10 Things You Might Not Know About Harry Potter

Let’s face it, filmmaking has its restrictions. Translating a book into a movie is hard work and not every detail that is in the books is going to make its way into the movies. Some storylines will have to cut, some scenes will have to be adapted and some details will be changed. The Harry Potter movies were made to entertain and to transmit the amazing story of Harry Potter in visual form to the world. Not everyone has read the Harry Potter books and the movies were created not only to please the readers of the saga but also to please the audience of nonreaders. This said there are some details that didn’t make the final draft of the movies, and sometimes not even the books. I wanted to create a list of some of these details that a lot of people don’t know about Harry Potter and that they might find interesting. These details can bring a little closure to people who thought that there were some plot holes in the story and there are details that are just plain fun to know. Enjoy!

It’s not by happenstance that Harry and Rowling’s birthday coincide. JK Rowling, the all powerful creator of the series, made sure that she would always be even more connected to her character of Harry Potter. What better way to do that than by having the same birthday! This makes it pretty easy for the fans to remember. Now every year on July 31, not only is JK Rowling celebrated but her beloved character as well. JK Rowling also created other characters birthdays on easy to remember dates. The twins Fred and George Weasley’s birthday is obviously dated on April Fool’s Day, April 1^st. Voldemort himself has a significant date for his birthday. He was born on New Year’s Eve.

We all know that Hermione was the cleverest witch at Hogwarts. Besides her many adventures with Harry Potter, when we imagine Hermione, we imagine her studying and eating her books. But Hermione was also an activist. She felt it was unjust how wizards treated house-elves, the small loyal magical creatures that serve a wizard in their homes. The most well-known house-elf in the Harry Potter saga is Dobby, who was the Malfoy’s house-elf until Harry freed him by tricking his master Lucius Malfoy into giving him a piece of clothing. Like we see in the movie Chamber of Secrets, Lucius abused Dobby, and he definitely was not the only wizard that mistreated their faithful servants. Most house-elves don’t mind this treatment. They are accustomed to this way of life and this is just the way this has been forever. But Hermione could not stand this injustice and she created the organization called the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, S.P.E.W. for short. She barely had any followers but she was loyal to her cause. Following Harry’s example, she even tried to free the house-elves at Hogwarts by tricking them into taking some hats and socks she knitted. It was unsuccessful.

A squib is a non-magic person born of wizard parents. A squib should not be confused for a muggle. Squibs have such a low level of magical power that they are not able to perform magic of any kind. Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker, is one of these beings. Born of magical parents and knowing no other world than the wizarding world, Filch had no other choice than to remain in a world where he would be an outcast. He acquired a position in Hogwarts where he watches over the halls of the school where he sees magic everyday without being able to perform it himself. He wanders the corridors with his pet cat Mrs. Norris, with whom he has an unusual relationship. Some Squibs are known to have a special connection with cats. Filch and Mrs. Norris seem to understand each other. When Mrs. Norris notices a student doing something they are not supposed to do, she swiftly informs Filch who gets there within seconds to dole out punishment.

Besides showing us a glimpse of their existence via the Marauders Map on Prisoner of Azkaban, the filmmakers completely ignored the storyline of the Marauders. The Marauders were the ones that created the Marauder’s Map that Fred and George Weasley gave to Harry on his third year at Hogwarts. They were made up of Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter. They were the best of friends and committed mischief together on their years at Hogwarts. When the boys discovered that their friend Lupin was a werewolf, hence the name Moony, they secretly became Animagus, which meant that they could transform themselves into animals, as to keep his friend company on the nights that he transformed. James, or Prongs, transformed into a Stag, Sirius, or Padfoot, was able to transform into a Dog and Pettigrew, or Wormtail, was a Rat, both the animal and the traitor, like we find out in Prisoner of Azkaban.

Not much is known about Neville Longbottom. He is usually turned to as comic relief in the movies, but there is much to Neville that meets the eye. From what is shown in the movies, you wouldn’t have any idea that Neville almost possessed Harry’s fate. Neville’s parents were Aurors, who are the wizards that battle the Dark Arts, and were members of the Order of the Phoenix, the secret organization formed by Dumbledore to defeat Voldemort. The prophecy that predicted the defeat of Lord Voldemort said that the boy who would defeat him would be “born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies”. This could have been any of the two boys, Neville or Harry. Voldemort chose the one who he thought would be more likely and who he identified the most, Harry. After he marked Harry as his equal when he was a baby and was destroyed, Bellatrix Lestrange wanted to find out what happened to her master. So she captured and tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse. The torture drove Neville’s parents insane and now they reside in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Another very important scene not shown in the movies is Peter Pettigrew’s death. We know that he was a traitor, that he gave Lord Voldemort the information of the whereabouts of the Potters that lead to him killing Harry’s parents. We know that he framed Sirius Black for the murder of innocent muggles and that he spent years hiding in his Animagus form as Ron’s rat Scabbers. We know that after Sirius found out his whereabouts Pettigrew ran and joined Lord Voldemort. And we also know that he helped Voldemort regain his human form and he remained his lackey into his end. But, what people don’t know is his fate, what happened to him after he imprisoned Harry and Ron in Malfoy Manor. As much as we hate Wormtail, he did feel bad for what he had done. When Harry reminded him of the debt he owed him after he spared his life in Prisoner of Azkaban, Wormtail hesitated and this reluctance made the hand that Lord Voldemort created for him on Goblet of Fire to turn on him and murder him.

Even though it’s not said exactly like that on the books, JK Rowling has stated that when she wrote the character of Dumbledore she imagined him as gay. On the last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we get a glimpse of what she meant. Dumbledore had a very powerful friendship with another wizard named Gellert Grindelwald. Grindelwald was what you might call a dark wizard, he was interested in world domination and was enlisted Dumbledore’s help to do so. While searching for the Deathly Hallows and planning to take over the wizarding world, Grindelwald and Dumbledore grew close, enough so that Dumbledore fell in love with him. It wasn’t until a fight broke out between them, that resulted in the death of Dumbledore’s sister Ariana, that the wizards parted ways. Later when Grindelwald was becoming a serious threat in the wizard world, Dumbledore regrettably defeated the powerful wizard. Grindelwald spent the rest of his life in the wizard prison Nurmengard until Voldemort killed him.

In the Prologue of Deathly Hallows movie, we see the main characters all grown up and on Platform 9 ¾ with their kids. We know that Harry married Ginny and that Ron married Hermione. We also know that Harry and Ginny had 3 children and that Ron and Hermione had 2. And that’s it. The books tell us a little bit more, like the names of their children and their ages at that time. Ron and Hermione’s older child Rose was starting her first year at Hogwarts at that particular time, so she must have been 11 years old. She was rather nervous about not being sorted into Gryffindor. Hugo their smallest hadn’t started Hogwarts yet, so he must have been around 10 years old. Ron and Hermione went a little bit more conventional when naming their children, unlike Harry and Ginny. Their oldest child is on his second year at Hogwarts and his name is James Sirius, as homage to Harry’s father, James Potter, and Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black. The second child was starting Hogwarts at the time, so he also must be 11 years old. His name, which is mentioned in the movie, is Albus Severus, Albus for Harry’s mentor Albus Dumbledore and Severus for the bravest man he has ever met and his former Hogwarts Professor Severus Snape. The littlest child hasn’t started Hogwarts yet just like Hugo, her name is Lily Luna, Lily for Harry’s mother and Luna, we are guessing, for Harry and Ginny’s dear friend Luna Lovegood.

We know that Harry and Ginny got married and so did Ron and Hermione, but what of Neville and the others. What happened to them? Although not mentioned in the books, and even less on the movies, Neville eventually became a Hogwarts Professor. In what field you might ask, well in Herbology of course. The movies give us little hints that Neville was fascinated by plants, like the fact that he was very proud of his Mimbulus Mimbletonia, the plant that we see him with in Order of the Phoenix. After the final battle in Deathly Hallows, Neville, Ron and Harry were working as Aurors to finish the reign of the Death Eaters. After that job was done, Neville went to work at Hogwarts.

As mentioned before Neville returns to Hogwarts and becomes Professor Longbottom. In the movie Deathly Hallows, Neville apparently was in love with Luna Lovegood of Ravenclaw house. This was added to the movie because everyone, myself included, always felt that Neville and Luna make the perfect couple. They are both weird and outcasts. JK Rowling later stated that they never ended up together. Neville eventually married Hannah Abbot of Hufflepuff house who became the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. Way to go Neville! Luna who was always fascinated with magical creatures married Rolf Scamander, grandson of Newt Scamander the author of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. They went on to have twin sons, Lorcan and Lysander.

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