What does it mean to be a true fan? That’s a loaded question really. When they hear the phrase, some will picture rabid fanboys/girls, blindly defending absolutely everything that Justin Bieber or One Direction do, say and sell. This is what happens when you take the word fanatic all the way literally.
Other times, you’re quibbling over movie adaptions. For some, you’re not a true fan unless you totally support the video game versions, the movies, the books, all of it. Harsh terms, but that’s the mindset of some.
The Harry Potter franchise is quite lucky in that regard. The movies aren’t perfect adaptions of the books, but they’re not farcical disasters like the Super Mario movie (Bob Hoskins, trying to pass off Jurassic Park’s raptors as goombas…) or –going in the opposite direction— Superman 64. In every stage of the production of the movies, it was clear that a lot of Potter love was being pumped into them. That’s something we can really appreciate.
Naturally, though, there were several characters, plotlines and other moments that didn’t make it onto the big screen, and that’s a shame. Are the movies any worse off for it? Well, yes, but how much? That all depends on your perspective. And how much you wanted to see Peeves making people set their own underpants on fire, as he did in the books.
The big question is, which side are you on? Movies or books? Check out these hilarious comics and decide for yourself.
25 When Neville Longbottom Was Passed Up As The Chosen One
Speaking of characters who got a super tough break in the movies, how about our friend Neville Longbottom? Granted, the poor guy had a rough time in the books too, but at least he got to be more significant. The fact that Trelawney’s prophecy could have referred to Harry or Neville, and Voldemort ‘chose’ is own archenemy by attacking the Potters, isn’t a thing at all.
The interesting thing is, as book Dumbledore pointed out, Neville was also born at the end of July, as Harry was, to parents that had defied Voldemort multiple times already. These are the specifics of the prophecy, and so it could have equally applied to Neville as well. It was only the business about Voldemort ‘marking him as his equal’ that made Harry the Chosen One, which happened when Riddle left that legendary lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
All of this isn’t just skated over in the movies, it’s entirely absent. Granted, movie Neville had the fortunate bonus of growing up and becoming Matthew freaking Lewis, but I’m not sure that’s entirely worth your story arc being swept under the carpet like that. On the other hand, we see less of the bullying and torment that Neville endured in the books, so I guess there’s that.
24 When You’re Taking Things Slowly –Super Slowly—With Ginny
Here’s another of those subtle, slow-burner nuances that are super difficult to convey in a movie. When Harry first visits the Weasley’s home in Chamber of Secrets, he gets a first chance to speak to Ginny, Ron’s younger sister (and the only girl in the huge Weasley tribe). She has quite a crush on the boy wizard, and is completely unable to speak to him. Over the course of the novels afterwards, they develop a close friendship, which eventually blossoms into a romantic relationship. When Harry leaves on the Horcrux hunt, the two are forced to part.
It’s all very emotional and heart-rending, as these sorts of situations always are. You can imagine Harry, all forlorn in that tent, playing that Avril Lavigne album over and over on that iPod that he doesn’t have. Eventually, though, all is well, they reunite and start a family together.
That whole emotional ride the pair went on is largely absent from the books. It’s extraneous, for the most part, so we dash through it all at Star Trek warp speed.
Again, this totally suits some fans, while others (the completionists, I guess you could say) are left wanting to know more. There are some incredibly poignant moments in Harry and Ginny’s relationship, and the tentative way it’s presented in the movies doesn’t always do that justice.
23 When You… Something About The Half-Blood Prince, Whoever That Is
As the Harry Potter franchise started drawing to a close and the final pieces began to slot into place, the action ramped way up. Sure, we’d been seeing Voldemort hiding under a turban on the back of someone’s head and gigantic three-headed dogs right from the start, but this was action on a whole new plane. All of that business at the end of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince marked the beginning of the end.
Not just for Dumbledore, you understand. His end had very much… ended.
As is always the case in movieland, that heightened pace was even more apparent on the screen. There was no messing around with tangents here. Only the most vital information made the cut. In the novel, Harry becomes consumed by the Half-Blood Prince and his identity, but we see very little of that in the movie, beyond a few off-hand references. Who’s Roonil Wazlib? You’ll never know if you haven’t read the book.
Snape’s big reveal that he is the Half-Blood Prince was a dramatic moment in the book. I’d long been wondering myself, as had legions of other rabid readers. In the movie, duplicitous potions master tells Harry it was him, and then it’s quickly glossed over.
22 When Snape Actually Isn’t Such A Mean Guy In The Movies
Well, I’m not so sure about that one. You can say what you will about Snape. His reformed character, his edgy anti-hero status, how darn magnificent Alan Rickman looked in that wig (because he totally rocked it, let’s all be honest with ourselves here), all of it. I’m totally down with that, but let’s not forget that he was an incredibly cruel and intimidating teacher.
Not only to Harry, but to just about the whole non-Slytherin portion of the school.
I don’t care if you’re completely fabulous, Snape, there’s no universe in which that’s any sort of cool. You can’t just bust out the magical memories tears at the end of seven long years of being a d-bag and make everything instantly okay again. I mean, sure, you did, but still.
We’ve already seen the differences between Lily’s portrayals in the movie/book flashbacks, but how about Snape’s?
In the book, his first encounter with Lily and Petunia is just a train wreck. He terrifies Petunia, outright attacks her (albeit maybe with accidental magic) and just all-around endears himself to nobody. In the books, we get an almost romanticised version of this meeting, as Snape helps his new friend comes to terms with being magical. The question is, which was the right route to take with this?
21 When Dobby Just Isn’t The Darn Hero He Should Be
You know, when it comes to his movie appearance, Dobby is one character that truly surprised me. Much of this is because I really goofed while reading the books. The house elf is described as wearing a pillowcase, so I got this ridiculous idea of him as a rectangular, pillow-shaped creature that saw through eye-holes cut in the case. Like a child’s lazy Halloween costume. Yep, I’ve just admitted that. Just don’t judge me. Do you know how old I was when Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was first released? Well, old enough to know better, but let’s not dwell on that.
The house elves, in general, got quite the rough break in the movies. Dobby’s own part is reduced to a few cameos, and other than Kreacher, we don’t see any of the many others that feature in the books at all.
That moment at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, though… my feels were not prepared for that.
Not at all.
True to their subservient nature, these curious creatures were totally underrepresented in the movies, far more so than in the books. Why didn’t we get to see Dobby wearing fifteen hats on his head at the same time, as he did in the books? Why?
20 When A Little Of Lily Potter’s Mojo Got Lost In Translation
In a lot of ways, this is a similar case to Neville’s and Dobby’s.
Sometimes, you’ll truly enjoy a book, and happily cruise off to watch the movie adaption. Once there, you’ll likely find that certain characters are nothing like the way you imagined them to be, whether physically, the way they act, or something else. This is a huge deal for the more dedicated fans out there, who have cast-iron images of these characters in their minds.
They know how they all think and act, who they’re shipping with who, and they’ve got thirty-four chapters of fan fiction written already. You can’t just mess with characters like that. I can’t guarantee your safety if you do.
So where do you stand with movie Lily versus book Lily? In both cases, we don’t see very much of her (for obvious reasons, really; let’s not begrudge a person their quiet time post-life), but you can glean quite a bit from her limited time in the spotlight.
In the movies, for me, Lily is more often seen as a kind of poetic, artsy figure than a person. What with those fancy flowers of Snape’s and the lakeside imagery and all. I get the feeling that we’re presented with an image of the perfect, brave, loving mother that Harry has carried around in his head, as opposed the feisty, far more real woman that we see in the books.
19 When Peter Pettigrew Just Became A Rat-Faced Nonentity
Ah, now here’s an interesting one. Peter Pettigrew is a character that I’ve always felt needed a little more explanation. More history. A little elaboration. We know, of course, that he was a Marauder, one of James Potter’s childhood friend. We know that he was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but turned to Voldemort and his motley crew; eventually becoming the man who betrayed the Potters to his master.
We also know that he spent twelves years of his life shuffling around the Weasley’s house as Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers, which is a hilarious concept (didn’t friend and George notice on the map that Ron was sleeping with a man named Peter Pettigrew in his bed every night?) but isn’t too relevant to the discussion at hand.
When his old friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin caught up with him, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (book and movie alike), he tries to excuse his crimes by saying Voldemort misled him, or forced him in some way. I’ve always been interested in this idea, particularly considering how witches and wizards can influence each other’s behaviour so easily.
Just how bad was Wormtail? I can’t really say.
All I know for sure is that his fate was left super ambiguous in the movies.
18 When There’s Something A Little Off About The Marauders
Speaking of the dastardly and d-bag-ly Peter Pettigrew, though, there’s one thing that we really do need to stop and appreciate. How absolutely perfect for the role was Timothy Spall? Your views may differ, naturally, but in my eyes, he was one of the actors who best fitted the character as I saw them.
Timothy Spall is unfortunate enough to have found himself typecast as an awkward, sniveling, reprehensible little rat-man (see also: Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street). As such, he was a born Peter Pettigrew, and it was greast to see him in the third movie looking exactly as the character I imagined from the book. That’s a rare thing, in my experience.
The other Marauders, as we see here, are a bit more of a mixed bag. Much like his son, James Potter has none of that super-messy hair the books speak of, while Sirius seems to have picked that up in their stead. When we first meet him, he’s also got a brilliantly manic quality –courtesy of Gary Oldman– which I wasn’t really picking up from the page. As for Lupin? Well, not a lot’s changed here. I did like the cast of David Thewlis for the part.
17 When Hermione Totally Drops The SPEW Act
So, yes. As we’ve seen, there was a distinct lack of house elves in the movie adaptions. The books go into far more detail on the lives of these interesting little creatures. Those lavish feasts that Hogwarts holds in the great hall? All of that food is prepared by a team of house elves in the kitchens, and sent on up to the tables. You can get to the kitchens of Hogwarts via a secret entryway, access by tickling a pear in a painting of a bowl of fruit in just the right way.
For the movies, these were minor details, and there was no darn room for any of it. It’s a shame, because these little tidbits can prove quite interesting for those who like to dig a little deeper with the characters. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we learn these details about the castle’s resident elves, and Hermione founds SPEW (Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare) in support of them. While this is clearly a side story to the main plot, it’s a great little aside.
At the same time, though, if you prefer stories that are more streamlined and less ‘cluttered,’ this really isn’t the sort of thing you’ll lose sleep over.
16 When Rupert Grint Isn’t What He Could Have Been
Now, don’t get me wrong here. I definitely enjoyed Rupert Grint’s performance as Ron Weasley, and everything he brought to the character. Those constant hilarious faces he pulled throughout Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? They were some of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen in a movie. You’ve got to appreciate that.
Nevertheless, though, as I’ve said, some fans will never be happy. There are those who go into a movie theater having already decided that they’re not going to like it, and that’s a darn tough mindset to bring around. For every fan of Rupert Grint and his performance as Ron, there’ll be those who disapproved in some way. That’s just how it goes.
It depends how persnickety you want to be, really. Take book Ron’s heavily-freckled face, which Grint has precisely zero of. I don’t have any issues with that at all, but how about this scene? Which approach would you favour here? The more comedic, snarky take from the movie (movie Ron would go right along with that, in a sarcastic sort of way), or the more rebellious, bad-mouthing Ron that JK Rowling originally wrote? It’s all personal preference, and I’m quite fond of both.
15 When Snape Realises His Whole Life Was A Lie
As all Harry Potter fans will know darn well, Harry has several super defining physical characteristics. One of these, of course, is that legendary scar of his, which every single person who ever meets him over the course of the series (give or take, of course, I didn’t mean that literally) just has to bring up. Another is those vivid green eyes (or not) of his, which are, so he’s heard from every-darn-body who ever met his parents, just like his mother’s.
If you’re a movies and books sort of person, you’ll have noticed this inconsistency. His eyes, depending on how technical you want to get with all of this, are actually nothing like his mother’s.
Still, though, why question these things? All that matters is that Snape was motivated to switch sides and work as Dumbledore’s mole in Voldemort’s inner circle, all because of his feelings for Lily. He’s reminded of that whenever he looks at Harry, and that was to be his last thought, the last thing he ever saw. You can’t take away from that with your semantics.
Caycowa’s snarky cartoon, on the other hand, definitely can take away from that. I’m not sure how to feel about this, if I’m honest. So many emotions.
14 When Dumbledore Loses ALL Of His Chill
Ah, yes. Here it is, friends. We have arrived. One of the most popular (and darn hilarious) examples of books versus movies inconsistency in the whole Potterverse.
The way I see it, the Dumbledore of the books has much more in common with the late great Richard Harris, the first actor to portray him. Harris’s take on the character was very softly spoken. He was the very definition of chill. So much so, it was a little jarring to hear him bellow for SILEEEENCE when the students were in a panic over the escaped troll back in the original movie.
From Prisoner of Azkaban onwards, Michael Gambon assumed the role, and gave Dumbledore a whole new air. Mostly, it was the air of being a rebellious old warlock with zero cares to give. And an Irish accent, too, out of nowhere.
So, yes. As readers will remember, Dumbledore quietly and calmly asked Harry whether he had entered his own name into the Goblet of Fire. Somehow, when it came to the movie adaption, quietly and calmly was interpreted as barrelling into the room like a raging Tyrannosaurus Rex (that’s on fire) in a china shop (that’s probably on fire as well) and screaming the line as loudly as humanly possible.
Do you see what happens when you take liberties with the source material, film-makers? Do you?
13 When You Never Got A Chance To Meet The Empathetic Snape
As we’ve seen all throughout this rundown, adaptions like these can be a curious thing. Let’s imagine that we take two people, both entirely new to the Harry Potter franchise. One reads all of the books, and the other watches all of the movies, with absolutely no knowledge of anything Potter prior to that.
Technically, of course, both have experienced the whole main series. The same titles, the same characters, the same big overarching storyline. If they were to have a discussion of certain characters afterward, though, they may have radically different opinions of people.
This would be a super interesting experiment, now that I think about it.
In previous entries, we’ve had a look at the way the books and movies present certain major players, like Ginny and Ron. Their personalities and their relationships with others are presented totally differently, and that can shape our views in all kinds of ways.
Sure, you’re not going to be feeling particularly sorry for ol’ snake face himself, whether you’ve read or watched Harry Potter, but at least the books give us more background into his harrowing past. There’s some kind of empathy there.
By the same token, this sweet moment from the novels would have had a real impact if it made it into the movie.
12 When Ginny Just Lacks A Certain Something
Now, let’s be honest here. Nobody’s just throwing shaded at the movies for no reason. The fact of the matter is that character development is a difficult business. When you’re looking at movies and books, it’s really not a fair fight. After all, you can’t condense a huge 600-page novel into a two-hour movie without sacrificing a little fluff.
The sad part is, just like in real life, the fluff is usually the kind of stuff that truly defines people. Shapes them. Tells us something incredibly real about who they are.
In the movies, it’s all about how you can present somebody in the brief time you have available. You might not have thought that The Sorcerer’s Stone was brief, as cheek-numbing as it was to sit through, but in terms of developing personalities? Yep, it was brief.
In my opinion, I’d say that Ginny was one of the worst victims of this.
In the books, she’s fully developed as a gutsy, funny, independent young woman. We see glimmers of that in the movie, but that’s about as far as it goes. Perhaps her portrayal wouldn’t have seemed so bad without the books as a frame of reference. I think Bonnie Wright did an excellent job with what she given, but Ginny deserved much more.
11 When You Forget That Peeves Ever Existed
So, yes. We’ve established that a movie adaption of a novel always has a darn difficult job: to tell the same story, but in a compressed amount of time. Sometimes, this job is so darn difficult that everyone will just say, “Nope, sorry, buddy boy, there’s no way in heckola that’s happening,” and slice everything into two. Which is how things like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One and Part Two came about.
The original novel of The Deathly Hallows was just far too much to make into a single movie. To make this sort of thing work at all, you’ve got to tell the story at breakneck speed. Tangents and unimportant characters are not going to make it onto the big screen. Winky? Gone. Ludo Bagman? Who-do Bagman, more like. You’re not seeing that guy around here.
Probably the most unfortunate cut character in the whole series, however, was Peeves. Readers will remember this malevolent poltergeist, who just loved playing tricks on the students and generally being a pain. His antics were a joy to read, and I’d love to have seen him in the movies.
This is all the sadder when you consider that Peeves was to be played by late great British funnyman Rik Mayall. Not only that, but Mayall had actually filmed his scenes as Peeves for Sorcerer’s Stone, but they were cut.
10 When You Were Born To Be Snape, The Whole Snape And Nothing But The Snape
Earlier in this rundown, we took a look at Peter Pettigrew, and how Timothy Spall managed to embrace his sniveling, rat-like nature to the very maximum. I’ve always been an admirer of method actors, but here was a man who took the whole concept a little too far. He truly looked as though he’d lived for over a solid decade in his rat form. Kudos to him.
One of the most praised performances in the series, however, was Alan Rickman as Severus Snape. He, too, was the embodiment of the image of Snape I had in my head, going into the movies.
Looking the part is all well and good, but Rickman also did much more than that. With his trademark slow speech pattern, he leant the character a certain something extra. A quality that I couldn’t have imagined from simply reading, but looking back, I feel as though he’d have been ‘wrong’ somehow without it. It’s that innate, inexplicable Snape swagger.
It’s also part of the reason that we look back on the character so fondly. After all, despite his heroic deeds and courage, let’s face it, he’s still kind of a d-bag. Only Alan Rickman turning his swag on like Soulja Boy could sell this character.
9 When Everyone Suddenly Goes All Out Of Whack
Now, I’m not sure how to break this to you, Potter fans. I never like to just shatter somebody’s entire belief system into sad, defeated shards of salty tears, but I’ve got to unburden myself. I’ve got to share this utterly horrifying fact. Buckle up, because here it comes.
James and Oliver Phelps, who play Fred and George, are not actually ginger.
I know, friends, I know. I feel you. if you need a hug, just reach right on through your PC/laptop/tablet/cell phone screen. I’ve got you.
Granted, the more committed Potterheads among you already knew that. But these are the sorts of things we have to come to terms with. Tough as it is for anyone in any TV or movie fandom to accept, these are actors, and not real people. When it comes to adaptations, this is crucial to bear in mind. Why doesn’t the actress or actor look exactly like the character, as described on the page? Because they aren’t them.
Sometimes, the differences are persnickety little things, and other times, entire personalities and story arcs are messed with. Take a look at this brilliantly snarky guide to Harry Potter characters in the movies and in the books. Are these changes for the better, or for the worse? Are they completely insignificant, or major things worth griping about? That’s entirely up to you.
8 When Ron Is (Not) Right There By Your Side
Don’t go jumping to any entirely unwarranted conclusions here. I’m not singling our old buddy Ron Weasley out or anything. He’s one of my favourite major players in the Potterverse, and that goes for screen and page alike.
When you’re as experienced with the franchise as I am, though, you just can’t escape the fact that he’s really quite different in the books. As I said earlier, his Chamber of Secrets ‘Ron faces’ are just classics, priceless stuff. They’ve got legendarily meme-tastic written all over them.
Having said all of that, it’s important that ‘legendarily meme-tastic’ does not become Ron’s legacy to the world. In the movies, he has his courageous, heroic moments, just as he does in the books, but they’re often overshadowed (in my opinion) by cheesy jokes and comedy relief moments.
I can appreciate the scene where he accidentally ingested the love motion that Romilda Vane had meant for Harry (gazing out at the window with a gormless grin on his face). I totally can, because it’s hilarious. He’s much more than hilarious, though, and that’s the thing. While this cartoon may be taking things a little too far, it does have a point. Perceptions of his as a character sure can shift, depending on whether you’re looking at movie Ron or book Ron.
7 When Hermione’s Bushy Hair Was Just Too Much For The Movies To Handle
Now, I haven’t read the books in some years, but I’ve watched the movies multiple times since. I’m now on a slow journey back through the novels, and it’s quite an interesting thing to do. For me, once you’ve seen the movie, the characters in your head will always be the ones you saw on screen. You come back to the book, and you just can’t shift them. For instance, when I first read The Sorcerer’s Stone, I envisaged Professor McGonagall as a much younger woman.
Now, that image is gone forever, to be replaced by Dame Maggie Smith.
Still, she’s fantastic and I’m totally cool with that.
Take Professor Slughorn, too. The books describe him as a huge, bald man with an enormous moustache, which is about as far away from a description of the actor Jim Broadbent as possible. Still, there he is.
As far as Hermione’s concerned, the contrast isn’t remotely as stark. In the same way as Ron is now freckle-less, Hermione’s buck teeth have completely gone for a burton. From Rowling’s description of her hair, I was expecting her to have a Weird Al struck by lightning sort of situation going on, but she remains distinctly un-bush on screen. Other than that one brilliant moment in the humid air of the potions classroom in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, of course.
6 When You’ve Just Got To Bring Trollface Into The Equation
Now, as we’ve seen over the course of this rundown, everyone’s going to have a different opinion on the subject. Some have never read the books. Some have never watched the movies. Some are totally down with both, and some prefer one over the other. In the end, that’s your call.
All that really matters is that you don’t try and force your opinion on others, or talk smack about their Potter-preferences. We’re all one big Potter-fandom family, and we don’t want any of that sort of thing around here.
Having said all of that, you’ve got to take the intent of the joke into account. A lot of these comics have seemed a little cruel on the surface, but they’re not meant maliciously. Nor are they to be taken literally.
Exaggerating your point to absurd levels is what a lot of meme humour is all about, after all. In this case, Trollface himself is coming out to mock differences between the movies and books.
As for me, I cannot condone this. Neville’s heroic speechmaking in his heroic cardigan? I won’t have a word said against that moment. Draco Malfoy and Voldemort’s awkward hug to end all awkward hugs, on the other hand, I definitely could have done without.
