If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you might be aware that in 2023, HBO announced that it had decided to make a Harry Potter series adaptation. This announcement faced backlash and debate on social media; many believe that an adaptation is unnecessary, that it will never replace the movies. While the show will never replace the movies and the actors that made it, an HBO show isn’t as unnecessary as others deem. The books and movies have a special place in my heart, and the show won’t change that, but after the downfall of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies, I’m ready for new content from the wizarding world.
Though the movies are wonderful at capturing the magic of the wizarding world, they aren’t as faithful to the books as one might believe. I’m aware that it’s difficult to transfer everything from book to screen, and I don’t expect it to be a direct copy. Yet, if you never read the books and solely watched the movies, you might be unaware of the inconsistencies. I’m not referring to minute details, but important factors. Leaving out major plot points, things you would never know if you only watched the movies, and important characters.
For instance, The Goblet of Fire is my favorite book but my least favorite movie. When reading the fourth installment of the Harry Potter series, I loved learning about the Triwizard Tournament and all the new magical aspects. What I was most excited about seeing was how the movies transferred the third task from book to screen. A maze filled with magical creatures, a sphinx, blast-ended skrewts (if you never read the books, you probably don’t know about these creatures), and even magical elements (anti-gravity mist). Brimming with excitement, I sat down to watch the movies, and the maze … was just a maze … with fog. Additionally, one of my favorite moments from the seventh book is when the house elves fight in the Battle of Hogwarts using whatever weapons they could scrounge from the kitchens, not in the movie. There are many more instances of the movies leaving out magical aspects, but I won’t bore you with a list of umpteen examples.
Perhaps, even more atrocious was excluding important characters. If you have never read the books, you might not be aware that the Weasley family is a member short. One of Ron’s brothers, Charlie, never appears in the movie. How could they fail to include a sibling of one of the most prominent families in the entire series? Other instances of characters being left out are Ludo Bagman, Winky the house elf, Peeves, etc. While they aren’t extremely important characters, their absence still deprives the story.
The movies weren’t all bad, however, despite how it might appear. They incorporated aspects that made it wholly unique, although there were a few questionable additions (the talking head in the Knight Bus and the burning of the Weasley house). I hope that with the technological advancements, the show can do so much more while also incorporating things never seen before, as indicated by showrunner Francesca Gardiner, who “promises we will see things we haven’t seen.”
Regardless of opposition, I’m excited to see how the show compares to the book and eager for new Harry Potter content. And if I mentioned things you didn’t know about the wizarding world, it might be an indicator to pick up the books and delve deeper into the vast and stunning wizarding world before the show releases in 2027.
