So when Harry Potter and its 7 books made it to theaters, Potterheads were quick to point out the differences from J.K. Rowling’s writings to the films. Here are some of those details.
Harry’s eyes are the wrong color
At one point in every Harry Potter movie, someone points out that the boy wizard has the face of his father James and his mother’s eyes.
This resemblance was supposed to be easy, but the movies fell at the first installment.
Movie Harry has blue eyes instead of green, and that’s due to Daniel Radcliffe not being able to tolerate contacts, though his mother Lily is also shown to have brown eyes.
Dumbledore is anything but calm
One inaccuracy in the films turned a small moment in the Goblet of Fire book into a legendary meme.
In the book, Harry’s name flies out of the magical goblet, so Dumbledore calmly asks Harry if he put his name in for consideration.
But in the movie, Dumbledore shouts the question at Harry while charging like a bull, single-handedly creating the “calmly” meme.
Voldemort is a hugger now
Voldemort, written as one of the most terrifying villains in literary history, is described as having a snake-like, noseless face, tremulous voice and ferocious determination.
But in the Deathly Hallows: Part Two movie, the dark lord hugs Draco Malfoy. Why?
Ralph Fiennes improvised the moment to surprise and unseat actor Tom Felton, but instead of him coming off as scary and unhinged, the moment just felt surreal and awkward.
There’s no Peeves the Poltergeist
The ghosts of Hogwarts makes the world of Harry Potter feel so rich and storied.
But fans quickly noticed one ghost conspicuously missing from the movies: Peeves.
The late British comedian Rik Mayall was cast in the role, but for some unknown reason, his scenes were cut from the release, and even the deleted footage was never shown.
Hermione explains what a Mudblood is
In the Harry Potter books, everyone’s Golden Trio work so well together since they all have their strengths.
Harry is the natural leader, Hermione is really book-smart, while Ron is pragmatic, knowing much about the wizarding world.
But despite this, Hermione in the films, who didn’t grow up in magical society, explains the “mudblood” slur to Ron, instead of it happening the other way around.
St. Mungos never appears on screen
The characters get their fair share of injuries across all 7 (8?) movies, so it’s unusual that we were never shown St. Mungo’s, the wizarding hospital.
Plenty of time is spent there in the books, but the location never made it to the big screen, which is heartbreaking as it means Neville Longbottom’s parents, who live in St. Mungo’s, are never shown.
Harry throws the Elder wand away
At the end of Deathly Hallows: Part Two, Harry snaps the powerful magical artefact called the Elder wand in half, then throws it into the Great Lake.
This ends the danger of another evil wizard potentially using the wand for their own ends, but it’s a significant change from the books, in which the said wand is buried with Dumbledore.
Winky the elf is noticeably absent
Dobby the house elf is one of the film’s most beloved characters, so it seems odd that one of the other elf characters in the books doesn’t appear in the movies.
Winky the house elf is a freed elf who moves into the Hogwarts kitchen in the later books, but is nowhere to be found, though most of her scenes are spent crying and drinking anyway.
Dudley never gets his redemption arc
Dudley, while not being a full-fledged villain, is one of the most despicable characters in Harry Potter.
Despite this, he does get a vaguely admirable ending in the books.
His last interaction with Harry saw him shake his cousin’s hand and says he doesn’t think Harry is a waste of space.
This scene was filmed, but never made it to the final cut.
Ginny’s feistiness is totally gone
One gripe readers have with the movies is Ginny Weasley’s portrayal.
Far from the hot-headed, caring firecracker in the books, Ginny in the movies has a reputation for being demure and dull.
Key scenes, like screaming at Ron to stay out of her dating life, plus her friendship with Luna Lovegood, are totally absent from the films.
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