6 Harry Potter Wizards More Powerful Than The Movies Showed, Ranked
Some of the Harry Potter movies characters simply weren’t pure adaptations. When Warner Bros set out to adapt JK Rowlings’ sprawling, seven-book literary phenomenon into the Harry Potter film series, the studio’s creative teams inevitably embraced ruthless creative decisions. Condensing so much text, so many characters, and such deep lore into something accessible meant sacrifices had to be made.
Key characters like Peeves the Poltergeist, Charlie Weasley, and Winky (and all of the house elves) were cut entirely, while major subplots, including SPEW, the Headless Hunt, and Voldemort’s Gaunt family backstory were also left out. The upcoming HBO Harry Potter series will address some of those issues, thankfully, but it won’t replace the movies for entire generations of fans, so there are some things we’ll just have to continue to live with.
While narrative compression is an understandable necessity, given the length of some of the Harry Potter books, there were other, more subtle side effects. Less room for fleshing out even major supporting characters meant that we didn’t get as true a sense of how powerful they were, compared to how they were originally written.
In fact, some of the most famous characters in Harry Potter’s seven movies were treated pretty unfairly in the name of better story flow. And it’s time we put respect on their name.
6
Kingsley Shacklebolt
It’s a grave injustice that the Harry Potter movies essentially treat Kingsley Shacklebolt as a dignified but not particularly relevant Order of the Phoenix operative. He has aura, certainly, and is a rare case of sartorial diversity in the Potterverse, but he’s mostly notable for his quip that Dumbledore has style when he evades arrest by the Ministry.
Beyond that, he’s mostly just peripheral to key Order events and Battles, despite being one of the true elite Aurors in the Ministry. If you read between the lines, you know that based on his being part of the arresting party in Order of the Phoenix, but there’s little else that reveals his true magical prowess
George Harris brought undeniable gravitas, but the movies barely scratch the surface. He is easily one of the most powerful wizards in the Order, with immense dueling skills that see him battle two Death Eaters at once during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, where he also held his own against Bellatrix Lestrange. Elsewhere, he also directly duels Voldemort in The Deathly Hallows alongside McGonagall and Slughorn. And in the end, he was elected the first post-war Minister of Magic, as testament to his standing.
5
Harry Potter
Putting Harry Potter himself in here might seem surprising given how central he is to every movie, but the movies consciously downplay Harry’s raw magical power. His intellect is also undermined a couple of notable times when his decision-making choices were instead given to Hermione in the movies – like saving the trio from the Devil’s Snare in the first movie, and deciding to take the dragon from Gringotts in the final movie.
It’s more interesting in the movies to make Harry weaker, because it fits his development arc, but a little too much of his magical ability is put down to luck and strong collaboration. He’s also shown overusing Expelliarmus, and some of his spells from the books are left out entirely. In the books, he comes across as more gifted at combat magic, especially when under immense pressure. He battles adult wizards, often coming out on top, and his leadership role in Dumbledore’s Army marks him as very special, but it’s the book version who would win if the two ever came to blows.
4
Remus Lupin
David Thewlis was one of the finest casting choices in the Harry Potter movies, bringing a melancholy humanity to Remus Lupin that ultimately made his death all the more difficult to take. But in the name of establishing his tragic backstory, the movies somewhat overplay the idea of him as a fragile, emotionally frail person, while unwittingly downplaying his exceptional magical capabilities as a wizard.
He was, of course, one of the creators of the Marauder’s Map – a hugely powerful magical artifact – and mastered complex magic even while he was still at Hogwarts. His practical mastery of spells and curses also earned him the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and even the movies showed his adept use of magic in that role.
But in the books, Lupin is more of a frontline warrior in the Order, who largely escapes the battles leading up the final showdown uninjured, even as others fall. He was a prefect, despite his lycanthropy, and was undoubtedly more powerful than the movies suggest.
3
The Carrows
Amycus and Alecto Carrow suffer because of the somewhat necessary structural cuts in the final movie adaptations. In The Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the formidable Death Eaters siblings end up appearing as silent henchmen. They’re basically mean-looking attack dogs flanking Snape during his tenure as Headmaster and are defeated almost instantly without showing any real sign of their true threat level.
In contrast, the novels depict the Carrows as terrifying Dark Arts magic users who subject Hogwarts students to cruel and unusual punishment. Both are appointed teachers initially, with Alecto taking Muggle Studies, and Amycus installed as the new Dark Arts teacher. The latter being able to encourage the magical powers of Crabbe and Goyle suggests impressive aptitude, given their typical academic performance.
The Carrows are feared, trusted by Voldemort as close collaborators, and play key roles in the Battle of Hogwarts, but they might as well be completely absent in the movies.
2
Filius Flitwick
Professor Flitwick was one of the most inconsistent characters in the Harry Potter movies, mostly because his entire look was redesigned between The Chamber of Secrets and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Looking at the two versions side by side, they look like completely different characters. He was also mostly presented as a comedic figure, which rather underplayed his magical prowess.
Away from that comic side of the Charms Master, Harry Potter book fans know that Flitwick was actually a former dueling champion, having won several trophies as a younger man. While his chosen subject at Hogwarts is somewhat misread as an easy subject, Flitwick is also one of the most powerful Hogwarts faculty members. He’s key to establishing the defense of the castle ahead of the Battle of Hogwarts, and takes down several Death Eaters during the battle. It’s a bit of a headscratcher that he never became a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but then, neither did Slughorn, and he was similarly talented.
1
Mad-Eye Moody
The movie version of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody is portrayed as a paranoid, battle-scarred eccentric, who is introduced as a legendary figure, but almost all the most impressive magical feats he pulls off are actually the work of Barty Crouch Jr. The real Mad-Eye barely gets any screen time across his brief appearances in Order of the Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows – Part 1, and was left out of Half-Blood Prince entirely.
In the books, JK Rowling similarly underused Moody, but she did at least establish his reputation better, and paints a picture of one of the Ministry’s most formidable and famed Aurors. And his paranoia is explained better as the direct result of his career’s successes. Yes, he has very obvious battle scars, but Voldemort confirms just how respected Moody is by targeting him during the Battle of the Seven Potters as the strongest Order member. That mark of respect ultimately kills him, but it's an important point when considering how powerful Mad-Eye should have appeared.
- Cast
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Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen