Whether you’re a fan of the Harry Potter movies or not, I’m sure we can all agree that the filmmakers had a monumentally difficult task when it came to delivering faithful adaptations of the books. Each instalment of J.K. Rowling’s book series is filled with a massive amount of detail, an endless number of beloved characters and moments that would be impossible to cram into a feature-length movie. With that said, there are undoubtedly moments from the Harry Potter books that should have been included in the movies!
We’ve already ranked the five moments that should have made it into the film versions of The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets, and now we’re moving on to the third instalment of the series, Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban!
Following the first two movies, which were both directed by Chris Columbus, Warner Bros. Pictures decided to take the third Harry Potter film in a different direction. The studio hired filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón to helm The Prisoner Of Azkaban, and the director brought a different style, tone and feel to the franchise. Moving away from the “kiddy” aspects of the Wizarding World, Cuarón made the Harry Potter franchise more accessible for older fans and set the tone for the franchise moving forward. While Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban is most peoples favourite Harry Potter film, Alfonso Cuarón still left a number of beloved moments from the book on the cutting room floor.
Here are five moments from Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban that we wish had made it into the movie:
5. More Info About The Marauders
While Alfonso Cuarón made sure to drop pockets of information about The Marauders at different points in the movie, the filmmaker left out some major details about Harry’s father and his relationship with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. We learn much more about The Marauders in J.K. Rowling’s book, with Remus and Sirius going into much more depth when explaining their past to Harry. While the full story of The Marauders might not be integral to the narrative of The Prisoner Of Azkaban, it would have been nice to get a better explanation of these characters and their history.
4. The Quidditch Final
Fans of Quidditch were no doubt disappointed when The Prisoner Of Azkaban landed in cinemas, as there is only one minuscule moment in the entire film. J.K. Rowling’s book takes the magical sport to an entirely new level, treating readers to one of the most exhilarating Quidditch matches in the entire series, which ends with Harry catching the Golden Snitch and Gryffindor finally winning the Quidditch Cup! It’s easy to see why Cuarón left the Quidditch final out of the film adaptation, as it would only take away from other elements of the narrative, but we’ve got to admit that it would be amazing to watch Harry, Oliver Wood and the rest of the team beat Slytherin and win the Quidditch Cup!
3. Hermione Tells McGonagall About Harry’s Firebolt
The introduction of Harry’s Firebolt is handled very differently in the movie compared to the book, with Harry opening Sirius’ gift in the final moments of the film. In the book, the broomstick appears much earlier, showing-up from an unknown sender with the rest of Harry’s Christmas presents. While Harry and Ron are excited to use the broomstick to win the Quidditch Cup, Hermione is rightfully worried about its origins, believing that Sirius Black may have sent the broom to harm Harry. Hermione eventually goes behind Harry and Ron’s backs and tells McGonagall about the broom, leading the Firebolt to be confiscated until it has been properly tested. While it’s easy to understand why this large chunk of the book was left out of the movie, as it would obviously take up a lot of the running time, it would have undoubtedly been fun addition to the movie.
2. Harry Is Caught By Snape
Harry and Snape’s less than friendly relationship gets some time under the spotlight in the film adaptation of The Prisoner Of Azkaban, but there’s an extremely revealing moment between the two characters missing. In the book, Snape catches Harry sneaking back into the castle after his hilarious snowball fight with Malfoy in Hogsmeade. This leads to an incredibly intense conversation between Snape and Harry, in which Snape rants about Harry’s similarity to his father, and reveals that James and his school friends were unkind, reckless bullies. This moment does a lot to shatter Harry’s image of his father and is somewhat integral to Snape’s role in the film. While we still get some amazing moments between Harry and Snape in The Prisoner Of Azkaban, this would have certainly added to the film and given Alan Rickman some more screentime!
1. Harry, Ron and Hermione Fight
There is certainly some friction between Harry, Ron and Hermione in the film adaptation of The Prisoner Of Azkaban, but it is nothing compared to the grudge we see play out in J.K. Rowling’s book. The trio fight for the majority of The Prisoner Of Azkaban, with Harry and Ron agreeing to ignore Hermione when she tells McGonagall about Harry’s Firebolt. Ron then gives Herm,ione the silent treatment for MONTHS when it looks like Crookshanks has finally gotten his paws (and teeth) on Scabbers. It’s easy to see why Cuarón decided to leave the fight between trhe trio out of the movie, as it would take up a lot of time and attention, but would have been a great deal of fun to see the trio giving each other the silent treatment.
Is there a moment from the Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets book that you believe should have made it into the movie? Let us know in the comments section below this post or alternatively, you can find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! if you enjoyed this post, check back son as I’ll be discussing five moments from Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban that should have made it into the movie!
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