Five “Harry Potter” Deaths the TV Remake Should Fix
The eight Harry Potter films were great adaptations of the books. However, due to time constraints, certain emotional moments such as character deaths were removed, reduced, or rewritten. The upcoming Harry Potter TV show will have more time to include additional details from the books, and we’re hoping that means they’ll be able to flesh out these five character deaths.
Mad-Eye Moody
Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. Voldemort — he can fly — went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he Disapparated. Voldemort’s curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and — there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail —” (DH 78)
Since we were following Harry’s perspective during his journey from Privet Drive, we never really saw the conflict the others experienced. With more time to invest in this action-packed scene, the TV show can explore what the characters experienced.
Colin Creevey
Then Neville nearly walked into him. He was one half of a pair that was carrying a body in from the grounds. Harry glanced down and felt another dull blow to his stomach: Colin Creevey, though underage, must have sneaked back just as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had done. He was tiny in death.” (DH 694)
Colin was an incredibly enthusiastic but slightly annoying character in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie but, he didn’t appear in the other films so we never got to see his character development. The reboot will allow this character to come to life and explore his tragic but brave death.
Fred Weasley
The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured; and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was rent apart.” (DH 636)
And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred’s eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.” (DH 637)
In the books, Fred Weasley is a significant character. We got to see Fred and George as Ron’s brothers, Harry’s teammates, and their journey from pranksters to successful businessmen so reading his death in the books was particularly heartbreaking. Instead of seeing this played out on screen, the movies skipped this and instead, we just see his family mourning him. With more time to devote to the final battle, the TV show can rectify this mistake.
Voldemort
Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing.” (DH 744)
Voldemort was supposed to have a relatively boring, mortal death. In the books, his ordinary death proved that, despite everything he did, he was still human. His extraordinary movie death, where he dissolved into bits of Voldemort-dust, contradicted this. Hopefully, we’ll get a better sense of finality in the reboot.
Peter Pettigrew
The silver tool that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes.” (DH 470)
Peter Pettigrew doesn’t seem to die in the films. Instead, he appears to have been stunned by Dobby, which is the last we see of him. His death, while complicated, demonstrates the destructive consequences of evil. Also, in the books, Peter’s hesitation in killing Harry repays the life debt he owed him, which ends that narrative arc.
Are there any other deaths you want to see in the reboot? Let us know in the comments!
