Editor’s note: As the last chapter in the last book of the Harry Potter series ended on September 1, 2017, InUth will revisit the franchise and bring you a series of interesting articles pertaining to the books.
Most of us who had started reading Harry Potter books in school were introduced to the novels through their movie adaptations. The first movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, came out in 2001, 4 years after the release of the novel of the same. It went on to become a worldwide commercial as well as critical success, intriguing children and young adult viewers globally. In India, children’s channels like Pogo TV, as well as HBO, targeted the movie towards children who wanted to look beyond the fad of Pokemon or Beyblade. For many young adult Indian readers, JK Rowling became the go-to author after Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl.
With 7 books of the Harry Potter franchise totalling more than 3400 pages, it is understandable that the producers had to leave a lot out of the movie adaptations. Still, we found that major plotlines and characters, that were essential to the books, were entirely left out of the movies and may have just confused the viewers who had not read the novels.
Here is a list of 5 such important storylines that were not included in the movies:
1. Hermoine’s potion challenge at the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
In order for the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermoine to get to the Philosopher’s Stone, they each had to overcome six challenges. After averting the three-headed guard dog, moving safely past tendrils of the Devil’s Snare and retrieving a flying key, Ron defeats Professor McGonagall’s impossible chess match. All this was included in the film. What was left out was the fifth challenge in the book where Hermoine solved Professor Snape’s potions’ riddle for Harry to proceed further.
Also Read: 10 key facts JK Rowling revealed about Harry Potter universe that shocked the world!
2. Peeves the Poltergeist
Peeves is a poltergeist at Hogwarts who is known to create mischief and disturbance throughout the Hogwarts castle and proves to be a constant pain to the school and its inhabitants. Though he was present in all the seven books, he played a central role in the fifth book when he constantly pranked Dolores Umbridge until she was kicked out of the school. He also fought in the Second Wizarding War against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
3. Peter Pettigrew’s death
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Peter Pettigrew, who had previously been hiding out as Ron’s pet rat, had caught Harry when the latter was attempting to flee the Malfoy Manor and tried to strangle him. It was when Harry reminded Pettigrew about the life debt he had owed Harry for saving him, that his magical arm strangled him to death for betraying Lord Voldemort. This was completely omitted from the movie, despite him being a principle antagonist.
Also Read: We bet you can’t guess how much JK Rowling earned through the Harry Potter franchise
4. The ‘Half-blood’ part in the Half-blood Prince
The sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, decided to skip the story behind the title. The movie only revealed that the Half-blood Prince was Professor Snape, however, failed to mention that Severus Snape’s father was Tobias Snape who was a muggle and his mother Eileen Prince was a pure wizard. Hence, the name!
5. Voldemort’s story
Lord Voldemort, or Tom Marvolo Riddle, was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin. Even though this fact was mentioned in the movies, what was left out was Voldemort’s entire family history. His father, Tom Riddle Sr, was a muggle and fell under a love spell of Merope Gaunt, daughter of Marvolo Gaunt. The Gaunts were a pure-blood family who descended from Cadmus Peverell, the owner of Resurrection Stone – one of the three deathly hallows. The Gaunt family played an important part in Voldemort’s backstory in the books but the movies chose to not mention them at all.
Also Read: 10 magical Harry Potter hacks that could make our lives easier
