Harry Potter has been capturing the attention of audiences everywhere since 2001, when the first movie was released. The movies aren’t always completely on par with the novels, due to the fact that the screenwriter is trying to cram hundreds of pages of plot into a two-hour (give or take) movie. So here is a quick explanation of key elements left out of the movies that could affect the latest movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1. CAUTION: spoilers ahead!
Let’s start with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The movie features the entire Triwizard Tournament, but it is missing Hermione’s house elf support group, S.P.E.W., and really anything about house elves in general. The movie ends with a showdown between Harry and Lord Voldemort, the death of Cedric Diggory (the first of many deaths in books/movies to come), and the threat of more trouble from Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
The next in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is the longest novel but the shortest film. Delores Umbridge’s regime and Dumbledore’s Army make the cut; however, a key missing element is Quidditch. Readers may remember that Ron Weasley makes the team and there is an important scene when Harry, Fred, and George get banned from Quidditch for fighting with Draco Malfoy. The movie ends with the death of Sirius Black during an intense fight between the Death Eaters and a few members from Dumbledore’s Army, including Harry. Bellatrix Lestrange kills Sirius Black, and so this fuels Harry’s desire to seek revenge on Bellatrix.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is missing a lot of key elements. In the book, Dumbledore shows Harry many of his memories in order to inform him what Horcruxes are so that he can defeat Lord Voldemort. The movie only shows two memories: Dumbledore meeting Tom Riddle, and Horace Slughorn’s experience with Tom Riddle. Therefore, Harry doesn’t yet know as much about Horcruxes as he did in the book. Another major mistake is at the end of the film after Snape kills Dumbledore. Harry finds himself in Dumbledore’s office and Dumbledore’s wand (the Elder Wand) is sitting on the desk, when it should be inside Dumbledore’s grave so that a certain someone can steal it in the seventh movie.
How will all of these mistakes make the seventh movie work?
Well, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 does in fact stay fairly true to the book. Of course, there are mistakes, so I’ll repeat this—
CAUTION: spoilers ahead!
One crucial mistake is that Harry barely uses his invisibility cloak. It is used a lot in the book (because it’s important to the Deathly Hallows themselves), but it is completely left out in the movie. A number of scenes are altered, including the initial escape from the wedding, Harry and Hermione’s time in Godric’s Hollow, and when the three escape from Xenofilius Lovegood’s home. Another mistake: at Bill and Fleur’s wedding, Harry is supposed to be disguised as a Weasley cousin, but instead remains himself during the scene. Here is one final slip-up in the film, so as to not reveal too much: in the novel, the word “Voldemort” is tracked so that the Death Eaters are able to find anyone who says it. After Harry accidentally says the word, the snatchers appear to take him, Ron, and Hermione. Yet in the film, the snatchers just appear out of nowhere (and there are also some missing characters in the scene with the snatchers).
Those are all the mistakes for now, so you’ll just have to see the movie if you’re interested in finding more. Oh, and one quick piece of advice: if you haven’t read the books, watch the sixth movie again before seeing this one. There are a lot of characters and terms that can get confusing. The first part of the seventh movie is definitely worth seeing, and could be the best yet in the series. With everything that happened in part one, the second part should be just as good, providing it includes scenes at Hogwarts with the Death Eaters and Voldemort, as well as complete explanations as to what the rest of the Horcruxes are. It was a very good choice to split this book into two movies so that nearly everything is covered, with some dialogue straight from the book itself. So watch, enjoy, and surround yourself with the magic!
