Even Potterheads Missed These 10 Harry Potter Film Details
When Warner Bros. revealed nearly two decades ago that they would be adapting J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series of novels for the big screen, fans of all ages throughout the world were sceptical. The outcome was explosive. The Harry Potter films were a huge success, bringing in even more fans to J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world and establishing the British fantasy tale as one of the most successful movie franchises and series of novels of all time. Fans of the original works, however, discovered a variety of details and modifications that irritated them and were regarded as severe errors. To this day, some people despise movies for this reason. Nonetheless, credit must be given where it is due. Every film in the Harry Potter series was created with outstanding attention to design and detail. Every time they watch, viewers can discover fresh and thrilling background facts, Easter eggs, and other intriguing nuggets. As a result, there are aspects of the Harry Potter franchise that even the most ardent and loyal fans of the classic fantasy books have missed. This list includes all of the most intriguing, shocking, and thought-provoking aspects from all seven Harry Potter films that many people have probably never seen before. Here are some things that even Potterheads overlooked in the Harry Potter films.
10. A Cameo By The Novels:
The events of the Harry Potter books took place before the digital era in the 1990s, and wizards are notoriously behind the times when it comes to some things, such as utilising a quill and parchment instead of pen and paper. As a result, the young witches and wizards of Hogwarts rely heavily on books, frequently visiting the library for study due to a lack of resources like computers and Google. The franchise’s production designers and directors took advantage of the overflowing books on set to include a modest and hilarious surprise in the backdrop that is easily missed. When Harry jumbles up the command for “Diagon Alley” in the Weasley’s floo powder network in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, he winds himself in the gloomy and hazardous Knockturn Alley. Fortunately, Harry shortly encounters his buddy Hagrid, who leads him to safety. The two characters are near a bookstore when Hagrid discovers Harry. If spectators glance in the window to the left of them, they will notice that the shop’s display case has hardcover copies of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels. Harry may have gone to the bookstore and purchased a copy of The Chamber of Secrets to find out what occurred next.
9. Lucius Malfoy’s Curse At Harry:
Draco’s father, Lucius Malfoy, skillfully portrayed by Jason Isaacs, is one of the most terrible villains in the Harry Potter saga. He initially appears in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and serves as the impetus for the events of the film, putting Tom Riddle’s diary in Ginny Weasley’s hands at the start of the plot. When Harry confronts him about the horrible deed at the conclusion of the film, Malfoy initially denies it, but gets furious as Harry presses the subject. When Harry charms him into giving Dobby a sock, liberating the house elf from the Malfoys’ servitude, Draco’s father loses it. During this discussion, Lucius Malfoy becomes so enraged that he takes out his wand and threatens Harry with it, even going so far as to pronounce a curse before being cut off by Dobby. Many people have speculated over the years about what spell Lucius was planning to cast on Harry. If you listen intently, you may hear the wicked Malfoy mutter “Avada,” indicating that he was ready to cast the “Avada Kedavra” spell, one of the three unforgivable curses. If Dobby hadn’t interrupted him, Malfoy would have sent Harry to see his parents-all over a house elf and a diary.
8. Wizard Breakfast Foods:
The passion and attention to detail that filmmakers put into world-building is one of the most enjoyable and interesting features of the fantasy genre in movies. Nothing beats watching a fully distinct, amazingly detailed fictitious universe and lifestyle play out in front of you on the big screen. The film adaptations of Rowling’s novels are no different. Each director in the franchise spent a significant amount of time on set, creating convincing and sophisticated settings so that viewers might believe they were witnessing the young witches and wizards of Hogwarts live out their lives. The Great Hall is one of the clearest instances of this commitment to developing Hogwarts. The massive set erected for Hogwarts’ dining hall is stunning in and of itself, but it’s the minute touches that truly set it apart. Not only is all of the food seen on screen authentic, but the producers devised food brands that could be purchased in the wizarding realm. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is one such case. A box of “Cheeri-Owls” may be seen to the left of Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang in a scene where Harry, Ron, and Hermione are strolling through the Great Hall. The brand that allegedly produces “Cheeri-Owls,” Lunfrey, can also be seen on the packaging. That’s some serious devotion to production design.
7. Harry’s Quidditch Captain Number:
Quidditch is a significant thing in the Harry Potter franchise, thanks to Harry’s prowess in the game and his father’s own renown talents. So it’s a big storey point in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince when Harry eventually becomes Gryffindor’s Quidditch Team Captain. The significance of the occasion was not lost on the filmmakers, who inserted a slight hint of foreshadowing through Harry’s clothing. Harry’s Quidditch Captain number was 7. This may be interpreted as a premonition of his involvement as the seventh of Voldemort’s horcruxes. While it may seem a stretch to think of a number on a Quidditch jersey as predicting something so momentous, filmmakers throughout the franchise used the number seven in many critical sequences. There are seven heads on the serpent that details the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, seven comrades to accompany Harry at the beginning of The Deathly Hallows Part 1, and seven locks in the chest that imprisoned Mad-Eye Moody in The Goblet of Fire, to name a few instances. When all of these facts are considered together, it is evident that the filmmakers did everything on purpose, and that placing Harry at number 7 in Quidditch in The Half Blood Prince was not a mistake.
6. Gilderoy Lockhart’s Baldness:
Kenneth Branagh’s depiction of Harry’s second-year Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, is easily one of the greatest and most amusing performances in the whole Harry Potter film series. Though Lockhart is a wizard famous in the Harry Potter universe for his extravagant exploits and adventures all over the world, he is exposed as a complete fraud when he is tasked with saving Ginny Weasley in the Chamber of Secrets and is apprehended by Harry and his friend Ron while attempting to flee the wizarding school. Director Chris Columbus, on the other hand, wanted to give even more depth and substance to Lockhart’s vile falsehoods. To do this, he and his set designers inserted some subtle indications in Lockhart’s office to visually imply to audience members that Lockhart is saying even more falsehoods than they are aware of. Lockhart’s desk is a perfect illustration of this. When Harry and Ron approach and corner their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in his office, they can see a magnificent blonde wig on display on Lockhart’s desk if they glance to the left of the screen. At that moment, the professor stuffs the wig into one of his bags as he prepares to escape. The Harry Potter films then imply that this wizard’s legendary treks throughout the world, as well as his striking blonde locks, are all a ruse.
5. Professor Slughorn’s Wand:
Horace Slughorn is one of the most entertaining characters in the later Harry Potter films. As the events of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince unfold, Harry’s sixth-year potion professor is entirely narcissistic and only concerned with making himself appear as excellent as possible, despite the fact that his attempts make him appear silly. It is often emphasized in the Harry Potter mythology that a wand represents its witch or wizard, and that it is inextricably linked to its owner’s personality, character, and soul. This is particularly true with Professor Slughorn’s wand, which portrays precisely how a wand may operate in this manner and how much care the artists behind the Harry Potter franchise put into even the smallest aspects. Slughorn’s wand is tough to capture, yet it contains some intriguing and illuminating information. The handle’s tip has two circular prongs that can be read as a slug head or a pair of horns. Slughorn’s wand also has some unusual embellishments. It’s enclosed in metal and coated in black and silver, expressing his superficial obsession with luxury. Even though the wand is scarcely visible in the film, production designers worked hard to construct this one-of-a-kind wand and make Slughorn as realistic a character as possible.
4. The Deathly Hallows’ Early Appearance:
While numerous instances of foreshadowing occur throughout the Harry Potter franchise to suggest later events in the same film, there is one occasion when an early film clues into a critical part of the last two films. It is a small and practically difficult-to-notice detail. It occurs in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Dumbledore advises Harry on the truth behind Barty Crouch, Jr., prior to the final event of the Triwizard Tournament. The two are having their chat in Dumbledore’s office. In one scene, Dumbledore turns to face a glass display cabinet containing a variety of magical artefacts. A pyramid with a circle in the centre can be seen to the left of the picture, which is the Deathly Hallows logo that becomes so important later in the franchise. Contrary to popular belief, the cinematic adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released in 2005, two years before J.K. Rowling’s last novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Rowling reportedly had a lot of say in the franchise’s development and purposely directed filmmakers to include the symbol in the films in order to presage an event that many fans and even series employees were unaware of.
3. Tom Felton’s Girlfriend:
Few things are more rewarding than watching all of Harry Potter’s characters grow up, content, and happy with their own families at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two. The last sequence of this film and the whole trilogy sees Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron taking their own young children to Hogwarts at King’s Cross Station in London, much as they had earlier in the franchise. This sequence also includes a quick view of Draco Malfoy, his wife, and his own children. As it turns out, there’s a backstory behind Malfoy’s wife in this scenario. Jade Olivia, Tom Felton’s real-life girlfriend at the time, played the part. Olivia worked as a stunt double in the Harry Potter films and had been dating Felton for several years prior to the last edition. Olivia, on the other hand, did not want to make her little appearance. During the press tour for Deathly Hallows Part 2, Felton told reporters, “She was at first hesitant, but I yanked her arm and twisted it.” She was filming with me for three days at King’s Cross [London’s main railway station]; we were quite delighted. Despite the fact that Felton and Olivia split up some time later, her appearance is merely another fun element that lends a bit of flare to the narrative.
2. The Goblet Of Fire’s End Credits:
When Harry goes up against the savage Hungarian Horntail in the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it is one of the most intense scenes in the whole Harry Potter saga. To finish the first event of the fabled tournament, Harry must collect a golden egg guarded by the hostile dragon in this episode of the franchise. Of course, the film and Rowling’s plot contain some criticism and commentary about the use of animals in entertainment. The dragons are shown in little cages being poked and probed by their handlers the night before the first event, and are abused for wizarding pleasure the next day. However, director Mike Newell wanted to reassure viewers that their magical animals had been properly cared for. If viewers have the patience to watch The Goblet of Fire until the very end, they will notice an interesting element that Newell and his crew slipped into the credits. In the closing credits, a phrase promises Potter fans that “no dragons were injured in the filming of this film.” Newt Scamander would be relieved to learn that the dragons in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire were all safe.
1. Snape’s Coded Message To Harry:
Who can forget Professor Severus Snape’s first appearance in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Snape storms into the class, delivering a lengthy, scary lecture about how potions are a difficult topic that would lead many pupils to fail. When Snape observes Harry taking notes and believes he is being ignored, he bombards him with questions and humiliates him in front of the class when he is unable to provide answers. However, while this interrogation appears to be unjust and brutal to Harry at first, Snape’s statements conceal a concealed message. Snape asks Harry if he knows what would happen if the powdered root of asphodel was added to a wormwood infusion. Harry doesn’t know the answer, but that isn’t the point. This is a cryptic statement that would be missed by all viewers who are unfamiliar with Victorian-era floral symbolism. According to the Victorian floral code, asphodel is a lily that represents death, whereas wormwood represents loss and absence. With this remark, Snape is really referring to Harry’s mother, Lily, with this remark, which the young Potter and many spectators miss. Even though Snape is not shown to be the multifaceted figure we know him to be until much later in the franchise, this scene gently suggests how there is more to Hogwarts’ potion teacher than meets the eye.
So yes, these are the 10 details that even Potterheads missed. Well, to be honest, these are some of the most amazing details that we at Animated Times found on the internet, and we bet that even the best Potterheads must have missed these. So which of these is your favorite? Did we miss any? Do let us know in the comments down below. Till then, keep on reading Animated Times, your one-stop destination for learning more about the entertainment industry, new movies, TV series, celebrity gossip, and so much more.
