9 moments from the Harry Potter books that should have been in the movies
By Anwesha Nag
6. The origins of Lord Voldemort
The crooked circumstances of Voldemort’s birth did not make it into the movies, possibly because they were pretty dark for the YA target audience of Harry Potter.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry’s deep dive into the Pensieve reveals some disturbing details about Tom Marvolo Riddle’s mother Merope Gaunt, who was not named in the movie. The book explains how Merope was smitten with Tom Marvolo Riddle Sr. and used a love potion on him to become his wife. Despite getting the man she wanted, Merope had a tough time being married as she was bullied and abused by her in-laws.
Tired of everything, she eventually lifted the curse and her husband didn’t hesitate to leave her. To be a child growing up amid all this must have been traumatizing, which explains certain aspects of Voldemort’s personality.
The movie also skips past Voldemort’s slow but steady attempts at creating Horcruxes, which includes a stint working at Borgin and Burkes and applying for the position of Defense Against Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. It was he who had jinxed the post, resulting in no professor lasting for longer than a year in that job.
The movies gave little to no justification for Voldemort’s actions, so these details could’ve helped them make more sense.
5. Harry Potter casts Crucio
The Unforgivable Curses in Harry Potter truly live up to the moniker, causing terrible, irreparable damage to the ones on the receiving end. Among the three, the Cruciatus Curse, which inflicts torturous levels of pain on the victim, is believed to be the hardest to cast, especially without the genuine intent to cause harm. Its effects are said to vary depending on the caster’s emotions.
Harry, who has a heart of gold, attempted to use the spell on Bellatrix Lestrange after the death of Sirius Black in Order of the Phoenix. Although knocked off her feet, the curse did not cause any harm. “You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain,” Bellatrix advised Harry.
Cut to Deathly Hallows and Harry finally seemed to have gathered enough anger and hatred in his heart to be able to truly mean the curse and inflict pain. In a scene that infuriated readers, Death Eater Amycus Carrow spits in Minerva McGonagall’s face. Harry casts the Crucio spell on Carrow, this time having the desired effect. “I see what Bellatrix meant… You need to really mean it,” he says.
It’s true that McGonagall being insulted is not quite the same as Sirius dying. But Harry’s being able to cast the spell is less about the immediate circumstanes and more about his overall character development. Harry Potter never turned malicious or vengeful. But the books show him deal with sadness, anger and grief, which are all extremely normal reactions to losing loved ones, fighting a war, and shouldering the burden of being the Chosen One. The books let him be more human. The movie could have used this scene to show a different side of Harry Potter.