All The Great Things The "Harry Potter" Movies Added And All The Things They Shouldn't Have

TBH this is just another excuse to rewatch them all.

It has been 21 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published and 17 years since the first movie premiered. Ever since, people have been comparing the books and the films.

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Both hold a very special place in my heart so I can confidently say, yes, sometimes the Harry Potter films do it better than the books... *pause for gasp* annnnddddd sometimes they don't. Let's review some evidence. First up:

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1. Better in the movie: The Mirror of Erised only has Harry’s parents.

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When Harry looks into the Mirror of Erised in the books he sees his entire extended family, but when he looks in the films he sees just his parents. By stripping this down to just the classic family photo it really drives home the point of Harry wishing for a life he didn't get to have.

2. Worse in the movie: Cutting the Sorting Hat's song.

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The Sorting Hat's song is important not only because it gives a brief overview of each individual house, but later in the series the song changes over time to reflect what is happening at Hogwarts. It would have been fun to hear a different version every movie.

3. Better in the movie: Cutting the potions test to get to the Philosopher's Stone.

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Cutting out the last potions test is a good choice. Some people might say this cuts down on Hermione's heroics, which while valid, isn't necessary to the overall plot because we already see her being a total BAMF with the Devil's Snare test.

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4. Better in the movie: Professor McGonagall tells the students about the Chamber of Secrets.

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The books had Professor Binns, the ghost and also history teacher, explain the Chamber of Secrets to the nervous second years, but he's not in the films so McGonagall does it instead. Showing McGonagall's DGAF attitude about the Chamber of Secrets makes the reveal of the Chamber actually being reopened even crazier because McGonagall is never wrong!

5. Worse in the movie: Making Ginny’s role smaller.

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Ginny in the books is a total baddie, taking names on the quidditch pitch and throwing bat bogey hexes at anyone who crosses her path. The part they wrote for Ginny in the movies, however, is a much quieter, kinda boring Ginny that just doesn’t live up to the characters spirit.

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6. Better in the movie: The "Double Trouble" song and choir.

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The double double toil and trouble song is a bop! Taking Shakespeare’s words and putting them into song is so freaking clever. Also, this explains why in the name of Merlin anyone would bring a toad to school and not a cat or an owl. No offense, Trevor.

7. Worse in the movie: Not explaining The Marauders.

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But for all the pretty scenery and fun additions we see in the third installment something had to give and, in a weird choice, that was major plot points, specifically The Marauders. Not having just one line explaining that James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are actually the Marauders really messes with how cool the plot of the third book is. And noooo Lupin saying Mischief Managed is just not enough. Also more Marauders stuff never hurt anyone, come on.

8. Worse in the movie: Cutting out Gryffindor finally winning the Quidditch Cup in Harry's third year.

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Why did we not get to see the Gryffindors win the Quidditch Cup???? OLIVER WOOD DESERVED BETTER!!

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9. Better in the movie: Triwizard tournament school entrances.

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I’m allllll about the Durmstrang’s magical ship and the giant Beauxbatons carriage but doubling down and making an even grander entrance into the Great Hall is fire. Literally for Durmstrang.

10. Worse in the movie: Dumbledore yelling at Harry after The Goblet of Fire spits out his name.

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The book quote is "Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly. CALMLY. This scene is a total turnaround from the Dumbledore we know and love that always has everything together, and would rather listen than act out violently. Why even attack Harry about this?? If you are scared someone is coming after him why throw him against a freaking cabinet? No logic here.

11. Better in the movie: The dragon test in The Goblet of Fire.

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The entire treatment of the Triwizard Tournament in the movies only makes them better, especially the first task with the dragons. Like, yeah, of course a dragon would fly after someone on a broom. So fun to watch!

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12. Worse in the movie: Cutting out Neville’s parents.

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When our trio and Ginny visit Mr. Weasley at St. Mungo’s they accidentally stumble into not only Gilderoy Lockhart but also Neville’s parents. This is such an important part of Neville’s backstory that I wish we could have seen played out in the films. We all needed more Matthew Lewis.

13. Better in the movie: Sirius accidentally calling Harry, James.

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Right before Sirius dies he tells Harry “Nice One!” But in the movie they add one little word that makes a TON of difference, “Nice one, James!” Having Sirius confuse Harry with his father adds all sorts of depth to their relationship as well as adding a lot more tears to my movie watch.

14. Better in the movie: Harry being possessed during the battle of the Ministry of Magic.

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There’s a battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore at The Ministry of Magic that follows pretty close to the book right up until when Voldemort possesses Harry. Basically in the book when Harry gets possessed he asks for death because he’ll get to be with Sirius which is what drives Voldemort out. In the movie we get to see him fight back a little more, using the classic power of love and friendship to save himself. Its a subtle change but watching Harry fight to stay alive instead of just wanting death here makes the scene work a lot better.

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15. Better in the movie: The lighting of the wands.

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Having everyone raise their wands when tragedy strikes has now become basically canon in its popularity. I barely remembered it wasn’t in the books! Such a great add to watch darkness be banished by light!

16. Worse in the movie: Burning down The Burrow.

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The burning down of The Burrow just doesn’t make sense. The entire sequence feels more like a dream than reality and it just sucks. We already know everything and everyone is in danger. It would also help explain Ron's departure from Hermione and Harry later on if the Burrow were still alive and well as it was in the books.

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17. Better in the movie: Hermione erasing her parents memories.

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Having Hermione obliviate her parents so they don’t come after or worry about her is such a “feels so bad it’s great” moment. This shows a side of Hermione's unique situation of having muggle parents that was never touched on in the books.

18. Worse in the movie: Cutting out Dudley's change of heart.

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Speaking of Harry’s family its a real bummer that we don’t get to see Dudley’s change of heart in the films (made all the more upsetting since the deleted scene was soooo close to getting put in!). In the books Dudley stands up for Harry in his own way saying, “I don’t think you’re a waste of space.” This goes to prove JK Rowlings point, yet again, that people aren’t always what they appear to be and have the ability to change and grow. The turn around is so great that Harry even has his family visit Dudley’s every year when his kids are growing up. Nice one, Big D!

19. Better in the movie: Harry and Hermione’s Dance.

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They add such a sweet moment in the movies when Harry and Hermione feel so down and out that Harry turns on a song for them to just dance too. The whole moment from song to acting is perfection. It’s so sweet to see their friendship without it being in any way romanticized for drama.

20. Worse in the movie: Cutting Pettigrew’s death.

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In the books there is an interesting turn of events that because Harry saved Peter Pettigrew that Peter now owes him a debt. So, when he tries to kill Harry with his newfangled silver hand, a symbol of how much he did for Voldemort, it turns on him and he strangles himself. So, Peter P. dies by his own hand which is some pretty sweet poetic justice. The movie just has him being stunned which is pretty anti-climatic.

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21. Better in the movie: Harry confronting Snape in The Great Hall.

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A totally awesome addition to the movies is having Harry reveal himself to now Headmaster Snape in the Great Hall. “How dare you stand where he stood?” is such a great line!! This moment makes Snape’s memories of being Dumbledore's right hand man, and a surprising ally of Harry's throughout the series, even more gut wrenching.

22. Worse in the movie: Treating the Slytherins like garbage before the The Battle of Hogwarts.

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One of the main points of HP is that not everyone is evil so that's why it’s so shocking when they change McGonagall offering that any student who is of age can fight, to instead just lumping all the Slytherins together and saying “the dungeons would do” for where to put them.

23. Worse in the movie: Voldemort and Harry’s Final Fight

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First of all, can we talk about that weird almost-kiss before leaping off the side of a building fight they had?? So weirdddd. Next, It is much more powerful in the books for Voldemort to die a normal death especially with his own curse rebounding. One of Voldemort's infamous quotes is, "There is nothing worse than death." To just have him evaporate into nothing takes away that he really was a man and not some mythical creature. Not to mention that you don’t get to have Harry taking him to task for not understanding anything about love. A simpler ending would have worked better.

24. Worse in the movie: Breaking the Elder Wand.

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In the book Harry fixes his old wand with the Elder Wand and then returns it to Dumbledore’s tomb. In the movie HARRY BREAKS THE MOST POWERFUL WAND IN HALF LIKE A TOOTHPICK. Did he fix his other wand? You’re just gonna throw something as powerful as that into a ravine? What is wrong with you Harry James Potter??

25. Do you want to keep the magic going? Check out this video!

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What were your favorite parts of the films? What did you wish they would have kept from the books? Are you a Peeves stan? Let us know in the comments below!