The biggest hurdle HBO’s new Harry Potter show has is outdoing the original Harry Potter movies, given how beloved they’ve been for the last 20 years. It’s obviously also a challenge adapting JK Rowling’s classic fantasy book series, but there was so much left out of or changed in the movies that it feels like the loudest comparisons will be to the first on-screen adaptations.
If the series offers a pure adaptation of the Harry Potter books, as it seems to be – admittedly with some new additions – it will be very different than the movies. In the name of hitting traditional cinematic run-times, whole storylines – like Hermione’s S.P.E.W. crusade or the Headless Hunt or the Gaunts’ backstory – were cut out entirely. Whole characters – like Peeves, Sir Cadogan, and Ludo Bagman – also hit the cutting room floor. And even the ones who made it went through some pretty big changes.
The Harry Potter movies changed a lot of the key characters’ power levels and importance, pushing the likes of Kingsley Shacklebolt into the background and downgrading the powers of multiple heroes and a surprising number of Wizarding World villains. It seems there were simply too many incredible powerful characters to preserve the right level of dramatic tension.
But at the same time, the reverse was true. The movies actually elevated several key characters, giving their powers a boost and making them more formidable. These four major characters ended up looking stronger in the movies than they ever were in the original books. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing…
4
Dolores Umbridge
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Imelda Staunton’s take on Dolores Umbridge made an already excellent villain even more disturbing. She was like nails down a chalkboard, and her prim and proper demeanor, and penchant for kitsch and kittens made her rotten center even more pronounced. And she was a surprisingly formidable wielder of magic, using explosive and defensive magic in the Forbidden Forest when she’s confronted by the centaurs.
But in the books, Umbridge is not known as a magical commanding presence, and her having visibly formidable skills almost undermines her presence. She was terrifying precisely because she rarely had to use magic – other than the Black Quill – and the fact that her malice was backed by legitimate authority was far more shocking.
3
Draco Malfoy
Draco Malfoy spends much of his time in both the books and the movie trading on his family name and the myth of pure blood superiority to enforce his position as Hogwarts’ leading evil student. But in the books, he marries that assumed superiority with magical skills that aren’t really up to his self-image, which is sort of the point. He’s eternally jealous of Harry’s abilities, and outraged that a Mudblood like Hermione could be so much better than him. Notably, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he spectacularly fails to fix the Vanishing Cabinet, and is hugely panicked.
It’s almost like Voldemort chooses him to watch him fail because he knows he’s terrible and his failure can punish Lucius. But in the movies, Draco gets an upgrade to being a more naturally gifted wizard. He’s basically an even match for Harry in their duel in The Chamber of Secrets, and he rarely feels as much like a teenager out of depth.
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Neville Longbottom
There is no argument that Neville Longbottom undergoes the most rewarding, redemptive arcs in all of Harry Potter book lore, but his book development is notably slower and more painful. He’s the Hogwarts fool, whose aptitude doesn’t blossom until his bravery does right at the end of things, largely because his confidence is so fragile and magic is tied so closely to emotion.
In the movies, Neville’s progression is supercharged, at least partly by the decision to change The Goblet of Fire so that it’s him and not Dobby that gives Harry Gillyweed. He does get the book from Barty Crouch Jr, of course, but he still finds the right plant. And in more tangible terms, he’s shown to be a far more capable member of Dumbledore’s Army, so his rebirth into full-on action hero by the end of Deathly Hallows is less of a shock.
1
Hermione Grainger
The most justifiable power change in Harry Potter saw Emma Watson’s Hermione Granger become not just the brightest witch of her age, but also a more capable magic user. It never fully made sense that she wouldn’t be as gifted as Harry, because her academic aptitude should have translated into near unrivaled skill.
But in the books, Hermione is more fallible: she forgets how to create fire when trapped in Devil’s Snare, for instance, and she relies on the boys’ skill in battle to protect her from danger. She’s much more of an action heroine in the movies, and rarely makes mistakes, including being given some key moments that originally belonged to Harry or Ron in the source material. She’s a master of wordless magic and a far greater threat, and she’s not actually much less powerful than Harry, all told.
HBO’s Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone reboot arrives on December 25.
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students’ time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.
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