9 Vital Parts the Harry Potter Films Missed Out

5. Harry and Ginny’s first kiss
Harry and Ginny’s kiss in the films was mundane. It was not spectacular, there was no build-up, it was nothing special. But I always remember it as one of my favourite parts of the books!

Ginny is such a brilliant character in the books. She is cheeky, cute and very funny, and her and Harry are perfect for one another. Throughout the sixth book, Harry starts to realise his feelings for her, and it all comes to a head when Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup. It’s the only time I’ve loved Quidditch.

Harry looked around; there was Ginny running towards him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.

But even better than the kiss itself, was Ron’s reaction.

Hermione was beaming, but Harry’s eyes sought Ron. At last he found him, still clutching the Cup and wearing an expression appropriate to having been clubbed over the head. For a fraction of a second they looked at each other, then Ron gave a tiny jerk of the head that Harry understood to mean, ‘Well – if you must.’

So. Awesome.

6. The final battle
My first issue here is probably how Harry Potter’s character is portrayed in the films overall. In the books, he is a talented wizard, he is smart, he is brave and pretty funny! But in the films, you only ever hear the occasional person say what a good wizard he is, and they’re usually just trying to cheer him up because he’s permanently sulky.

So the final battle in the book is his moment. He uses all of his knowledge, all of his skills, and he faces Voldemort in the Great Hall, surrounded by the entire school. Harry tells him how Snape was never on his side. Plus, how the Elder Wand was never truly his, and actually belongs to Harry himself. He wears Voldemort down, and you see weakness in him. He was wrong and Harry tells him that in front of everyone.

Once he’s defeated (which also wasn’t explained at all… because the Elder Wand was Harry’s, it wouldn’t kill its master. Voldemort’s Killing Curse rebounded and got him instead), everyone cheers, and they all run over to congratulate Harry. But the most moving part was when Harry, Ron and Hermione went back to Dumbledore’s office.

…it was applause. All around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving him a standing ovation; they waved their hats and in some cases their wigs, they reached through their frames to grip each other’s hands; they danced up and down on the chairs in which they had been painted…
But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the Headmaster’s chair. Tears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled Harry with the same balm as phoenix song.

He gets to see, and speak to, Dumbledore again! He tells him how he dropped the stone in the Forest and he’s not going to look for it. He says how he will keep the Invisibility Cloak and pass it down his family. He says how he doesn’t want the Elder Wand, and he uses it to fix his own, faithful phoenix wand.

‘I’m putting the Elder Wand,’ he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, ‘back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won’t it? The previous master will never have been defeated. That’ll be the end of it.’

It just goes to show. He is a proper hero. Instead they show him snapping the wand and throwing it into the abyss, saying he prefers his own, with no explanation of how he is supposed to use his almost-impossible-to-fix wand… I mean, he just threw his only chance of fixing it, off a cliff. What are you doing, film-Harry?!

7. A real explanation of why Harry ends up at King’s Cross
For someone who has never read the books, it must be so confusing trying to understand what the hell is going on… especially when Harry finds himself back at King’s Cross with dead-Dumbledore. They don’t provide any explanation when this happens; you’re just supposed to accept that he is The Boy Who Lived again… because he’s really lucky? Thankfully, the book explains it properly.

‘He took my blood,’ said Harry.
‘Precisely!’ said Dumbledore. ‘He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily’s protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!’

So Lily’s love did save Harry; it was some crazy-ass magic which provided protection for him. But because Voldemort took Harry’s blood (in Goblet of Fire in the creepy graveyard), he basically made it so that Voldemort can only live whilst Harry lives. Until he kills the Horcrux, of course, which he did with the Killing Curse. Leaving Harry the option to go back and kill Voldemort once and for all.

8. Dumbledore’s funeral.
I remember the credits rolling on film six, and feeling a great level of disappointment. Not just because of all of the other parts which were missing (which is a lot…) but because they had missed out Dumbledore’s funeral. ‘It must be at the start of the next film,’ I thought. Film seven rolled around and…nope. Nada.

It was so moving, and important as a fan to get that chance to experience Dumbledore’s send-off. I was so looking forward to seeing it on film, as it created such a vivid image when I read it. Especially the part with the merpeople.

‘…a chorus of merpeople singing in a strange language he did not understand, their pallid faces rippling, their purplish hair flowing all around them. The music made the hair on Harry’s neck stand up and yet it was not unpleasant. It spoke very clearly of loss and of despair.’

Plus the moment when the centaurs, stood at the edge of Forest, shot arrows into the air as a tribute to him. It was all so beautiful, seeing the effect the wise headmaster had on all creatures within the grounds of Hogwarts. And another vital part after the funeral, when Harry breaks up with Ginny in order to protect her!

She said, with an oddly twisted smile. ‘It’s for some stupid, noble reason, isn’t it?’

See how awesome book-Ginny is? It was such an important, moving part of the story, and I for one, was devastated it wasn’t in the film.

9. Hermione and Ron’s kiss
They didn’t leave this out, but they did get it wrong. It properly cracked me up in the book, but was super serious in the film. Harry, Ron and Hermione are all rushing around the castle, trying to make their way to the Room of Requirement, and Ron suddenly mentions the elves in the kitchen. (Which, again, are not mentioned at all in the films…how do you think all those dinners were cooked?!) Ron, who was fed up with Hermione’s S.P.E.W (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) back in book three, was now concerned about them dying in battle.

‘No,’ said Ron seriously, ‘I mean we should tell them to get out. We don’t want any more Dobbys, do we? We can’t order them to die for us -’
There was a clatter as the Basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.
‘Is this the moment?’ Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. ‘OI! There’s a war going on here!’
Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.
‘I know, mate,’ said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, ‘so it’s now or never, isn’t it?’

It’s just such a perfect moment. Especially Harry’s sarcastic comment about the whole thing… it’s only right that Harry was witness to the event, as the three of them shared so much throughout the story. Plus, they all saw Harry and Ginny’s first kiss, so fair’s fair.