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No franchise is perfect, but some of these problems could have easily been avoided...
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00:00Maybe the most remarkable thing about the Harry Potter movies is how consistently good they are.
00:05With any lengthy series, however, there are going to be problems here and there.
00:09Some of these issues or lapses in logic are well known, but others, big or small, don't really get any attention.
00:15With that in mind, I'm Will For What Culture, and here are 12 problems with the Harry Potter movies nobody admits.
00:2112. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's Midnight Stroll, The Philosopher's Stone.
00:25Every Hogwarts student knows they are forbidden to roam around the school at night,
00:29and as such, Harry usually wears his invisibility cloak during his many nighttime adventures around the castle.
00:35However, after being introduced to Hagrid's new pet, a dragon named Norbert,
00:40the main trio stroll back through the castle in the dead of night without a care in the world.
00:44They don't even bother to keep their voices down as they head back to Gryffindor Tower,
00:48and Harry also conveniently forgets his father's invisibility cloak.
00:52If Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been more cautious during this scene, it would have been a lot more believable.
00:57It doesn't ruin the plot of the movie or anything, but it's still rather odd that the filmmakers didn't recognize this rather obvious blunder.
01:0511. Voldemort's Death, The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
01:08The Dark Lord's death is strange, to say the least.
01:11The terrific exchange between Harry and Voldemort written by J.K. Rowling is replaced with an entertaining,
01:16if rather cheesy, action sequence which ends with the two characters locked in battle.
01:20This is all perfectly fine, but Voldemort's demise makes no sense whatsoever.
01:25After Harry claims his opponent's wand, the Dark Lord starts to deteriorate.
01:29His body crumbles into an ash-like substance which floats away into the sky.
01:33The only possible explanation is that Voldemort was so dehumanized that he wasn't able to die normally.
01:39Regardless of why the filmmakers thought this was an acceptable way to finish the Dark Lord,
01:43it would have been much more striking if his body had remained intact,
01:47and Harry was forced to look at the lifeless form of his arch-nemesis.
01:5110. Percy's Estrangement, The Order of the Phoenix.
01:55Percy Weasley is probably the least popular member of the Weasley family, and this is understandable.
02:00He's pompous, annoyingly ambitious, and obsessed with following rules.
02:04Percy occasionally makes an appearance in the first three movies,
02:07but in The Goblet of Fire, he simply disappears from the story.
02:10In The Order of the Phoenix, he has no dialogue, but he does crop up regularly alongside Cornelius Fudge.
02:15The issue is that there's no explanation given about Percy's transformation
02:19from a loyal member of the Weasley family into the Minister's assistant.
02:23We're supposed to just accept that he's sided with the corrupt politicians.
02:27In the books, it's actually explained, but in the films, we get nothing.
02:329. Harry's First Quidditch Match, The Philosopher's Stone.
02:35Madam Hooch might be the worst referee in the history of magical games and sports.
02:39She starts Harry's first Quidditch match with a blow from her whistle,
02:43and then disappears for the rest of the game.
02:45The Slytherin's tactics are barbaric, to say the least.
02:48Oliver Wood is walloped with a bludger,
02:50and Angelina Johnson is forced into the stands by two of her opponents.
02:54Both of them are rendered unconscious,
02:56and yet Madam Hooch does absolutely nothing in response to these illegal actions.
03:00While the violence of the Slytherin team is rather amusing,
03:03they really shouldn't have been allowed to get away with it.
03:05Their actions are totally illegal in the context of the sport,
03:08yet for whatever reason,
03:10neither Madam Hooch nor any of the other teachers did anything to stop them.
03:148. Lumos Maxima, The Prisoner of Azkaban.
03:17Most Harry Potter fans agree that The Prisoner of Azkaban is the best movie in the franchise.
03:22Unfortunately, this terrific film doesn't get off to a particularly good start.
03:26Just before the opening titles, the camera zooms into Harry's bedroom,
03:30and we see him underneath the covers with his schoolwork.
03:32In order to see what he's doing, he uses the incantation Lumos Maxima.
03:37Yet, even a casual Harry Potter fan could tell you that the use of underage magic outside of school
03:42is forbidden.
03:43In fact, in the previous movie, Harry was given a severe warning by the Ministry,
03:47just because Dobby performed a hover charm in the Dursley's living room.
03:51It's a fun scene, and a good demonstration of the Dursley's dislike of magic,
03:55but it also contradicts all the established rules of the universe for very little payoff.
03:597. Snape and the Prophecy, The Half-Blood Prince slash The Deathly Hallows.
04:05One of the more overlooked chapters in the Harry Potter series is The Seer Overheard.
04:10In this chapter, Harry learns from Professor Trelawney that it was Snape
04:13who told Voldemort about the prophecy.
04:15In the movies, on the other hand, this significant piece of information is simply left out.
04:20And while Snape's memories are adapted relatively well, they lack that extra emotional punch.
04:25In Rowling's version, Snape feels responsible for Lily's death,
04:28because his information led Voldemort to hunt down the Potters.
04:32In other words, he's dealing with guilt as well as loss.
04:35This is a key aspect of why he agrees to protect Harry.
04:38He's redeeming himself while simultaneously making sure Lily did not die in vain.
04:446. Helena Ravenclaw and the Location of the Diadem, The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
04:49Toward the end of the second part of The Deathly Hallows,
04:52Helena Ravenclaw tells Harry the diadem is located in
04:55the place where everything is hidden, the Room of Requirements.
04:59But how would she know this?
05:00It's very unlikely that Voldemort told her because he was so protective over his horcruxes.
05:05The book version of events, though more complex, is much more satisfactory.
05:10Back in The Half-Blood Prince, Harry is shown a memory which involves Tom Riddle asking Dumbledore for a job.
05:15Later on, Harry hides his copy of Advanced Potion Making in the Room of Requirements,
05:19and purely by chance, he covers the hiding place with a wig and a tiara to make it more distinctive.
05:25After speaking with Helena during the Battle of Hogwarts,
05:28Harry comes to the sudden realization that Voldemort hid the diadem the night he asked Dumbledore for a job,
05:33and that the tiara he'd used to hide his potions book the previous year was in fact the diadem.
05:39Granted, there is a fair bit of luck involved with such a revelation,
05:42but at least there's a reasonable explanation given, whereas in the movie,
05:46we're supposed to just accept the fact that Helena knows where Voldemort hid her mother's diadem.
05:515. Death Eaters Attack the Burrow, The Half-Blood Prince
05:55For those who are not familiar with the sixth Harry Potter novel,
05:58Harry's visit to the burrow during the Christmas holidays is pretty quiet.
06:01He discusses his suspicions about Malfoy with Lupin and Mr. Weasley,
06:05and enjoys the time away from the school with the other Weasley kids.
06:08In the movie adaptation, on the other hand,
06:10his holidays are ruined by a random attack from Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback.
06:15The pair of them attempt to destroy the burrow,
06:17and Harry and Ginny chase them into the surrounding countryside.
06:20Though the scene is fine as a standalone action sequence,
06:24it's also completely nonsensical.
06:26Like most buildings connected with the Order,
06:28the burrow was given extra protection, defensive spells and enchantments,
06:32to prevent unwanted visitors from wrecking havoc.
06:34As such, Bellatrix and Greyback should not have been able to arrive at the burrow,
06:38let alone destroy it.
06:40Also, why didn't Voldemort come himself?
06:43If the burrow was so easily accessible,
06:45it would have been an ideal place to try and take Harry
06:47whilst he was away from the protection of Dumbledore.
06:50Four, Barty Crouch Jr.'s escape from Azkaban, the Goblet of Fire.
06:55Barty Crouch Jr.'s backstory is fascinating.
06:58The way Rowling ties together the Quidditch World Cup,
07:00the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins,
07:02and the events of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is superb.
07:05Whilst it would be tricky to cover everything in the movie adaptation,
07:09the lack of explanation here is unforgivable.
07:12Harry knows who Barty Crouch Jr. is because of his venture into the Pensive,
07:17but there are no details given about how he escaped from Azkaban
07:20or how he managed to communicate with the Dark Lord.
07:23To make matters worse, Crouch's fate is left rather ambiguous.
07:27The implication is that he's sent back to Azkaban.
07:30But in the book, he has his soul sucked out by Dementors
07:33due to the inactitude of Cornelius Fudge.
07:35The book version is much more logical
07:37because it explains why he doesn't appear in any of the later entries.
07:40All things considered,
07:42the butchering of Crouch's fascinating story was a massive mistake.
07:46A 10-minute flashback would have made for an interesting sequence
07:48in one of the more mediocre Harry Potter movies.
07:51Three, the effect of the Polyjuice Potion,
07:54the Chamber of Secrets slash the Goblet of Fire slash the Deathly Hallows.
07:58When adapting a novel, there are always going to be changes to the source material.
08:03Some aspects of the original story will be altered or removed,
08:06and new things will also be added.
08:07Unfortunately, the filmmakers complicated the Polyjuice Potion purely for the sake of it.
08:12In the Chamber of Secrets, Harry and Ron both take the Polyjuice Potion,
08:16and in terms of their appearances, they look exactly like Crabbe and Goyle.
08:20But for reasons that are never explained, they retain their original voices.
08:24While this does lead to a few comedic moments, there was really no need to impose this rule.
08:30That rule is then abandoned in the Goblet of Fire,
08:32when Barty Crouch Jr. transforms into Mad-Eye Moody.
08:35But in both halves of the Deathly Hallows,
08:38the filmmakers revert back to the rule established in the Chamber of Secrets.
08:41This can be seen during the Battle of the Seven Potters and during the Gringotts heist.
08:46It would have been much easier if the filmmakers had just stuck with Rowling's version of the potion.
08:50This would have avoided any inconsistencies and saved a job for the sound department.
08:542. The Marauder's Backstory
08:56The Prisoner of Azkaban
08:58Toward the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban, the truth about Sirius Black is revealed.
09:03The audience learns that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew,
09:06and that it was he who portrayed Harry's parents and murdered a street full of muggles, not Sirius.
09:11And Lupin also reveals that he's a werewolf, which is why he's been missing classes.
09:16However, the details of this backstory are never explored.
09:19You wouldn't know from watching the film who created the Marauder's Map,
09:23or why they knew so much about Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Grounds.
09:26Most frustratingly, those who haven't read the book will not know that Harry's Patronus,
09:31which takes the shape of a stag, is the same animal James Potter transformed into as an animagus.
09:36It's a shame because The Prisoner of Azkaban is a terrific movie,
09:40yet the filmmakers manage to miss out what many Potter fans consider to be the best backstory in the entire franchise.
09:46One, Harry doesn't do any magic in his first year, the Philosopher's Stone.
09:52As ridiculous as it might sound, Harry doesn't actually do any magic in his first year at Hogwarts.
09:58In fact, the only time he successfully casts a spell is whilst he's trying out wands in Ollivander's shop.
10:05If you watch the Philosopher's Stone closely, you'll notice that Hermione does all the major spell work.
10:09She uses her considerable talent to fix Harry's glasses, unlock doors,
10:13set Snape's robes on fire, petrify Neville, and take down the Devil's Snare whilst beneath the trapdoor.
10:19Even Ron does more than Harry, because at least he uses Wingardium Leviosa to take down the troll on Halloween.
10:26It's really hard to believe the filmmakers didn't spot this crucial misstep at some point.
10:31Sure, Harry still has a lot to do in the first movie.
10:34He plays Quidditch and is incredibly brave when he fights Quirrell,
10:37but given he's the title character of a story about being a young wizard,
10:41he really should have performed some actual magic at some point.
10:45And there you have it folks, 12 problems with Harry Potter movies, nobody admits.
10:49Feel free to drop this video a like if you enjoyed it,
10:51and drop me a follow on Twitter at YouSlyDougYu.
10:54I'm Will for WhatCulture, thanks for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.
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