Harry Potter Plotlines that Didn't Make the Movies
It is completely impossible to include everything when you transform a book into a movie or TV Show. Many storylines and characters get lost. Below are a few of the plotlines that were left out of the Harry Potter movies.
Hermione and SPEW
In Goblet of Fire Hermione learns that Hogwarts has house elves that work to maintain the school. After learning about house elves due to Dobby and the conditions of their employment Hermione is devastated to learn about the “slave labor” at Hogwarts. She goes on to found SPEW: The Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare. She forces Harry and Ron to join and attempts to recruit other students with little success. As one of her initiatives, she starts knitting hats and other clothing to leave around Gryffindor Tower for the elves to find while cleaning, thus freeing them. Funnily enough, after meeting Dobby again, after Dobby started working at Hogwarts, Harry learns that the elves were mad at Hermione for trying to trick them into freedom. As a result, Dobby a free elf became the only elf to clean Gryffindor Tower happily collecting all of Hermione’s knitted creations.
Rita Skeeter was an Animagus
Just as in the books, Rita Skeeter makes her big entrance in Goblet of Fire. Her articles cause nothing but trouble for the trio and their friends throughout the year. Hermione ends up being the one to figure out how Skeeter managed to find out her information and listen in on private conversations. It turns out Skeeter was an unregistered beetle animagus. She used her animagus form to act as a fly, or rather beetle, on the wall and spy on people to get information for her articles. Hermione traps her in a jar but releases her at the end of the trio’s fourth year having made a deal to get her to stop writing her articles for a year in exchange for not reporting Rita to the authorities.
Ron’s 5th Year Glow Up
A huge part of Ron’s story was left out of the movies. Ron often struggled with jealousy and feeling overshadowed having been the youngest son of the Weasley family and then having a famous best friend. In the trio’s fifth year though we see Ron start to come into his own and take his mark. First, Ron is made Prefect with Hermione instead of Harry as everyone expected. Then, Ron goes after one of his goals and becomes the Gryffindor keeper on the Quidditch team since Oliver Wood had graduated. At first, Ron is lackluster when it comes to Quidditch. His nerves often get the better of him, especially after Slytherin starts taunting him. He manages to turn it around though and helps lead Gryffindor to victory for the House Cup. I missed seeing Ron have his moment in the sun in the movies, but it also sets up a role reversal between him and Harry. Harry starts to feel bits of jealousy of Ron both when he is made Prefect and when he joins the Quidditch team, especially once Harry is kicked off the team by Umbridge.
Neville Longbottom: The Other Chosen One
It was never really touched on in the movies, but Neville Longbottom could have been the chosen one instead of Harry. The first part of the Prophecy states:
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.
Born to those who have thrice defied him,
born as the seventh month dies.”
At the time the prophecy was given there were two couples whose unborn children fit the criteria: James and Lily Potter, and Frank and Alice Longbottom. Both couples fought with the Order of the Phoenix and defied Voldemort three times. Also, both Alice and Lily were pregnant at the time of the prophecy with their babies being born at the end of July, i.e. born as the seventh month dies or ends. What cements Harry’s place as the chosen one is when Voldemort chooses to go after him and gives him his scar fulfilling the next line of the prophecy:
“and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal”
Nevile, unfortunately, is not left untouched by Voldemort’s forces. While trying to find their master, Death Eaters tortured his parents to insanity shortly after Voldemort’s downfall