The Harry Potter 30 Days Challenge #3

Welcome back for the third day of The Harry Potter 30 Days Challenge. As you know by now (sort of), Leannaatc @Short Story Long has this idea of a month full of Harry Potter and you can find the prompt for each day here here.

– Day 3: Is there anything in the film adaptations that annoyed you? – 

Oh, well, I’m so glad you’ve asked! When I first saw this question I thought I would have to think deep and hard about it, but no, there are several things that annoyed me in the adaptations, but most had to do with the constraints of time when adapting a 400 pages novel to screen.

There is one thing though, that had nothing to do with time, and that to this day annoys the hell out of me. Book-Ron Vs Movie-Ron!

I love both Ron’s, seriously, as I said in The Harry Potter Tag, Ron is one of my favorite characters and I have a slight (huge) crush on Rupert Grint (mainly because I think he does comedy so well), but that does not make me blind to what they took out of Ron when they transferred him onto the screen.

                          

It started on the first movie, and then I guess it would be too much of a hassle to do him right, and also, Ron became sort of the comic relief for the movies (which again, is fine and all, but it’s not Ron – Book Ron is super funny as well). When the trio falls into the Devil’s Snare, Hermione is the one who panics in the book, while Ron always maintains a cool head. Actually, Book-Ron is ALWAYS cool-headed in stressful situations, and it is Hermione who panics. I honestly don’t know why they role-reversed it on the movies…

Ron defends Hermione when Snape calls her a “know-it-all”!

Also, it is Ron, with a broken leg, that stand in front of Harry, before Sirius (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and tells him that if he wants to murder Harry, he has to go through him first. See? Book-Ron is funny, cool-headed, brave, super loyal, kind and kicks-ass!

“If you want to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill us too!” he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more color, and he swayed slightly as he spoke.

“Lie down,” [Sirius] said quietly to Ron. “You will damage that leg even more.”

“Did you hear me?” Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. “You’ll have to kill all three of us!”

He defends Hermione on more than one occasion, even when his own mother thinks the worst of her because of the tabloid news, it is Ron who sets it right! One important thing as well, is that within the main trio Ron is the only one with knowledge of the wizarding world. Everytime they need reference or explanations, or something like that, it is Ron to the rescue.

So yeah, this is probably the thing that most annoys me because it’s current throughout the 8 movies.

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– Day 1: Favorite Book? – 

– Day 2: Favorite Movie? –

The Harry Potter 30 Days Challenge #2

Welcome back for the second day of The Harry Potter 30 Days Challenge. Leannaatc @Short Story Long created this original challenge and you can find the prompt for each day here here, and you can also see her post for the second day here.

– DAY 2: YOUR FAVORITE movie? –

Again, like I mentioned of The Harry Potter Tag, my favorite, as the book, is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Much like I said about the book, I find that this movie has the perfect amount of drama, comedy, action, love, heartbreak…  The direction is superb and I think it’s the movie when Daniel Radcliffe really came into his own. The trio does an even more amazing job in the movie, which then they manage to top it off in The Deathly Hallows (which are magnificent, both of them).

I love the transitions between the comedic elements of this movie to the dark moments :), I think that why this is my fav.

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix: Book vs. Movie (part 2)

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix has a lot (a lot a lot) of differences between the movie and the book… this is the second part…

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Book vs. Movie

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Book vs. Movie

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Book vs. Movie

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Book vs. Movie

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix: Book vs. Movie (part 1)

• During Care of Magical Creatures class, Hagrid tells the class about Threstrals. There Harry and Neville both see the Threstrals. In the movie, Luna’s the one who show’s Harry the animals and Neville never acknowledges them.

• In the book, Harry witness the attack on Arthur Weasley and when he wakes up, Neville goes to get McGonagall, who takes him and Ron to Dumbledore’s office. There, the Weasleys’ and Harry all take the Portkey back to Grimmauld Place. In the movie, however, Harry has his first Occlumency lesson with Snape right after the attack, while in the novel he learns about the lessons during Christmas break, with Sirius. Sirius and Snape exchange words…

• In the movie, all scenes regarding St. Mungo’s are omitted. The re-appearance of Gilderoy Lockhart and appearance of Neville’s parents are also omitted. In the book, Harry finds out about the condition of Neville’s parents from Albus Dumbledore significantly before Neville’s other friends learn of it. In the film, Sirius tells Harry how they suffered a fate worse than death, and Neville later tells Harry more in the Room of Requirement.

• After Christmas, the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione return to the school on The Knight Bus, which is not featured in the film.

• Harry’s date with Cho Chang in Hogsmeade is omitted and their relationship is largely played down.

• Rita Skeeter was also omitted from the film. In the book, Hermione blackmails her into writing articles that support Harry as the rest of the Wizarding world denies his claims, as well as him being sent dozens of mail.

• In the film, Hagrid mentioned that the reason for the Centaur’s anger towards humans was because the Ministry of Magic was taking away their lands. In truth, it was because Firenze had taken up the post of Divination teacher, and the centaurs were angry that he was giving away their secrets to his students, combined with the fact that Grawp was living in the forest and was disturbing their habitat.

• In the book, Dobby goes to the room of requirement to tell Harry that Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad are coming, while in the movie they find out when they are breaking the wall.

• In the novel, Dumbledore’s Army is discovered because Marietta Edgecombe, a member and a friend of Cho Chang, tattled to Umbridge. In the film, Cho is duped into revealing the truth via Veritaserum, and Umbridge and the Inquisitorial Squad break into the Room of Requirement. Also, in the film, this is used as a reason for her and Harry’s break-up.

• Dumbledore’s escape is slightly different. He is aided by Kingsley, who alters Marietta’s memories, and knocks out everyone in the room out except for Harry and McGonagall. The line: “You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on several points, but you can’t deny, he’s got style.” is said by Phineas Nigellus Black.

• In the book, Harry sees Snape being harassed by James and Sirius via Snape’s Pensieve, while in the film, Harry casts a shield against Snape’s Legilimency spell and sees Snape’s memories. Also, in the film, it is only James that bullies Snape while Sirius just watches amusedly.

• In the book, members of the Inquisitorial Squad had additional powers such as docking points even from Prefects.

• Dolores Umbridge tries to slip Veritaserum into Harry Potter’s drink and asks him in turn where Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black are. This is where he learns that her fireplace is the only one not being watched.

• Harry’s career advice session is omitted. This would contradict the next film, as Harry mentions being told he needed an O in his Potions O.W.L. to continue.

• In the book, Umbridge and McGonagall row about how she punishes students during Harry’s career guidance meeting and also have a minor disagreement during class inspections. In the film, McGonagall’s class inspection is sadly completely omitted.

• The Weasley twins’ prank last a lot longer, with a lot of things going on all around the school (and they’re never on their broomsticks, which are locked in Umbridge’s office) and they started it to allow Harry to use the Floo network to talk to Sirius and Lupin. They only flee when cornered by Umbridge.  Fred and George Weasley’s famous Portable Swamp is omitted from the film.

• Grawp is portrayed as very gentle, whilst in the book he is very violent and even strikes his half-brother Hagrid in the face during his appearance.

• In the book Harry and Hermione were introduced to Grawp by Hagrid while the school was distracted by the Quidditch final of Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, in which Ron was playing.

• In the book, Cornelius Fudge’s Aurors and Dolores Umbridge try to take Hagrid away, and as a result, Professor McGonagall gets hit by four stunning spells and gets taken to St Mungos.

• In the book, several weeks elapse between the Weasley twins leaving, and the O.W.L. Exams where Harry sees the vision of Sirius being tortured at the Ministry of Magic during the exams. In the film, these occur one after the other, on the same day, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione getting caught by Umbridge trying to use her Floo Network connection.

• Kreacher tricks Harry into thinking that Sirius is in the Ministry, propping Harry to get there.

• Umbridge reveals to Harry and his friends that she is the one who sent the Dementors to Harry discreetly without Fudge’s knowledge as a way to discredit him.

• They fly in pairs on the threstals, given that only Harry, Luna and Neville can see them.

• In the Department of Mysteries, they go through a lot of rooms before getting to the Hall of Prophecy which were omitted in the movie. Also, Death Eaters Apparition is different. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Hermione gets critically injured by a curse from Antonin Dolohov, Ron is attacked by disembodied brains in the Thought Chamber, Ginny Weasley’s ankle is broken, Neville Longbottom’s nose and wand are broken, Luna Lovegood gets knocked out while attempting to perform Colloportus, and Tonks, Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt are injured in duels.

• The Levicorpus spell is only introduced in the next book… so was the non-verbal spells for the golden trio.

• Bellatrix doesn’t kill Sirius with the killing curse, she hits him with some other curse and his body falls through the veil in the Death Chamber.

• Sirius never calls Harry by the name “James”. It’s only implied earlier that he views Harry in the same way he saw James.

• In the book, Dumbledore uses the Fountain of Magical Brethren to protect Harry while dueling Voldemort, and Fawkes takes a Killing Curse for him. Bellatrix is trapped under a statue from the fountain until Voldemort Disapparates with her.

• In the book, Harry frees himself from Voldemort’s possession due to his grief over his godfather’s death, but in the film, he frees himself from Voldemort’s possession due to the strong love he feels for his friends and Sirius.

• After Voldemort flees, Dumbledore shouts at Fudge for not believing in him for a year.

• In the book, Harry Potter loses his temper with Dumbledore after Sirius Black’s death and smashes his possessions, which did not happen in the film. Dumbledore also explains about the prophecy and shows Harry his memory of Trelawney making the prophecy.

• After Sirius death, Harry asks Nearly Headless Nick if he could came back, and Nick explains that not all wizards can come back as ghosts, and most wouldn’t want to.

• Draco Malfoy’s new found hatred for Harry Potter due to his father’s arrest has been omitted , so the scene where Harry tries to curse Malfoy, Snape takes 10 points from Gryffindor and McGonagall returns to Hogwarts and awards Gryffindor 250 points and Ravenclaw 50 points for the battle in the Department of Mysteries is also omitted. Draco’s attempt to attack Harry Potter on the Hogwarts Express with Crabbe and Goyle to get revenge for their fathers’ arrests, only to be stopped by the members of Dumbledore’s Army is omitted.

• When they get to King’s Cross, the members of the Order of Phoenix have a talk to the Dursleys about Harry… this, unfortunately, never happens in the movie.

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix: Book vs. Movie (part 1)

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix has a lot (a lot a lot) of differences between the movie and the book… as the books grew larger and the movies were still under 3 hours, a lot of compromises were done and a lot of stories were shaved off…

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Book vs. Movie

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Book vs. Movie

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Book vs. Movie

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Book vs. Movie

• In the book, Dudley’s gang of friends is not with him when Harry confronts Dudley, they had left to go home.

• After the Dementor’s attack,  Mrs. Figg explains to Harry that Mundungus Fletcher was supposed to be on watch duty, making this the first mention, and later the first appearance, of Mundungus in the series.

• In the book, after Harry explains how Dudley was attacked by a Dementor, and Vernon asks what that is, Petunia blurts out the explanation, leading both Harry and Vernon to wonder how she knows this and her explaining that a long time ago, “that horrible boy” (a.k.a. Severus Snape) explained about them.

• In the book, Harry receives several letters:

• 1st, from Mafalda Hopkirk about his use magic in front of a Muggle and being expelled from Hogwarts, informing that he’ll attend a hearing and that his wand would be destroyed shortly by Ministry representatives.

• 2nd, from Arthur Weasley telling Harry that Dumbledore arrived at the Ministry and is trying to sort everything out and to not leave his aunt and uncle’s house, to not do anymore magic and not to surrender his wand.

• 3rd, a second letter from Mafalda Hopkirk telling Harry that the Ministry had instead decided Harry may retain his wand until his hearing, at which time an official decision would be taken and that the Ministry has agreed that the question of his expulsion would also be decided at that time and he should therefore consider himself suspended from school pending further enquiries.

• 4th, from Sirius Black saying that Arthur Weasley has informed him and everyone else of what had happened and that whatever Harry does, he should not leave the house.

• Petunia receives a howler saying “REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA” – from Albus Dumbledore remembering her of the letter he wrote to her about Harry 14 year prior.

• The Advanced Guard arrives to remove Harry from Little Whinging several days after the Dementor’s attack, unlike the movie, where they arrive soon after. Tonks creates a fake competition to get the Dursleys out of the house.

• Tonks’ status as a Metamorphmagus is never mentioned in the film, despite her clear ability to change hair colour and physiognomic traits, her powers are never given a name. She also has a much more close relationship with Harry and his friends in the books, given that she’s just a few years older than them. Also, in the book, her main colour of hair is bubble-gum pink, but in the film it is switched to purple and it stays that way throughout the film. In the book, she uses her ability to go undetected as a protection to Harry and the gang.

• Remus Lupin, Dedalus Diggle, Sturgis Podmore, and Hestia Jones are omitted from the Advance Guard, reducing it to Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Elphias Doge and Emmeline Vance, the latter two who have no lines.

• The storyline about Bill Weasley moving back to England to be closer to his family with his new position in Gringotts and in the Order of the Phoenix, and Charlie Weasley being in charge of recruiting foreign wizards to the Order has been omitted from the movie. Bill only appears in the Deathly Hallows pt1 and 2, and Charlie is never in the films.

• Percy Weasley’s standing with the Ministry of Magic is sudden and unexplained, and there is no mention of him disowning his family when he chose to support the Ministry. This creates a large plot hole in the film due to his disposition towards Harry being unexplained, making it confusing for the viewers who did not read the book.

• In the novel, Harry yells at Ron and Hermione about everything he has done when they mention what Dumbledore told them about not telling Harry anything. He mentions saving the Philosopher’s Stone, killing the Basilisk, fighting the dementors in the third year, getting through the maze, and fighting off Voldemort. In the film, he does not yell, and his rant is restricted to one single line: “I’m the one who saw Voldemort return, I’m the one who fought him, I’m the one who saw Cedric Diggory get killed.”

• Like the previous movie, Dobby is not featured. Neville serves as a substitute for Dobby in most of his interactions.

• Kreacher’s role is largely diminished, only appearing in two scenes. It is also never mentioned that he gave informations to Narcissa Malfoy and misinformed Harry, which eventually lead to the battle of the Department of Mysteries.

• In the book, Sirius tells Harry about his family’s history and him being disowned shortly after Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place, before his hearing, while in the movie this takes place during Christmas.

• When Mr Weasley takes Harry to the Ministry of Magic, he first takes him to his office in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, which is omitted from the film.

• During the hearing, Albus Dumbledore produces a chintz armchair out of air for him to sit on, and then another for Arabella Figg. There’s also no mention about Mrs Figg’s history and about her being a squib.

• In the book is clearly stated that Amelia Bones, related to Susan Bones from Harry’s year, is impressed by Harry’s ability to conjure a Patronus, again omitted from the movie, although she still votes in clearing him of all charges.

• The film does not show Harry dumping his bag of Galleons into the Fountain of Magical Brethren following the positive results of his trial.

• In the book, Mad-Eye Moody shows Harry a picture of the original Order of the Phoenix in Nº 12 Grimmauld Place, to which Harry does not react well. In the film, Sirius shows him the picture in a back room at King’s Cross and Harry is shown being somehow happy about seeing them.

• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others spend most of the Summer at Grimmauld Place, in which time their job is to clean the house to make it more welcoming. In the movie, harry’s hearing happens the day after he gets to the house and after that they are shown at King’s Cross to go back to Hogwarts. During the time they spend cleaning, Slytherin’s locket (the horcrux) is mentioned.

• Mrs Weasley tries, unsuccessfully, to excise a Boggart from a dresser in an upstairs floor. Harry finds her confronting her worst fears: that all her family and Harry will die.

• Hermione and Ron become Prefects this year! This is a big deal in the book, since Harry does not understand why Ron was chosen by Dumbledore to be Prefect and not him. This also meant that on the Hogwarts Express Ron and Hermione went to the Prefects carriage and Harry rode with Neville, Ginny and Luna, and that’s where Ginny introduces Luna to them, because they are both in the same year.

• Besides Ron and Hermione, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil also became Prefects.

• In the movie, Harry is with Ron, Hermione and Neville when he sees the Thestral and Neville gives no indication that he can see it. In the book, however, it’s made very clear that Neville was always able to see the animals.

• In the book, Harry and Seamus have their argument in the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory in front of Dean Thomas and Neville before Ron enters and tells Seamus off (because he’s a Prefect and has authority to do so). In the film, Harry and Seamus argue in the Gryffindor Common Room in front of everyone instead.

• In the novel, the textbook the students use in Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Umbridge is called Defensive Magical Theory (written by Wilbert Slinkhard), but in the film, the textbooks are called Dark Arts Defence: Basics for Beginners (and they resemble the “for Dummies” collection). Also, the class reading their textbooks is omitted from the film.

• In the film, the arguments between Umbridge, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil in class are shorter than in the book:

• Hermione only briefly argues about the textbook having nothing about using defensive spells while her other argument lines are omitted.

• Ron says his exact line from the book “We’re not gonna use magic?” but is not told off by Umbridge.

• Dean Thomas does not argue at all and neither does Parvati Patil.

• Harry argues about Lord Voldemort having returned and about the class not going to be risk-free, but does not stand up from his seat when he talks about Cedric Diggory.

• Professor Grubbly-Plank’s Care of Magical Creatures class is omitted from the film and so is Draco Malfoy insulting Hagrid.

• Harry is seen only in one detention, even though he had detention for a whole week, the rest of his detentions are omitted.

• The Quidditch season is removed entirely from the film, as well as Ron joining the team as Keeper, Umbridge removing Harry, Fred, and George from the team, and Ginny joining the team to replace Harry. This later creates a bit of a plot hole, as while Ron tries out for the team in the next film, Ginny doesn’t, but still appears to hold a position of some seniority. Because of the omission, Angelina Johnson, the new team captain, and her fellow chasers Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet are also cut.

• Due to the omission of Percy defecting from his family, him sending Hermes to deliver to Ron the letter to stop associating with Harry is omitted.

• As in the previous two films, Ginny’s role is diminished, and nothing of her relationship with Michael Corner is ever talked about though they are seen together at the meeting in the Hog’s Head where Harry, Ron, and Hermione form Dumbledore’s Army (whose name is Ginny’s idea).

• Harry taking Hedwig to see Professor Grubbly-Plank to mend her wing, including finding Sirius’ letter attached to Hedwig’s leg was not in the film. Sirius visiting the trio through the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, when Umbridge’s hand comes through was also cut from the film. The exclusion of these two scenes don’t make it as clear that Umbridge was surveilling all forms of communications from early on.

• Dobby is the only house elf cleaning the Gryffindor common room, given that Hermione is leaving hats and socks lying all around and the other house elves refuse to pick anything up, afraid of getting a piece of clothing. Therefor, he talks to Harry and Ron a  few times and is him who tells Harry about the Room of Requirement. In the movie, Neville finds the room by chance. In the book, Hermione has never heard of the Room of Requirement, while in the movie she has heard of it before.

• Padma Patil is again portrayed as being in Gryffindor, even though she’s a Ravenclaw.

• After the kiss between Cho and Harry, Hermione says that Cho is worried about failing her O.W.L.s, but Cho in the books is stated as a year ahead of Harry, so she should have taken her O.W.L.s already.

• Harry and George’s assault on Draco Malfoy after he insulted Lily Potter and Arthur and Molly Weasley is omitted. Is after this altercation that both twins and Harry get banned for live from playing Quidditch.

• Hagrid’s talk to Harry, Ron and Hermione about his vacation with Olympe Maxime is also omitted.