The Harry Potter series is getting adapted all over again, and there are plenty of things it should do differently this time. By expanding from about one movie per book into perhaps more than a season per book, it should have plenty of time to cover every storyline from the series, but that’s probably too much to hope for. Since seven is the most magically powerful number in the Wizarding World, let’s look at the top seven storylines the new series cannot skip.
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Harry Potter became a global sensation over the last two decades, but as far as faithful adaptations go it actually has a lot of missing parts. The movies chose some odd places to make cuts and simplifications, cutting out some fan-favorite characters in the process as well as some of the worldbuilding. In fairness, this was before Game of Thrones showed studios just how huge a lengthy fantasy adaptation could be, and it seems like now they’re hoping to capitalize on the series more fully. Read on for plot points that the second adaptation of Harry Potter should definitely cover this time around.
The Midnight Duel
Watching the movies, no one would mistake Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy for friends, but their rivalry escalated a lot faster in the books. The two compete in class, on the quidditch pitch and for House points, but in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, they also get to a straight up wizards’ duel by chapter nine. Their botched midnight fight is the height of tween drama in this book, and it changes the atmosphere of a pivotal moment in the story. Hopefully it stays in this time.
[RELATED: Harry Potter HBO TV Show Confirms Fan-Favorite Character Missing in the Movies]
Marauders
A new adaptation of the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, should absolutely include a split timeline with flashbacks to Hogwarts back when Harry’s father was there with Professor Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. The movie version glosses over the characterization of this friend group not only depriving fans of the Marauders but leaving some important parts of the story unexplained.
The book gives us a major lore-dump right near the end — Lupin’s brilliant but rebellious friends realize that he is a werewolf, and they look for ways to help him. They undertake the process of becoming Animagi — wizards who can transform into animals — and they do so secretly, without registering their powers. This allows them to sneak out at night and be with Lupin during his transformations, controlling him if he gets out of hand.
The movies show us all the pieces of this puzzle but never really explain why James, Sirius and Peter became animagi, nor the risks they took on by doing so. It also doesn’t explain how this helped Sirius escape Azkaban, among other things.
S.P.E.W.
It’s hard to blame the movies for ignoring Hermione’s advocacy for house elves, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if this streaming series did the same. I’d call that a mistake, however — a good adaptation needs to confront its source material warts and all, and J.K. Rowling’s depiction of these magical servants is definitely not pretty.
For those that doesn’t recall, house elves are diminutive creatures magically bound to serve witches and wizards, and Muggle-born Hermione is the only person who is horrified by this information. She forms an organization for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.) in book four, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Throughout the series, everyone is opposed to her efforts, including other Muggle-born witches and wizards and most of the house elves themselves. By the end of the books, nothing has really changed for house elves and Hermione’s earnest concern for them is played as a joke again and again, leading many readers to conclude that Rowling’s world-view is circumstantially pro-slavery.
A new adaptation could include this plotline without leading to the same conclusion. A few tweaks to the way other characters respond to Hermione would go a long way, and the arc could be completed in the end with some more screen-time for Dobby, Kreacher and others. The next item on our list will come into play here as well.
Winky
In addition to skipping S.P.E.W., the movies skipped the house elf Winky altogether. Winky was the servant to the Crouch family, and was integral to the plot of The Goblet of Fire as she helped hide Barty Crouch Jr. after he was broken out of Azkaban. Again, the movies did not really explain any of this on screen, but in the books we learn that Crouch’s heartsick mother swapped places with him in the prison, which is how he ended up out in the world, eventually impersonating Mad-Eye Moody and helping to revive Voldemort.
Winky then goes to work in the kitchen at Hogwarts with Dobby, where they make occasional appearances in the story and serve as familiar viewpoints later on. All of this makes her important for the series going forward.
Rita Skeeter
Another plot the movies skipped starts in book four with the introduction of Rita Skeeter, the unscrupulous reporter for The Daily Prophet. Throughout that volume she gets some uncanny scoops that surprise Hermione, and at the very end Hermione reveals how — Rita is yet another unregistered Animagus. Hermione traps her in a jar in her bug form, realizing that she has been shrinking down to listen to other peoples’ conversations unnoticed.
Admittedly, this isn’t a vital part of the story, but it is fun. Hermione blackmails Rita with the legal ramifications of her illegal transformation, forcing the reporter to help them out in later books. Eventually, when Rita goes back to trashing Harry and his friends in the press, it’s one of the big signs of the shifting power dynamic in the Wizarding World, since Hermione’s blackmail is no longer enough to scare the reporter. All in all, this is interesting enough that it should definitely be added back in.
Weasley Twin Finances
The movies completely cut the character of Ludo Bagman, which isn’t a big deal necessarily, but it did deprive us of the Weasley twins’ desperate thirst for gold. In the books, the twins need money to get their magical prank business of the ground, and they bet all the cash they’ve made so far on the Quidditch World Cup. They then spend the book trying to collect their winnings from Bagman, to his dismay.
At the end of the book, Harry wants nothing to do with his prize money from winning the Triwizard tournament. He gives the money to the twins to invest in their business, and they never forget it. Harry gets free swag from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes for life, and builds even more rapport with Fred and George in the process. This is also yet another tendril that entangles Harry and the Weasley family, pulling on all our heartstrings. Their story is so much about class and humility, so the twins’ financial ambitions should get some screen time.
Phineas Nigellus Black
Finally, the movies cut the character of Phineas Nigellus Black — perhaps the most powerful information broker in the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Phineas is an ancestor of Sirius Black and a former headmaster of Hogwarts, meaning he is somewhat immortal in his portrait hanging in the headmaster’s office. In the book, there is also a portrait of Phineas hanging in the Black family home at 12 Grimmauld Place. Hermione takes this portrait in her magical handbag and the protagonists are occasionally able to glean some information from it about what’s going on inside Hogwarts.
Beyond his functional importance to the plot, Phineas is an interesting character for his place in the politics of the Wizarding World. Although he is racist and elitist, he doesn’t seem entirely convinced that Voldemort’s reign is right for the world. Rowling struggles to create a lot of characters with gray morality in the end, so Phineas should definitely be included for that reason alone, if nothing else.
All eight Harry Potter films are streaming now on Max, along with all three Fantastic Beasts movies. A new Harry Potter series is in pre-production now, and is expected to premiere sometime in 20266 on Max and HBO. The Harry Potter novels are available now in print, digital and audiobook formats, and can be accessed for free via your local library.
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