Spoiler warning! There are some mild spoilers ahead – turn back now if you’re not familiar with all the books…
Peeves!
There was one very large, very mischievous personality missing from the Harry Potter films – Peeves! The resident Hogwarts poltergeist was known for causing havoc and for being the thorn in Argus Filch’s side. Whether he was dropping walking sticks on Neville’s head, making up rude rhymes and names (Potty Wee Potter for one) or throwing water balloons at passing students, if there was chaos in the corridors – you could guarantee Peeves was at the centre of it. Though sometimes Peeves’ knack for creating pandemonium came in useful, like during the Battle of Hogwarts when he also joined the fight against the Death Eaters…
The Department of Mysteries
Ah, the Department of Mysteries. This was a place that caused Harry great pain in the Order of the Phoenix. While the film showed the death of Sirius, the discovery of the prophecy and Voldemort appearing at the Ministry of Magic, there were a few details that were left out. When Harry and his friends arrived at the Ministry on their misguided rescue mission, they found that the Department of Mysteries contained a multitude of – you guessed it – mysteries. Obviously, there were the prophecies, but there were also the floating brains that attacked Ron. There was the Time room which ended up causing a Death Eater’s head to revert back to a baby’s head. There was the chamber all about space with floating planets. And let’s not forget the room that wouldn’t open. We must say, this has to be one of the most fascinating and terrifying departments within the Ministry and we only got to see a fraction of the secrets that it contained…
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Marietta Edgecombe
If you have only seen the films, you might be surprised to hear that it wasn’t Cho Chang who betrayed Dumbledore’s Army to Professor Umbridge – it was Marietta Edgecombe. A friend of Cho’s and a fellow Ravenclaw, Marietta (reluctantly) joined the DA. After months training alongside everyone else, she ended up confessing all to Umbridge in her office. However, it wasn’t without consequence. Turns out, the piece of parchment used for the sign-up list had been hexed by the one and only Hermione Granger. After snitching on her fellow members, a series of hideous purple pustules erupted across her nose and cheeks spelling the word SNEAK. The hex had been done so well, that even Madam Pomfrey had difficulty removing them.
How Fred and George left Hogwarts
The Weasley twins were excellent showmen and their exit from Hogwarts was no exception. In the Order of the Phoenix film, the twins left Hogwarts in a blaze of magical fireworks and mayhem – leaving behind a disrupted O.W.L. and a lightly-singed Umbridge. However, the book was a little different. Although Fred and George set off a load of Weasleys’ Wildfire Whiz-bangs, it wasn’t their final escapade as students. That happened when they let loose one of their Portable Swamps on the fifth floor of the east wing. With the whole floor (and several students) covered in what looked like Stinksap, the twins decided that that was that for them. They were done with full-time education and were certainly not going to allow Umbridge (or Filch) to punish them…
Did we mention that they didn’t leave any instructions on how to remove it? Obviously, Flitwick or McGonagall could have vanished it in seconds – but why help Umbridge? When Flitwick did eventually make it disappear, he left a tiny bit roped off because it really was a rather good bit of magic…
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Two missing challenges in Philosopher’s Stone
When Harry, Ron and Hermione went through the trapdoor they faced a multitude of difficult obstacles. While most of these were featured in the first film (knight to E5 anyone?) there were a couple that were missing. Firstly, there was the mountain troll, a test set by Professor Quirrell as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The aim was to find a way to get past the hulking creature. Luckily, even though they had already defeated a troll earlier in the year, the golden trio were spared having to defeat this one. Quirrell had beaten them too it – apparently he had a special gift with these smelly creatures.
The other task that was missing was the potions puzzle and this was Hermione’s time to shine. She had to use logic to solve the riddle of the seven potions laid out on the table in unmarked bottles. Only one would allow the drinker to move safely onwards through the black flames and one would allow the drinker to retreat through the purple flames. There were a couple of bottles of nettle wine… and let’s not forget the three that contained poison and would kill you outright (yikes). Obviously, the cleverest witch of her age was able to make swift work of the puzzle and Harry was able to move on to the final chamber and one step closer to the Philosopher’s Stone.
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Petunia’s Howler
Though the Dementor attack against Harry and Dudley was in both the book and the film, the aftermath of the incident looked slightly different. Specifically, when a certain Howler arrived for Aunt Petunia after Uncle Vernon tried to kick Harry out of their house once and for all!
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Cornelius Fudge meeting the Muggle Prime Minister
The Muggle and magical worlds feel so completely separate. After all, they each have their own governments, school systems, hospitals and way of life. Obviously, there are some Muggles that know the wizarding world exists (like those who end up having magical children). Yet there is one high ranking Muggle that we only realised was in on the secret in Half-Blood Prince – the Muggle Prime Minister. In the Prime Minister’s office there was a magical portrait connected to the Ministry of Magic. In this instance, the portrait asked if Cornelius Fudge could have a meeting with the Prime Minister. Once the Prime Minister agreed, Fudge swiftly arrived using the Floo Network and warned the Muggle Prime Minister of the return of Voldemort and introduced him to the new Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour.
Harry and Cho’s truly terrible date
An extremely excruciating encounter that we don’t see in the fifth film is the date between Harry and Cho. After sharing a kiss, the two of them agreed to go to Madam Puddifoot’s teashop on Valentine’s Day of all days – far too much pressure for a first date. After some rather stilted conversation things went from uncomfortable to disastrous pretty fast. Firstly, there was the fact that Cho wanted to talk about the death of her former boyfriend Cedric whilst surrounded by lovey-dovey couples and cherubs. Then Harry mentioned he was going to go and meet up with Hermione and wanted to cut their date short as a result. Finally, Harry laughed when Cho was upset. Things never really recovered after that…
Harry’s anger at Dumbledore at the end of Order of the Phoenix
By the end of the fifth book, Harry seemed to have the weight of the entire (wizarding) world on his shoulders. Not only had Sirius – an important father figure in his life – been killed when rescuing him and his friends but he had also discovered that he was the Chosen One and the only person who could defeat Voldemort. That would be a huge burden for anyone to bear – especially a child. So, it’s no wonder that Harry reached his limit. Harry had also felt abandoned by Dumbledore during this year and in a scene between the two of them that wasn’t featured in the film, all the strain, grief, rage and guilt that Harry felt bubbled over leaving Dumbledore and his office to take the brunt of it…
Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party
Of course we have all heard of birthdays (cake, presents – what’s not to love?). But have you heard of a deathday? Like a birthday celebrates the day you were born, a deathday celebrates the day you, um… die. And in the Chamber of Secrets book, Harry, Ron and Hermione were invited to Nearly Headless Nick’s five hundredth Deathday Party on Hallowe’en There were the Hogwarts ghosts. There was rotten food. There was the Headless Hunt. There was music that sounded like a thousand fingernails scraping against a blackboard. There were sombre decorations. Sounds like quite the soiree! Certainly one that Harry, Ron and Hermione weren’t likely to forget.
The Battle of the Astronomy Tower
As the movies were packed full of action, you might be surprised to hear that one battle was not included in full – the Battle of the Astronomy Tower. While we saw the tragic death of Dumbledore and the skirmish between Harry, Snape and a few Death Eaters the books showed a much bigger fight. In fact, Hogwarts professors, the Order of the Phoenix and members of Dumbledore’s Army were all standing guard, ready to protect the castle from the Death Eaters who had broken in through the Vanishing Cabinet. And this fight wasn’t without consequence. As well as the death of Dumbledore, Bill Weasley was left scarred for life at the hands of Fenrir Greyback.
The Weasleys visit Privet Drive
One of Harry’s most exciting summers had to be when he went to go and see the Quidditch World Cup with Hermione and the Weasleys. With all the excitement of the biggest sporting event of the wizarding world – it’s no wonder the films wanted to jump straight into the action with them travelling to see it. However, in the books we get to see a little more – including the Weasleys picking Harry up from Privet Drive. Let’s just say that the meeting between the Dursleys and the Weasleys didn’t go very well. Demolishing their fireplace and Fred ‘accidentally’ dropping a few Ton-Tongue Toffees saw to that…
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If you enjoyed part two, make sure to check out part one of our list of things you can only find in the books!
