Chess. Finally, Harry acquires the stone with the aid of Dumbledore’s spell, the Mirror of Erised.

To reach those there had to encounter five obstacles which were set up by the professors in Hogwarts. However in the books, there were two more obstacles. One was the other troll sent by Professor Quirrell and Snape’s Potion riddle challenge.

3. Tragedy of Neville’s parents

Neville Longbottom’s backstory was not highlighted in the movies, mostly about his parents. Only a photograph of Alice and Frank Longbottom appears in the films, which Sirius shares with Harry in “Order of the Phoenix.”

In the fifth book, however, Harry, Ron, and Hermione encounter Neville’s parents by mistake in their hospital ward at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. They both had significant mental-health issues after being attacked, captured, and tortured during the First Wizarding War, which prevented them from reentering society or parenting their son.

This made the reader’s feel bad for Neville and this the reason why Neville was included in the final fight against Voldemort

4. The Prophecy

Dumbledore goes into great detail in the Order of the Phoenix book on the significance of the Prophecy, how it binds Harry to the Durselys, and why Neville Longbottom might have been the chosen one.

But in the movies they only focused on “neither can live while the other survives” part of the Prophecy. This was an important part of the whole plot of harry potter and they could have included the whole details in the movies to have more impact on the audience.

5. Ginny and Harry

In the books, the relation between Ginny and Harry was conveyed perfectly with a great depth, at least enough to develop a real dynamic and chemistry. In the movies Ginny even had a less screen time and Harry didn’t show much interest in her. It felt like he just showed some respect just because she is Ron’s sister.

Harry’s sudden attraction to his closest friend’s younger sibling near the end of the journey is strange.

There are many other differences which will be mentioned in future blog posts.