Book vs Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Hello Everyone!

We are so close to finishing this Book vs Movie series now, but we’ve still got a couple more to go and A LOT to talk about! I decided to split Deathly Hallows into 2 separate posts, since they split the film in half as well. I thought it would be better to talk about everything per film instead of per book because otherwise this post would be SUPER long as there is twice as much film to talk about.

If you didn’t see my first book vs movie post for ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’, then I suggest you give it a read as I explain more about what this series is about there and also it would be better to read them chronologically too: https://books.samanthadrage.co.uk/2019/07/05/book-vs-movie-harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/

I am going to be talking about each section of the movie by the chapter titles in the books, so if there is a specific scene of chapter you want to here me talk about, then you can skip to that chapter title. It is also worth saying that these will of course be full of spoilers, so I can actually talk about the plot, but I think everyone has at least seen Harry Potter at this point, but I thought I’d mention it in case it wasn’t obvious.

A small disclaimer: before we get started I want to make it clear that I am in no way bashing the Harry Potter films. I adore Harry Potter and do think they did a good job with them. This is just a bit of fun and I wanted to take the opportunity to really analyse the story. I’m aware that somethings just aren’t possible to make happen on screen and some things have to be cut out to make the film a watchable length (although I’d happily watch a 10 hour long word for word adaptation, I know most people wouldn’t). I am also by no means a movie expert, this is just a bit of fun.

I’m not going to blather on any more now though since these posts are always long, so let’s just get into it!

Chapter 1 – The Dark Lord Ascending

They actually start out pretty strong with Deathly Hallows because they include the first chapter mostly word for word. They show the deatheaters at Malfoy Manor, Snape reporting when Harry is going to be moved, Voldemort borrows Lucius’s wand and they kill Charity Burbage. They did all of this pretty well and really the only thing they didn’t show was Voldemort mentioning that Tonks and Lupin have got married, but we can at least infer this from later scenes, so it isn’t the end of the world.

Chapter 2 – In Memorian

In this chapter we are back with Harry, which is shown briefly in the films, but not in as much detail as I would have liked. Perhaps the most important thing that happens in this chapter is Harry finding a shard of the mirror Sirius gave him back in Order of the Phoenix. Most of his is smashed, but he keeps the shard and also sees a flash of blue in it. They do show this in the film’ however, it makes absolutely no sense if you haven’t read the books since they never included the mirror in Order of the Phoenix, so it appears out of no-where in Deathly Hallows. This is a recurring theme throughout the last two films, so be prepared for that.

The only other thing that happens in this chapter is Harry reads Doge’s article about Dumbledore, which upsets Harry a little as he begins to realise how little he knew about Dumbledore, but they don’t include nearly enough of the Dumbledore drama in the films, so we don’t get to see this. We also hear about Rita Skeeter’s bloody book for the first time here, but that is mentioned later in the films at the wedding, so it doesn’t matter that it wasn’t mentioned here.

Chapter 3 – The Dursleys Departing

The only part of this chapter that is shown in the films is the Dursley’s packing the car and driving away, which is kind of the general gyst of the chapter, so I guess the included the important part. There are 3 things I wish they had included though. The first being the fact that Dudley has, at least, seen some of the errors of his ways and how Harry was treated, which was originally going to be included in the films, but they deleted that scene for some reason. 🤷‍♀️ They also didn’t explain fully why they had to leave outside the fact that Voldemort might come after them, which means you don’t really fully understand the extent of the magical protection that Lily left on Harry when she died for him, which isn’t the end of the world as they still manage to portray the seriousness of the situation in the films, but it is just another layer of detail that you don’t get if you only watch the films.

The final and perhaps my favourite moment in the whole series is at the very beginning of the chapter that they didn’t include is Uncle Vernon telling Harry he’s changed his mind about leaving again because he thinks it is all a plot to get the house!?! 😂 The Durselys come out with some crap over the years, but I honestly think this is my favourite piece of crap from them because it shows just how bloody clueless they are! ‘A plot to get the house’!? People are dying and he’s worried about the house!

“Death’s got an Invisibility Cloak?” Harry interrupted again.
“So he can sneak up on people,” said Ron. “Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking…”

Chapter 4 – The Seven Potters

This chapter is actually surprisingly accurate. It starts with the whole gang turning up and using Polyjuice potion. The dialogue is amazing accurate in this scene, so props to them for that and they all leave exactly on time. It is quickly revealed that someone betrayed them (which we later find out to be Snape, but not really). The next few events are all included, but not perfectly or in quite the right order. Either way the same things happen meaning Hagrid is knocked out, Hedwig dies (😭), Voldemort comes after the real Harry, Harry’s wand does the weird thing and then they crash. They change a few things in the films such as Hedwig is flying instead of in her cage and they say it was Hedwig that gave him away instead of him using Expelliarmus, but those are small details, so overall, they did this chapter excellently!

Chapter 5 – Fallen Warrior

This chapter is also really accurate, so I won’t spend too much time on it, but it just consists of people arriving back (which they do do in the right order), Mad-Eye is dead (😢), George got his ear cursed off by Snape and they are all suspicious of each other as they were obviously betrayed. They include all of this in the films and a lot of it word for word, so I don’t really have anything to say about this chapter other than well done!

Chapter 6 – The Ghoul in Pyjamas

Some of this chapter is included in the film like we do know that Hermione obliviated her parents, although we are shown this at the beginning rather than being told it later on and we do see some wedding prep, but that’s about it. The only semi-important thing they don’t include is the fact that Molly is deliberatly keeping them all busy, so they can’t do any planning and attempting to find out what they’re doing, but that isn’t essential, so they did this chapter pretty well too!

I feel like I’ve said that a lot already, but they did do a good job with the last 2 films. I suppose that is to be expected at least somewhat though as they split one book into 2 films, meaning they had twice as much time to spend on it, so you would expect them to do a better job wouldn’t you?

Chapter 7 – The Will of Albus Dumbledore

This chapter starts with Harry’s birthday, which they do mention in the films, but don’t include the part, which is fine really. They don’t show the presents he gets, which is mostly not important, but a few of them are used later in the book and some of them are meaningful or funny, so I’ll mention those quickly. Hagrid gives him the purse that only Harry can open, which does indeed come in handy, although I suppose this could be easily replaced by just hiding those things, which Harry does do, as we see when he pulls the mirror shard out of his sock in Malfoy Manor. Ron gives him a book on girls, which is funny, but neither here nor there, Hermione gives him a Sneakascope, which is mentioned, but also not essential, Ginny gives him a good old snog, which also isn’t that important, but kind of funny and Mr and Mrs Weasley give him her brothers old watch. Most of those are not important, but the last one from Mr and Mrs Weasley is full of feels! I know people have mentioned it before, but there is a lot of meaning behind the watch, especially when you think back to the brand new watch that Ron got for his 17th. They buy Ron a new one since he is the youngest son and never gets anything but hand-me-downs and they give Harry a family hand-me-down to make him feel like he is part of their family. I know it’s been said, but that is just a real big feels moment! 😭💕

The rest of the chapter is Harry’s actual birthday dinner, which is interrupted by Scrimonger to give them Dumbledore’s will (the deluminater, the book, the snitch and the sword). This is all pretty accurate except for the absence of Harry’s actual birthday dinner and they miss out a few details. Hermione actually mentions the flesh memory in front of Scrimonger as a way of saying that they know he wants to catch them out, but they aren’t stupid (or Hermione isn’t anyway 😂) and Scrimonger actually gets really angry! These aren’t hugely important although Hermione’s little ‘f-you’ to the minister is pretty funny. The thing I don’t understand why they left out though is that Harry actually realises that he has to touch the snitch to his lips there and then. It is revealed that it says ‘I open at the close’ before the wedding as Harry immediately remembers that he caught it in his mouth, which isn’t shown until much later in the films. I suppose this isn’t the end of the world as it is at least mentioned later on, but it is another thing that shows that Harry is actually really clever, despite the way the films portray him.

Chapter 8 – The Wedding

This chapter is literally just the wedding, which they do pretty well in the films. The only 2 things they got wrong/didn’t include was Victor Krum being there and being angry about the sing (which we later know to be the Deathly Hallows) around his neck as he associates it with Grindlewald. They also have Harry turn up as Harry in the films instead of disguised with Polyjuice potion. These 2 things aren’t super important I suppose, but Krum mentioning Grindelwald in association with that sign is another bit of the puzzle they put together later. The fact that Harry wasn’t disguised is a little silly because there is no way he would have been safe it attend as himself, but I understand that it would have been awkward to get someone else to try and play Harry, so it was easier for them to just ignore that part.

The rest of the chapter is just Harry talking to Doge and Ron’s Aunt Muriel about Dumbledore and then Kingsley’s patronus appears and they all scarper.

Chapter 9 – A Place to Hide

This chapter is also pretty accurate, which I feel like I’m saying a lot, but they did do a pretty good job with the last 2 movies. This chapter just consisted of them apparating to London, running into those 2 deatheaters and then going to Grimmauld Place. A lot of the dialogue is word for word here and it shows the protective charms pretty well. The only detail they missed was that Harry was actually under the invisibility cloak at the cafe, but I suppose that would have been quite a pain to film like using the polyjuice potion at the wedding, so I can see why they left that out.

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”

-Albus Dumbledore

Chapter 10 – Kreacher’s Tale

This is where they start to leave out some details, which is a little bit of a problem when it comes to understanding exactly what they’re doing. Harry goes wandering and goes into Sirius’s bedroom where he finds his mum’s ripped up letter and half a photo. We do see Harry go into Sirius’s room in the films, but we don’t see the letter, which is another small puzzle piece that we are missing later on. Then, of course, they realise that R.A.B is Regulus and they turn his room upside down looking for the locket, which they don’t find. We do see this in the film, but we don’t see Harry summoning Kreacher from Hogwarts (since they didn’t tells us that bit in the last film) to question him. We then get a really long and detailed explanation from Kreacher about how Regulus found out about the locket, Kreacher being able to dissaparate in and out of Voldemort’s hiding place and the fact that Mundungus took the locket. The only part we here of that in the films is that Mundungus stole it and then Kreacher is sent to get him.

I’m not hugely surprised that they left all the detail out of the film, especially since they didn’t show half of the memories Harry was supposed to see with Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince, but I think it is a really important piece of information. If you only watch the films, then Voldemort appears as just a stereotypical ‘I want to rule the world’ villain, but he really isn’t. Voldemort was incredibly clever and was ruthless from a young age. His charm was what made him so powerful originally, but his downfall was both his obsession with immortality that ripped him apart and took away that charm and also his inability to recognise power when it belonged to someone of something he considered less than him. This is the first time we see the trio recognise that in action as Kreacher was able to disparate out of the cave that Harry had visited just weeks before because Voldemort had failed to protect against those creatures he considered worthless. The films never show any of these flaws or complexity to Voldemort’s character, which I think was a huge error as that is really what makes him a unique villain.

Chapter 11 – The Bribe

This chapter is incredibly woolly in the films as they have to account for a few things they left out in previous films and they left out several things entirely. They don’t include Lupin arriving and offering to help the at all, which isn’t essential to the story at all really, but it does mean that we don’t find out anything about the fact that Tonks is pregnant until the end of the 8th film when Harry mentions Lupin’s child to him. This sub-plot isn’t important to the overall outcome of defeating Voldemort, but it adds another layer of complexity to the story and shows how life is still going on outside of the Hogwarts/Horcrux bubble that you only get if you read the book.

There is also another article about Dumbledore in this chapter that isn’t included, but then Kreacher returns with Mundungus. In the books it is just Kreacher and Mundungus that return, but in the films they add Dobby into the returning party because they had to re-introduce him earlier in the film before he rescues them from Malfoy Manor later since they failed to include him in any films after Chamber of Secrets. I’ve said in several previous book vs movie posts that I do understand why they swapped Dobby for someone else (usually Neville) in previous films since he didn’t do anything that someone else couldn’t do, but there were some moments when that wasn’t the case and I think they really messed up by not including him because Harry’s emotional reaction to Dobby’s death doesn’t make sense in the films. If you only watch the films, then all you will have ever seen of Dobby is him ‘helping’ Harry in Chamber of Secrets and then him turning up for a minute with Kreacher, so Harry sobbing over his death later doesn’t make much sense.

About the only thing that included properly in this chapter was the fact that the locket was with Umbridge, which then brings me onto the next chapter.

Chapter 12 – Magic is Might

In the films we then skip straight to the trio executing their plan to get into the ministry. What plan you ask? Well that’s what a lot of people would ask if they only watched the films because there is no explanation of how or when they decided to do this.

There is actually a month between the 2 chapters of them observing Ministry workers and planning everything. They also find out during this time that Snape has been made headmaster, which becomes important later, but isn’t mentioned in the films until later. They also don’t include Kreacher after him returning with Mundungus, so we don’t get to see his drastic change of attitude when they start being nice to him.

The rest of the chapter is in the films though as they enact their plan, although they just stun all 3 of their targets in the film rather than using a clever combination of stunning and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, but I suppose it was just easier to stun them in the films. They then get into the ministry, find the crude statue, Ron is summoned to stop it raining in Yaxley’s office and Harry and Hermione run into Umbridge.

“We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.”

Chapter 13 – The Muggle-Born Registration Commission

They did the ministry part quite well, but they did leave out a few small details as usual. They get most of it right though with Harry using the decoy detonators to get into Umbridges office, Moody’s eye being on the door, Harry making his way down to the court room, stupifying Umbridge and then having to re-route on their escape as Yaxley grabbed hold of them. Generally speaking, they did this part really well though minus a few smaller details.

Chapter 14 – The Thief

Not loads happens in this chapter as it just consists of them ending up in the forest they Quidditch world cup was held in 3 years previously, Ron got splinched and Harry sees Grindelwald stealing the wand from Gregoravitch, although Harry doesn’t know it is Grindelwald yet or what Voldemort is searching for. They included all of this pretty well, so I don’t really have much to say about this chapter.

Chapter 15 – The Goblin’s Revenge

The beginning of this chapter is essentially just the montage of the trio travelling, Ron being grouchy without his home comforts and Hermione and Ron being a little sceptical about Harry’s lack of ideas. They got that pretty right, but I don’t know why they decided to make up the fact that Ron wasn’t strong enough to dissaparate because he was and they did in the book, so I don’t understand that bit.🤷‍♀️

They are then supposed to overhear Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell and 2 goblins talking near-by about the sword of Gryffindor. We find out that the sword was moved to Gringotts, but it was a fake meaning the real sword is still out there somewhere. They also find out that Ginny, Luna and Neville tried to steal the sword and are putting up one hell of a fight at Hogwarts still. This all leads to Hermione realising that the sword must be impregnated with Basilisk venom, which is why Dumbledore left it to Harry (not her realising half way through cutting his hair?), which also leads to Ron getting angry because he thinks they don’t care about Ginny. That’s of course a load of rubbish, but Ron wasn’t exactly thinking straight at the time, so he ends up leaving.

The film did most of this very well and got the tense and miserable atmosphere spot on, but I don’t know why the decided to leave out them overhearing the other 5 as it is then another case of them seemingly jumping to conclusions later on.

Chapter 16 – Godric’s Hollow

They did Godric’s Hollow pretty well in the films with Harry’s parent’s grave, finding the Deathly Hallows symbol on the grave and running into Bathilda Bagshot. They missed out a few smaller details like the statue to Lily, James and Harry and the fact that they DID use Polyjuice Potion to look like an elderly couple, but again I suppose it would have been a lot more difficult to get more actors to pretend to be Harry and Hermione, which I suspect is why they avoided it unless it was absolutely necessary like in the Ministry.

Chapter 17 – Bathilda’s Secret

This chapter is just the end of the Godric’s Hollow scene in the films, which they also did really well. They showed the picture of Grindelwald here and then of course Bathilda turns into Nagini and Voldemort is called.  The only bit they don’t include is Harry’s visions and nightmares for a good 12 hours after they escape from Godric’s Hollow, but they don’t really give them any extra information, so I guess they weren’t necessary for the plot, which is why they didn’t include them. Harry’s wand is also revealed to be broken, which Harry is absolutely devastated about in the books and while it is sort of shown in the films, we don’t get to see the full extent of it because we don’t get Harry’s inner monologue.

Chapter 18 – The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

This chapter isn’t really in the films at all except from one passing comment from Hermione about knowing who Grindelwald is. This chapter is supposed to consist of Harry reading a large chunk of Rita Skeeter’s book on Dumbledore, which reveals a lot about Ariana and his relationship with Grindelwald. Grindelwald is the only one mentioned in the films and only so that Hermione can show Harry the Deathly Hallows symbol that Dumbledore used to sign his letter to Grindelwald, which is what sparks the idea to go and see Luna’s dad.

The information about Dumbledore’s past isn’t essential to the main plot of ‘defeat Voldemort’, but it is another one of those things that is important to Harry’s character development and helps us as readers riddle everything else for ourselves. I suppose it is just another thing that you only get if you read the books!

“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”

– Albus Dumbledore

Chapter 19 – The Silver Doe

At this point, I have definitely said ‘they did this part pretty well’ far too much, but it’s true once again. They portrayed Harry seeing the silver doe, diving for the sword, Ron destroying the Horcrux after saving him and Hermione being furious with him. They manged to do it all in the right order and get some of the dialogue word for word too, so they really did do this chapter well. The only thing that wasn’t mentioned was the reason Harry had to dive for the sword: Harry figured out pretty quickly that it would have been far to easy to just have it handed to him and since he is a Gryffindor and the sword once belonged to the founder of his house, he would have to dive for it in order to fulfil the values of the house it and he belonged to. It isn’t an essential piece of information, but it I think it’s a pretty cool one.

Chapter 20 – Xenophilius Lovegood

This chapter is also pretty accurate, minus a few details. They agree to go and see Lovegood by ‘voting’ 😂, who isn’t too happy to see them and they ask about the Deathly Hallows. They don’t mention that the Voldemort’s name is taboo in the films, which is why the deatheaters tracked them to London after the wedding and Grimmauld Place, which is sort of an error because it makes the scene after they have finished at Lovegood’s a little confusing, but we’ll get to that in a minute. They also don’t mention the Erumpent Horn on the wall, which ends up blowing up the house, but I suppose that doesn’t matter as long as the house explodes in some way of another, which it does, so that’s fine.

Chapter 21 – The Tale of the Three Brothers

The start of this chapter is literally just Hermione reading the story and Lovegood explaining a little, which they did pretty much word for word, but then it starts getting a little woolly. Harry is supposed to go up to Luna’s bedroom where he sees the portraits of him, Hermione, Ron, Neville and Ginny painted on the ceiling and a thick layer of dust over everything suggesting that Luna never came home for Christmas. This raises the alarm bells for Harry, which leads him to challenge Lovegood who calls the deatheaters to exchange Harry for Luna and the bloody horn explodes. It doesn’t happen quite like this in the films because they leave out Luna’s room and the horn in the films (although I believe it is still on the wall, it just isn’t mentioned) and instead they simply have them want to leave since they have the information they came for.

The house gets blown up anyway though by the deatheaters and then the trio disapparate, so the effect was the same, we just missed some details. I’m particularly sad that we didn’t get to see the pictures of Luna’s friends that she’d painted on the ceiling because it is such a wholesome moment and makes me really love and feel for Luna, but I suppose it wasn’t essential to the plot (just the character development), so they didn’t deem it important enough.

They did also leave out a few details when they were leaving like Ron being covered with the invisibility cloak (not Harry) since his cover is that he’s meant to be at home with Spattergroit. They never mentioned this in the films though, so I guess there was no need to take that precaution. We do see Hermione thinking to let the deatheaters see Harry, so they know Lovegood wasn’t lying, but they also Obliviate Lovegood, so he doesn’t give away what they were there for, which isn’t shown. These are all small details, but they all add up to show how difficult and how careful they had to be about everything they were doing, which means we didn’t really get to see the full extent of the war and the effects it had in the films.

“For instance, this new idea that You-Know-Who can kill with a single glance from his eyes. That’s a basilisk, listeners. One simple test: Check whether the thing that’s glaring at you has got legs. If it has, it’s safe to look into its eyes, although if it really is You-Know-Who, that’s still likely to be the last thing you ever do.”

Chapter 22 – The Deathly Hallows

Unfortunately, they do screw up a bit here. There is supposed to be months between them seeing Lovegood and the Snatchers catching them because they go to Lovegood at Christmas and they end up at the Malfoys at Easter, so there is a good long time between those two events, but the film cuts that out. Granted, not much happens during those 3 months because it is just Harry being obsessed with the Hallows and they also manage to tune into Potterwatch (the new magical radio station), which is mostly just fun and reassuring to know that their friends are still alive.

The snatchers then do end up finding them because Harry says Voldemort’s name by accident, not just because they disapparated and there happened to be a load of them right there. I know the bits in between weren’t completely essential, because literally no progress was made, but they could have at least have had someone say Voldemort’s name instead of them just being there.

Chapter 23 – Malfoy Manor

Most of this chapter was pretty good with the exception of a few small details. They are indeed taken to Malfoy Manor were Draco is summoned to confirm it’s them. He absolutely refuses to confirm anything for certain though, which is sort of understandable with Harry, who’s face has incredibly puffed, but he wouldn’t even confirm it’s Hermione with a bloody picture of her handed to him! I know he was trying to at least kind of be on the right side and he definitely saved their lives but it was a bit of a stretch to claim he didn’t recognise Hermione!?

From here on out the film did everything pretty well with Bellatrix seeing the sword, her torturing Hermione for information, Harry yelling into his mirror shard for help (which makes no sense in the films because it was never mentioned prior to that moment, but you know…), Dobby turning up and taking Ollivander and Luna to shell cottage (No Dean in the films though) and then Wormtail comes down to check on them. This is where the film deviates slightly because they have Dobby attack him when it was actually supposed to be Harry and Ron rugby tackling him. This wouldn’t have mattered much except for the fact that Wormtail is actually supposed to die here because he tries to strangle Harry with his silver hand, which then turns on him and strangles him instead because Harry saved his life all those years ago in Prisoner of Azkaban! This is a pretty important detail and the fact that we were never told he had died in the films at all is a bit of a screw up really. After that though it goes back to being pretty good with Dobby loosening the chandelier, Harry grabbing all of the wands from Draco and then them all disaparating, which of course, results in Dobby’s death. 😢😭

This is where I’ve chosen to cut the book in half to account for the 2 films, but it isn’t a perfect split. We do see a little of the next chapter with Harry burying Dobby in part 1 and we also see that Voldemort has the elder wand, but that really is only the beginning of the next chapter as it then goes into Harry speaking to Griphook and Ollivander, which is in the second film.

And that is all I have to say about Deathly Hallows Part 1! Overall, they did a damn good job with this film and I think it is definitely the most accurate of the lot minus a few smaller details, so well done Warner Bros for this one! If you want to hear my thoughts on the Part 2 of Deathly Hallows, then make sure you subscribe to my blog via email on the right hand side, so you don’t miss a post and follow me on Instagram (@theoriginalbookdragon) to get all the updates on my blog live!

What do you think of the movie for Deathly Hallows Part 1? Do you agree with me that it is the best film in terms of accuracy? I’d love to chat, so leave a comment down below or come and talk to me over on my Instagram!

Goodbye for now!

Over and Out