Unsurprisingly, Warner Bros. Discovery has confirmed that it will even produce a remake of the saga Harry Potter. This time, the story will be turned into a series made for Max, the new name of its revamped streaming service after the merger of HBO Max and Discovery +. And the promise is that the new version will be much more faithful to the books than the movies were.
In the official announcement, it was confirmed that each of the seven books in the franchise will be adapted in depth and that details that did not appear in the feature films will have space in this new interpretation of the work. To do this, author JK Rowling must act very closely both as executive producer and consultant to maintain the fidelity of the story and these small elements.
And it’s that promise that filled fans with Harry Potter of hope. Leaving aside all the discussion about the real need for a remake or even the controversies surrounding the writer, the fact is that those who grew up with the books still resent the stories, scenes and even dialogues left out by the films.
These are excerpts that may not even be fundamental to the progress of the narrative, but that helped to give more depth to each of the characters in the saga. And, with the series having more time to explore these details, there’s a huge expectation that these moments will be adapted.
7. Dumbledore’s past
After six books building up the image of this sorcerer, as powerful as he was enigmatic, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I finally brought details that show who Dumbledore was before the white beard and enigmatic phrases. His whole relationship with Gellert Grindelwald and the tragedy involving his sister Ariana are key points in the last book in the franchise, but a footnote in the films.
Ariana’s story is something that deserved much more prominence. She was attacked as a child by Muggle boys while performing magic. After nearly dying, she is so traumatized that she is unable to use her powers again. This causes Dumbledore’s father to take revenge on the young people and, therefore, is sent as a prisoner to Azkaban.
As if so much misfortune were not enough, this whole situation causes Ariana to lose control of her own magic and this ends up resulting in the death of her mother. Thus, Dumbledore becomes responsible for her and her brother Aberforth.
And that’s where Grindelwald comes in and this almost romance that the two wizards had. One day, during a dispute between them, Ariana is hit and ends up dying – a guilt that consumes the future headmaster of Hogwarts forever.
It’s a fundamental part of the story and one that is almost non-existent in the movies. the franchise Fantastic Beasts even tried to explore this whole plot further, but failed as in everything he tried. Thus, the series has the chance to present this tragedy as it deserves.
6. The Half-Blood Prince
The sixth film of the saga, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, manages the enormous feat of not answering the mystery that its title offers. In the book, there is a whole plot that deepens Professor Snape’s past, his traumas and why he did everything he did until then.
Such an enigma revolves around the figure of the Half-Blood Prince, which was a nickname that Snape himself created for himself in reference to his mother’s family, Eileen Prince, when he was still a child and went on to study at Hogwarts. It was a way for the future Potions teacher to deal with his lonely and even somewhat tragic history.
He was the son of a witch and a muggle – therefore half-blood – and the two were very badly treated by this man. This caused Snape to grow up with serious socialization problems. So much so that he was the target of bullying by the students and it was in the nickname of Half-Blood Prince that he vented these frustrations.
This whole story is almost completely ignored in the film. Everything is covered in a superficial way and the series has the opportunity to show more of Snape’s past and show how the Prince’s meeting with Lily – Harry Potter’s mother-to-be – sealed his fate forever.
5. Family Affairs: Percy vs. weasley
The Weasley family was pretty badly treated in the movies, with one of the brothers just disappearing from history just like that. However, a plot that deserves more attention is the clash that arises between Percy Weasley and his parents and siblings.
Percy is introduced from the start as that straight-laced young man — the old CDF — with high aspirations. Is at The order of the Phoenixthis comes to a head when he is seduced by the political world and becomes carried away by the narratives that the Ministry of Magic constructs to hide Voldemort’s resurgence.
Percy’s case illustrates well how this manipulation of public opinion was done within the wizarding world — a topic that is very current today. It’s something that hasn’t gained as much space in the movies, but that could be a central part of a season as an allegory about our own world. Besides, of course, making things even more tense involving the return of You-Know-Who and the threat he poses.
4. The Longbottom Tragedy
Neville is one of the most interesting characters in the entire franchise. Harry Potter. He starts the story being more of a comic relief, that clumsy character who does everything wrong, and ends up leaving the doubt that he can be the true hero of the prophecy instead of Harry himself.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? the book of The order of the Phoenix devotes a good deal of space to talking about how the prophecy that scared Voldemort was ambiguous and that this disgraced not only the Potters, but the Longbottoms as well. The vision said that a child born at the end of July would defeat the Dark Lord and this put both families in the villain’s sights.
Thus, Neville’s parents are chased by Death Eaters and tortured to the point of losing sanity. So they were admitted to St. Mungo to Magical Maladies and Injuries with no sense of reality and unable to recognize their own child.
It’s a pretty heavy plot and one that the series can use to make Neville much more interesting than the movies dared to do.
3. Tom Riddle’s past
Another past that is approached very superficially in the movies is Voldemort’s own. The films show a little of his childhood as Tom Riddle, but do not delve into what happened for that brilliant Hogwarts student to become the Dark Lord.
the book of The Half-Blood Prince begins by presenting the story of this boy since before his birth. He was the son of a witch, heiress of Salazar Slytherin himself, who fell in love with a muggle who abandoned her while she was pregnant. With her death, Tom grew up in an orphanage unloved and developing this hatred for those without magic.
And that’s what will culminate in his entry into Hogwarts and his interest in the Dark Arts, making him become the Voldemort we know. It’s a very detailed dive into the creation of this villain that the movies didn’t bring. In this way, the series has the opportunity to present more layers of this iconic character and make him even more interesting.
2. Dumbledore’s Funeral
there is no fan Harry Potter who doesn’t curse the movies for leaving out one of the most iconic scenes in the books. In the original, there is a huge commotion from all over the magical world for the death of Dumbledore and the wizard’s farewell is marked not only by the presence of Harry and his companions, but by an infinity of other fantastic beings.
All Hogwarts students participate in the ceremony, as well as teachers and other figures who have passed through the school. The castle’s ghosts also participate, as well as centaurs from the Forbidden Forest and mermaids from the lake.
It’s a very emotional moment that, in the film, became the magical equivalent of turning on your cell phone’s flashlight. And all this for the sake of cost.
Actress Evanna Lynch, who plays the character Luna Lovegood, revealed that she and part of the cast were disgusted with the fact that the funeral was cut from the adaptation and that she reached out to producer David Heyman to find out why – and that’s when she found out that the decision to simplify the scene was because the version in the book would be too expensive to produce.
And although she suggested giving up part of her salary to bring the funeral to the screen, that didn’t happen. So the hope is that Max’s series does justice.
1. The Marauders
One of the coolest things not only Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanbut of all the mythology of Harry Potter is the story of the Marauders, the group of friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupine, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter had when they were students at Hogwarts.
The film brings only one quote to them when explaining about the Marauder’s Map, the magical map they created to show all the movement inside the castle. But they have a much more important role than that, deepening different characters and providing context to understand facts of the past, present and future.
Exploring the Marauders further is also showing the bullying they did with Snape and how this justifies both the teacher’s implication with Harry Potter and also the passion he has for Lily. This platonic relationship that is born in this flashback is something that will reverberate in one of the most beautiful dialogues in the entire franchise: “Always”.
Also, showing more of these characters also makes other relationships make more sense. Showing that the boys became Animagi to help Lupine in his lycanthropy is very powerful in explaining the companionship that marks their friendship until the end of their lives, as well as making Pettigrew’s betrayal much more felt.
In fact, the Marauders is such a rich piece of mythology Harry Potter that would even work as a prequel series. The same way that The House of the Dragon enriched a whole past that was only mentioned in Game of Thronesshowing how Potter’s parents met was an equally potent and even more fun way to experience this magical world.
