Harry Potter (Films 5 through 8) (Part 2)

Welcome back, everyone.

Last time, we covered why I feel that the back half of the Harry Potter film series would have benefitted from more planning.  The adaptation schedule made it impossible for them to see the entire story in advance, yet by the time Order of the Phoenix was in production, Rowling would have been able to provide the knowledge needed to at least steer these final films towards a cohesive ending.  I don’t think any of these films are objectively bad.  I just think that the filmmakers could have further enhanced them If They Planned It All Ahead.

Please feel free to hop back to Part 1 for a breakdown of my grievances and an overview of my proposed edits.  Before we jump into the execution of those edits, however, there is a little bookkeeping that needs to be addressed.

Elements from Book 7

My list of major grievances and edits was not comprehensive.  While I believe that I hit the four points that causes the most significant issues within the Deathly Hallows films, there are two omissions that need to be addressed.

-          The Trace and the Taboo, critical elements of the book that were barely touched upon in the films

-          Dumbledore’s checkered past and its impact upon Harry

These elements were not properly introduced until the book of Deathly Hallows.  While both the Trace and Dumbledore’s past built upon elements established in the prior books, I hesitate to say that they were foreshadowed.  I can’t recall anything at all to establish the Taboo before Deathly Hallows.  I genuinely think Rowling developed these things for the finale alone.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with adding lore at the end of series.  I think it works fine in the books.  The problem is that, like the previously identified issues, they add to the sense of clutter within the Deathly Hallows films.

A potential solution would be to establish these things in the earlier films.  A mention about the Trace could potentially have been made in Order of the Phoenix, and the Taboo could have been brought up in a throwaway line in almost any film.  However, I feel like introducing these elements earlier would contribute to the very problem that this essay is intended to address, only within different films.  Fixes should be made within the runtime of Deathly Hallows.

The Taboo and the Trace are straightforward: cut them entirely from the adaptation.  While they are fascinating bits of lore, they are not essential to the films.

Dumbledore’s past is harder address.  This was an emotionally significant subplot in the books.  In the films, it is mostly glossed over.  I would accept this as a necessary sacrifice, except that the subplot is still given a significant role.  In Part I, Harry only knows to talk to Bathilda Bagshot because her name was brought up in connection to Dumbledore’s past.  The “biography” by Rita Skeeter is what leads the gang to meet with Xenophilius Lovegood, thereby introducing the Deathly Hallows themselves.  In Part II, the gang meets Aberforth, and he directly challenges Harry over his trust in Dumbledore.  This really should have gotten follow-up in the King’s Cross scene at the end of the film (as it did in the book), but instead, all we get is a line from Harry to Aberforth about Harry not caring about the details of Dumbledore’s past.  It almost sounds like the script is directly addressing audience members who might be upset by the subplot’s diminished role.

If any doubts were going to be cast upon Dumbedore’s character, then the films should have taken the full time needed to explore it and the emotional impact on Harry.  Since the parameters I set for myself in Part 1 of this essay limit the amount of content that can be added, that means leaving Dumbledore’s past to another set of films.  Preferably, this would be a series of magical political thrillers, free from such tonally dissonant elements as a loveable magizoologist and his whimsical animal companions.  (Yes, I am thinking of doing something for the Fantastic Beasts films at some point.)

A New Story

Now, let’s dive into the updated films.  As with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we will take this one film at a time, only calling out the scenes where changes are made.

The Order of the Phoenix

This film is going to be doing the heavy lifting in terms of setups.

            Scene: The Advance Guard

The film version of the Advance Guard consists Moody, Kingsley, Tonks, Emmeline Vance, and Elphias Doge (though Vance and Doge have no lines and aren’t named).  I propose that Vance and Doge should be dropped in favor of Mundungus.

Rather than the character moment where Moody aggravates Tonks by using her first time, we’d instead get a character moment with Mundungus: as the Advance Guard leaves the house, Moody uses magic to clear out Mundungus’s pockets, revealing that he’d managed to pocket several of the Dursley’s valuables while inside the house.  This small moment will fix Mundungus in the audience’s minds as a thief.

Also, I would cut anything that demonstrates that Tonks is a Metamorphmagus.  This applies to any later scenes as well.  The movie doesn’t take advantage of it, so it’s a setup without a payoff.  We don’t need any explanation for why the witch has purple hair when Muggles are perfectly capable to doing the same thing with dye (as the making of this movie demonstrates).

            Scene: Arrival at 12 Grimmauld Place

While the initial introduction to the house will be the same, we will replace Kreacher with Dobby in this scene.  He’ll be wearing the outfit from his book reintroduction in Goblet of Fire: a horseshoe-pattern tie, soccer shorts, mismatched socks, and a tea cozy pinned with bright badges as a hat.  We can get a brief, whispered reunion where he explains to Harry that he now works for the Order of the Phoenix, though he doesn’t explain what that is before insisting that he must get back to his cleaning.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge that using Dobby instead of Kreacher will rob 12 Grimmauld Place of some of its spooky atmosphere.  I think that’s an acceptable sacrifice.  Unlike the book, the film doesn’t have time to delve deep into the effect that being cooped up in the house has in Sirius, so building up how spooky and miserable the place is doesn’t have the same payoff.

            Scene: Fireplace Chat with Sirius

Within the film, Sirius popping in to chat interrupts Hermione ranting about Umbridge’s draconian measures.  He provides insight into how things are progressing outside of school and confirms that Fudge fears that Dumbledore is building an army.  This is all great information, but it’s nothing Harry and friends couldn’t have puzzled out on their own, so it’s not essential for Hermione to get the idea that Harry should teach them.

With that in mind, I would split the current scene into two: one before the meeting in Hog’s Head, and one after.

-          Before the Hog’s Head meeting, Ron will suggest that Fudge is acting like Dumbledore is building an army.  This can segway into Hermione’s idea.

-          After the Hog’s Head meeting, Sirius pops in for the fireplace chat.  He helps the group brainstorm places where Dumbledore’s Army could meet.  We then get a charming moment where Dobby inserts himself into the conversation to mention the Room of Requirement.

            Scene: Christmas at 12 Grimmauld Place

Harry comes upon Dobby tidying up the room with the Black family tree.  When Sirius comes in, his remark about Kreacher being unpleasant can be replaced with a comment about how Dobby is far more pleasant than the Black family elf (whose fate will be left unaddressed).  Sirius could then pass Harry a wrapped present, but before Harry can open it, Hermione would intrude to tell Harry it was time to leave.

            Scene: Breaking into Umbridge’s Office

The only change I would recommend here is one to the dialogue.  In the existing film, there is a snipper of dialogue that directly contradicts the fireplace chat scene.

HARRY: We’ll have to use the Floo Network.

HERMINONE: But Umbridge has all of the chimneys under surveillance.

HARRY: Not all of them.

In the book, this made sense, as there were two fireplace chat scenes.  In the second, Umbridge intrudes, using the Floo Network to stick her hand into the Gryffindor fireplace and attempting to seize Sirius by the hair.  It’s a memorable and chilling cliffhanger.  Since we don’t get that in the movie, Hermione has no reason to know this.  I’d recommend a slight revision:

HARRY: We’ll have to use the Floo Network.

HERMINONE: But where are we going to find Floo Powder?

Smash cut to the office break-in.

            Scene: Mourning Sirius

The last aspect I’d recommend changing would come at the very end.  In the film, we get that silent scene of Harry packing.  There is certainly palpable emotion here, but we’re going to dial up the intensity by adapting the scene from the book.  In this iteration, Harry finds the wrapped gift (much like in the book, he would have lost track and forgotten to open.  He opens it, see Sirius’s note that explains how it works, and attempt to use it to call Sirius.  Then he breaks it in a moment of renewed grief.  Transition to the final conversation with Harry and Dumbledore.

            Conclusion

That wraps up all changes to Order of the Phoenix.  The additional of scenes will add a few minutes to the run time, but none of it is dead weight, and it will pay dividends when we hit the Deathly Hallows films.

The Half-Blood Prince

Out of the films in the back half, Half-Blood Prince is the one I would change the least.

            Scene: Christmas at the Burrow

This is not strictly related to the purpose of this essay, but I feel it’s worth mentioning: the action scene at Christmas is very frustrating.

I do think this part of the movie is worth keeping, as it includes Harry’s chat with Mr. Weasley and subtly advances the relationship between Tonks and Lupin.  The action scene, though, is pointless filler.  The scene itself seems to realize it has no point, as in the absence of any casualties, it resorts to burning the Burrow to elicit a gut punch reaction from the audience.  Since the Burrow is perfectly intact in the next film, this ends up being very hollow.

In fairness to the filmmakers, perhaps the test audiences were getting bored at this point in the movie.  Perhaps the scene was added to liven things up.  I’m not sure it was worth it, though.  Even given the rather condensed nature of the Harry Potter films, they aren’t exactly action movies, and this film is not an exception.  I don’t think it would have hurt the film if we cut directly from the chat between Harry and Mr. Weasley in the shed to the conversation between Harry and Hermione back at Hogwarts (dropping any mention to the attack from the latter conversation, of course).

            Scene: Discussion of the Horcruxes

The most significant changes will come to this scene.  With the extra time gained by cutting the filler action scene, we’re going to expand Dumbledore and Harry’s chat.  The updated dialogue would run something like this:

HARRY: But how would you find them? They could be hidden anywhere.

DUMBLEDORE: True.  But magic, especially dark magic –

[Harry touches the ring and has the hallucination currently in the move.]

DUMBLEDORE:  – leaves traces. And we need not search blindly. Though Voldemort could use any object or any place, his pride demands objects of special magnificence, and safe places to match them.

HARRY: The diary isn’t that special, sir.

DUMBLEDORE: The diary proves that he is the heir of Slytherin.  The ring is the same: it links him to the ancient Perverell family.  His mother also owned a locket that was once owned by Salazar Slytherin.

HARRY: Slytherin … Could he have used objects from the other founders, sir? Like the Sword of Gryffindor?

DUMBLEDORE: The Sword, no – I am confident that he never had the chance, and it is the last known relic of Gryffindor.  But there are other objects made by the founders, and he has had time to claim them.  Not long after he left Hogwarts, Voldemort killed the witch who had come into possession of the locket after his mother’s death.  She also owned a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff.  As for relics owned by Ravenclaw, a few still exist.

HARRY: The locket, the cup, and something owned by Ravenclaw … So if he made seven Horcruxes, there will be two left?

DUMBLEDORE [After a poignant pause]: Six Horcruxes, Harry.  Voldemort intended to make six.  The seventh piece of his soul is within his body.

HARRY: So one more … Sir, what about the snake?  Last year, when he attacked Mr. Weasley, it was like he was inside the snake.  What if he wasn’t just possessing it?

DUMBLEDORE: It would be dangerous to hide his soul inside an animal, but it could be done.

HARRY: It’s where you’ve been going, isn’t it?  When you leave the school?  You’re hunting for these Horcruxes?

DUMBLEDORE: Yes.  And I think perhaps I may have found another.

This is a hefty addition to the dialogue, and it would extend the scene accoridngy.  Still, by arming the audience with the checklist of Horcruxes, Deathly Hallows would have a sense of direction.

            Scene: The Phoenix Lament

Within this closing scene, Harry would reiterate the checklist of Horcruxes he’s searching for, perhaps with a line like this.

HARRY: I’m not coming back, Hermione.  I’ve got to finish what Dumbledore started.  The real locket … the cup … the snake … whatever relic of Ravenclaw that Voldemort found … I’m going to find and destroy them.  And I don’t know where that’ll lead me, but I’ll let you and Ron know where I am when I can.

Again, it stretches things out, but it will help establish reader expectations.

            Conclusion

I considered adding in some snippet about Mundungus ransacking 12 Grimmauld Place to Half-Blood Prince, as it was established in the book.  However, I ultimately think that how the Deathly Hallows films handle the robbery is fine.  If Mundungus is established as a thief in Order of the Phoenix, that should be adequate setup for him committing robbery in Deathly Hallows.

The Deathly Hallows

… will have to wait until next time.  I had intended to keep this to just two parts, but I also want to keep these posts at a length comparable to my average chapter.  The proposed treatment for Deathly Hallows will overshoot that limit by a hefty chunk of words.

Not to worry, though.  Tune in June 21st for the grand finale, where we go over how the Deathly Hallows could have been streamlined If They Planned It All Ahead. Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you have a great week.