We still can’t quite believe that the first Harry Potter movie was released 18 years ago. It feels like only yesterday that everybody was flocking to their local cinema to see the Boy Who Lived’s first outing which, as expected, took the box office by storm.
But while the movie is perhaps the most faithful to the core material, it still left out many details from the books. Here is Harry Potter: 10 Major Things The Movie Left Out From The Sorcerer’s Stone.
The Dursleys’ Appearances
For the most part, Warner Bros. got their casting decisions absolutely bang on. Richard Griffiths was superb as the vile Uncle Vernon, Fiona Shaw gave off the same snobby vibes as Aunt Petunia, and Harry Melling was believable as Dudley Dursley. The awful family would often bully Harry during their time at Number Four, Privet Drive together.
However, the filmmakers didn’t stay well and truly faithful to the books. Dudley’s hair is dark, rather than blonde, while Shaw doesn’t have the cartoonishly long neck that Petunia is known for. That’s okay, though, because the trio is brilliant as the family who made Harry’s life such a misery for so many years.
Harry and Draco Malfoy’s First Meet
In the Sorcerer’s Stone movie, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy meet in the Hogwarts Entrance Hall shortly before they’re sorted into their respective houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin. Draco offers his future enemy the chance to be friends but, given that he’d insulted Ron Weasley, Harry chooses to turn him down.
It’s different in the books, though. They first encounter each other while trying on robes in Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. Malfoy is pleasant enough but makes Harry feel thick, with the Boy Who Lived totally in the dark about most things he says. Draco also insults Hagrid — which doesn’t get him off to the best of starts.
Harry and Professor Quirrell’s First Meet
Professor Quirrell is a quivering wreck when he first meets Harry Potter in the Leaky Cauldron of Diagon Alley. With good reason, too, given that Quirrell’s working on behalf of Lord Voldemort. In the movie, Quirrell is so petrified, he refuses to even touch Harry which, at the end of the blockbuster, we discover is due to the fact he’ll suffer incredible pain if he does.
In the books, though, Quirrell shakes Harry’s hand. However, this is before Voldemort chooses to occupy the back of his head, with the Dark Lord choosing to keep a “close eye” on his servant after his attempts to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone from Gringotts fail to pay off.
Who Takes Harry Potter To Kings Cross
In the Sorcerer’s Stone movie, Hagrid ditches Harry Potter just before the Boy Who Lived is about to get on the train to Hogwarts — which is rather rude, in our opinion. It’s then left for poor Harry to find his way onto the platform, something he only succeeds in doing when he encounters the Weasley family for the first time.
But in the books, it’s the Dursleys who take him. It would have been great to have been given a scene of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia insulting Harry before he goes off for the year — which is exactly what happens in the core material.
No Singing Hat
When Harry Potter gets to Hogwarts, he’s fearful that he will have to undergo a difficult test in order to get into the castle. However, that’s not the case, with the Boy Who Lived instead merely having to place the Sorting Hat on his head — and the object does the rest.
For the most part, the scenes from the book and movie are identical. Yet there’s one key difference — the Sorting Hat doesn’t deliver it’s pre-Sort song in the movie. In fact, we never get to hear it played out, which we think is a crying shame.
No Peeves
Harry Potter has enough stuff going on in the movies, like battling against Lord Voldemort, trying to keep his strict teachers at bay, and maintaining a normal life when pretty much everybody is intrigued and fascinated by him. So it’s perhaps a good thing that the decision was made to ax Peeves the Poltergeist from the film.
In the books, Peeves is a constant nuisance, one who takes great pleasure from inflicting pain and suffering on others. He didn’t make a single appearance in any Harry Potter movie, however, which we consider a missed opportunity given the potential of the character. He would have also added some comic relief — something the later films certainly lack.
What Happens To Norbert
Harry Potter is just as exasperated at Hagrid for obtaining Norbert the dragon in the books as he is the movies. Yet the dragon is somewhat looked over on the big screen, perhaps due to the fact they needed to cram plenty of action in for the blockbuster’s final act.
In the books, Harry and Hermione put their time at Hogwarts at risk by travelling to the Astronomy Tower after dark and passing the dragon off to Ron’s older brother, Charlie Weasley. Yet in the movie it’s revealed that Norbert was just sent away to Romania by Professor Dumbledore instead. That doesn’t mean Harry avoids a trip to the Forbidden Forest, however…
Who Is In Detention
In the movie, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco are all given detention for being out after hours, with the Golden Trio also punished for helping Hagrid with Norbert. They then venture into the Forbidden Forest together and come across Professor Quirrell before being rescued by Firenze the Centaur.
However, in the books, Ron isn’t present. He’s in the Hospital Wing after Norbert bites him and gives him a rather horrible infection. Instead, it’s Neville who goes along, having been caught trying to stop the others from sneaking out after dark. That’s why Malfoy goes with Harry, with Hagrid instead looking after Hermione and Neville.
Harry And The Mirror Of Erised
On one of his late-night wanderings, Harry Potter comes across the magical Mirror of Erised which, as Albus Dumbledore explains, shows nothing but the deepest desire in the gazer’s heart. In the film, Harry sees himself looking at the faces of parents Lily and James, who had been ruthlessly murdered by Lord Voldemort many years before.
But they take it one step further in the core material, with the Boy Who Lived seeing every family member. He notes how he sees people with his knobbly knees and his same long nose, looking at his grandparents and their grandparents before that. Perhaps Warner Bros. assumed that just the parents would do and, to be fair, it makes no difference to the end result — you still end up feeling sorry for him.
Hermione’s Potions Task
For the most part, Harry Potter’s journey to the Sorcerer’s Stone plays out just like the book. Along with Ron and Hermione, he overcomes Fluffy the Three-Headed Dog, Devils Snare, Winged Keys, and then the giant chess challenge created by Professor McGonagall to guard the vital object.
But they left out one challenge — the potions test. Here, Hermione and Harry have to solve a riddle before taking one potion to safety — and one through to the stone. It’s a brilliant piece of magic where Hermione’s intellect really shines through, with the Hogwarts student able to correctly work out the puzzle and lead Harry through to a confrontation with Lord Voldemort and Professor Quirrell.
