Fourteen years ago one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons of the twenty first century took off when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released in theaters across the world. I myself was included among the millions of people that were enchanted by the boy who lived. I always made sure that I read the books prior to seeing the movies. This put me at an advantage over those who hadn't read the books because I could anticipate what was coming in most cases and fill in gaps when needed. On the other hand that was not always a good thing since I would so meticulously critique the movies almost to the point of nitpicking. That being said there are a number of things that still bug me about the movies to this day.
***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***
So let's dive into this list shall we?
1. Peter Pettigrew's death.
Let me count the ways that this disappointed me. This was one of my favorite parts in that entire book. It was so creative and genius and I applauded J.K. Rowling for this. The most saddening thing about this is that I would have taken at the most two more minutes in the movie to do it right. Everything leading up to it was right on track and to the book and then it just went completely off the rails. Also, with what we are given in the movie it leaves me wondering did he even die? He fell to the floor and that was it. He was never to be seen again.
2. No Peeves.
Other people who have made similar lists to this one have complained about this and I have to say I am in complete agreement. Why did we never get to see an on screen version of Hogwarts' resident poltergeist? He was just as important as any other ghost in the castle. It's a shame that those fans out there who have never read the books will never know the cheeky antics of this prankster.
3. Harry and Ginny's relationship.
I am a strong supporter of this relationship. However it never translated very well on to the screen. What we see appears to be highly forced making it kind of hard to accept the relationship. In the books we get to see the relationship get a much more natural start and watch the couple actually date. None of this randomly kissing in the room of requirement crap.
4. Forgetting Teddy Lupin.
First the injustice starts when Tonks is interrupted in the movie in the middle of announcing that she and Remus are expecting a baby, and the topic is never again brought up again. Numerous references to this character are left out including Harry being named his godfather. What we do get is a randomly thrown in comment close to the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2 when Harry is talking to Lupin's ghost and mentions his son. Those who have not read the books probably all asked "Wait… His what?" since that is the first and only mention of him at all. Poor Teddy.
5. No S.P.E.W.
Hermione's great cause that she fought so hard for and, according to updates J.K. Rowling has put on the Pottermore website, she ended up making her life's work. Not to mention this spanned over the course of multiple books in the series, and also cut into valuable Dobby time (may he rest in peace).
6. Where's Winky?
Tying into the S.P.E.W. thing is the absence of the little alcoholic house elf that inspired it all. While the role she played in the overall story was small it was still vital. Also with the omission of the this character from the movies it subsequently omitted valuable back story with Barty Crouch Jr. and his family.
7. Dementor's Kiss on Barty Crouch Jr.
Speaking of Barty Crouch Jr. where the heck was that dementor's kiss? You had this dangerous criminal who did all sorts of awful things who just seemed to disappear. In the film they make it look as though he was just simply returned to Azkaban prison when really his fate was much worse and permanent.
8. Rita Skeeter and her inside scoops and being an animagus.
Rita Skeeter was so much more cunning and underhanded on the page than she appeared on screen. Leaving out the tidbit about her being an animagus made me sad. That added an interesting aspect to her character that I am sad got lost in translation.
9. Half-Blood Prince fail.
Boy was the ball severely dropped on this one. You reveal that this illusive Half Blood Prince was none other than Professor Snape all along, but then never go into detail on HOW it's him? Would it have been so hard to include the scene with Hermione explaining that Snape was a half-blood who hated his muggle father and favored his magical mother whose maiden name was Prince? Five minutes you could have had that nice and neatly accomplished.
10. Voldermort's death.
I have never been comfortable with the way that the big bad of this long series finally met his demise on screen. Floating off into the wind to me leaves the door open to possibly come back. Now since this did happen at the end of the last installment and in the book we do know for sure he's dead so that's not really a concern we need to have. Come on though!
11. The third task of the Triwizard Tournament.
Where was the sphinx with her riddles and all the other cool things that were supposed to be in the maze? The maze on screen lacked so much in the movie in comparison to how it was presented in the book. Just one of the many things that makes the fourth movie one of the weakest in the series.
12. Neville almost the chosen one.
This was so immensely important in the series and it never made it into the movies! How different would everything had been if Neville had been chosen and Harry got to be just another normal wizard boy? Oh the possibilities!
13. Trip to St. Mungo's.
This scene wasn't exactly crucial to the overall plot of the Order of the Phoenix, but it was still a very good one. It's the one and only time we get to actually meet Neville's grandmother and it's where we find out the tragic back story of his parents. Plus on a side note we get to see an out of his mind Gilderoy Lockhart which I personally would have found entertaining since I never liked him much. The Easter eggs after the credits of the second movie just don’t cut it.
14. Missing memories about Voldermort.
Nearly half of the story of the Half Blood Prince consisted of memories pertaining to Voldermort. This gave great insight into his character and his history. Now I knew after reading the book that when this got turned into a film that not all of the content was going to make it on screen, but I never thought they would cut out nearly all of them. Sure the ones they kept were pretty much the most important ones, but it wouldn't have hurt to give a bit more.
15. Burning down the Weasleys' house.
Why oh why did this have to happen? This was such an unnecessary thing to add, and just down right mean. Sure no one got hurt, but how could you take away this family's home? They struggle so much as it is. That just wasn't right.
16. Why couldn’t Umbridge have been killed?
This is more of a grievance with the books than with the movies but I would like an explanation as to why beloved characters like Dobby and Fred Weasley were killed off by yet freaking Dolores Umbridge gets to live. She is arguably the most unlikable character in the whole series, and most fans can agree that they wanted her dead more than Voldermort. Why, J.K. Rowling, couldn't you have given us that?
17. How did Nearly Headless Nick receive the mandrake antidote?
Again this is more aimed towards the book but it was in the movie as well. It isn't really an issue I have as much as a question, but I've always wondered how in the world did they give a ghost mandrake antidote to un-petrify him? I can't for the life of me figure that one out.
18. Why was Dobby taken out of most of the movies he was in?
I don't understand why Dobby is not in any of the movies between Chamber of Secrets and Deathly Hallows Part 1. That was valuable time we were robbed of! Again that kind of leads back to the S.P.E.W. thing. So many things were affected because of that getting cut.
19. Why was Sirius not in Goblet of Fire?
Sort of on the same note why were we only given one pathetic scene with Sirius in the film version of the Goblet of Fire? He had so many more scenes in the book where they saw him face to face that I was looking forward to seeing. Also we got gypped of getting to see everyone's favorite hippogriff Buckbeak again.
Now don't get me wrong I do still adore these movies and re-watch them all the time. If it's Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family you better believe I am going to be glued to my television and nobody better try to get a hold of me. I guess I just pick at details because I love this series so much, and care about it so deeply.
So those are the things that really get to me. Was there anything I didn't include that you feel should have been on the list? Share them in the comments below!
