1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

I have a confession to make: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince made me a bad friend.

That sounds like an odd statement, so let me explain. Having just watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) on DVD, I developed a crush on Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in these films. It’s a little bit strange that I began to notice him during the fifth movie, because Draco is only in that film for a couple of minutes. After watching, I wondered when the sixth film would be out. At this time, I wasn’t all that interested in the Harry Potter movies, and, with my dad and sister, we were only watching them on DVD. But that was about to change, because now I was definitely going to keep up with them.

I found out that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was going to be in cinemas just a few days later and the best part was I discovered that the sixth story was going to focus more on Draco Malfoy. What great timing! I was excited and I saw the film first with my sister at our local cinema. We had a good time, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and that should’ve been that. But there was still so much left of summer and I couldn’t shake the obsession.

A friend then told me that she was going to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the cinema with her mum. I asked if I could tag along. My friend didn’t seem bothered; she was just amused I had another celebrity crush because I had a lot at that time.

But the worst thing I did as a friend was when I watched it for a third time. I had gone with a different friend to see a live music event in a town nearby. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing this outdoor concert so I researched the cinema’s times before going and saw that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be on at the perfect time. I sat at this event for maybe half an hour – and then left to watch the film. My friend was not on her own, she had met up with other friends she knew that I didn’t, so I wasn’t a completely awful person. I returned after the film was over to see the concert was done. I could tell my friend was a bit upset with me for ditching her. I then decided to run an errand before we got the bus home. My friend went on ahead because she couldn’t miss her last bus home since we lived in different towns. I was sure I’d make it to the bus on time, but I arrived at the bus station only to see the bus pull away, two minutes early. I had to wait on my own for an hour for the next one. What’s that thing they say about karma?

Anyway, I still feel guilty about that day and after that experience, I vowed never to become that obsessed with a film ever again…

PLOT

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince begins with a flashback, going back to see Harry Potter and Dumbledore leaving the Ministry of Magic, having just fought Lord Voldemort in the building. This was one of the final scenes of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. After denying it for so long, the Ministry has had to finally accept that the Dark Lord is back, so naturally, the press is very interested in this story. Harry is led away from the Ministry by Dumbledore as cameras flash in their faces.

Back in present day London, the non-magical citizens have even started to realise that something bad is going on, as they notice curious, strange storm clouds suddenly rolling in, watching from their office windows and on the streets. The Dark Mark appears in the sky, and Death Eaters fly out of it, heading straight to Diagon Alley. On breaking into Diagon Alley, they dive into Ollivander’s wand shop and promptly kidnap Ollivander himself. On their way out of London, the Death Eaters decide their work is not yet done, and they decide to collapse the Millennium Bridge, causing Muggles to flee and fear for their lives.

We then see Harry, sat at a train station café, reading the latest news in the Daily Prophet, including articles about himself, Lucius Malfoy’s trial, and the bridge incident. A waitress comes over to Harry, and asks who Harry Potter is. Harry doesn’t say he is Harry Potter, but instead, simply says he’s a “bit of a tosser”. She mentions that she thought a picture moved on his paper once and goes back to work. Harry turns around to ask her something, and she responds saying that she gets off work soon, obviously expecting Harry to want to see her later. How presumptuous. Maybe he was just after a refill of his coffee!

Anyway, there is no romance in the air for Harry, as a train noisily rolls past, and he sees Dumbledore on the platform opposite, obviously looking for Harry. Harry goes over to Dumbledore, who tells Harry he has been reckless over the summer. Well, seeing your godfather murdered right in front of you, and finding yourself being possessed by Voldemort all in one night might affect your emotional state… Dumbledore tells Harry he needs to come with him, as he needs Harry’s help. They transport over to a small village via apparition, like teleportation, which shocks Harry, as he has never apparated before.

Dumbledore walks Harry through the streets of Budleigh Babberton and they enter a house, which has been left an absolute mess. The only thing in tact is a stripy armchair in the middle of the room. Harry sees a drop of blood fall on his head. Dumbledore tastes it and then approaches the armchair. Having a wand pointed at it causes the armchair to transform into its real human state. The human pretending to be an armchair is Professor Horace Slughorn, a former Potions teacher at Hogwarts. It turns out Slughorn has been hiding from Death Eaters who have been trying to recruit him for the “other side” – and this isn’t even his house; it’s owned by Muggles who are away on holiday. Dumbledore kindly uses magic to get the house back in order; this is one of the most satisfying film sequences ever to watch.

Dumbledore excuses himself, leaving Harry and Slughorn to talk alone. Slughorn tells Harry he taught his mother, Lily, and that she was one of his favourites. He shows Harry his “collection” of famous former pupils, like a famous Quidditch player and an editor at the Daily Prophet, as well as mentioning that he taught most of the Black family, apart from Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather. He missed out on Sirius but did teach his younger brother Regulus. Dumbledore tells Harry it is time to leave, which confuses Slughorn who was expecting Dumbledore to ask him to come back to Hogwarts to be the Potions teacher. Dumbledore believes it’s a lost cause, and the two walk away. However, before they leave, Slughorn comes out of the house and says he’ll come back if he can have a bigger office.

As Dumbledore and Harry leave the village, Dumbledore tells Harry that Slughorn will want to “collect” him too this year. He also apologises for having Harry miss out on an evening with that girl, before sending him to the Weasley family home, the Burrow, for the rest of summer. Ginny is the first to notice that Harry’s belongings, including owl Hedwig, have turned up there but the Weasleys were unaware they were getting another visitor. Harry walks in and is warmly welcomed regardless. That evening, he, Ron, and Hermione, who is also at the Burrow, catch each other up on what has been going on this summer. It turns out Hermione’s Muggle parents can sense something bad is happening right now, and Ron’s mother didn’t want Ron or Ginny going back to Hogwarts, fearing Dumbledore is too old to lead the Wizarding World through this crisis. She has since allowed them to return.

Meanwhile, Bellatrix Lestrange is heading to Professor Snape’s home with her sister, and Draco Malfoy’s mother, Narcissa. She doesn’t think Snape can be trusted, but Narcissa needs advice. Snape doesn’t believe this is a good idea either, but he lets Narcissa know that he has been informed that Draco has been given a task to complete by the Dark Lord. Narcissa fears for her son, knowing what will happen to him should he not succeed. Bellatrix challenges Snape, telling him if he wants to prove himself loyal to the Dark Lord, there needs to be an Unbreakable Vow between him and Narcissa. He vows to protect and help Draco with his mission, completing it should Draco not be able to do so.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione later go to Diagon Alley, where they see that many of the shops have either closed down or are in a poor state, like Ollivander’s. The only shop still doing well is Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, a new store that has been opened by Ron’s brothers, Fred and George, full of jokes, tricks, and treats. It is incredibly popular, and Harry takes in interest in the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. They soon spot Draco and his mother going down Knockturn Alley, which they know to be dodgy. The three follow them, watching as they head inside the shop Borgin and Burkes. They try to see what is going on from a nearby rooftop, but the blinds are soon shut and they can see nothing.

On the train to Hogwarts, the trio discuss this strange event more. Harry thinks what they saw was an initiation ceremony for Draco, believing he is now a Death Eater, just like his father. He also knows he saw Draco looking at a cabinet, but doesn’t know the significance. Hermione and Ron don’t agree with Harry at all. Harry decides to leave their carriage to “get some air”. He actually takes his Invisibility Cloak and the Darkness Powder and heads to Draco’s carriage. He uses the powder to create a distraction and hides on the luggage rack so he can eavesdrop. Draco seems tetchy and unsettled with his friends, Blaise and Pansy, not wanting to go back to Hogwarts, knowing his future lies elsewhere. He notices some strange movement on the luggage rack though, so as the others disembark the train, Draco uses Petrificus Totalus, revealing Harry who is now unable to move. Draco kicks Harry in the face, and puts the cloak over him, telling him to enjoy the ride back to London. However, luckily, Luna Lovegood is still on the train and uses a strange set of glasses to locate Harry, thanks to all the “wrackspurts” around his head. Wrackspurts apparently make people’s brains go fuzzy. Luna and Harry head to Hogwarts together.

At the entrance gates, they see that Professor Flitwick is doing extra security checks on everyone arriving, showing the seriousness of the time they are living through. Draco is being inspected for his walking stick, with Snape coming over to vouch for him and let him leave. Luna then offers to fix Harry’s nose, which Draco broke by kicking him. He agrees, but he enters the Great Hall still bleeding, sitting with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. They tell him that he missed a speech by the Sorting Hat telling them to brave in these dark times. Dumbledore then gives his usual speech, informing the students that Professor Slughorn is their new Potions teacher, with Snape moving over to Defence Against the Dark Arts, a job he’s wanted for years. Dreams really do come true. Dumbledore tells the students about the increased security, and how they need to be careful of their choices and actions in life. 

The next day, Harry and Ron laugh at the new First Year students who are lost and uncertain as they walk through the corridors of Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall sees them laughing and calls Harry over. She tells him that Harry should be in Potions class, as Slughorn is accepting students with lower grades than Snape would’ve done. He says he’ll go straight there, and is told to take Ron with him. In class, Slughorn tells the two to get textbooks from the cupboard and then join the class. They see only one new book left and fight over it. Ron wins, so Harry is left with the tatty, old copy. They watch as Slughorn explains the purposes of various potions, including a love potion which makes all the girls in class suddenly very interested in the lesson, before lifting up a tiny vial of something called Felix Felicis, also known as Liquid Luck. He says this is a prize for whoever can make the best draught of another potion called Living Death. The students get to work. Everyone struggles with the task, even Hermione, who unravels more and more as the class goes on, except for Harry. Harry’s textbook has notes all over it, telling him exactly how to make the perfect Living Death. Slughorn is very impressed and hands over the Liquid Luck to Harry.

Later, Harry is called to Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore begins by making small talk with Harry, asking him if he is in a relationship with Hermione. Uh, that’s quite inappropriate, Headmaster. Let’s stick to business. Moving on, Dumbledore leads Harry over to the Pensieve to view one of Dumbledore’s memories. Harry watches as Dumbledore meets Tom Riddle at an orphanage many years ago, when Tom was about 11 years old. Tom never has visitors so Dumbledore’s arrival is strange, and he is made aware of incidents between Tom and other children, “nasty things”. Dumbledore tells Tom about Hogwarts, where he will be able to go to school to control his magical abilities, but he warns Tom that bad behaviour, like stealing, will not be tolerated there. Harry comes out of the memory, and Dumbledore says he didn’t know that Tom would become one of the darkest wizards of all time after this meeting. He also reveals that Tom Riddle was close to one teacher during his time at Hogwarts. Unsurprisingly, this teacher was Slughorn, who has something important that Dumbledore needs. Harry agrees to get close to Slughorn to help the cause. Whilst all this is going on, Draco begins to carry out his own tasks for the Dark Lord. He starts in the Room of Requirement, where he finds and attempts to fix a cabinet.

The following day, Harry and Ginny run try-outs for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Ron has decided to try out for Keeper, but a more athletic boy called Cormac McLaggen seems to have more of a chance of getting it. The two are tied after multiple saves, with Hermione breaking the deadlock by using the Confundus Charm on Cormac to have him miss a save, not liking his arrogance or his intense fascination with her. Ron is selected as the team’s keeper. After the try-outs, Ron is basking in his success, as Harry obsesses over his Potions book. Hermione is annoyed that Harry is essentially cheating through classes and demands to know who owned that book. Ginny manages to take the book from Harry and says the book has an inscription saying it is the property of the Half-Blood Prince.

Hermione continues to gripe about this book later on, and tells Harry and Ron she tried researching the name, but found nothing. They walk into Hogsmeade and hear that Slughorn is going to The Three Broomsticks pub. Harry tells the other two they should go and get Butterbeers there. At the pub, Harry sees Draco acting strangely but has to focus on Slughorn, telling the other two Dumbledore has asked him to get to know him. As Harry waits for Slughorn to approach their table, Ron sees Ginny in the corner with Dean Thomas, and they start kissing. He wants to leave, but Harry says they can’t. Slughorn finally comes over, a little worse for wear, and invites Harry and Hermione to a dinner party he is organising for his best students; Ron is left out. The three leave the pub shortly after, with Hermione feeling a little merry herself! But she soon sobers up, as fellow Gryffindor Katie Bell is seemingly hexed right in front of them. She is dragged up into the air and thrown to the ground. Hagrid rushes over and carries Katie back to school. Harry inspects the package Katie had in her hands. Back at school, Professor McGonagall questions Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Katie’s friend Leanne. Leanne says Katie didn’t have the package when they arrived at the pub, but that she received it whilst they were there and said it had to be delivered to Dumbledore urgently. She is told she can go. McGonagall then wonders why Harry, Ron, and Hermione are always at the centre of the trouble. Ron says he wonders the same thing sometimes! Professor Snape confirms the necklace was hexed. Harry assumes Katie was cursed and accuses Draco Malfoy of cursing her. McGonagall and Snape see no evidence for this. That evening, Harry sees Draco disappear on the Marauder’s Map and wonders what that means. Ron asks what Dean likes about his sister, with Harry saying it could be her skin. Weirdo.

Then it is time for Slughorn’s dinner party, where he asks about his guests and their parents’ lives. Some other guests include Cormac, Blaise, and Marcus Belby, whose uncle is apparently quite famous, but Marcus’ family don’t speak to him much. Well, you’re no use to Slughorn then! Slughorn moves on to ask about Hermione’s parents. She tells Slughorn her parents are dentists, which impresses nobody. Ginny arrives late to the party as the group are tucking into their profiteroles. Hermione whispers to Harry that her eyes are red, so she must’ve been crying, probably from arguing with Dean. As the party wraps up, Harry finds himself alone with Slughorn, after seeing an hourglass whose sand runs depending on the conversation being had. Harry fears he is boring Slughorn as the sand is running slowly, but Slughorn tells him not to worry, but that many of his classmates won’t be making his shelf of most treasured former pupils. Harry asks if Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, made the shelf, and asks for more details about what he was like. Slughorn reiterates that Tom Riddle was just a quiet, talented student, and there was no hint of the dark wizard he would become.

The next morning, it is time for Ron’s first Quidditch match as the Gryffindor Keeper and he is rightly nervous. Sitting down for breakfast, Ron looks very scared and uncertain. Luna Lovegood, sitting nearby, wonders if Harry put a tonic in Ron’s drink to calm the nerves, as she was sure she saw him putting something in Ron’s cup. Harry then appears to put the Liquid Luck vial back in his pocket, making Hermione believe he has used his Liquid Luck on Ron, which would be immoral as that would lead to magic affecting the result of a sports match. Ron is fine with that though and gladly finishes his drink, now ready for the match. Sure enough, Ron has a great game and Gryffindor win. As celebrations take place in the Common Room, Ron smugly stands there and accepts all the praise. Hermione scolds Harry for using the Liquid Luck, however, Harry shows her the vial still full of liquid; Harry did not use it, but the placebo effect was enough to help Ron. Hermione now feels able to join in the celebrations, however, just at that moment, Gryffindor Lavender Brown launches herself at Ron and snogs him in front of everyone, devastating Hermione, who was just beginning to accept her feelings for him. She walks away in tears, with Harry following. They compare what it must be like for each of them to like someone who is already with someone else. Hermione likes Ron, but he is now with Lavender, and Harry likes Ginny, but she is currently with Dean. Ron and Lavender then burst into the room. Hermione shows her clear distaste for this new relationship through a Bird-Conjuring Charm, with the birds trying to attack Ron.

Harry tries to get his two friends to make up, but Ron is dead set on continuing things with Lavender, and Hermione has had to make other arrangements for Slughorn’s upcoming Christmas party. Harry hoped they’d go together, instead of the people they wanted to, annoying Hermione, who didn’t think of that; her date is being left as a “surprise”. Hermione tells Harry he needs to take someone good to the party, and points out Romilda Vane, who is trying to smuggle Harry a love potion, only being interested in Harry because he is “The Chosen One”. Harry responds that he is the Chosen One, with Hermione hitting him with a book as punishment for his arrogance. Harry says he’ll ask someone cool to the party.

Harry arrives to Slughorn’s Christmas party with Luna, so maybe not someone cool, but at least someone he knows! Hermione has taken Cormac McLaggen to the party, thinking it would annoy Ron. She failed to realise that Ron isn’t even at this party, because it’s only for Slughorn’s favourite students, so I doubt he even noticed! And Hermione is having a terrible time as Cormac is getting very handsy with her… She manages to escape him at one point, leaving him with Harry. He says Hermione talks too much and must be playing hard to get. Harry is called away by Professor Snape, who tells him that Dumbledore will be travelling over the Christmas holidays. Snape says nothing further. Draco Malfoy then becomes the centre of attention, as caretaker Filch says he saw Draco lurking around here, despite not being invited to the party. Draco says he was gate-crashing. Snape offers to see him out. Harry follows to listen in on their conversation. Snape warns Draco to take his advice, as he has made an Unbreakable Vow for him. Hmm. Interesting.

On the train back home for Christmas, Harry tells Ron what he heard Snape and Draco talking about, including the Unbreakable Vow. Their conversation is interrupted by Lavender, drawing a heart on their train carriage door. Ron is starting to think Lavender is a bit too clingy and obsessive now… Anyway, back to Snape. Ron informs Harry that you can’t break an Unbreakable Vow.  No duh. Continuing that if someone does, then they will die.  

Harry spends Christmas at the Burrow with the Weasleys as well as some members of the Order of the Phoenix, like Lupin and Tonks. Lupin tells Harry that he should trust Snape because Dumbledore does, but Harry isn’t so sure about that. Harry has a discussion with Mr. Weasley about Dumbledore, who lets Harry know that Dumbledore travelling this winter is news to the Ministry, but he has some information about Draco Malfoy and the cabinet that Harry saw him looking at in Borgin and Burkes. That cabinet was a Vanishing Cabinet, which were popular during Voldemort’s rise to power the first time. It allowed witches and wizards to transport themselves elsewhere and go into hiding should he or his followers come looking for them. During Christmas Day, Harry and Ginny gradually become closer, but their moments together keep being interrupted, first by Ron with his mince pies, and then by Death Eaters Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback turning up in a ring of fire. Bellatrix taunts Harry by saying she killed Sirius Black, leading him into the fields of reeds around the Burrow. Ginny follows after him, in her pyjamas and dressing gown. The two engage in a battle with the Death Eaters, before Mr. Weasley, Tonks, and Lupin come to help them. Bellatrix and Fenrir go back to the Burrow and hit it with fireballs, causing it to go up in flames. The group rush back to see the rest of the Weasley family watching their home burn.

After Christmas and back at school, Harry is once again shown a memory about Tom Riddle by Professor Dumbledore. It shows Slughorn talking to Tom Riddle. Tom asks him about a bit of rare magic that he read about, but the word is muffled and inaudible. Slughorn proceeds to tell Tom to get out of his office and to never speak of it again. Out of the memory, Dumbledore tells Harry that this memory has been tampered with by Slughorn, and he needs the real one to know what they were talking about, as this could bring about the downfall of Voldemort in present day. To get this memory, Harry goes to Slughorn after one of his classes and begins to re-enact the same conversation he just saw, only he does not know what the magic is called. He simply asks if there are some types of magic that they aren’t taught. Slughorn says there are both light and dark types of magic in the world, and it’s always best to choose the light. Harry asks if he said the same to Tom Riddle when he asked the same sort of question. Slughorn figures out the ruse, and starts to avoid Harry.

Back in his dormitory, Harry sees Ron has eaten a box of chocolates meant for him, sent by Romilda Vane. They have clearly been laced with a love potion because Ron is now in love with Romilda despite having never met her. Not knowing what to do, and seeing this as a way to get back to Slughorn, Harry takes Ron to Slughorn’s office to get him an antidote. Ron recovers after drinking it but now feels odd and unlike himself, so Slughorn pours them all a drink to get Ron to feel better. However, Ron drinks first and collapses to the ground, seemingly choking from being poisoned. Slughorn freezes in shock, leaving Harry to try and save him. Luckily, Ron comes round, saying these girls are going to kill him someday. Ron is taken to the hospital wing, where he is resting. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny stay with him, as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Slughorn try to figure out what happened. It turns out the bottle Slughorn poured from was intended as a gift for Dumbledore. Lavender bursts into the room, and wonders why Hermione would be here. Lavender reassures Ron that she is here, but, unconscious, Ron mumbles the word “Hermione”, causing Lavender to run off in tears. The others leave Hermione and Ron alone. Meanwhile, Draco has managed to successfully mend the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, making a passage to Hogwarts from the cabinet in Borgin and Burkes. However, the pressure of this mission all seems to be getting to him.

Ron is soon released from the hospital and learns that he and Lavender broke up, but he doesn’t know what he said to lead to it. He doesn’t care that they broke up, but Lavender is clearly devastated by it. The three then see Katie Bell return to normal school life after being cursed and hexed. Harry goes over to Katie to get information from her; however, she cannot remember who cursed her. Draco walks into the room at that point, and seeing Katie and Harry, turns away and leaves. He goes to the bathroom and begins to cry. Harry follows him and accuses him of hexing Katie. The two battle, destroying the bathroom. Harry then uses the spell Sectumsempra which he learnt from his Potions book, on Draco. He is seriously wounded. Snape comes in to the bathroom and begins to heal him. Due to this event, Harry is told by his friends he must give up the textbook. Ginny takes Harry to the Room of Requirement to hide it, so he will never be able to find it. Ginny tells Harry to close his eyes whilst she hides it. On her return, the two kiss.

That evening, Harry and Ron run into Slughorn, who awkwardly avoids passing them in the corridor, turning around and walking the other way. Harry realises he’s going to need some luck to get that memory from Slughorn and drinks the Liquid Luck potion. Harry ignores the plan he made with Hermione and Ron, and instead chooses to go to Hagrid’s. On the way, he passes Slughorn taking Tentacula leaves from the greenhouses. He spots Harry and tells him he can’t go wandering around the grounds on his own this late at night. Harry says Slughorn can always come with him. The two discover Hagrid in front of a deceased Aragog, the huge spider Harry and Ron came face-to-face with a few years before. Slughorn asks if he can take some venom from Aragog as it is incredibly rare. Hagrid allows it. Slughorn then says a few words in his memory. The trio return to Hagrid’s hut, where Slughorn and Hagrid have a few drinks and have a bit of a sing-song. Hagrid reminisces about his times with Aragog, leading Slughorn to say he was given a fish once by Harry’s mother Lily, and noticed it had simply vanished one day, the same day Lily was murdered. Slughorn finally accepts he needs to hand over his real memory of Tom Riddle.

On receiving the memory, Harry goes straight to Dumbledore’s office to the Pensieve. They view the memory and learn the two were discussing Horcruxes, magic that allows part of a witch or wizard’s soul to remain in an object after murdering someone; it allows someone to never die. Tom Riddle plans to have seven of these. Dumbledore tells Harry this is just as he suspected, having already found Tom Riddle’s diary and his mother’s ring were both Horcruxes. Harry learns the key to destroying Voldemort is to destroy each Horcrux – and Dumbledore thinks he knows where a third one might be. Harry readies himself to go with Dumbledore to find this next Horcrux, inadvertently hearing a conversation between him and Snape, with Snape saying how he doesn’t want to do this anymore – whatever that means. Dumbledore apparates with Harry to a cave in the middle of the sea.

On entering the cave, Dumbledore uses his blood to allow passage further in, telling Harry he must obey all his commands. They cannot see much in the dark cave, but figure out with a Lumos spell that they need to get over to the other side to find the Horcrux. They find a boat and sail over there. They get onto a platform of crystals, surrounded by water, and see a bowl of potion. Dumbledore figures the potion will have to be drunk in its entirety to get the Horcrux. Dumbledore drinks a bit and starts to feel unwell. Harry has to force him to finish it all, collecting a locket at the end of it. Dumbledore asks for water. Harry tries to conjure some, but is unable to, so he goes to the edge of the platform to get water, however, he is grabbed by a creature, a skeletal corpse-like thing called an Inferi, with a whole group of them trying to get to him and Dumbledore. Harry is dragged into the water by one. Luckily, Dumbledore recovers enough to be able to take his wand and cast fireballs throughout the cave, destroying the Inferi. Harry and Dumbledore are able to leave the cave.

The two return to Hogwarts’ Astronomy Tower, where Harry is told to find Snape, however, they both hear noises. Harry is told to hide underneath the tower, and not say a word or be seen, regardless of what happens. Dumbledore is approached by Draco, who instantly disarms Dumbledore. Dumbledore tries to dissuade Draco from killing him, knowing this was what he’d been asked by Voldemort to do, and as he does so, Bellatrix and other Death Eaters arrive in the tower. Dumbledore learns that Draco fixed the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, allowing them to enter the school from Borgin and Burkes. Underneath the tower, Harry sees Snape, and believes that Snape will stop this. Draco seems unable to carry out this task, so Snape steps in front. He kills Dumbledore instead, with the force of the spell launching Dumbledore off the Astronomy Tower. The Death Eaters, including Snape and Draco, walk out of Hogwarts, with Bellatrix destroying as much property as she can, including Hagrid’s hut. Harry follows and demands to know why Snape betrayed Dumbledore, but he refuses to engage. Harry attempts to use Sectumsempra on Snape but the spell is blocked. Snape reveals that is his spell as he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns to the castle, where all the teachers and students mourn the death of their Headmaster, pointing their wands into the sky, dispelling the Dark Mark that has appeared.

The next day, once the dust has settled, Harry goes to Dumbledore’s office, feeling lost. Professor McGonagall attempts to console him, but Harry doesn’t want to talk. She says Harry meant a great deal to Dumbledore before he walks away from her. Back at the Astronomy Tower, Harry tells Hermione that he feels guilty for not doing anything to save Dumbledore. To make it even worse, the locket Horcrux they found was fake. Hermione reads the note inside, saying someone named R.A.B. stole the real one, in the hope of destroying it. Harry says he needs to finish the mission that Dumbledore started, by finding the remaining Horcruxes, so he won’t be returning to Hogwarts next year. Hermione says she and Ron will help him, and they will work together to find them.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sees Harry finally getting an idea of how to destroy Voldemort, thanks to Dumbledore’s persistence and assistance. Harry spends much of this film with either Dumbledore or Professor Slughorn, wanting to get as much information as possible to figure out how to rid the world of Voldemort once and for all, meaning he does not spend as much time with Ron and Hermione, who provide some help, but have their own problems going on. Hermione is upset with Ron for dating Lavender, when she likes him, and she has her own admirer in Cormac McLaggen bothering her in the first part of this story. Eventually, Ron tires of Lavender and the two start talking again, but they refuse to admit their real feelings – unlike Harry who gets a kiss from his love interest, Ginny. Meanwhile, some of the Death Eaters have returned to help kill Dumbledore, with this being Draco’s task, although Snape ends up completing it as Draco cannot. There are less scenes taking place in lessons, and less frivolity between the students, so the story really focuses on these characters I’ve mentioned, however, many characters returned to reprise their roles in this sixth film, if only in minor roles, with some new character additions also being made.

One of these new characters is a new Hogwarts Professor, except this time it is not a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but a Potions teacher. The hiring of Professor Horace Slughorn in Potions has led Professor Snape to be moved over to Defence Against the Dark Arts like he had always wanted. Professor Slughorn was a Potions teacher at Hogwarts years before, during the time that Tom Riddle was at school, before he became Lord Voldemort. That is why Dumbledore has had him return – because he has information that should help bring about the downfall of Voldemort, since he was close to Tom during his time at Hogwarts. Slughorn likes to focus on his most brilliant students, the ones he feels are the most talented and will go far in life; Tom Riddle must’ve been one of those, until his dark side came to the surface. Now, Slughorn is looking to “collect” Harry as one of his current favourite students, with Lily, Harry’s mother, having been one before. Slughorn is a friendly teacher, although he does have a tendency to write students off if they prove to not be worthy or talented, such as having Neville Longbottom be a waiter at his Christmas party after not making it into “The Slug Club”. However, Slughorn is clearly ashamed about his dealings with Tom Riddle, leading him to learn about Horcruxes and therefore return to power. Slughorn didn’t mean to do this, but would rather hide his secret than try to fix the mistakes he’s made. In the end, Harry has to guilt-trip Slughorn into providing him and Dumbledore with his memory of Tom and the Horcrux discussion.

Jim Broadbent was cast as Professor Slughorn, despite not having much resemblance to the character, as per his physical description in the books. In the books, Slughorn is described as being a very large, stout man, with a big moustache. Broadbent does not look like that; however, this did not bother fans of the series, who loved Broadbent’s depiction of the character, including his great comic delivery and portrayal of Slughorn’s eccentricities[1]. Broadbent is known for various film and television roles. Some of his more comedic roles have included playing Pod Clock in The Borrowers (1997); being cast as Colin Jones, Bridget’s dad in the Bridget Jones’s Diary film series; appearing as Inspector Frank Butterman in Hot Fuzz (2007); and starring as Kempton Bunton in The Duke (2020). He also has played Santa Claus a couple of times, voicing the character Malcolm Claus in the animated film Arthur Christmas (2011), and acting as the character in Get Santa (2014). Broadbent is also known for his role as Samuel Gruber in the Paddington films. Outside of that, Broadbent played Dean Charles Stanforth in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and portrayed Denis Thatcher in the Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady (2011). He has won numerous awards throughout his career, such as a BAFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! (2001); a BAFTA and Golden Globe win for his title role in the television film Longford (2006); and an Oscar and a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting actor for his role as John Bayley in Iris (2001). More recently, Broadbent was cast in the title role for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2023) and as Peter Schneider in Jay Kelly (2025). Reportedly, Bob Hoskins was initially considered for the part of Horace Slughorn. Hoskins was known for such roles as Smee in Hook (1991), and Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

Following on from that, we have some new villain roles that had to be filled in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We’ve already met Voldemort in a few different forms so far in this series, like teenage Tom Riddle being played by Christian Coulson in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Ralph Fiennes first appearing as the revived Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Years later, we needed Tom Riddle to return as a student at Hogwarts, getting a glimpse of his cockiness and self-assuredness, as well as his penchant for dark magic, through a past memory of Slughorn’s. Coulson, despite allegedly being happy to return, was considered too old to reprise his role, so a new actor had to be found. Frank Dillane was chosen to portray this character in this film.

After Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dillane went on to play Nick Clark in the spin-off television series Fear the Walking Dead (2015-23) in its first four seasons and played Henry Coffin in In the Heart of the Sea (2015). Later, Dillane played Charles Devereux in the Disney+ series Renegade Nell (2024) and was cast as Boise Hannington in the ITV drama series Joan (2025) starring Sophie Turner. More recently, Dillane starred as Mike in the drama film Urchin (2025), winning the Best Actor award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, with the film premiering in the Un Certain Regard section. He also played John Willoughby in the 2026 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (2026).

We also see an eleven-year-old Tom Riddle, who has been isolated at Wool’s Orphanage, being kept away from other children due to his strange demeanour and behaviour. He is led to believe he is mad, but Dumbledore visits him with a lifeline: to come to Hogwarts and learn to control his magical gifts, as long as he learns to behave. Hero Fiennes Tiffin was cast as young Tom Riddle, giving a chilling, haunted quality to this kid we know will grow up to become one of the most evil wizards of all time. In recent years, Fiennes Tiffin has gone on to star as Hardin Scott in the After film series and was cast as Charlie in the Amazon Prime film Picture This (2025). He is set to play Rhodes in the upcoming survival film Above the Below (2026) with Idris Elba. In series, Fiennes Tiffin currently portrays the character of Sherlock Holmes in the Amazon Prime series Young Sherlock (2026-present), alongside his uncle Joseph Fiennes, who played Silas Holmes in the series. Another of Fiennes Tiffin’s uncles is Ralph Fiennes, who was already playing Voldemort in the Harry Potter series by this point.

Further new characters on Voldemort’s side in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are Narcissa Malfoy, Draco’s mother and Lucius’ wife, and Fenrir Greyback. Narcissa Malfoy doesn’t play a huge role in this film, other than to go to Snape for help after finding out that her son has been recruited as a Death Eater by Voldemort and given the task of murdering Dumbledore. Narcissa is rightly scared and concerned for her son, knowing what will happen to him should he fail. Narcissa brings along her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, to help plead her case, although Bellatrix doesn’t know what Narcissa is fussing about, thinking they should feel honoured. Bellatrix isn’t sure that Snape can be trusted, so she uses this meeting to force his loyalty, having him make an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa to help Draco succeed. Fenrir Greyback is first shown in this film kidnapping Ollivander. He returns to join Bellatrix in taunting Harry Potter and the others at the Weasley home, helping to destroy the Burrow. Fenrir comes back again, to be present at the Astronomy Tower to see Snape kill Dumbledore. He provides the muscle for Voldemort, I guess!

Narcissa Malfoy was played by Helen McCrory, who was originally meant to play Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but had to drop out. I’m glad they found a good role for her in later films instead to make up for it. In film, McCrory portrayed Cherie Blair in The Queen (2006), and voiced Mrs. Bean in Wes Anderson’s film Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) prior to and around the time of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. After this, she was cast as Jehanne D’Alcy in Hugo (2011) and appeared as Clair Dowar MP in the Bond film Skyfall (2012). In television, McCrory was known for her role as Polly Gray in the first five seasons of Peaky Blinders (2013-22) and played Evelyn Poole in Penny Dreadful (2014-16). She also provided the voice of Stelmaria in the first two series of His Dark Materials (2019-22). McCrory sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 52.

Fenrir Greyback was played by Dave Legeno, who was a mixed martial artist as well as an actor. Some of his roles included being cast as John in Snatch (2000) and Guidobaldo da Montefeltro in the series Borgia (2011-14). Legeno died in 2014 at the age of 50, with the films Sword of Vengeance (2015), where he played Osgar; and Last Knights (2015), where he played Olaf, being released after his death.

Now for the students that feature either for the first time or more prominently in the Harry Potter series in this sixth film. First up is Lavender Brown. She is shown to have a crush on Ron as early as their trip to Diagon Alley, as she says “hi” to Ron, despite him barely even noticing her. She watches as he takes part in the try-outs for the Quidditch team in the freezing cold, cheering him on, and then takes her chance after he helps the team win their first match, by kissing him in front of everyone. Ron initially loves all the attention that Lavender gives him, but soon finds her to be too clingy and odd, never leaving him alone and seemingly falling in love with him very quickly. But Ron doesn’t know how to turn her down, so Ron kind of strings her along for a while. This makes it even more upsetting for Lavender when Ron mutters Hermione’s name in his sleep at the hospital and doesn’t even break up with her properly. He’s lucky she didn’t go out to get revenge on him because she seems unhinged enough to do something like that!

Jessie Cave was cast as Gryffindor student Lavender Brown, beating out thousands of girls who had auditioned for the part. It was her natural chemistry with Rupert Grint that was said to have got her the role. After the Harry Potter series had ended, Cave went on to play Annie Maddocks in the E4 drama series Glue (2014), before being cast as Heather in the Sky One comedy series Trollied (2011-18) from Series 5. More recently, she played Rosie in the ITV sitcom Buffering (2021-23), which starred and was co-written by comedian Iain Stirling. In film, Cave appeared as Biddy in the 2012 film adaptation of Great Expectations and was cast as Zoe in the historical drama film Pride (2014). She has also written and performed comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, such as her shows Bookworm in 2012 and Sunrise in 2018. Cave published her first novel titled Sunset in 2021.

We first see Cormac McLaggen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as he is trying out to be Gryffindor’s Keeper in Quidditch, against Ron. Cormac seems to be the most likely one of the two to be selected, and his arrogance and over-confidence comes across well. Cormac also says he is interested in Hermione, wanting Ron to help him get close to her; Ron doesn’t want to get involved with all that! Hermione isn’t interested in Cormac anyway, because, although Cormac is quite handsome, he is vain and smug. Hermione dislikes Cormac so much, she uses a spell on him during Quidditch try-outs to ensure Ron gets to be Keeper. Hermione tries to avoid Cormac at all costs, however, after Ron starts dating Lavender, her jealousy starts to rule her head, and she ends up taking Cormac to Slughorn’s Christmas party, essentially using him and ditching him when he keeps her under the mistletoe for too long. After this party, we don’t see much more of Cormac in this film. He either got the hint that Hermione doesn’t like him or felt she wasn’t worth chasing anymore!

Cormac McLaggen was played by Freddie Stroma. Stroma returned to reprise his role in the final two Harry Potter films. After the series ended, he went on to be cast as Luke in Pitch Perfect (2012) and as Ben Thornton-Wild in The Inbetweeners 2 (2014). He also played Adam Cromwell in the first season of the drama series UnReal (2015-18), and was cast as Ron Ebsen in Second Act (2018), which starred Jennifer Lopez. More recently, Stroma starred as Adrian Chase / Vigilante in the HBO Max series Peacemaker (2022-25).

There are a variety of other Gryffindor students who are involved in the story of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince too. Two are Romilda Vane and Dean Thomas. Romilda Vane does not appear much in this film, first appearing in Potions class with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, when Harry gets that old textbook, and is seen sitting in the library, looking at Harry, as Hermione tells him Romilda is looking to smuggle him a love potion, wanting to be with the “Chosen One”. That is all we see of Romilda in this film; however, her actions are fairly important because it transpires that she does actually attempt to give Harry a love potion, in the form of chocolates. Ron ends up eating them and falling in love with Romilda instead, giving Harry the perfect excuse to talk to Slughorn again, opening up pathways to get Slughorn to hand over his memory of Tom Riddle.

Romilda Vane was played by Anna Shaffer. Shaffer had no spoken lines in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I feel is quite unfair, seeing as Romilda is definitely trying to make an impact on that love triangle between Harry, Ginny, and Dean, so it’s not like she’s trying to fade into the background. Shaffer reprised her role as Romilda in the following two Harry Potter films, going on to have a regular role in the British soap Hollyoaks (1995-present) from 2011 until 2018. She later played Triss Merigold in the fantasy drama series The Witcher (2019-27) for Netflix.

Dean Thomas has been in and around Harry and Ron’s friendship group throughout their time at Hogwarts, across all six years. He is part of that group, along with Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan, that have classes with Harry and Ron, and chill out with them in the Gryffindor Common Room, but don’t get involved in all the action very often. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dean has slightly more of a role as he is part of this same love triangle – or square? – with Romilda, Harry, and Ginny, since he is dating Ginny at the beginning of the film. The two are also seen kissing in The Three Broomsticks pub. But the couple apparently argued often, with Hermione saying that must’ve been why Ginny was late to Slughorn’s dinner party. Dean has never seemed very confrontational, so this surprised me, but no more than the pairing of Dean and Ginny did; it just all seemed odd.

Alfred Enoch was cast as Dean Thomas, playing the character since the very first movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001). Shortly after the Harry Potter series had ended, Enoch went on to play Wes Gibbins in the legal drama How to Get Away with Murder (2014-20). Continuing his work in series, Enoch was cast as Pete Thomas in the first series of the Channel 4 mini-series The Couple Next Door (2023-present) opposite Eleanor Tomlinson, going on to play Mr. Lidderdale in the BBC One mini-series Miss Austen (2025), which starred Keeley Hawes. Enoch also starred as Adam in the British rom-com This Is Christmas (2022). Recently, Enoch played DS Isaac Fagbenle in the Netflix series Run Away (2026) based on the novel by Harlan Coben, and starred alongside Gal Gadot and Damian Lewis in the Prime Video action thriller The Runner (2026), being cast as Ted. On stage, Enoch played the lead role in Pericles for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2024, returning to star as in the title role of Henry V in 2026 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Katie Bell is also a Gryffindor student, and part of the Quidditch team. Her main role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is to be cursed by Draco Malfoy at The Three Broomsticks, so that she will deliver a hexed necklace to Dumbledore, meaning Draco can succeed in killing him, without being connected to it easily. Katie inadvertently touches the necklace herself and is hexed, remaining in hospital for a long portion of the school year. On her return to normal school life, she has no idea who cursed her, although Harry knows it was Draco. Katie’s friend, Leanne, witnesses these events and is quizzed on them by Professor McGonagall but can give no further information, other than the fact Katie didn’t have the necklace when they arrived at the pub and wanted to go quickly once she did.

Katie Bell was played by Georgina Leonidas. Prior to her role in this film, Leonidas had played Molly in the British children’s show The Basil Brush Show (2002-07). Leanne was played by Isabella Laughland, who went on to be cast as Beth in the teen drama Now Is Good (2012), which starred Dakota Fanning, and as Kay in the horror film Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018). She later played Deb in the Paramount+ series The Road Trip (2024) and was cast as Becky in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2025). Both actresses continued to play their characters Katie and Leanne until the end of the Harry Potter series.

Following on from that are two of Draco’s group. He had normally been flanked by his henchmen Crabbe and Goyle, and yet in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we see Draco mostly talking to Blaise and Pansy Parkinson, both Slytherins, of course. Draco only really talks to these two on the train to Hogwarts, as he distances and isolates himself throughout the course of the school year. Pansy has popped up time and again around Draco, seemingly being a potential love interest for him, in earlier Harry Potter films, whereas Blaise first appears in this film. Blaise is also a part of “The Slug Club”, so we see him at the dinner party and at Slughorn’s Christmas party too.

Pansy Parkinson was played by Scarlett Byrne in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, continuing with the role to the end of the film series. Pansy had previously appeared in other Harry Potter films, but was played by different actresses, such as Genevieve Gaunt playing the role in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). Following the conclusion of Harry Potter, Byrne was cast in the recurring role of Nora Hildegard in Season 7 of The Vampire Diaries (2009-17), having received a main role in Season 4 of the science-fiction series Falling Skies (2011-15), as Lexi Glass-Mason, the year before. Louis Cordice was cast as Blaise Zabini, appearing in the role in the final two Harry Potter films.

There are a couple of other characters and actors that I would like to mention, although their roles in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are quite minor. The first is Marcus Belby, who attempts to be a part of “The Slug Club”, but after failing to give much information on his famous uncle to Professor Slughorn, he finds he did not make it into this exclusive club, and according to Neville, has been left to hand out towels in the bathroom at the Christmas party. What a terrible demotion. Marcus Belby was played by Rob Knox. Allegedly, Knox was set to reprise his character in the following Harry Potter film, however, he was tragically stabbed to death before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was even released. Knox died at the age of 18 in May 2008.

The other is the waitress in the café, who flirts with Harry, but finds she has been stood up by him in favour of a trip with Professor Dumbledore. That’s so typical of Harry! She was played by Elarica Gallacher, who has since gone on to be cast as Juliette Durand in series 1 of A Discovery of Witches (2018-22) for Sky, and voiced Drolta Tzuentes in the animated Netflix series Castlevania: Nocturne (2023-25).  

Finally, there are a couple of cameo appearances by people who may look familiar, particularly to British viewers. One is from TV presenter Ben Shephard, who can be seen in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment within the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes shop scene; he plays a wizard father with his kids, and can be seen as Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave the shop. Ben Shephard had been presenting the behind-the-scenes documentaries Behind the Magic for the last few Harry Potter films, so that is likely why he was offered the role as the documentary followed him getting ready for his big moment on screen[2]. Shephard is known for presenting shows like the daytime show This Morning (1988-present) from the 2000s, returning as a permanent host in 2024, and presenting the game show Tipping Point (2012-present). He co-hosted Ninja Warrior UK (2015-22) and later participated as Conkers in Series 7 of The Masked Singer UK (2020-present) in 2026, coming in second place.

The other is the cameo appearance of actor Paul Ritter as Eldred Worple, an attendee of Slughorn’s Christmas party, who is briefly visible in the background of the scene but has no lines. Ritter starred as Martin Goodman in the sitcom Friday Night Dinner (2011-20), as well as playing Dr. Billy Cartwright in ITV’s crime drama Vera (2011-25). Some more dramatic roles of his included portraying Bentley Purchase in the war drama Operation Mincemeat (2022) and Jeremy Hutchinson in the BBC mini-series The Trial of Christine Keeler (2019-20). Ritter passed away in 2021 at the age of 54.

MUSIC

Having already composed the score for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Nicholas Hooper was well prepared to work on the music for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

As with all Harry Potter films, John Williams’ iconic instrumental track “Hedwig’s Theme” is used in this sixth film. The opening track uses a few notes of this theme, before moving into other motifs that will be used later in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It is used more obviously during the track “Ginny”, which is playing as Harry arrives at the Burrow after his visit to see Slughorn with Dumbledore.

You’ll also notice a few tracks that first appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix being used in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. As these tracks appeared in an earlier film, they are not listed on the official soundtrack for the sixth film.

The first “borrowed” track to be heard is “Fireworks”. “Fireworks” was used in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the scene of Fred and George Weasley crashing an exam to throw fireworks at Dolores Umbridge and ruin the calm order of the day, as well as destroying her huge number of glass-encased rules. This shows Fred and George choosing to leave school to start their own business. And they did start their own business in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as they opened their own store, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, in order to sell all the products they were already selling to students at Hogwarts. Due to the link between these two scenes from the two different movies, it makes sense to link them with the music as well. What is odd though is that a specific track was written for this moment called “Wizard Wheezes”, but it was not used; it is on the official soundtrack. I’m personally glad they chose to use “Fireworks” for this scene, as I find “Wizard Wheezes” too loud and chaotic with its jazzy, big band feel.  

The other recycled musical track was “Dumbledore’s Army”, playing during the Gryffindor Quidditch try-outs. I actually associate this piece more with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince than with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I guess I’ve just watched and paid attention to the sixth film more than I have the fifth! “Dumbledore’s Army” was still an important track in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix though, as the building up of Dumbledore’s Army, the group of students that Harry helps train to defend themselves against dark forces, is a main plot point in that story.

I like both “Dumbledore’s Army” and “Fireworks” alongside various other pieces within the score of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. One of these is “Living Death”, used for the sequence of Harry and his classmates in Potions class trying to make the perfect draught of the potion Living Death. Harry is doing well, thanks to the old textbook, whereas everyone around him is struggling and not able to complete the task. I like how upbeat the track is, whilst seeing others, like Hermione, crumbling as the class goes on and they still can’t get understand why they can’t make this potion. It’s a comical scene. The victorious and triumph nature of “Ron’s Victory”, after Ron successfully helps Gryffindor win in his first Quidditch match is another highlight of the soundtrack.

On the more emotional and sadder side, I quite like “Harry & Hermione”, which is playing after Hermione sees Ron kissing Lavender and she is heartbroken by it, knowing she likes Ron. Harry tries to comfort her, knowing he feels the same when he sees Ginny with Dean. “Dumbledore’s Farewell” is, of course, the saddest moment in the film, as we see the students and staff at Hogwarts mourn the loss of their beloved headteacher. It brings tears to my eyes, just because of the collective grief, and the fact that despite this tragedy, they point their wands to the sky in an act of defiance against the evil of Voldemort and his followers. It’s a very touching scene, and shows that what Harry will soon face will not be easy.

There are also a few songs heard within Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, although not all are on the soundtrack. The song “Big Beat Repeat” written and performed by Josh Powell is playing as Ron and the other Gryffindors celebrate his heroic day out on the Quidditch pitch in his first game as Keeper. It is mostly drowned out by the students chanting “Weasley, Weasley”, so it’s not all that audible or noticeable. Later, Slughorn and Hagrid sing briefly after they have held a funeral for Aragog, Hagrid’s giant spider friend. It is a fictional drinking song called “Odo the Hero”, which makes it perfect for this scene, as Hagrid is drowning his sorrows after the shock, with Slughorn helping him get through this tough time by having a drink or two as well. The song was written by J.K. Rowling for the book, and is performed by Robbie Coltrane and Jim Broadbent. These songs are not on the soundtrack.

One that is on the soundtrack is titled “In Noctem”. It is a haunting choral piece, being performed by the Hogwarts Choir as Professor Flitwick conducts them. It was supposed to be a foreboding piece of music accompanying the sequence of the students and staff at Hogwarts noticing the sky getting darker and the clouds coming in, signalling that something bad is about to happen, likely with Voldemort and the Death Eaters at the centre of it. This happens shortly before Dumbledore is murdered. This track was part of a deleted scene, so it was cut from the final version of the film. It’s a shame too, because this music and this scene I think would’ve worked well in the film and would’ve added to the atmosphere[3]. “In Noctem” is played during the End Credits though.

The soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, consisting of the original score, was released on 14^th July 2009, just a day before the movie premiered. It was said to have debuted at No. 29 on the US Billboard Top 200, making it the highest charting soundtrack of the six soundtracks in the franchise released to this point[4].

Nicholas Hooper was nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for his work on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He lost to Michael Giacchino’s emotional score for Pixar’s Up.

PRODUCTION

Filming any Harry Potter movie was a challenging and stressful experience for all involved.

Although some of the main cast members did feel overwhelmed by the level of fame that hit them all at some point during the course of the movies coming out, they were committed to continue their journeys as these beloved characters, knowing that fans would be disappointed or even angry to see such major roles recast partway through.

This, however, was not the same for the directors of the Harry Potter movies, as these had changed consistently throughout the first half of the Harry Potter film series. Christopher Columbus had managed to direct two in a row, before citing exhaustion as a reason for passing the baton over to someone else to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The fourth film was then directed by someone new as well.

But after David Yates came on to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he would do the unthinkable and unimaginable – sign on to direct the sixth Harry Potter film, equalling Columbus’ record by directing two Harry Potter films in a row. Wow. Instead of being tired and drained after working on the fifth film, Yates was enthusiastic to keep working on further films, especially as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would allow him to work on a story that was less tense and more playful than the fifth film.

The screenwriter on the Harry Potter films had been quite consistent though. Steve Kloves had successfully adapted each of the first four books to make the screen adaptations, however, he decided to step back from the Harry Potter franchise and let someone else write Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The break turned out to be the perfect way for Kloves to reset, having stated that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had been particularly challenging to adapt, and was ready to delve into the more mature and darker themes of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

As with all the Harry Potter films, the books they were based on had to be condensed in order to fit a standard runtime for a full-length feature film. This meant compromises and omissions, which have been less bothersome for fans in some cases, and more of a problem in others. For Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, there appeared to be too many cuts and changes from the original story to satisfy the most avid Harry Potter readers.

The most glaring exclusion was information, seen via the Pensieve as memories, about Tom Riddle’s past and his Horcruxes. The book has information about Tom Riddle’s family, like the Pure Blood Gaunt family, and the fact his mother, Merope Gaunt, bewitched the Muggle Tom Riddle, his father, into marrying her. There was also a moment in the book where an older Tom Riddle asked former Hogwarts Headmaster Professor Dippet, who is briefly mentioned in the second Harry Potter film, for a job in the Defence Against the Dark Arts department. This was an excuse so as to find objects he would later use as Horcruxes. A further chapter would’ve had Harry see two more memories, showing Riddle murdering people and stealing items, including Salazar Slytherin’s locket, the one Dumbledore and Harry go to the cave to find, in order to create Horcruxes. As someone who has not read the books, although this information does sound interesting, connecting items to individual victims, this wasn’t something that I felt needed explaining in the films. I also did not mind that Harry ended up figuring out much of this on his own, or with the help of Hermione and Ron, in the final two films, instead of being given the facts by Dumbledore in the sixth story. I would have liked to see more background into Tom Riddle though, as I did find myself online searching for answers to questions that came up whilst watching the final two films, which could’ve been answered in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But I understand the need to keep the plot clean and uncluttered for a feature film.

Something else that wasn’t necessarily required to be explained in the film but might’ve been nice to understand was the meaning behind Snape’s nickname of the “Half-Blood Prince”. Those who have not read the books but have watched the films would be able to deduce that the “half-blood” part of the name simply means that Snape has one magical and one non-magical parent. Not surprising or particularly unique. However, for me, I thought that Snape was calling himself a prince. Of what, I didn’t know, but I’d just assumed because he was a bit of a loner at school, he was trying to make himself feel better about himself by giving himself a royal title to try and escape his real life. Well, had I read the book, I would’ve learnt that the “prince” part of that nickname just refers to Snape’s mother’s maiden name of Prince, so it was not meant to be pretentious at all! He did this in order to distance himself from his abusive Muggle father.

Other moments missing from the film that were in the book include a battle happening at Hogwarts as Harry and Dumbledore return from their cave exploration. The Death Eaters that Draco smuggled in via the Vanishing Cabinets begin to attack the teachers, students, and the Order of the Phoenix members who are trying to protect the school. It was decided that this battle sequence would be cut from the movie to avoid repetition, as the final story has a huge battle at Hogwarts to end the storyline. I personally like the ending of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with its quiet menace, and it allows for the final film to have a real cinematic fight that we hadn’t seen on screen before.

Speaking of this moment in the story, this battle would’ve led to the scene of Dumbledore’s murder in the Astronomy Tower. In the movie, Harry obeys Dumbledore by hiding underneath the tower, looking up at the action from under the floorboards. When Snape arrives and motions for Harry to stay quiet and not do anything, he simply trusts that Snape is there to help Dumbledore and would not end up murdering him. I’m fine with all of this; to me, it makes perfect sense. But others did not agree and wanted this scene to match the book. In the book, Harry is frozen under his Invisibility Cloak by Dumbledore to stop him from interfering. This makes watching Dumbledore’s murder worse for Harry as he knows what is coming, but can’t do anything to stop it. I think some didn’t understand why Harry would be so passive if he wasn’t forced to be, but I think it shows Snape’s betrayal of Dumbledore more obviously, which sets things up for what is to come in the final two books.

Some readers also felt that the scene of Dumbledore finding Harry at the train station, taking him away from his potential date with a waitress to go and find Slughorn, was better in the book, as this scene is completely different there. In the book, Dumbledore picks Harry up from the Dursleys’ house, and basically calls them out on their poor treatment of Harry. The Dursleys actually don’t show up nearly as much as you’d expect them to in the films after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, so it might’ve been nice to have seen some more from them – but I do like the scene with the waitress; it’s funny and it makes sense that Harry would avoid spending time at the Dursleys by sitting in a train station.

Other more minor omissions relate to characters that were either not used, replaced by others, or had their storylines changed slightly. Firstly, the opening of the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince book sees Cornelius Fudge talking to the Muggle Prime Minister about Lord Voldemort and the danger that is coming. This is also where the new Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour is revealed. In the film series, Scrimgeour does not appear until the seventh film. Secondly, Tonks was meant to find Harry petrified and unable to move on the Hogwarts Express, after being attacked by Draco for eavesdropping. Tonks does not see Harry get off the train and goes to find him. Personally, I think Luna finding Harry makes more sense; she’s probably still on there picking up discarded editions of The Quibbler to pass out to students again, and the Wrackspurt-finding glasses just add to her character. Moaning Myrtle is present for the fight between Harry and Draco in the bathroom, where Harry almost kills Draco, having built up some sort of friendship with Draco during the year. After appearing in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and briefly in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Moaning Myrtle did not appear in another Harry Potter film.

Finally, Tonks and Lupin appear to be a couple in the film of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as they go to the Burrow together for Christmas with the Weasleys and leave together. This is quite a shock to those who have not read the books, as we barely even see them together in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the story where they would’ve met. In the books, this romance is more fleshed out, with Lupin questioning whether he deserves love at all, given his self-hatred due to being a werewolf, eventually accepting Tonks’ love[5]. This isn’t touched on during the films at all, with only brief hints of their relationship timeline coming out during the main storylines. It’s not important to Harry’s journey though, so I can see why there aren’t too many details about this relationship.

Something that might have non-readers a little bit confused is that we are not told in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film how Fred and George got the money to open their shop on Diagon Alley. It hadn’t really occurred to me to question this when I first watched it, assuming that they’d made enough money from selling their products at Hogwarts to be able to do this, or they managed to get a bank loan. In actual fact, the books explain that Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes came to be because Harry gave Fred and George his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. Harry didn’t want the prize money due to the trauma that he experienced. This happens at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Filming for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince took place from September 2007 until May 2008. The cast and crew returned to a variety of filming locations that they’d already visited before alongside some new locations.

One of these returning locations was Gloucester Cathedral, used to depict the hallways and corridors of Hogwarts Castle in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Now the team were back, as they filmed scenes in the Lavatorium, specifically the moment where Harry overhears Snape and Draco discussing the Unbreakable Vow after Slughorn’s Christmas Party, and the West Corridor, for the moment where Professor McGonagall sends Ron and Harry to Potions class, to stop them laughing at the lost and overwhelmed First Year students[6]. They also returned to Oxford, to the Duke Humfrey’s Library in the Bodleian Library as the location for Hogwarts’ library. In this scene in the library, Harry and Hermione are talking about dates to the Christmas Party.

A new location used was Lacock village in Wiltshire, which was used as the setting of the Muggle village Budleigh Babberton, where Slughorn has been hiding, trying to avoid being recruited by the Death Eaters[7]. Lacock Abbey had previously been used as a location for the first two Harry Potter films. This time though the village’s streets were being used for filming for three nights in October 2007. It was almost unanimously approved by villagers and the National Trust for the Harry Potter film crew to return to the area[8].

Other locations used for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince include Surbiton train station being used as the train station where Harry is at the start of the film, where he attempts to flirt with the waitress before seeing Dumbledore on the opposite platform. Also, filming took place in Norway, but only to get a snowy background for the sequence of the Hogwarts Express taking the students back home for Christmas.

Another location worth mentioning is the Millennium Bridge, as it has a featured role in the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Millennium Bridge began construction in 1998 and first opened in June 2000, hence the name, although it then closed for repairs shortly after opening, and reopened in 2002. The bridge connects the City of London to the Bankside area. The Millennium Bridge was likely chosen for this sequence due to how recognisable it is. However, as this bridge was not even built during the timeline of the original books, the Brockdale Bridge, a fictional bridge created by J.K. Rowling, was destroyed instead. In the book, Muggles actually died during the collapse of the bridge. The film isn’t quite so bad, as, although Muggles are clearly fearing for their lives as they race to get across the Millennium Bridge, no-one dies. Some fans of the books dislike the fact the Millennium Bridge was used in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film as it completely disrupts the books’ original timeline, not thinking these films are set in the time that they were filmed. I would counter that by saying there are many elements of the Harry Potter films which would suggest they were set in the times that they were filmed, like outfit choices, hairstyles, and background music. I never felt that these films took place in the 1990s, so I don’t have a problem with the use of the Millennium Bridge here.

As well as real-life locations, Harry Potter films are known for their impressive sets. One of these was using a set they had of a stock London street with dilapidated Georgian architecture. Wool’s Orphanage, the home of young Tom Riddle, was then built at the end of this street. For inspiration, the team had researched buildings such as those from Victorian times, wanting to have the orphanage look like a workhouse from that era, needing it to be bleak, dark, and miserable. Visual effects were used to extend the street.

Another set that was used was that of Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley had originally been filmed at Leadenhall Market in London for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, before it was decided to create the alley at Leavesden Studios. The Diagon Alley in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince lacks a lot of the magic and wonder when compared to the street we see in the earlier films, because now, many shops have either shut or been ransacked by Death Eaters, like Ollivander’s, with its owner also missing. The only shop doing well and bringing all the light and colour to Diagon Alley is the bright orange Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. James and Oliver Phelps, who played Fred and George Weasley, were very excited to see the shop come to life, although they did find the mechanical man on the shopfront, meant to be a recreation of one of their characters, to be quite creepy. But they did like all the products that the design team had created to fill the store. It took 15 people about a year to design all the products on the shelves, some created for the film whereas others were written about in the books, with reportedly 40,000 packages and boxes created for this purpose. It apparently took five days to shoot this one sequence at the shop[9].

The Weasley home of the Burrow was once again seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on a couple of occasions, having first appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as a homely, eccentric, higgledy-piggledy house in the middle of a marsh. The set was already at the Leavesden studios, with an actual controlled 420-foot ring of fire being used to film the scene of the Death Eaters attacking the Burrow, and having Ginny and Harry chase them into a field of reeds. Additional effects, like rolling fireballs, were added in post-production, whilst shots of the reeds were filmed in the reed beds at Abbotsbury in Dorset, to use as the surrounding background for the scene. This whole sequence of the Burrow being attacked and burnt was not even a scene in the original book. It was included in the film so as to show that nowhere in the Wizarding World was safe from random attacks. It also adds in an additional, highly cinematic action sequence, especially since that battle at Hogwarts does not exist in the film.

A final interesting set to mention is that of the cave where Dumbledore and Harry find the locket. The exterior of the cave is said to have been the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland. The production team ended up going to a quartz cave in Switzerland and a salt cave near Frankfurt in Germany to get inspiration for the interior of the cave, settling on making it a cave of crystals, having to test how crystals would react to the moving, changing light that occurs from Lumos charms. A full-scale portion of the cave wall was built as a template for the visual effects team to use as a guide.

Since this cave is meant to be around 2000 feet long, it was decided that CG would have to be used to create most of it, with a small crystal platform built for Daniel Radcliffe and Michael Gambon to use for their acting scenes. The platform was surrounded by green screen, and it was apparently quite slippery for the actors to walk on.

Further digital visual effects were then required to create the creatures that attack Dumbledore and Harry within the cave. These water gremlin creatures are named the Inferi, and they are supposed to be corpses being used as guardians through the use of dark magic. The Inferi had to not look too much like zombies, and instead were basically based around emaciated and skeletal versions of the human body. The aim was to make them appear as human as possible whilst also looking ominous and scary. Facial and motion capture from actors helped to add the necessary expressions and motions to these creatures. The same tank that was used in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire swam for the second Triwizard Tournament task was used again here. The cave sequence was one of the most complex and challenging to complete on a Harry Potter movie, but they succeeded in making something that is quite scary to watch.

As well as a large proportion of visual effects, the use of practical effects was still being heavily promoted on the sets of Harry Potter films, even as technology was advancing. It was decided that Aragog, who is deceased in the only scene we see of him in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, would again be a real-life model. Aragog was an animatronic puppet model in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, his first appearance in the stories. This model was made with the translucent material polyurethane, and was airbrushed with paint and flocked with hair to look like the spider. It took many weeks to complete the models, with two being needed, in order to fit in with the forced perspective that is involved in many of Hagrid’s scenes, to make him appear like a giant. It would’ve been expensive to create Aragog in CGI anyway, so the team in Creature Effects were glad they fought to make the model, especially as it is also good reference for the actors[10].

Some other practical effects included Jim Broadbent being sat on a plank of wood that sprang up, for the moment of Slughorn turning from a chair into a human. Broadbent was asked to act out this transformation as best as possible with the digital animation being placed over the top of this shot. In the Potions lab, bottles of gas were disguised as the cauldrons so as to make flames come out of them, plus 1000 gallons of warm water were used in the bathroom fight scene, with pipes bursting, and mirrors being blown up with compressed air, to avoid glass shatters. Dryers and pumps would then need to be brought out in order to reset the scene for the next take.

Quidditch made a return to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince too, after being omitted from the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film. This time, Rupert Grint got to do some green screen work and stunt training for his scenes as Ron, trying out to be the Gryffindor team’s Keeper, and then playing in a match. As well as the bicycle seat mount and the actors acting out their Quidditch movements in front of a green screen, it would seem that the actors also worked on a trampoline too, with a harness to start off with, and then with their broomsticks, whilst having a soft version of a Quaffle thrown at their face, to simulate their saves. Other contraptions were used by the stunt team, like a “Russian Swing”, to allow for some interesting falls and dives to be filmed and used in the film[11].

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the sixth film in the series, and some of these actors had been working on the films for about eight years by this point. However, there was never a quiet day on the set of Harry Potter, with many characters having breakthroughs at different points in the film series.

Tom Felton had not actually been seen on screen all that much in the Harry Potter films up to the point of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, despite being one of Harry’s earliest antagonists. That all changed on this sixth film, as Draco was recruited to become a Death Eater, following in his father’s footsteps, and given the monumental task of killing Professor Dumbledore. This film gave Felton a chance to really get his teeth into his role as Draco, getting a more interesting journey than just being a standard, stereotypical school bully. Felton did well to portray Draco Malfoy as a sympathetic character, struggling to cope with this added pressure. I particularly like the Astronomy Tower sequence where we see Draco falter under the pressure, and start to question his new role as a Death Eater, but feeling helpless to change it now; it’s too late for that. Jason Isaacs, who played Felton’s on-screen father, Lucius Malfoy, stated how impressed he was with Felton’s portrayal of Draco in this film, seeing it as a major turning point for him and his character[12]. Felton did apparently struggle in this scene though, for a completely different reason. After the death of Dumbledore, Snape leads all the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts. During this scene, Felton accidentally stepped on Snape’s cloak, and Alan Rickman, who played Snape, became quite irritated by this, because the cloak was attached around his neck. He told Felton in no uncertain terms to stop stepping on his cloak. Felton was not even the only actor in the scene to do this[13]. I’m sure Rickman forgot all about it the next day!

In comparison to all this darkness and isolation that Draco is feeling, Ron and Harry have their own problems, romantic ones. Rupert Grint found himself at the centre of filming his first on-screen kissing scene as Ron, much how Daniel Radcliffe had to kiss Katie Leung in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. There had been plenty of teasing of Radcliffe around this time, but actually, both Leung and Radcliffe said it was as comfortable as possible, and it was made easier by the fact only the two of them were in that scene at that time. Grint ended up having to have his on-screen kiss in the middle of a packed scene of the cast and extras. He said this made the kiss more difficult for him, whereas Jessie Cave, who played Lavender Brown, said the rehearsal with just them was more awkward than kissing in front of a crowd! Daniel Radcliffe did not avoid a second on-screen kiss in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and this time it was with Bonnie Wright, a member of the Harry Potter cast since the very first film. This was said to have been quite awkward for Radcliffe and Wright, as they had not expected their characters to ever be in a relationship with each other, and they’d known each other since they were children.

The rest of the cast also got to have some relatively new experiences during the filming of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, including shooting a night scene as a group. The difficulty was that some of the young actors were quite excited to be filming at night, but this scene was Dumbledore’s death, so they were supposed to look sad. Evanna Lynch, who played Luna, even believed that her character’s tears must have been added in during post-production as she didn’t remember crying, only that David Yates was getting quite agitated, trying to get everyone to look sad!

Helena Bonham Carter was finally able to cast some “real” magic for a change as well. She had said that the actors can feel kind of ridiculous, waving bits of wood around and nothing actually happening, so when she was told she’d get to blow up Hagrid’s Hut, she was pretty pleased to move her wand and see it do something for a change! The wave of Bellatrix’s wand was used as the cue for the team to blow up the hut[14].

It is extraordinary to note as well that Dame Maggie Smith, who played Professor McGonagall, was undergoing treatment for cancer whilst filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, persevering through all the side effects to give us a performance that was just as stellar as it had been in every movie before[15].

RECEPTION

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was originally supposed to be released in November 2008; however, it was delayed, with this news being reported around August 2008.

The reasoning for this was said to be, according to the president of Warner Bros., that the studio wanted the film to be a major summer blockbuster so would now release it in July 2009. It was stressed that the film was not behind schedule, and was ready, but they wanted to make the most of its release by waiting until the summer. The Writers’ Strike of 2007-08 was also blamed as it caused a delay in other movies being ready to film. This meant a two-year gap between the fifth and sixth films though[16]. It has also been speculated that Warner Bros.’ success with The Dark Knight in 2008 had meant they wanted to keep a “guaranteed” financial hit until the following year, in order to have strong revenue in 2009.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince finally reached cinemas on 15^th July 2009 in most countries, with some waiting a week or two more, after having held three premieres of the movie in the week beforehand. There was a premiere in Tokyo on 6^th July; one in London on 7^th July, where it rained heavily, and one in New York City on 8^th July 2009. Some had wondered whether the delayed release date, and the fact that this was the first film in the franchise to be released after all the books had been published, would cause the financial figures to drop from the previous film. That proved not to be the case.

Despite this film being one of the most expensive films ever made, with a reported budget of $250 million, Warner Bros. had much success with its release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as it ended its run at No. 2 in the Worldwide Box Office, bringing in around $934 million. I doubt the movie would’ve made any more or any less had it kept to its original release date of November 2008, because fans are fans; they will come to see the film regardless of the time of year. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, despite these impressive figures, was still way behind the movie at No. 1 in the Worldwide Box Office, and that was James Cameron’s Avatar, released in December 2009, making over $2.7 billion during its first theatrical release, breaking many box-office records in the process.

Other big films of 2009 finished their theatrical runs behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Some of its competition included Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, released in June 2009, which made $836 million and ended in fourth position at the Worldwide Box Office; Pixar’s Up, released in May 2009, making $735 million and hitting No. 6 on the list; and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third film in the franchise, which was just behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in third position with $886 million. The Twilight Saga’s second film New Moon finished the year at No. 7 with $709 million. It came out in November 2009, no doubt in order to avoid direct competition with Harry Potter.

However, positive financial results do not mean that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was not criticised. In fact, many fans of the books were annoyed at how much of the original book’s story had been left out of the movie adaptation, with the choice to focus on the teenage romances, and not on the flashbacks to Voldemort’s past, being considered the wrong decision. I can only assume the reason we did see quite a lot of romantic moments was probably to balance out the darker topics, and to have more of a rom-com-feel to this film ahead of the difficult moments that were to come. For others, the pacing was not great here, with it being too slow in places and too quick in others. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was also said to be too confusing for those who had not read the books. As someone who has not read the books, although I will admit I have had to look up a few facts about Voldemort’s family life, I don’t feel the lack of details affected my enjoyment or understanding of this film’s story. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is seen as a step towards the big finale and nothing else by some.

That doesn’t mean everyone disliked Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince though, because I certainly liked it a lot and still do. I like the mix of genres in this film, being able to have some moments of comedy in between the more emotional and darker moments. There are a lot of plot twists in this film, particularly the death of a major character like Dumbledore being one that I personally did not see coming. Many also praised the performances of Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter for their characters once again, but some of the younger actors were also highlighted, such as Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who were seen to have more opportunities within this film to grow as actors. Others also said that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince felt very cinematic and set up the final two films well.

In terms of awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Achievement in Cinematography, but the winner was Avatar. At the BAFTAs, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was nominated for Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects, but Avatar won in both these categories. At the Saturn Awards, Harry Potter also lost out to Avatar in Best Production Design and Best Special Effects. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was also nominated here for Best Fantasy Film and Best Costume, but this time lost out to the superhero film Watchmen (2009) on both occasions. At the Satellite Awards, despite the sixth Harry Potter film being nominated, Fantastic Mr. Fox won Best Animated or Mixed Media Film.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince also received nominations for its acting. At the People’s Choice Awards, the film was nominated for Favorite Movie and for Favorite On-Screen Team for the trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. Twilight won both these categories and beat out Harry Potter for Favorite Franchise here too. At the Teen Choice Awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was nominated for Choice Movie: Fantasy, with Emma Watson being nominated for Choice Movie Actress: Fantasy, but Harry Potter lost to The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Kristen Stewart. But it does seem that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won the Teen Choice Award in Summer 2009 for Choice Summer Movie: Action. Why it appears to have been nominated in two different years, I don’t know. Evanna Lynch was recognised for her performance as Luna Lovegood by being nominated at the Young Artist Awards, for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress, but she did not win, unfortunately.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince did get some other wins too though. At the MTV Movie Awards, Tom Felton won the award for Best Villain for his role as Draco Malfoy in this film. The film was also nominated for Best Movie, but lost out to The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart beat out Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for Best Male and Best Female Performance respectively.  At the Scream Awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince lost to Twilight in Best Fantasy Movie; Emma Watson lost to Kristen Stewart in Best Fantasy Actress; Daniel Radcliffe lost to Robert Pattinson in Best Fantasy Actor; Evanna Lynch lost to Jennifer Carpenter in Dexter (2006-11) for Best Supporting Actress; Rupert Grint lost to Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in Best Supporting Actor; and Helena Bonham Carter lost to Alexander Skarsgård in True Blood (2008-14) for Best Villain. Best Sequel ended up going to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, instead of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as did the award for Best F/X.  But the cast did win the award for Best Ensemble here, and the team won an award for the scene of the Death Eaters attacking London at the start of the film.

Outside of this, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won the UK National Movie Award for Family Film, and seemingly won Best Movie at the UK SFX Awards. At the Art Directors Guild Awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince appears to have been nominated for Excellence in Production Design, but seems to have lost to Avatar.

LEGACY

By the time Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had been released in July 2009, there were no more Harry Potter books being published. The final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, had been published two years before, in July 2007, shortly after the premiere of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. J.K. Rowling was working on other novels by this time, completely unrelated to Harry Potter.

However, there were still exciting opportunities available to expand the franchise after the final book had been published, and after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out. There was, of course, the standard video game based on the plot of this film, available on most major gaming devices, but there was something much more interesting coming.

There had been talks of a “Harry Potter theme park” for some time, with discussions going back to around 2003 or 2004 that something was in the works. There were said to have been conversations about building Harry Potter attractions at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, but these talks ended up going nowhere. However, in May 2007, it was confirmed that Universal and Warner Bros. were working together to create The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, to become part of Universal Orlando Resort’s theme park Islands of Adventure. This was potentially the best expansion of the franchise that fans could hope for, as they were being promised a really immersive theme park land to explore.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter finally opened to the public on 18^th June 2010, taking over part of the Islands of Adventure Park known as The Lost Continent. This was great timing as Universal could capitalise on the additional buzz surrounding the final two movies, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 due to be released in November 2010, and the second part less than a year after that. Fans were wondering and debating how the best moments from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would play out on screen.

Cast members from the Harry Potter films were on hand to open up the land to the thousands of people waiting to be one of the first people to see it, with the cast having had some time to explore it on their own beforehand. These cast members were Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Warwick Davis, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Tom Felton, and James and Oliver Phelps. There was even a small stage constructed so that the cast could give a short speech, signalling the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, complete with a train conductor for the Hogwarts Express as the “opening act”; a white sheet hanging to block the view until the proper moment; and the cast’s arrival as the Hogwarts Express “pulled in” to the station. As a note, although the Hogwarts Express train is now an attraction in itself, it was not a moving train when The Wizarding World of Harry Potter first opened; it was just a static engine available for photo ops and to add to the ambience[17].

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a challenging project for the Harry Potter films’ creative team, specifically production designer, Stuart Craig, who had to ensure that the theme park land was recreating Hogsmeade Village as it had been seen in the Harry Potter films, as well as the specific shops and restaurants that were seen in the films and mentioned in the books. This included The Three Broomsticks, which is used in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Honeydukes, the sweet shop; the Hogshead Pub; and Zonko’s Joke Shop. The Owlery was also recreated, allowing guests to send letters to those back home with a Hogsmeade postmark, as was Ollivander’s wand shop, which is technically meant to be in Diagon Alley, but is such an iconic part of the Harry Potter stories that it was built in the Hogsmeade area. Ollivander’s is not only a shop either; it is an interactive experience, where selected guests will find that the wand really does choose the wizard[18]. 

Outside of this, three attractions were created for the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010. There was a small family coaster titled Flight of the Hippogriff, which remains there to this day. It has an animatronic figure of Buckbeak that guests pass during their ride. This ride was actually just a retheme of The Lost Continent attraction The Flying Unicorn. Another was Dragon Challenge, which, again, was a retheme of the rollercoaster Dueling Dragons. Dueling Dragons consisted of two intertwined coaster tracks that would “duel” at various points during the ride. It became Dragon Challenge with some retheming of the queue, so that it matched the dragon challenge in the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the tracks were renamed from Fire and Ice to Chinese Fireball and Hungarian Horntail. Dragon Challenge closed in 2017 to make way for an entirely new Harry Potter attraction, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which opened in June 2019 to much acclaim.

The other attraction is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, housed within the recreation of Hogwarts Castle, meaning the queue takes place inside Hogwarts, allowing guests to walk through different parts of the castle, including classrooms seen in the films. The ride itself is a motion simulator that takes fans through moments from the Harry Potter films, encountering familiar faces and creatures along the way. It is meant to make guests feel like they are flying on a broomstick. Cast members filmed scenes especially for this ride.

I remember going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter a few weeks after it first opened. I didn’t like thrill rides, so my mum and I went on Flight of the Hippogriff, whilst my dad and sister went on the other two rides. We ended up waiting around for them by the stage where small shows take place throughout the day, including the Frog Choir and the Triwizard Spirit Rally. We definitely remember seeing the Frog Choir. Other than that, we just remember how busy it was. It was not easy to walk through the area, let alone explore it. We didn’t even get in any shops because there were queues to enter those, so my experience there was slightly disappointing, although the land itself does look amazing and is very immersive. I have since been on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and it was certainly thrilling, one of the most unique theme park rides I’ve been on. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter continues to be a very popular area within Islands of Adventure.

Expansions of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter later opened in other Universal theme parks and at Universal Orlando. One of these was the Diagon Alley area that opened at the Universal Studios Park at Universal Orlando in 2014. From Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, guests can go into a recreation of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and travel down Knockturn Alley to visit Borgin and Burkes. 

Back in the UK, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London has sets that also showcase moments from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Some of these are Diagon Alley, with Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes; the Potions Classroom; and Dumbledore’s Office, complete with the memory cabinet and the Pensieve.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince marks another transition in the film series.

This story gives Harry a roadmap to destroying Lord Voldemort once and for all, and as he knows he will have to continue Dumbledore’s hunt for Horcruxes in order to do that, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the last film to feature a “normal” school year as Harry, Ron, and Hermione go off on their travels together.

Yes, sadly the darkness has come – and that means no more magical lessons, no more dinner scenes in the Great Hall, and no more harmless flirting. This is serious now.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is my second favourite Harry Potter film. The fact that Draco Malfoy got more of a featured role here was a major factor in me liking this film, but I also enjoy the comedy in this one and the fact it still revolves around another school year at Hogwarts; I like the structure.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the thrilling finale. It’s just nice to have a bit of a chance to reflect on Harry’s journey up to this point before the chaos and turmoil begin.

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REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Maximum Movie Mode: Focus Points’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[2] Credit: ITV, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Behind the Magic (2009), Special Features YouTube Channel, 9^th April 2024.

[3] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Additional Footage’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[4] Credit: Rhino Entertainment, ‘Rhino Announces The Last 4 Harry Potter Original Motion Picture Soundtracks Out August 15 on “LP Clear Vinyl’, ShoreFire.com, 9^th July 2025.

[5] Credit: Jack Otway, ‘Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince: 10 Changes From The Book To The Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 29^th January 2020.

[6] Credit: BBC News, ‘Harry Potter 20^th anniversary: The UK film locations’, BBC.co.uk, 20^th November 2021.

[7] Credit: National Trust, ‘Explore Harry Potter filming locations’, NationalTrust.org.uk, date unknown.

[8] Credit: BBC, ‘Potter at Lacock this week?’, BBC.co.uk, 17^th September 2007.

[9] Credit: ITV, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Behind the Magic (2009), Special Features YouTube Channel, 9^th April 2024.

[10] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Maximum Movie Mode: Focus Points’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[11] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Close-Up with the Cast of Harry Potter’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[12] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).

[13] Credit: Tom Murray, ‘Harry Potter star Tom Felton recalls Alan Rickman’s terse words after he repeatedly stepped on his cloak’, Independent.co.uk, 9^th October 2022.

[14] Credit: Adam Markovitz, ‘Harry Potter: Casting the Spell’, EW.com, 1^st July 2011.

[15] Credit: The Telegraph, ‘Dame Maggie Smith reveals Harry Potter breast cancer treatment struggle’, Telegraph.co.uk, 5^th October 2009.

[16] Credit: BBC News, ‘Potter film release date delayed’, News.BBC.co.uk, 15^th August 2008.

[17] Credit: Inside the Magic, ‘Grand opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Daniel Radcliffe & other movie stars’, Inside the Magic Official YouTube Channel, 18^th June 2010.

[18] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Sneak Peek’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix signals a turning point for the series, as we move away from the magical excitement of the Wizarding World and delve deeper into its villainy.

This is the first movie where all of the Wizarding World knows that Lord Voldemort has made his grand return, seeking to finally succeed in his plans for world domination after failing the first time round. However, this story proves that it won’t just be a simple battle of good vs. evil, because, although Voldemort has his faction, the Death Eaters, and Harry has both the loyal support of the secret society of the Order of the Phoenix, formed by Dumbledore when Voldemort first rose to power, as well as his own student organisation that he begins at Hogwarts, titled Dumbledore’s Army, there are plenty refusing to commit to one side because the Ministry of Magic is not believing that the Dark Lord is in fact back.

That means there is a lot of conflict, a lot of doubting, and a lot of anger in this film. Harry is basically being told he is a liar, all the while finding his mind is directly connected to Voldemort’s, making it susceptible to being tricked and controlled. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the darkest in the Harry Potter film series up to this point, and gives audiences plenty of information to get them ready for what is to come.

Although I accept that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a necessary addition to the franchise, due to its introductions of villains and heroes who will be constant presences in these films from now on, I have never liked this fifth film. I can’t pinpoint anything specific that I don’t like about it either, I just don’t find the story particularly interesting. It generally swaps positions with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) every year or so to be my least favourite of the franchise!

And yet I can credit Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for reigniting my interest in the film series. The specific reason of why is a story for another time, but as I’ve said before, after watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) at the cinema with my family, the next three films we only watched on DVD months after they had been released. In the case of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it was actually about two years after and I know this because after watching this film, I saw that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) would be released a few days later.

For me, every time I rewatch the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is just one to get through before things get really interesting.

PLOT

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins during a sweltering heatwave in the UK. Harry is back in Surrey with the Dursleys for the summer holidays.

On this summer’s evening, Harry is sitting in the park, minding his own business, when his cousin Dudley comes over with his gang. Dudley starts mocking Harry for his apparent night terrors that have begun since he witnessed the sudden death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Lord Voldemort at the end of the last school year. Harry threatens Dudley with his wand to stop him laughing at him.

Suddenly, storm clouds roll in but Harry doesn’t think this feels like a normal summer storm. He and Dudley run trying to find shelter, as the rain starts hammering down. They make it to an underpass, however, two Dementors have followed the boys and attack them. Harry manages to use the Patronus Charm to get the Dementors away from them. At that exact moment, Harry’s neighbour Mrs. Figg walks past the underpass, and walks back home with Harry and a clearly disturbed and traumatised Dudley. Mrs. Figg says Dumbledore sent her to watch over Harry, showing she knows all about the events going on right now.

Back at the Dursleys, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia are horrified to see their son Dudley in such a state. As they wonder what to do, a letter arrives for Harry – from Mafalda Hopkirk at the Ministry of Magic. It says that Harry has been expelled from Hogwarts for performing the Patronus Charm in front of a Muggle and whilst underage. The Dursleys welcome this news, before surreptitiously taking their son to hospital.

Harry is angry at being expelled, especially since it wasn’t his fault the Dementors attacked him. What should he have done, just let them kill him and Dudley? Eventually Harry falls asleep but he continues to dream of Cedric’s death. After hearing a noise in the house, he wakes with a start, to find someone trying to get into his bedroom. The door opens and he is greeted by a group of wizards, here to rescue him. They include Mad-Eye Moody, the former Hogwarts Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, who spent the year trapped in a box; young witch Nymphadora Tonks; and Kingsley Shacklebolt. They tell Harry that he hasn’t yet been expelled from Hogwarts yet, as the Ministry have sent up a sentencing hearing for Harry, and that the group are taking him to “Headquarters”, and will explain when they arrive. They all fly to London.

Arriving at a random street of terraced house, Harry watches as a small house appears from within the row of houses. This must be Headquarters. Harry is welcomed by Mrs. Weasley, who tells Harry to go upstairs as there is a meeting going on right now. Upstairs, Harry sees that his friends Ron and Hermione are already there, along with Ron’s other siblings. He learns that this house at 12 Grimmauld Place is the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society set up by Dumbledore when Voldemort first rose to power all those years ago, and that in light of the Dark Lord’s return, its activities are resuming. George and Fred Weasley want to eavesdrop on the meeting, and because they are now old enough to use magic outside of Hogwarts, they use a magical ear and dangle it outside the meeting room. They learn that Professor Snape is in the Order, but little else, as Hermione’s cat Crookshanks steals the ear to play with it!

Finally, the meeting is over and Harry is reunited with his godfather Sirius Black, and Lupin, having not seen them in person since that incident at Hogwarts with the Dementors a couple of years before. During dinner, Harry learns that the Ministry of Magic has started a smear campaign against him and Dumbledore, as they continue to live in denial, refusing to say that the Dark Lord has returned. But some in the magical world do believe Harry, including those in the Order of the Phoenix, and they are trying to recruit more members in order to counteract the recruiting they believe Voldemort is also doing. Sirius lets slip that Voldemort is looking for something, something he didn’t have last time, but he is warned from saying much more to Harry, at risk of putting Harry in more danger. Harry thinks that is ridiculous and should be told more because he already wants to fight with the others.

The next day, Harry is taken to the Ministry of Magic by Mr. Weasley for his hearing, with Harry helping Mr. Weasley navigate the London Underground, given that Mr. Weasley has never had to use the Visitors’ Entrance to the Ministry before. They enter a phone box and arrive in the grand Ministry of Magic. Mr. Weasley and Harry go into a lift, where they are told that Harry’s hearing has been moved up by hours, and is due to start in the next five minutes. They go straight there, passing Lucius Malfoy talking to Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, in a strange corridor. Harry is instantly suspicious.

At the hearing, Harry is questioned about the events that took place the night he used the Patronus Charm. Suddenly, Dumbledore arrives, as a witness. The Minister is surprised to see Dumbledore here, having hoped that the late change in time would mean he would not be here, however, Dumbledore luckily arrived at the Ministry three hours early! Harry tries to defend himself, by saying he only used the Patronus Charm because of the Dementors. This shocks those in the Ministry who can’t understand why the Dementors would be in Surrey for no reason. Dumbledore brings Mrs. Figg in to the room to testify that she also saw the Dementors that night, as Fudge thinks Harry is lying. Dumbledore suggests they launch an inquiry into why the Dementors ended up near Harry that night. He tries to tell Fudge that Voldemort could’ve been behind it, but Fudge hisses that he is not back. Those at the hearing take a vote on whether to clear Harry of the charges or expel him from Hogwarts. The overall majority agree Harry should be cleared of all charges; he’s free to go. Harry attempts to talk to Dumbledore after the hearing, but Dumbledore walks away.

Soon, it is time to return to Hogwarts, and Harry goes to King’s Cross to board the Hogwarts Express. Sirius appears, in his Animagus dog form, and gets Harry to follow him to a waiting room. There, Sirius talks to Harry, showing him an old photo of the original Order of the Phoenix, with Harry’s parents being front and centre of that photo. Sirius says it feels the same as it did last time, and is clearly anxious about what will happen next. Well, that’ll give Harry all the confidence he needs to go back to school – because Hogwarts is such a safe place to be! On the train, Harry dreams about seeing Voldemort on the train platform, before waking with a start as Ron and Hermione sit down next to him.

Arriving at Hogsmeade, Harry is taunted by Draco, and Harry reacts very angrily towards him. Ron and Hermione tell him to calm down, concerned for their friend’s mental state. They go to take a carriage to Hogwarts, along with fellow Gryffindor student Neville, but Harry is shocked to see a strange, horse-like creature pulling the carriage. Hermione and the others don’t know what he’s talking about, as they can’t see anything, and have always known the carriages to pull themselves. A girl already in the carriage says Harry isn’t crazy as she can see them too. This girl is Ravenclaw student Luna Lovegood, who Hermione accidentally introduces as “Loony Lovegood”, due to her quirky nature and eccentric beliefs.

During assembly, the students are told by Dumbledore that Hagrid is currently on leave and that Dolores Umbridge will be their next professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Umbridge gives a speech to the students about her plans for the school, which annoys Hermione, stating that this is evidence that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. To make things even worse, Harry finds that many of his fellow Gryffindors don’t believe him about Voldemort’s return either, including his friend Seamus, whose parents think Harry and Dumbledore are spouting nonsense. Ron sticks up for Harry in front of Seamus, telling Harry to ignore him. Harry snaps back that he’s fine. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that…That night, Harry dreams of the Ministry, a door, and an orb. You sure you’re still fine, Harry?

The next day, Harry and his year have their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Umbridge, who states they will not be using magic in class and will simply be studying for the O.W.L. exams with textbooks. Harry argues against this idea with Umbridge, saying they’ll need to be able to defend themselves against bad characters, like Voldemort. Umbridge gives Harry detention for his defiance. Harry goes to Umbridge’s office later where he is told to write the line “I must not tell lies” with a special quill. As Harry starts writing, he feels pain in his hand, only to see that same line being scratched into it. Ouch.

As Harry tries to calm down in the Gryffindor Common Room, whilst Fred and George tout their special magical products to make students ill and get them out of class, Hermione and Ron sit down next to him. Hermione sees Harry’s hand and says he has to report this to someone. Harry refuses, not wanting to bother Dumbledore with something so trivial as this when he has more important things to deal with.

Harry later writes to Sirius, saying he has never felt so alone at school before. He then sees a horse flying in the sky and follows it to the forest, where he sees Luna is there too – without any shoes on because someone has stolen all of them… Luna explains that these horses, the ones pulling the carriages, are Thestrals, that look like black, skeletal horses. She says only those who have witnessed death can see them, so Harry can after seeing Cedric’s death, and Luna after seeing her mother’s death due to a magical experiment going wrong. They bond over their shared tragedies.

Back at school, Harry and his friends hear Professor McGonagall and Umbridge arguing. McGonagall tells Umbridge that she needs to adhere to standard teaching practices, hinting that she knows all about that “special quill”. Umbridge says she has seen what a bad state Hogwarts is in, and is going to advise on a full review into the school. Fudge appoints Umbridge as Hogwarts High Inquisitor, giving her the right to interview and observe teachers, whilst also enforcing new controversial rules into the school. Professor Trelawny, the teacher for Divination, is the first casualty of Umbridge’s new powerful rule, as she is both fired from her position and ordered to leave the grounds. Trelawny says she has nowhere else to go and begins to cry. McGonagall comes over to comfort her, but can do no more for Trelawny. Dumbledore then arrives and tells McGonagall to take Trelawny back inside, as Umbridge may have the power to sack teachers but cannot banish them from the grounds. Umbridge says that may well be the case, for now.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron later hear the Minister of Magic blaming “mass murderer” Sirius Black for a number of disappearances being reported. Sirius then appears in the fireplace to talk to Harry, telling him that Fudge fears that Dumbledore is building an army to go up against the Ministry, and that is likely why Umbridge is not allowing them to do magic, so they cannot be trained in combat. Sirius is concerned about what is happening, as Voldemort must be the one behind these disappearances. Sirius says he must go and they are on their own, for the time being. Hermione decides they’ll have to take matters into their own hands, needing someone to help teach them how to defend themselves.

She organises a meeting at the Hog’s Head Tavern in Hogsmeade, in order to recruit students for training classes. Hermione starts the meeting by telling those who arrived that Harry would be the best teacher for them, as he has fought against dark wizardry before. Some start asking about Cedric’s death, with Harry refusing to answer questions on this, wanting to leave, thinking this was all a bad idea. Luna then asks if it is true that Harry can produce the Patronus Charm. Hermione confirms she has seen him do it. This moves into a conversation about all of Harry’s heroics throughout his time at Hogwarts. Harry says it was a combination of fear, luck, and help that got him through those things, but Hermione encourages him, saying they need his help. The other students start to realise Voldemort really is back, and they sign up to “Dumbledore’s Army”. This leads them to discuss finding a secret meeting location. Hermione says they’ll keep thinking of one, and teases Harry that one good thing to come from the meeting was that Cho couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

Umbridge starts to become suspicious of what Harry and his friends are doing and implements a new rule banning student organisations. But Dumbledore’s Army has no intention of stopping, and Neville comes across the Room of Requirement one day, a room that only reveals itself to someone in need, and comes equipped with whatever that person needs. In this case, it has been set up with dummies to use spells on. Harry’s lessons then begin, by teaching spells, and setting up duels. However, caretaker Filch soon realises that Harry and his friends are meeting in the area, and try to catch them leaving or entering the room, since the room seals itself when the students are inside it. Despite watching the walls for hours on end, he has no definitive proof, much to Umbridge’s annoyance. Umbridge implements a new rule saying that students will be subject to questioning by her around illicit activities. When this doesn’t yield any results, and Dumbledore’s Army continue to train and improve, including Neville, who begins as one of the least competent, Umbridge starts to sign up students to be part of her Inquisitorial Squad. This includes Draco Malfoy and his gang. They try to work with Filch to enter the Room of Requirement, but they are unable to. Harry does one final lesson before the Christmas Break, and says they’ll resume after the holidays. Harry goes to speak to Cho, who talks to him about Cedric, wondering if he knew all these spells. Harry says he did. Some mistletoe magically appears above them and they kiss. Harry’s friends find out about the kiss and want to know more. He simply describes it as being “wet” as Cho was crying at the time. Hermione says Cho is feeling stressed out about everything going on in her life, including worrying that Umbridge is going to have her mother, who works at the Ministry of Magic, fired.

That night, Harry has another dream, still about the door and the orbs, but this time, he sees Mr. Weasley being attacked by a snake. A worried Professor McGonagall takes him straight to Dumbledore, where Dumbledore believes this incident really happened, and assembles resources to save Mr. Weasley, sending the Weasley children to see him. Harry suddenly becomes enraged and shouts at Dumbledore to look at him, fearing what is happening to him. He is sent away with Professor Snape, who informs Harry that the teachers believe Harry’s mind is connected to Voldemort’s and that he will need to learn how to control this connection, to stop him being manipulated by the Dark Lord. The spell that Snape uses allows him to see into Harry’s memories. Harry is told to concentrate and resist.

It is then Christmastime, and Harry is back at the Order’s Headquarters, actually the Black family’s ancestral home, with the Weasleys, Hermione, and Sirius. Mr. Weasley was badly injured but survived the attack on him, by Nagini, Voldemort’s pet snake. Mr. Weasley thanks Harry for saving his life. Later, after being insulted by Sirius’ House-elf Kreacher, Harry speaks with Sirius Black, about his family tree tapestry. Sirius shows the place where his face should’ve been on this tapestry has been blacked out after he ran away from home. He also points out Bellatrix Lestrange, his deranged cousin. Harry then asks if his mind is connected to Voldemort because he is becoming evil like him. Sirius tells him that Harry is a good person and that it is the choices we make that determine who we are.

On their return to school, Harry and his friends learn Hagrid is back. They see that he has a black eye, and that Umbridge is threatening to fire him, for not detailing where he was. Once she has left, Hagrid tells the three that he was attempting to recruit the giants to be on their side, something that Dumbledore asked him to do, but that Voldemort was doing the same. Hagrid tells them a storm is coming, and they’d best be ready when she does…

The next day, the Daily Prophet newspaper details a mass breakout at Azkaban prison, where some of the most notorious Death Eaters have been released, so they can be reunited with Voldemort. One of these was Bellatrix Lestrange, so naturally, Fudge blames this on Sirius Black once again, since they are cousins and Black escaped Azkaban himself. Some of the other students have now started to believe that Voldemort has really returned, including Seamus, who apologises to Harry and joins Dumbledore’s Army.

Harry resumes his training classes, where he learns from Neville that his parents were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry then teaches everyone how to perform the Patronus Charm. Suddenly, the room starts shaking and a hole opens up. Through that hole, Harry sees Umbridge stood there and she blasts open the wall. It is revealed that Cho was the one to tell Umbridge about the lessons. Some of the students are taken to Dumbledore’s office, including Harry, where Umbridge and Fudge say that this is evidence of Dumbledore planning a coup against the Ministry. Dumbledore doesn’t deny it, and despite Harry’s attempts to say he started it all without Dumbledore’s permission, Dumbledore lets them blame him, however, he refuses to go with them and vanishes in a flash of phoenix fire. The students are later given detention, writing lines with that infamous quill. Cho waits outside, hoping to explain what happened to Harry, but he won’t hear it and ignores her.

That night, Hagrid takes Harry, Ron, and Hermione into the forest as he fears he will be getting fired soon, and wants someone to look after his giant half-brother Grawp. The three are quite scared of Grawp who towers over them, especially when Grawp grabs Hermione and lifts her into the air. Ron tries to save her, but it is Hermione’s assertive tone that gets him to put her down. Hermione learns that Grawp is just like a child really, wanting to play. Hagrid says he just needs company. They agree to help.

Meanwhile, Harry is continuing to have lessons with Snape about protecting his mind from Voldemort, but he is quickly becoming tired and frustrated that it isn’t working. In a moment of anger, Harry uses the same spell on Snape to look into his mind instead, and sees that Snape was bullied by Harry’s father and his friends whilst at school. Snape, humiliated, tells Harry that these lessons are officially over and to get out of his classroom.

Soon, it is time for Harry and his friends to take their O.W.L. exams, but their exam is interrupted by a massive prank courtesy of Fred and George Weasley who have become annoyed at Umbridge’s treatment of people and disillusioned with school. They set off hundreds of fireworks, even a huge dragon one that chases Umbridge, that causes devastation to the entire room, and leads to all of Umbridge’s glass-cased rules being destroyed. As the students all celebrate the prank, Harry collapses, having had a vision of Sirius being tortured in that room with all the orbs by Voldemort. Voldemort says he wants the prophecy. Harry heads to Umbridge’s office, wanting to use the Floo network in there to get to the Ministry to save Sirius, however, he, Ron, and Hermione are caught. Umbridge questions Harry, ordering Snape to give her more Veritaserum, a truth potion. Snape reveals she used the last of his supplies on Cho Chang, showing that Cho did not reveal details about Dumbledore’s Army willingly. As Snape walks away, Harry uses code to tell Snape what he saw about Sirius and Voldemort. He claims not to know what it means.

Umbridge then decides she’ll have to resort to using the Cruciatus Curse to get Harry talking. Not wanting to see that, Hermione makes up a story about Dumbledore’s secret weapon. Her, Harry, and Umbridge go into the forest so Umbridge can see it. Except, there is no secret weapon – and they see that Grawp has disappeared. Umbridge is about to curse Harry and Hermione for tricking her, when the centaurs arrive. Umbridge attacks one of them, with Hermione pleading for her to stop. She refuses, until she is picked up by Grawp. Grawp is then attacked by the centaurs, leading to him putting Umbridge down. She is carried off by the centaurs. Hermione thanks Grawp for his help.

The two return to school where they see that the others have escaped from Umbridge’s office after using some of Fred and George’s magical sweets on the Inquisitorial Squad. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna fly to the Ministry on Thestrals. On their arrival, they head to the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Ministries and start searching the shelves. They eventually find an orb with Harry’s name on it. The prophecy states that neither can live while the other survives, referring to Harry and Voldemort. They are then surrounded by Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, who order Harry to hand over the prophecy. He refuses, so a fight begins. Ginny casts a spell that causes all the shelves in the room to tumble and break apart. The group run out of there, ended up in a dark room with only a rock and an archway in it. Luna and Harry hear voices coming from the arch – called the Veil – but no-one else does. They are then attacked again, with all but Harry being captured by a Death Eater. Lucius approaches Harry and demands the prophecy again, or else his friends will die. Harry hands it over.

However, Sirius and the Order then arrive to help the group. Lucius drops the prophecy and it smashes on the floor. A great battle ensues, with Sirius telling Harry to leave the Ministry with everyone else. Harry refuses and fights alongside Sirius. Just as everything looks to be going their way and Lucius is defeated, Bellatrix uses the Killing Curse on Sirius and he dies, falling through the Veil. Lupin attempts to hold Harry back, but he breaks free and chases after Bellatrix, ending up in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. He comes face-to-face with Bellatrix, and then hears Voldemort’s voice, telling him to kill Bellatrix as revenge for murdering Sirius. He turns around and Voldemort disarms Harry.

Dumbledore then appears, and this starts an epic duel between him and Voldemort. Harry is kept on the sidelines, as the Ministry breaks apart around him, with tiles coming off the walls, fireballs being cast, Dumbledore putting Voldemort in an orb of water, and windows shattering. Dumbledore manages to protect them both from Voldemort’s final spell of aiming the shards of glass from the windows at them, by conjuring a shield that turns them to dust. Voldemort then begins to attack Harry’s mind, possessing him, and tormenting him with bad memories from his past. Voldemort tells Harry he is weak, as Dumbledore tries to remind Harry that he and Voldemort are more different than they are alike. The rest of his friends arrive to see Harry and Dumbledore on the floor. Harry then uses good memories with his friends to counteract Voldemort’s tricks, telling Voldemort he is weak because he’ll never know love or friendship. Voldemort tries one last time, but sees he cannot get through to Harry. He reappears next to Harry, telling Harry he is a fool and will lose everything. At that moment, members of the Ministry, including Fudge, arrive and see Voldemort stood there before he disappears. Fudge has to admit Voldemort is back, and is forced to resign.

Back at school, Harry packs to return home at the end of the year, and speaks to Dumbledore. He says that he was distancing himself from Harry to protect him, but obviously that didn’t work out so well. Harry discusses the prophecy with Dumbledore, now knowing one of Harry and Voldemort will have to kill the other. Dumbledore knew but didn’t want to tell Harry, so as not to cause him more pain and worry. Harry then sees Luna, who is looking for her belongings, after learning that other students have been hiding them. Luna says she doesn’t need help looking, and sympathises with Harry about Sirius’ death.

Harry and the others walk to the train to head home. He says that even though they have a fight to come, at least they have something worth fighting for.

CHARACTERS & CAST

As with all the Harry Potter films, much of the main cast continue to be involved in all the stories, with characters being added in every time a new story rolls around. Since a new Wizarding War is bubbling away in the background, this gives an opportunity for new villains and new heroes to emerge, to fight for the bad side or the good side.

One of the new villains to be added to the mix is Bellatrix Lestrange, cousin of Sirius Black and a loyal follower of Voldemort. Bellatrix is a classic villain, in that she is menacing, sadistic, and eccentric, all the while enjoying how much pain and suffering she can inflict on people. Bellatrix is one of many Death Eaters to be broken out of Azkaban prison, where she has resided since Voldemort’s fall all those years ago. Her time in prison has no doubt made her even more deranged now than she was when she was first imprisoned there! She immediately throws herself into the action by involving herself in the confrontation at the Ministry. She wastes no time in taunting Harry and his friends, even revelling in reminding Neville of her torturing of his parents and ends up killing Sirius in cold blood, right in front of Harry. Harry almost seems to want to kill Bellatrix for doing that, but she is “saved” by the arrival of Voldemort at the Ministry and disappears. But Bellatrix is a devoted follower – not to mention a fan-favourite Harry Potter villain – so she will most definitely be back.

Bellatrix Lestrange was played by Helena Bonham Carter. Prior to working on Harry Potter, Helena Bonham Carter had been cast as Helen Schlegel in Howard’s End (1992), alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins and Dame Emma Thompson; played Marla Singer in Fight Club (1999) with Brad Pitt; and played Mrs. Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), where Johnny Depp played Willy Wonka. She also voiced characters for animated films around this time, with her roles as Lady Tottington in Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Emily in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005). After Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she starred in a variety of films, including the musicals Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), as Nellie Lovett, and Les Misérables (2012) as Madame Thénadier; the Disney live-actions films Alice in Wonderland (2010) and its 2016 sequel, playing the Red Queen, and Cinderella (2015) being cast as the Fairy Godmother; and the remake of Great Expectations (2012), where she played Miss Havisham. Her more recent roles include playing Rose Weil alongside an all-star cast in Ocean’s 8 (2018); her role as Eudoria Holmes in the Enola Holmes film series on Netflix; and Lady Caterham in the miniseries Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials (2026), also for Netflix. Bonham Carter also received critical acclaim for her portrayals as Queen Elizabeth in The King’s Speech (2010) opposite Colin Firth, and Princess Margaret in Seasons 3 and 4 of The Crown (2016-23), receiving numerous award nominations for them. For The King’s Speech, Bonham Carter was nominated at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress, winning the award in the same category at the SAG Awards and the BAFTAs. For The Crown, Bonham Carter was nominated at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, BAFTAs and the Emmys for her performance.

Actress Helen McCrory was initially cast as Bellatrix Lestrange, however, dropped had to drop out of the film due to pregnancy. Helena Bonham Carter was then approached to play the character. McCrory would later be cast as Narcissa Malfoy in the following movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, so it worked out for everyone in the end[1]. I personally can’t imagine anyone but Helena Bonham Carter playing Bellatrix, because she just fit the role so well and was so energetic in her performance.

Unlike Bellatrix, Dolores Umbridge is not a classic villain. She begins the film as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, backing the Ministry and Minister’s position that Voldemort has not returned, despite claims from Harry Potter and Dumbledore. She is then employed as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, likely an enforced hiring by the Ministry, in order to ensure the students are not being trained to use spells, something that the Minister is concerned about. Umbridge later becomes the High Inquisitor for Hogwarts, wielding powers to sack teachers and implement an ever-growing number of rules for the students to follow. She is suspicious of Harry Potter and is friends, using cruel punishments and intense interrogations to find out just what they are doing and whether they are a threat to the Ministry of Magic and its stance. With her love of all things pink and a disarming charm, Umbridge comes across as a friendly teacher, but she is anything but that, as her appearance hides her controlling, abusive nature. She gets her comeuppance in the end, as the centaurs take her away into the Forbidden Forest, although that is not to be the last we see of her. Umbridge is regarded as one of the most hated villains in Harry Potter.

Imelda Staunton was given the unenviable task of portraying this horrendous character. Before entering the world of Harry Potter, Staunton had been cast as Charlotte Palmer in Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (1995), and as Nurse in Shakespeare in Love (1998). She later appeared as Mrs. Blatherwick in Nanny McPhee (2005). In voice acting, Staunton has lent her voice to various characters, for example, Bunty in Chicken Run (2000) and its 2023 sequel; Queen Victoria in The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012); and Aunt Lucy in the Paddington films. She has also had roles in other film series, including as Knotgrass in Maleficent (2014) and its 2019 sequel, and as Lady Maud Bagshaw in the 2019 Downton Abbey movie and its 2022 sequel. More recently, Staunton portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in Seasons 5 and 6 of Netflix’s The Crown. She received various award nominations for this role, including at the BAFTAs, Emmys, and the Golden Globes. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for playing the title role in Vera Drake (2004) and was nominated at the Emmys and the BAFTAs for her role as Alma Reville in the BBC and HBO television film The Girl (2012), alongside Toby Jones and Sienna Miller. On stage, she has won numerous Olivier Awards, including for her performances as Mrs. Lovett in the 2012 West End revival of Sweeney Todd, as Rose in the 2015 West End revival of Gypsy, and as Dolly in the 2024 West End revival of Hello, Dolly!

Then we have a Hogwarts student first introduced to us in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is Ravenclaw student Luna Lovegood, who Hermione seems to know, as she introduces her as “Loony” Lovegood accidentally to Ron, Harry, and Neville. It’s unfair to call Luna “loony” as she is not crazy, just a bit quirky and has her own beliefs that perhaps are not shared by the majority of witches and wizards. She is comfortable in her own skin, but has to deal with the fact that many people think she is odd and don’t want to be her friend. It turns out she was actually being bullied by other students, who took her shoes and hid them throughout the school. She tells Harry about this at the end of the film, but doesn’t seem overly fazed by it, just wanting her stuff back before she goes home. Luna bonds with Harry during the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as Harry comes to terms with Cedric’s death because Luna knows how he feels, having seen her mother die. She is a talented witch and a committed member of Dumbledore’s Army, participating in the training sessions and helping at the Ministry of Magic. Luna Lovegood is someone to be admired, for being happy with how she is, and not wanting to change for anyone.

Evanna Lynch was cast as Luna Lovegood, and her route to being cast was not simple. Initially just a super fan of the book series, Lynch had written to J.K. Rowling to thank her for writing these books that had helped her so much and stated she had an affinity with the character of Luna. They became pen pals of sorts, but at the same time, Lynch was going through a difficult time with an eating disorder. After a long journey to recovery, Lynch told Rowling that she had since come to love acting, with Rowling encouraging her to write to the Harry Potter casting director. Lynch received a brief but polite response. She started to let her dream role go, even more so after hearing producer David Heyman say at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that they had whittled it down to about five girls for the part, with filming due to start just a few months later in February 2006. However, by the start of January 2006, Lynch saw an open casting call had been announced for the role of Luna, with no experience needed. Lynch convinced her father to travel from Ireland to London for it, and did well enough in this first round to be called to do a screen test with Daniel Radcliffe on a separate day. As she was leaving Leavesden studio though, she received a gift of the book of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with a short inscription from director David Yates, which she believed basically was a rejection, however, a few days later, she got the call to say she was being cast as Luna, and everything changed after that[2]. Evanna Lynch had beaten out thousands of girls – even, it would appear, Saoirse Ronan[3] – to be cast as Luna Lovegood. Who said dreams don’t come true?

Since appearing in the Harry Potter films, Lynch has been cast as McKenzie Pryce in teen comedy film G.B.F. (2013) and starred as Emily Egan in the Irish independent film My Name Is Emily (2015). She was also cast as Bridget Riordan in the BBC television film Danny and the Human Zoo (2015), written by Sir Lenny Henry. Later, Lynch appeared as a contestant on Season 27 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2018, finishing in third place. More recently on screen, Lynch appeared with many other cast members on the HBO television special Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022) and made an appearance on the Amazon Prime competition series Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking (2024-present), hosted by James and Oliver Phelps, the twins who played Fred and George Weasley. She also currently voices Ameline in the Disney animated series Dragon Striker (2026-present). Outside of acting, Lynch is an activist, championing causes like animal rights and numerous charities, and co-hosted the podcast Just Beings.

Then there are Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom, friends of Harry’s and fellow Gryffindor students. Both had appeared in all the Harry Potter films that came before it, but in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, they have slightly bigger storylines.

Seamus Finnigan was initially seen to be a less capable student, miscasting spells in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for example. He has always been around Harry and Ron in the films, as part of their wider friendship group, but didn’t have much to do with the story. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, however, Seamus has more of a role here, as he voices his annoyance at Harry and Dumbledore for spreading lies about Voldemort’s return. He and his family don’t believe it, having chosen to believe the narrative that the Ministry of Magic has been peddling as part of their smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore. Seamus later comes to his senses and apologises for making such a big mistake and for calling Harry a liar when that was not the case. Seamus proves himself by joining the right side in the end, later joining Dumbledore’s Army and Harry’s lessons.

Devon Murray was cast as Seamus Finnigan, appearing in all the Harry Potter films. He was not part of the Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special but has made appearances on Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking.

Neville Longbottom was seen to be a weak, pathetic member of Gryffindor, showing his fear at various magical creatures in the earlier stories. He later shows an aptitude for Herbology and is able to show his intelligence that way. However, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Neville comes into his own by joining Dumbledore’s Army and arguably being the most improved student there, by mastering a variety of spells with Harry as his teacher. Neville wants nothing more than to make his parents proud, as they were both members of the original Order of the Phoenix, but were tortured so badly by Bellatrix Lestrange that they have remained in hospital ever since and Neville has never had a relationship with them, being raised by his grandmother instead. He is a committed member of Dumbledore’s Army and is with Harry and the others during the confrontation at the Ministry, even standing up to Bellatrix and vowing to avenge his parents for what she did to them. There was also a scene that was cut from the final edit of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which sees Neville sticking up for Harry after Seamus argues with him about Voldemort’s return and whether it is all lies or not. Neville says what the Daily Prophet has been writing is wrong and that his grandmother cancelled their subscription[4]. This shows how Neville has his own mind and isn’t afraid to stand up for his beliefs.

Neville Longbottom was played by Matthew Lewis throughout the film series. After Harry Potter ended, Lewis went on to be cast as Jamie Bradley in Season 1 of the BBC series The Syndicate (2012-21), alongside other names like Joanna Page and Timothy Spall, and later appeared as Patrick in the romantic drama Me Before You (2016). He also played Sean Balmforth in Series 2 of the crime drama series Happy Valley (2014-23). More recently, he appeared in the recurring role of Hugh Hulton in Series 1 and 2 of the Channel 5 drama All Creatures Great and Small (2020-present) and starred as Jimmy Brent in the Channel 5 miniseries The Fortune (2026) opposite Eleanor Tomlinson.

Moving on with have members of the Order of the Phoenix. This saw a return of many characters we had already met before, including Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody, former Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, and Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather. But there were also some new members of the organisation introduced here too, who would go on to play larger roles in the later Harry Potter stories.

One of these is Nymphadora Tonks, but she’d rather you just called her Tonks! She is one of the younger members of the Order, although is still a talented witch. She doesn’t take herself too seriously though, for example, she starts changing her face into different animals, like a duck’s bill and a pig’s snout, just to make Ginny laugh. She also has a bit of a temper, as can be seen when her hair changes colour after Mad-Eye calls her Nymphadora. Tonks is part of the rescue team who takes Harry over to the Order’s Headquarters. Tonks is no doubt someone the younger Hogwarts students look up to and aspire to be like.

Natalia Tena was cast as Tonks. Before being cast in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Tena had appeared as Peggy in Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) which starred Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. She later appeared as Rachel in the drama Bel Ami (2012), and played the recurring role of Osha in the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones (2011-19). More recently, Tena was cast as Katia Javanavič in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) and starred as Martín in the Spanish thriller film El mal (2025). She also portrayed Rebekah Vardy in the Channel 4 two-part series Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama (2022).

Kingsley Shacklebolt is another one who comes to rescue Harry on that night, however, Kingsley is actually a double agent, as he works at the Ministry of Magic. He works as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix, and this explains why Kingsley is present when Umbridge and Fudge order the arrest of Dumbledore after discovering Harry and the other members of Dumbledore’s Army, believing Dumbledore is planning an uprising against Fudge and the Ministry of Magic. Kingsley’s presence in the Harry Potter films is fairly minimal and it would seem that more information about the character is provided in the book series, so I wasn’t actually aware of this backstory from the film, but I was always confused about why Kingsley was in the room when Dumbledore was being threatened with arrest since I’d only seen him as a background character within the Order of the Phoenix…Kingsley is still cool though and has that great line here: “You can’t deny, Dumbledore’s got style.” after Dumbledore disappears thanks to Fawkes the phoenix.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was played by George Harris. Harris had previously appeared as Prince Thun in Flash Gordon (1980) and as Simon Katanga in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). He later portrayed Osman Atto in the war film Black Hawk Down (2001) and played Morty in the crime thriller Layer Cake (2004), which starred Daniel Craig. He was also cast as Errol Hill in the series 55 Degrees North (2004-05) prior to his role in Harry Potter. On stage, he played M. Frankenstein in the 2011 production of Frankenstein, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. Harris retired from acting in 2013.

One other more minor character to mention is Mrs. Figg, the quiet, unassuming neighbour who stumbles upon Harry and Dudley after they are attacked by Dementors. She walks the two of them back home, where she reveals that she was asked by Dumbledore to keep an eye on Harry over the summer. It’s a good thing she was too, because he really did need Mrs. Figg’s witness testimony to have his Hogwarts expulsion reversed, as it proved the Dementors were in Surrey that night. Initially, Harry believes Mrs. Figg is an ordinary Muggle, but she proves not to be. In the book, further details are revealed stating that Mrs. Figg is a Squib, a person with magical parents but no magical ability, like Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts, however, this is not stated in the film.

Mrs. Figg was played by Kathryn Hunter. In recent years, Hunter was cast as Madame Swiney in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things (2023) and as Teresa Cicero in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis (2024). In television, Hunter may be recognisable for her recurring role as Eedy Karn in the Disney+ series Andor (2022-25), and her role as Lenny Lines in the Netflix spy thriller series Black Doves (2024-present). In 2026, Hunter played Glenda Cartwright in the Netflix comedy film Ladies First (2026), featuring Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike, and is set to voice a character in the upcoming Skydance Animation film Ray Gunn. She also played Eileen in the BBC sitcom Ann Droid (2026-present), alongside Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston.

MUSIC

A new composer was sought out to work on the instrumental score for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after Patrick Doyle had composed for the previous film.

This time, Nicholas Hooper was hired for the position, having previously worked with director David Yates on some projects, including The Tichborne Claimant (1998) and The Girl in the Café (2005). Hooper has also worked on the music for television, such as the television film My Family and Other Animals (2005), which starred Imelda Staunton; the BBC two-part drama Birdsong (2012); and the BBC miniseries The Escape Artist (2013). He also wrote the music for Disney’s nature documentary film Chimpanzee (2012). Hooper returned to compose the score for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Each Harry Potter film uses the iconic piece of music “Hedwig’s Theme”, composed by John Williams for the first film, in some way, usually in the opening track. In this case, that music is titled “Another Story”, although the theme is incorporated into other tracks too. It’s not the best introductory track in the Harry Potter series for me, but there are plenty of other instrumentals in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’s soundtrack that I do like.

One of those is “Flight of the Order of the Phoenix”, which is used for the sequence of Harry flying to London with the other members of the Order. It feels like a piece of music fitting for a rescue, which is basically what Harry needs, to be rescued from Privet Drive and have this whole expulsion from Hogwarts mess sorted out. I also like the mystical nature of the track “The Ministry of Magic”, evoking the feelings of wonder that Harry is feeling at seeing this place he’s never visited before, even if the circumstances for his visit aren’t great.

Despite not liking her character, I do like the track “Professor Umbridge”, accompanying the montage of scenes of Umbridge interviewing, monitoring and generally harassing the Hogwarts teachers, trying to find things wrong with how Hogwarts is run. The upbeat tone of the music is completely at odds with what is going on, but that matches Umbridge as a character, who looks unthreatening but is actually devious.

The best track in this soundtrack though is “Fireworks”, used for the sequence of Fred and George pranking Umbridge with their fireworks display, interrupting the O.W.L. exam that Harry and his friends are taking. It is such a good piece of music, one of the most memorable from this specific Harry Potter film, but maybe even from the whole film series.

Outside of the score, you may also hear the song “Boys Will Be Boys”, performed by The Ordinary Boys, playing in the Gryffindor Common Room, during the scene of Seamus having a go at Harry, calling him a liar for saying Voldemort has returned. It’s quite a random music track to hear in a Harry Potter film, but I guess it shows that these are just teenagers relaxing in their downtime away from lessons. Another piece of contemporary music heard in this film is “Coming for You”, performed by indie rock band Reactor. It plays as Fred and George unveil their Skiving Snackbox products to their fellow students to purchase.

The soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix apparently debuted at No. 43 on the US Billboard 200 chart after its release date of 10^th July 2007, and was nominated for a few awards, but sadly, did not win. It was nominated at the Saturn Awards for Best Music, for example, however, it lost out to Alan Menken’s music in Disney’s live-action film Enchanted (2007). The soundtrack was also nominated at the Empire Awards, but lost to the music from biopic Control (2007). Nicholas Hooper was also nominated at the World Soundtrack Awards, in the Discovery of the Year category, but did not win.

PRODUCTION

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the fifth Harry Potter film to go in production, so by this point, the cast and the crew were likely pretty comfortable making each film.

However, having a regular director to direct all of the Harry Potter films was difficult. Christopher Columbus had stopped after the first two, citing exhaustion, and Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell then each had the opportunity to direct the third and the fourth outings respectively. But Newell was not returning for the fifth, so a new director was required.

David Yates was hired to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, apparently wanting to grow the series, and age it up, in a way, by making the series darker and more mature. The second half of the Harry Potter series is quite a way away from the enchanting, magic of the first two, for example. Luckily, by this fifth film, the series had found a regular director, with Yates completing the remainder of the series.

Earlier in his career, Yates had directed a few episodes of long-running police drama The Bill (1983-2010) in 1994 and 1995, before going on to direct the feature film The Tichborne Claimant, starring Roger Pugh and Stephen Fry. Yates later directed the miniseries The Way We Live Now (2001) and State of Play (2003), both for BBC One, as well as the television film The Girl in the Café, written by Richard Curtis, and starring Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald. After finishing up on the Harry Potter films, Yates went on to direct all three of its prequel films in the Fantastic Beasts series; The Legend of Tarzan (2016); and the Netflix film Pain Hustlers (2023), featuring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans.

Yates’ first task on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix though had little to do with actually making the film itself; he was tasked with trying to figure out how to keep Emma Watson involved in the films, as she expressed a desire to exit the franchise after making the first four films. Watson felt lonely and was struggling with the pressures of fame[5]. This was not something only she was not coping well with, as Rupert Grint also said that he had considered how this role was affecting his life, but that they were all too young to talk about it together, and it was just one of those things they had to come to terms with on their own. Watson later came to the decision to stay in her role as Hermione Granger, as she felt supported and able to continue[6]. How strange would that have been if they’d had to recast Hermione halfway through the series. It just goes to show how much of their childhood these actors sacrificed just to give us these movies.

The next challenge was not something that was unique to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but existed on all the films, and that was figuring out how to adapt Rowling’s – in this case, lengthy – novel to fit the desired runtime for a feature film. Like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix required omissions in order to keep the story steady and pacy, cutting out unnecessary side plots and characters.

Some of these included Quidditch being completely omitted from this film, despite the book detailing Ron becoming the Keeper for Gryffindor’s team, as well as Ginny joining the team, and Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup, without Harry because he had been banned from playing by Umbridge. Instead, we see Ron joining the Quidditch team in the sixth film, with Ginny already a member. The character Mundungus Fletcher was also meant to be first introduced here, as a member of the Order of the Phoenix and the one meant to be watching Harry in Surrey over the summer, although he left the area to deal stolen goods, allowing for the Dementor attack. This character is not introduced in the film series until the seventh film.

Another omitted character was Cho Chang’s friend Marietta Edgecombe, who was the one to betray Dumbledore’s Army in the book, leaking information to Umbridge about the secret society in order to keep her mother’s job at the Ministry of Magic safe. In the film, this traitor role was handed to Cho Chang, perhaps unfairly, creating tension between her and Harry and the others, and leaving her an outcast with the group. Dobby the former House-elf was also once again cut from a story that he was meant to be a part of, after being left out of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here, Dobby was supposed to be the one to find the Room of Requirement and tell Harry about it, having discovered it after needing it to hide his drunken friend Winky, with Winky being a character completely removed from the film series.

Speaking of House-elves, Sirius Black’s elf Kreacher was only used in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to mutter insults at people and generally be moody and grumpy. In the novel, Kreacher actually had a much more important role. When Harry sees the vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort, to try and work out if it was a trick, Harry goes to Grimmauld Place to check if Sirius is there, and not at the Ministry as his vision suggests. Despite Sirius being at home, Kreacher lies and tells Harry he isn’t there, leading Harry to believe the torture vision was real.

A whole location was also removed for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this being St. Mungo’s hospital. This was where Mr. Weasley was sent after being attacked by Nagini the snake at the Ministry, and was also home to Gilderoy Lockhart, still struggling with his messed-up memory, as well as Neville Longbottom’s parents who had been hospitalised there ever since they were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange when Voldemort first rose to power. Harry and the Weasleys visit Mr. Weasley, and in so doing see Lockhart and Neville and his grandmother there, leading to these revelations. To be honest, I think this scene would’ve been very useful to have kept in the films, because it adds so much to Neville’s backstory. Just from watching the films, I’d believed his parents had died when he was too young to remember, a bit like Harry, which is sad, but not as heart-breaking as finding out that they’ve been kept in hospital ever since, with Neville aware of their condition.

The novel also had more information about the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. Instead of just having the Hall of Prophecy and the room with the Veil, as we see in the film, there were also other rooms detailed in the novel, including a room filled with brains, and another full of Time Turners. In regards to the prophecy, Dumbledore sheds further light on the details of it, more than what we hear from the orb. Dumbledore says he first heard the prophecy from Professor Trelawny, showing she does have some powers after all, and that it could actually have referred to Neville Longbottom, but Harry was the one attacked by Voldemort as a baby, so it now specifically relates to Harry.

Other minor omissions include Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, who we met in the previous story, being sent with Hagrid on his mission to recruit the giants for Dumbledore, and centaur Firenze being hired to teach Divination after Professor Trelawny was dismissed by Umbridge. Firenze only appears in the first Harry Potter film[7].

The screenwriter challenged to adapt the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book for the big screen was Michael Goldenberg, not Steve Kloves, who had written the screenplays for the previous four films, and would return to write the remaining films. Kloves apparently wanted to take a break from the series to pursue other projects.

Prior to working on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Goldenberg had written and directed the romantic drama Bed of Roses (1996), featuring Christian Slater and Mary Stuart Masterson in the lead roles, following that up with co-writing the screenplay with James V. Hart for the film Contact (1997), directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. Goldenberg also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2003 adaptation Peter Pan with its director P.J. Hogan. This Peter Pan film just so happens to have a link to the Harry Potter franchise, as it featured Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook. Goldenberg went on to co-write the screenplay for the less-than-well-received superhero film Green Lantern (2011), with Ryan Reynolds playing the titular character.

Filming for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took place in a variety of different new locations, with many new sets created for it too. The London Underground station that Harry and Mr. Weasley go through on their way to the Ministry of Magic was said to be Westminster Underground Station. They also used part of the Blenheim Palace estate, to film the flashback sequence and memory of Snape being bullied by Harry’s father. It was by a 300-year-old Cedar of Lebanon tree that resides on the estate by the Great Lake[8].

One other real-life location, used for the exterior of Grimmauld Place, was Claremont Square in Islington, London. The 12 Grimmauld Place set itself was created for the film, and featured high ceilings, with narrow, enclosed corridors, to make it seem like this house really was squeezed into the middle of a row of terraced houses. The walls were covered with grey silk to make the walls appear aged and the set was filled with antiques, to represent an old ancestral home. The overall set is dark, dusty, and gloomy, but the actors loved working on the set, feeling that it perfectly created the right atmosphere to complement their scenes. The family tree tapestry was also a real printed tapestry.

Another impressive set built for this film was the Ministry of Magic atrium. The crew working on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were inspired by old Underground systems when designing the set, creating huge arches and tunnels, as well as recreating the tiling that exist in old Underground stations. They also made offices sitting around the atrium, and filled them with typewriters and memos to look realistic. To increase the size of the Ministry for the film, green screen was used in order to digitally extend the set upwards and outwards. It was a favourite set within the cast. The Ministry set took 22 weeks to build and actually only appears in the film for around ten minutes, but it was still the biggest set they had built for Harry Potter at that time. The tiles on the walls are not ceramic, but are MDF wall times, and there are around 30,000 of them in the set. They even built a water feature that actually worked. For the end sequence, where Voldemort and Dumbledore’s duel causes the area to explode and windows to shatter, cast and crew were ordered to keep their mobile phones switched off so the detonation was not accidentally set off!

Connected to the Ministry of Magic in the story, but not in real-life was the Hall of Prophecy set. It became the first solely computer-generated set in a Harry Potter film, and was particularly complex to create on the computer, as it consists of miles of shelves with lots of glass balls and orbs on them. For the actors, the only physical elements they had to interact with were a doorway and some mats on the floor. Other than that, it was a green screen room with a few dots around to help the actors focus on specific markers.

Another location that was computer-generated was Azkaban prison, which we see for the first time in the movies in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The book detailed Azkaban prison as existing in the middle of the North Sea. An initial idea for the design of the prison in the films was to have it reside on a piece of rock jutting out from the side of a waterfall, but they found it difficult to justify there being a waterfall in the North Sea. They felt they only had a few shots to explain the location, so settled for a triangular prison on a rock out in the North Sea, with huge waves crashing around it. Azkaban Prison was also said to be inspired by the infamous Alcatraz prison off the coast of San Francisco, California.

Two other sets used quite extensively in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix are Umbridge’s office and the Room of Requirement. To match Dolores Umbridge’s signature colour of pink, her office was designed in various shapes of pink, with lots of upholstery, lace doilies, fine china tea sets, and French-style furniture. There are also moving kittens on plates all about the room, who Umbridge uses as spies. These were created by painting green paint onto plates and recordings of kittens being placed over the top of them. Although the kittens were not overly easy to work with, they got the shots they needed and we get to see plenty of shots of cute cats in this film because of it. Her office is also a complete contrast to her classroom, which only consists of desks and a blackboard in the cavernous hall, making the classroom bleak but practical.

The Room of Requirement when used as the Dumbledore’s Army training facility consists of mirrors on the walls with areas to practise duelling and a few dummies to practise spells. Due to the numerous lights, mirrors, and the lit fireplaces, the Room of Requirement set was apparently ridiculously hot to work in, and even caused some metal work on the windows to start melting! Due to all the mirrors, it also took three months for extra reflections to be removed from the film for its final edit. There are a couple of stunt pieces here as well, as both Harry and Ron are hit by a spell which pushes them backwards towards the wall. This was a similar stunt that had the actors on wires being pulled back into a padded wall. The Room of Requirement was also the location of the anticipated kiss between Harry and Cho. Cast members joked that they were going to make sure they were on set to watch it, but it was actually a closed set with only about ten people around. Katie Leung also said that the crew dimmed the lights, and wasn’t sure if that was to make them feel less intimidated or to make the scene more romantic! Daniel Radcliffe said he and Leung spoke to a bereavement councillor prior to filming the scene, and learnt that it is quite normal for someone to become close to someone else that the person they lost was also close to. That is exactly what happens to Cho. Radcliffe and Leung initially found the kiss scene quite daunting to shoot but they got used to it after they’d been made to do multiple retakes of it.

Something else interesting about sets in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was that the crew chose to build their own Privet Drive set, because it was cheaper and easier than having to pay to use the same street as they’d used on the earlier films. So, Privet Drive in this film was a recreation of that street and not the real street[9]. 

As had become standard in Harry Potter films, a number of special and practical effects were needed to fully realise the story of these movies. Within new CG characters created for this film, there are the Thestrals, black skeletal horse-like creatures. They were made to be graceful and majestic despite their gruesome demeanour. They were obviously based on horses, but with reference material from birds used to see how the Thestrals would fly. The team chose to include a Baby Thestral in the scene where Harry learns about the creatures from Luna, to make it clear that these are living creatures, and not ghostly things. The wings were also inspired by those of bats, having quite a translucent appearance to them. For the sequence of the Thestrals flying Harry and his friends over London to get to the Ministry, the actors were filmed on motion-controlled rigs in front of green screen, with the animation being transferred onto this recording.

The centaurs and Dementors have also made a return to Harry Potter after their initial appearances in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban respectively. The centaurs were made to look less fantastical than they did in the first film and seem angrier and more aggressive in this film due to their mistreatment, taking Umbridge away with them as punishment for hers and the Ministry’s actions. This shot was filmed with Imelda Staunton being attached to a harness in a green screen shot, with this being overlaid onto the animation.

The Dementors in this film are quite different to their first appearance too, as Yates wanted them to feel less spectral and look more real, by exposing more of that skeletal structure and bone underneath their cloth covering. These Dementors are more physical, like the centaurs, as well, as they are able to push Harry up against the wall of the underpass, by using its arm to do so. This scene was achieved by attaching Radcliffe to a rig and pushing the rig up the wall.

Kreacher and Grawp are two other new characters, who were created with help from some live-action reference footage. Kreacher was made to look like a grumpy old man, with sunken eyes and veiny skin. To get an idea of what the character would look like on screen, they made a maquette of Kreacher, and even walked Kreacher’s tunic around the set to get some reference points. Timothy Bateson was filmed recording his lines in order to get reference for the facial features, which were then placed onto Kreacher. Bateson had been cast as Mr. Fezziwig in the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol and played Mr. Thomson the Caretaker in Series 4 and 5 of the long-running children’s series Grange Hill (1978-2008).  Bateson also provided voices for the fantasy film Labyrinth (1986), including The Worm and one of The Four Guards and played the Dentist in The Italian Job (1969). Later, he was cast as Mr. Hallett in Ladies in Lavendar (2004). Bateson passed away in 2009, at the age of 83; Kreacher was his final film role.

Grawp was created via motion capture from actor Tony Maudsley. Maudsley is perhaps most-known for his roles as Kenneth Du Beke in the ITV sitcom Benidorm (2007-18) from Series 4, and as George Shuttleworth in the soap Coronation Street (1960-present) since 2020. Maudsley has also had parts in other sitcoms, such as being cast as Graham Pleck in the sitcom The Job Lot (2013-15) for ITV, and as Martin in the BBC sitcom Eyes Down (2003-04), which starred Paul O’Grady. Grawp is a 16-feet tall giant so not an easy character to create, but by using the spirit of Maudsley’s footage, the team were able to build on that and create a giant, who is basically like a small child, curious about the world, but not knowing what boundaries there are. For the live-action filming portions, parts of Grawp were made out of foam rubber to give the actors’ some markers, and there was even a large blue leg built that Rupert Grint had to hit for his scene of Ron trying to save Hermione from him.

Neville’s cactus pet was a real remote-controlled model, that would be controlled on set. They wanted the cactus to be able to recreate all manners of emotions, like cute or aggressive, and even worked out how to make it shake and shrivel as this magical cactus is supposed to explode stinksap onto people. It would seem this may have been used for test footage, but the shot did not make it into the film or any bonus features. The cactus can be seen being held by Neville in the scene of him getting the carriage to Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna towards the start of the film. I had assumed it was CGI.

Outside of that, there are a few other controlled explosions that took place, outside of the Ministry of Magic duel. One of these was the mirrors breaking off the Room of Requirement and the wall blowing up. The mirror pieces were made of laser cut plexiglass that had a pre-determined break pattern and would break off the wall in the correct sequence. Cork was used for the wall, this being material heavy enough to fly through the air but not hard enough to injure anyone, plus it could easily be made to look like stone. All of Umbridge’s rules also explode at one point, after Fred and George’s fireworks display. The fireworks sequence was created by looking at footage of fireworks exploding, even setting up a display at the Leavesden studio. They created a library of fireworks, but added in some more magical elements so they were not constrained by real-life rules to their speed, flight, and length. They used a lightning sequence in the actual set to reflect the fireworks sequence to help actors know how to react and where to look in the scene. They based the fireworks dragon loosely on a Chinese New Year dragon and added a CG roof extension to the Great Hall, making the magical ceiling disappear. There was even a mechanism to shoot all the papers of the desk, for when Fred and George fly past on their brooms. For the exploding decrees, the glass-fronted rules all had to explode and blow out. It was first tested with a small number of them, and then the real shot could begin. Special rigs were set up to make sure that once the controlled explosions had happened, they would all tumble to the ground at the right time, leaving smoke in the air and confetti of burnt paper raining down.

The wizarding duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore is the final climatic sequence in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and it involves the two most powerful wizards in the Wizarding World – so it had to be good. In this case, their duel involved computer-generating a large fireball that transforms into a serpent; a ball of water; and numerous sparks of light, and blasts of magic. For the moment of Voldemort being trapped in the ball of water, Ralph Fiennes had to be attached to a moving pivot in order to get the necessary footage. This sequence took place in the Ministry of Magic atrium set, and involved things blowing up and exploding from the walls too.

Speaking of duelling, after seeing only a couple of duels, mostly just between two wizards, like Harry and Draco in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry and Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it was decided that with these bigger duels involving more wizards, there needed to be some set wand choreography. So, a choreographer was brought in, Paul Harris. Harris had previously worked as a choreographer on The Tichborne Claimant, which David Yates had directed, and has also worked on period dramas such as The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Far from the Madding Crowd (2015), and the miniseries Mary & George (2024). Randomly, Harris was also an assistant choreographer on the Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006). Harris was tasked for creating consistent moves to suit a variety of spells. He created around five offensive movements and five defensive ones, teaching them to the actors, who could then personalise them to their characters. For example, Lucius has more proper, traditional form, whereas Sirius Black has elements of his rebellious nature in his battling[10].

Filming for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took place throughout 2006, with production allegedly halted for two months from May so that Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson could take their exams, those being Radcliffe’s AS Levels, and Watson’s GCSEs[11].

A few other interesting filming stories are that Alan Rickman got a brand-new BMW during filming on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is interesting because Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis had spilt a milkshake in Rickman’s car during filming of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and were warned not to go anywhere near his new car when filming started on the fifth film! Also involving Matthew Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter apparently perforated Lewis’ eardrums by improvising a moment after Bellatrix captures Neville in the Ministry of Magic of sticking her wand into his ear like a cotton swab[12]. Yeah, perhaps that wasn’t a great idea!

The Hogwarts Express train was also vandalised once again, having been a victim of graffiti damage back in 2003. This time the incident happened on 10^th March 2007, so after production on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had been completed, and consisted of vandals causing an estimated £50,000 of damage to the train, smashing multiple windows with hammers. At the time, it was being stored in Carnforth Lancashire[13].

A final odd moment that I could find related to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix relates to one of the movie’s official posters. It is unclear exactly when this came to people’s attentions, but it has become well-known that in one of the posters, the one with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna in the Ministry of Magic, Bonnie Wright is meant to be featured as Ginny, however, the person in the poster does not look like her[14]. Two main theories have emerged. One is that it was supposedly one of her stunt doubles, as Wright was not available for the photo shoot that day, and someone forgot to Photoshop her actual face onto the body double. The other is that this poster was seriously edited and that it is Bonnie Wright in the poster, but that they made so many adjustments to her that it no longer looks like her. I don’t know what the real answer is. All I can say is that personally, I don’t think anyone looks right it that poster, it’s just a very dodgy poster! 

RECEPTION

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on 11^th July 2007 in a large number countries, following star-studded premieres in numerous capital cities, such as one in London on 3^rd July, one in Paris on 4^th July, and another in Los Angeles on 8^th July.

This was the first summer release in the Harry Potter film series since the release of the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in 2004. The other three had been released in November, ahead of the festive season. The summer release date seems to have been good for the film, especially as a release date in July coincides with many countries’ school holidays.

The proof of this good timing was that Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix took $44.2 million on its opening day from over 4,000 locations in North America, beating the previous biggest Wednesday opener, with that being Spider-Man 2 (2004) with $40.4 million. Internationally, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took $29.2 million from 29 countries, being the biggest opening for any Harry Potter film in over twenty countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and Brazil[15].

After its first weekend, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix had made a five-day total figure of $140 million at the North American box office. Internationally, it took in $190.3 million, making for a worldwide total of $330.3 million in its first five days of release. This was only second to Spider-Man (2002) on the list of all-time best five-day openers that launched on a Wednesday at the time. Spider-Man benefited from being released over Fourth of July weekend, whereas Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had not. The financial figures were also boosted with an IMAX release, taking $9.4 million from IMAX theatres in its first five days. The IMAX release was said to have screened the last twenty minutes in 3D[16].

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ended its run with a worldwide total of just under $942 million, however, it did not top the worldwide box office and had to settle for second place. Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, the third in the series, topped the box office, with a total of just under $961 million. This was followed by Spider-Man 3 with $885 million; then DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third with $808 million; and at No. 5 Transformers with around $710 million. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix also beat out some other big movies of 2007, by quite some margin, including Pixar’s Ratatouille ($623 million), I Am Legend ($585 million), and The Simpsons Movie ($536 million). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the most financially successful Harry Potter film at the box office since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone came out in 2001.

In terms of reviews, a Harry Potter film has never been panned, as they have all had generally positive comments about them, although they are not to everyone’s taste and most fans will have differing opinions on which films are better, and which are worse.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix did not get the most glowing reviews, with some saying it is not as enjoyable as other Harry Potter stories due to the need to give the audience a lot of backstory in quite a short space of time. This is my biggest issue with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Although the ending sequence in the Ministry is a highlight, and there are lots of villains in this film, something I very much like to see, the rest of the film doesn’t have much action or excitement. They’re just at school, whilst everything exciting with Voldemort is happening on the outside. But it’s similar with lots of television series. Although you may love a particular series, we all know a few episodes are added in as filler, with less exciting moments and tension. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix feels very much like that, with all the good stuff happening at the end to lead to something better happening in the next outing.

However, on the other hand, some enjoyed the movie delving into plenty of darkness, which helped keep many adults interested. Others also liked how fast-paced the film was. Despite being adapted from a very long book, at over 800 pages, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix became one of the shortest Harry Potter films. Some fans of the books even said these omissions helped the story, whereas others did not appreciate them. There was also praise for some of the new actors coming into the franchise, such as Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. It’s quite funny actually; I love Bellatrix, she’s a fantastic villain, but despite liking most villains, I can’t stand Umbridge. I’ve always said if I really dislike a villain, then that actor must’ve done an amazing job – so well done, Imelda Staunton! There were also some action shots that audiences enjoyed, like the scene of Harry and the Order flying through London, and it was felt that the darkness of the material was mixed in well with moments of humour.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was nominated at the BAFTAs, for Production Design, and Best Special Visual Effects, but it did not win. Production Design went to Atonement and Visual Effects to The Golden Compass. At the Saturn Awards, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix received numerous nominations, but no wins. These were in the categories of Best Fantasy Film, Best Director for David Yates, Best Supporting Actress for Imelda Staunton, Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Daniel Radcliffe, Best Writing for Michael Goldenberg, Best Costume, Best Make-Up, and Best Special Effects.

They had more luck at some more viewer-focused awards, such as winning the Choice Summer Movie: Action at the Teen Choice Awards, and the award for Favorite Movie Drama at the People’s Choice Awards. The film also won Family Film at the inaugural ITV National Movie Awards, also winning Performance (Male) for Daniel Radcliffe, and Performance (Female) for Emma Watson. There were also further wins at the Empire Awards, for David Yates for Best Actor, along with nominations for Best Film, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Best Actor and Best Actress for Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson respectively. It also won the Scream Award for Most Vile Villain for Ralph Villains as Voldemort, and the award for Best Sequel there, alongside nominations for Best Fantasy Movie, Effects, and Fantasy Hero for Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix also received a Critics’ Choice nomination for Best Family Film, but lost out to Disney’s Enchanted, as well as two nominations at the MTV Movie Awards, one in 2007 for Best Summer Movie You Haven’t Seen Yet, which was won by Transformers, and one in 2008 for Best Kiss for Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung; it was won by Robert Hoffman and Briana Evigan in Step Up 2: The Streets (2008).

Finally, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was recognised for its brilliant special effects at the Visual Effects Society. Here, they won for Outstanding Special Effects in a Feature Motion Picture, but lost to Transformers for Outstanding Models and Miniatures, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for Outstanding Created Environment.

LEGACY

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was, of course, just the fifth film in a series set to adapt seven novels, so it was not yet the end for the franchise, with the sixth film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince released two years later.

Outside of that, during production on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2006, some of the cast were actually asked to film a short recorded segment to be played during the pantomime show at The Children’s Party at the Palace celebration held at Buckingham Palace on 25^th June 2006 for the Queen’s 80^th birthday. The stage show featured actors playing literary figures, such as Anthony Head as Captain Hook; Dani Harmer and Montanna Thompson as Tracy and Justine from the CBBC series The Story of Tracy Beaker (2002-05); Richard O’Brien as the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, having played the character on stage just a year before, and Amanda Redman as Cruella de Vil. It was Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Matthew Lewis who were involved in the pre-recorded video as their characters, and saw them being sent a letter by owl, sent by comedian Harry Hill in his role as the Owl Keeper. They opened the letter and saw it was from the Prime Minister, needing magic to locate the Queen’s handbag, as she needed her glasses to read her birthday celebrations speech. After using the spell Accio to try and locate it, instead finding numerous other lost handbags, they sent a letter back to the palace, including the spell and some borrowed magic, so the audience could use Accio for themselves. With their collective energy, the thief – who happened to be British comedian and television host Bradley Walsh – was found and the handbag was returned, as good defeated evil. This was a very random thing that I only found out about whilst researching this piece. It is available to watch online for anyone interested in seeing it!

Just a couple of months before Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in cinemas, some very exciting news was announced and that was that there was confirmation that there were development plans in the works to build a new land at the Islands of Adventure Park at Universal Orlando resort, to be called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this being a joint venture between Universal and Warner Bros. Entertainment. This followed on from earlier talks falling through with Disney, which could’ve seen a Harry Potter land being built at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. In this case, it was expected that the new area of the theme park would open in 2009 and would depict Hogwarts and the village of Hogsmeade. J.K. Rowling was going to be involved in the development of the area, as was Stuart Craig, the production designer on the Harry Potter films[17]. The land did not actually open until June 2010, but after that, other Wizarding Worlds have since opened at other Universal properties, those being at Universal Studios in Japan, Hollywood, and Beijing, with new additions and extensions being built as well.

As the Harry Potter franchise had had book sales of 325 million worldwide before the final book even came out, and the first four films grossed more than $3.5 billion worldwide, it was clear that getting involved in a Harry Potter project was going to be good for Universal, and the fact a Harry Potter addition was coming to such a big tourist hotspot meant that good footfall was expected.

Within these theme park lands, there are a few locations first seen in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that were recreated. One of these is the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters, the house on Grimmauld Place, which exists as a façade only at Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, close to the Diagon Alley area. The Ministry of Magic also only exists at Universal Orlando, but this time at their Epic Universe theme park, which opened on 22^nd May 2025. You can even enter the area as though you have arrived via the Floo network. There is an attraction within the Ministry of Magic too, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, but this takes place after the events of the Harry Potter series, following Dolores Umbridge’s trial. The Hog’s Head Tavern is something that can be visited at multiple Universal theme parks though, selling speciality drinks in the recreated pub. It is recreated in the theme parks at Orlando, Japan, Beijing, and Hollywood.

After the reveal of plans to build a Harry Potter land at Universal, and then the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in July 2007, things just weren’t calming down for Harry Potter fans as the wait was finally over for the final book to be published. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published on Saturday 21^st July, simultaneously published in more than 90 countries. Some branches of Waterstones held midnight launch parties for UK fans, whilst J.K. Rowling held her book launch at the Natural History Museum. The final book in the series broke sales records on both side of the Atlantic by selling 11 million copies in its first 24 hours. This comprised of 2.7 million sold in the UK and 8.3 million sold in the US on that first day. This broke the previous record for the fastest-selling book when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold nine million copies on its first day of publication in 2005[18].

Outside of that, there was obviously a video game made to go alongside the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as merchandising, consisting of posters, clothing, figurines, and prop replicas. You can also visit sets from all the movies at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. Some specific sets from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that you could explore there are Umbridge’s office and the Ministry of Magic.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, I’ve made it clear that despite the abundance of villains in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this film is not my favourite. In fact, it is either my least favourite or my second-least favourite, depending on what day it is. It just doesn’t grab me like most of the others do.

However, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix can be seen as laying the groundwork for what is to come. After all, we couldn’t just have Voldemort return in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and then have a great battle straight after that. It is giving us insight into how both sides are preparing for the seemingly imminent war, and letting us in on some mysteries and secrets that will become clear by the finale.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gives you just enough information and action to keep you interested and engaged for the next one. Sometimes that’s all you need.

---

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Clémence Michallon, ‘Helen McCrory: How Harry Potter actor was cast as Bellatrix Lestrange but ended up playing Narcissa Malfoy’, Independent.co.uk, 16^th April 2021.

[2] Credit: Evanna Lynch, The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting (2021).

[3] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ’10 Actors Who Were Almost Cast In Harry Potter Movies’, ScreenRant.com, 28^th April 2020.

[4] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Additional Scenes’, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[5] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).

[6] Credit: Quinci Legardye, ‘Here’s Why Emma Watson Almost Quit Harry Potter’, HarpersBazaar.com, 30^th December 2021.

[7] Credit: Matthew Rudoy, ‘Harry Potter: 10 Differences Between The Order Of The Phoenix Book & The Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 20^th August 2020.

[8] Credit: Chloe Roden, ‘Discovering England’s Wizarding World: 20 Years of Harry Potter Filming Locations’, FilmingInEngland.co.uk, 16^th November 2021.

[9] Credit: ITV, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Behind the Magic (2007), Special Features YouTube Channel, 7^th April 2024.

[10] Credit: Warner Bros., “Focus Points”, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[11] Credit: Ashley Boucher, ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ Turns 10: Here Are 18 Behind-the-Scenes Facts (Photos)’, TheWrap.com, 11^th July 2017.

[12] Credit: Tamar Altebarmakian, ‘Secrets You Didn’t Know Behind The Making Of Harry Potter’, ScreenRant.com, 30^th January 2018.

[13] Credit: BBC News, ‘Potter train attacked by vandals’, BBC.co.uk, 23^rd March 2007.

[14] Credit: Sophie King, ‘Harry Potter fans in shock by editing blunder on film poster’, Mirror.co.uk, 20^th September 2024.

[15] Credit: Nikki Finke, ‘‘Harry Potter’ Sets Biggest Wed Record With Magical $44.2M On First U.S. Day’, Deadline.com, 11^th July 2007.

[16] Credit: Gregg Kilday, ‘‘Potter’ plot thickens box office 5-day total’, HollywoodReporter.com, 16^th July 2007.

[17] Credit: James Sturcke, ‘Harry Potter theme park to open in Florida’, TheGuardian.com, 31^st May 2007.

[18] Credit: BBC News, ‘Harry Potter finale sales hit 11m’, News.BBC.co.uk, 23^rd July 2007.

1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

If Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the story that gently reminded viewers of just how dark the Wizarding World could be, then Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has to be credited with plunging its audience into that darkness. 

With the backdrop being an intercontinental school competition, you might be expecting something boring, like a sports tournament or a quiz. But this is no friendly rivalry between fellow wizard boarding schools. This is the Triwizard Tournament, where three students, one from each of three schools, compete to win the Triwizard Cup. And it’s dangerous, so dangerous that only those over the age of 17 can enter. 

So, how does this relate to 14-year-old Harry Potter? Well, once again, evil forces have come out to play and have continued to mess with Harry’s life. Naturally, he becomes a participant in this tournament, a very inexperienced and ill-prepared one. 

To top it all off, not only have we got this terrifying tournament going on, but it all leads to that big moment that the stories have been leading up to: Lord Voldemort has returned; he is back. Finally.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is not for the faint of heart. It is much scarier than the other three films, and has a lot more death. It’s not escapism, it’s not mystical or magical, it’s just dark, making us all realise that the whimsical days of the first two films are long gone.

Much like with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I did not watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the cinema with my family. I was not even close to calling myself a Harry Potter fan by this point. In the end, I watched it on DVD with my dad and sister at least a year after it came out. I’d visited my aunt and cousins a bit before that though and my cousins, who were big Harry Potter fans, were horrified that I hadn’t seen it and insisted they put it on. We only got as far as the Quidditch World Cup scenes though, only about 10 or 15 minutes in, before my mum said it was time to go home. 

I hadn’t thought much of it to be honest and when I did finally watch the whole film, I was either bored or scared – or both – so didn’t end up paying much attention and could barely remember any of it by the time I revisited it a few years later. Now, although Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is not my favourite, I do like it and appreciate how it sets the tone for what is to come, having stopped teasing us with just talk of Voldemort’s return. 

PLOT

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire begins near a graveyard, where a caretaker, watching over an estate, the former home of the Riddle family, as in Voldemort’s family, sees the lights on at this residence. He goes to investigate, and sees two men and a strange creature in the room. A snake slithers by, signalling to the group that they are being watched. Wormtail, or Peter Pettigrew, who we met in the previous film, comes to the door to see who is watching them. He is then told by the creature, a scrawny, skeletal, non-human Voldemort, to step aside. Voldemort delivers the curse Avada Kedavra, instantly killing the caretaker.

We see that this was all a dream that Harry Potter was having, as he wakes up with a start. He has been staying at the Weasley family residence, The Burrow, this summer, and wakes to see Hermione in the room with him and Ron. She tells the boys to wake up because they are going out early somewhere. Ron and Harry aren’t too pleased as they are frog-marched by Ron’s father, along with Ron’s siblings Fred, George, and Ginny, on some sort of excursion they haven’t been told about. They soon meet up with two others, a colleague of Mr. Weasley called Amos Diggory, and his son, Cedric, who also attends Hogwarts but is older than the other teens. They head towards an old boot, which everyone starts to touch, confusing Harry, who is told to grab hold of it. The boot transports them all to a field, because the boot was a Port Key. They end up at the Quidditch World Cup.

The Quidditch World Cup final is full of fun and frivolity, with the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry settling into their tent, which is much bigger inside than it appears on the outside, like the TARDIS in Doctor Who. They head to the match, contested between Bulgaria and Ireland, but are mocked by Draco and father Lucius Malfoy for having seats so high up in the stands, whereas they are in the Minister of Magic’s box. After the match, which Ireland won, the teens discuss their favourite moments of the match, with Ron becoming a major fan of Bulgaria’s seeker, Viktor Krum, which the others all tease him about.

Suddenly, the celebrations come to an abrupt halt, as the fans’ camp is attacked, by men in masks and dark robes. These are followers of Lord Voldemort. In the chaos to get away, Harry is separated from Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys, and is knocked unconscious. When he comes to, the camp is destroyed but empty – apart from one man, who casts a spell into the sky. Harry is curious by the symbol that has appeared there. Hermione and Ron rush to Harry’s side as they finally find him, however, they are then attacked by members of the Ministry of Magic, who believe them to be the culprits. Mr. Weasley barrels in and tells them his son and his friends categorically had nothing to do with this. They all stare in horror at the symbol in the sky, which Hermione explains to Harry – because he really doesn’t know much about Wizarding History – is the Dark Mark, Voldemort’s signal to all his followers, the Death Eaters. Harry also finds his scar hurts.

But there’s no time to dwell on this traumatic experience, because it’s time for Harry and his friends to head back to school for their Fourth Year – yay! – where Harry and fellow Hogwarts student Cho Chang’s eyes meet over the sweet trolley; Harry might just have a little crush on her. Back at school, Harry almost immediately writes to godfather Sirius Black, telling him about the dream he had and what he saw at the Quidditch World Cup.

During assembly, Professor Dumbledore welcomes everyone back to Hogwarts, but explains that this is not going to be an ordinary year. When is it ever? Except this time, it is planned because Hogwarts is to be the home for two other wizarding schools, as Hogwarts becomes the host venue for the Triwizard Tournament, a testing series of challenges that pits one student from each competing school up against each other to win the Triwizard Cup. The two additional schools taking part are the all-girls school from France, Beauxbatons Academy, and the all-boys school from Bulgaria, Durmstrang. Cue the teenage hormones going into overdrive… A late arrival suddenly comes into the Great Hall, interrupting the speech and causing the enchanted ceiling to go into panic mode. It is Alastor Moody, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I wonder if they can keep this one for more than a year? The speech continues, with Bartemius Crouch Sr., the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, who will be overseeing the tournament, taking over. He says that due to the risky nature of the tournament, anyone under the age of 17 cannot put their name forward to compete, annoying some younger students. Students are told if they are of the correct age and wish to compete, they must put their names into the Goblet of Fire, which will choose the names of the three participants at random.

The next day, Harry and his classmates attend their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Moody, who isn’t the teacher they were quite expecting. Moody asks the students to tell him the names of each of the three so-called Unforgivable Curses, which are illegal in the Wizarding World. Ron gives the name of the first curse, the Imperius Curse, which allows someone or something to be controlled by someone else. Moody demonstrates on a spider, moving it around the room. Neville is called upon to give the next curse, which he names as the Cruciatus Curse. This inflicts pain on another. Moody once again demonstrates on the spider, which causes great distress to Neville and Hermione, who pleads with Moody to stop. He does, and asks Hermione to give him the name of the final curse. She does not, so Moody tells everyone it is the Killing Curse, with only one person having survived this spell meant to cause instant death – and that person is Harry Potter.

Later, once that traumatic class is over, Hermione, Harry, and Ron go to the Great Hall, where they witness students putting their names in the Goblet of Fire. Ron’s brothers Fred and George think they have found the perfect spell to outwit Dumbledore’s “Age Line”, which has been placed around the Goblet to stop underage wizards from submitting their name. They are able to walk next to the Goblet, but are soon thrown away from it, as their spell backfires, making them age into elderly men. They fight in front of everyone.

Everyone then gathers in the Great Hall that evening so the three participants – to be known as the three Champions – can be selected. The first name to come out of the Goblet of Fire is Viktor Krum’s, as the Champion for Durmstrang. This is followed by Fleur Delacour, the Champion for Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory, the Champion for Hogwarts. However, as Dumbledore is about to continue, the Goblet produces another name. Dumbledore reads it out loud: Harry Potter. Visibly shocked, Harry doesn’t want to move. Dumbledore calls his name again and Hermione forces him to go to Dumbledore. He gives Harry the piece of paper and sure enough, his name is on it. He goes to the Trophy Room with the other three, who are confused by this fourth champion. The teachers shortly follow, with Dumbledore demanding to know if Harry put his name in the Goblet. He says he did not. He is believed, as they don’t think Harry has the capability of producing a spell to outwit the Goblet. Dumbledore defers to Bartemius Crouch to decide what to do. Crouch says the rules of the Goblet are absolute, and Harry Potter must compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Gulp.

Harry wakes up as a Triwizard Champion and is forced to attend a press day with the other three Champions. They are interviewed by journalist Rita Skeeter, who has a nose for a good story. She instantly gravitates towards Harry and starts trying to interview him, but constantly gets his age wrong – saying he is 12 and not 14 – and baits him into getting irritated with her, so she can get an interesting quote from him. The article is written and printed for that evening, where Harry is annoyed that he fell for Rita’s tricks and sees lies written about him. However, Harry has to meet Sirius in the Gryffindor Common Room to talk about everything that has happened. Sirius appears in the fireplace that evening and tells Harry that he is concerned about all these events and what they mean. He is unable to comfort Harry, simply saying that whoever put his name in the Goblet is no friend of Harry’s because people die in this tournament. Their conversation is interrupted by Ron who is annoyed at Harry, believing he did put his name in the Goblet of Fire and didn’t tell him.

A new day dawns at Hogwarts, and Harry is feeling isolated from his friends who all think he cheated to get into the Triwizard Tournament. He speaks to Neville who is very excited about a Herbology book that Moody gave him after that class they had. Hermione arrives with Ron and sister Ginny in tow, and delivers a message to Harry, saying that Hagrid is looking for him. He meets with Hagrid later that night, and they walk into the Forbidden Forest. Harry is told to wear his Invisibility Cloak, and the reason for this is that Harry is actually interrupting Hagrid’s “date” with Beauxbatons Headmistress Olympe Maxime. They marvel at a delivery of dragons that has arrived. Harry is immediately scared because this means that these dragons must have something to do with the tournament’s first task…

The next day, Harry relays this information to Cedric so he can be prepared, but comes up against further hostility from Hogwarts students, including Draco Malfoy, who taunts Harry by saying he doesn’t think he’ll last 10 minutes in this tournament. Harry is about to walk away, when Moody sees that Draco was about to curse Harry behind his back. As punishment, Moody transfigures Draco into a ferret and torments him. Professor McGonagall comes over and demands Moody change Draco back at once. She angrily reminds Moody that such spells are not tolerated as punishment at Hogwarts. Moody then takes Harry aside, saying he will help Harry get through this tournament, given his age and lack of experience compared to the others. He wants to discuss a strategy, where Harry says his best strength is flying but he can’t use a broom. Moody reminds him he can use a wand.

The day of the First Task rolls around, and the four Champions await their fate in a tent. Rita Skeeter causes problems again, taking a picture of Harry and Hermione hugging, before Dumbledore and Crouch arrive. The Champions are told the task requires them to outsmart a dragon to collect an egg, which will be key to figuring out their next task. They each select a miniature dragon from a bag at random. Fleur gets the Welsh Green; Krum the Chinese Fireball; Cedric the Swedish Short-Snout; and Harry the Hungarian Horntail, the most challenging one of them all. Harry is the last one to go, so that will have helped his nerves! When it is Harry’s turn, he steps foot in an arena away from the school grounds, with everyone watching from the stands around it. The Hungarian Horntail comes out all guns blazing, instantly putting Harry on the defensive. He is finally able to call for his broom with his wand and flies away from the arena, towards the school. The dragon breaks from its chain and follows him. The dragon chases Harry around Hogwarts, until Harry falls from his broom onto a rooftop. The dragon tries to get to him, but finds it difficult to navigate the roof tiles. Harry eventually finds his broom and is able to fly back to the arena. However, as they fly back, they come to a bridge and smack into it. Harry and the dragon fall to the ground, with the crowds unable to work out what has happened to him, fearing the worst. Suddenly, Harry reappears on his broom and flies back, retrieving the egg and ending the task.

Harry celebrates his victory with his friends, holding the egg aloft. They tell Harry to open it, to figure out the next task, but all they hear his screeching. Harry quickly closes it. Ron appears and apologises to Harry, having come to the realisation that Harry would have to be crazy to put his own name in the Goblet of Fire. Yeah, you think!

In the morning, Hermione is upset about Rita Skeeter’s article this time, as it suggests that she is chasing after famous wizards and now has her sights set on Viktor Krum. At the same time, Ron receives a parcel of something frilly from his parents. He thinks it is a dress for Ginny sent to him by mistake, but Hermione says they are traditional dress robes. These robes are for the Yule Ball, which is a tradition held during the Triwizard Tournament for the festive period. Professor McGonagall explains that the Yule Ball is not just a party, but is a dance, so must teach everyone how to waltz. Ron is asked to come up and demonstrate with McGonagall, embarrassing him in front of everyone. Everyone else is asked to join in, with Neville being the one boy who seems excited by it. The Yule Ball then triggers a stressful situation for the boys, especially Ron and Harry, as they now have to find girls to ask to this dance. During a study session, Ron is teased by his brothers for not having a date yet, seemingly finding it much easier to ask girls out than their little brother. Ron tries to ask Hermione to the dance in a roundabout way; by assuming she doesn’t have a date and surely has to go with either him or Harry to not look sad. She angrily says she already has a date, but refuses to say who it is.

All looks lost for Harry and Ron on the dating front, despite their greatest efforts as Cho Chang sadly turns down Harry as she already has a date and Ron has a disastrous encounter with Fleur Delacour as he basically shouts at her to ask to be his date. In the end, Harry gets Parvati Patil to go to the ball with him, and her twin sister, Padma, goes with Ron.

At the Yule Ball, Ron arrives in his bizarre suit and looks completely out of place with all the other boys, whilst the girls have all got dressed up in their finest dresses. Ron and Harry meet up with Padma and Parvati. As they wait for the Yule Ball to begin, Professor McGonagall tells Harry that he and his date will lead the dancing with the other three Champions and their partners. This surprises Harry who is not at all prepared! They are about to go into the Great Hall, when Hermione makes her grand entrance, looking absolutely stunning, shocking everyone. A bigger shock is to come when they discover her date to the dance is none other than the “Bulgarian bon-bon” Viktor Krum, just like Rita Skeeter predicted! It turns out Cho Chang is Cedric’s date, which kind of upsets Harry.

As the dancing begins, Harry’s embarrassment mercifully doesn’t last long as the teachers and the other students join in the waltz after only a minute or so of the four Champions dancing with their dates. The ball then turns into a big party as rock band The Weird Sisters come to lighten up the atmosphere. After some time, Harry and Ron become bored and ignore Parvati and Padma, who dance with other people. Hermione comes over to them and asks if they’d like to have drinks with her and Krum. Ron says they would not like to do that, and tells Hermione that Krum is not just looking for friendship with her. Hermione is furious about this, and continues the argument later, telling Ron he spoilt everything with his jealousy and should just ask her to the dance next time if her having a date bothers him so much. He doesn’t respond to that. Harry comes by shortly after, and Hermione sarcastically tells them it’s time they went to bed. Hermione is left alone on the stairs in tears. Well, there’s always someone crying at the end of a party, isn’t there? That night, Harry has a restless sleep, as he has the recurring dream about that graveyard again. Harry wakes with a start, only to find Neville in the dormitory, having only just got to bed after the Yule Ball. At least someone had a good time!

In the days that follow, Hermione starts to bother Harry about his second task, reminding him it is only two days away and he has yet to work out from the egg just what is required. In the end, Harry is given a hint by Cedric who tells him to have a bath in the Prefects’ Bathroom and take his egg with him. Uh, ok, weirdo. But magic is weird so Harry does have a bath with this egg in the Prefects’ Bathroom – except he’s not alone in there. As Harry opens the egg up, only for it to screech again, a familiar figure appears. It is Moaning Myrtle, the ghost Harry met when he was figuring out the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. She’s always had a crush on Harry and seeing him in the bath has just made her day! She does give Harry another clue to the egg though, telling him to put the egg under the water, like Cedric did. When Harry does that, he hears the egg singing a song, talking about having an hour to search for something underwater.

With this information, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are then tasked with figuring out how Harry can hold his breath underwater for that long. In the library, they scour numerous books but can’t come up with anything – and it’s the night before the second task. Professor Moody arrives, telling Ron and Hermione that they have been summoned by Professor McGonagall. He tells Harry to get an early night and asks Neville to help put all the books away. As Neville is about to give Harry a fact about some plant he’s found, Harry gets frustrated, saying he only wants to know about plants that can help him breathe underwater. This leads to Neville telling Harry about Gillyweed. That should do the trick.

The next day, the second task is about to take place in the Black Lake near Hogwarts. Harry can’t see Ron or Hermione anywhere, only having Neville for support who decides to tell him now that the Gillyweed may not be effective in all types of water. Harry lines up with the other Champions ready to dive into the lake. Moody tells Harry to eat the Gillyweed just as the time is about to start. He does, but struggles to swallow it. He then finds himself in immense pain and is basically pushed into the lake by Moody. Harry finds himself growing gills and webbing on his feet and hands. Harry is happy with the transformation and springs out of the water, easing Neville’s fears that the Gillyweed was going to kill Harry! Harry swims off, searching for…something.

Harry swims through reeds and plants, eventually coming across an underwater kingdom. He sees something floating outside and discovers they are four people, specifically Hermione, Ron, Cho Chang, and Fleur’s little sister. These are what the Champions have to find. The four are under a sleeping spell for this task. Harry tries to figure out who to save, seeing Cedric come by and take Cho first, and attempts to save both Ron and Hermione, however, mermaids threaten him with tridents and tell him to save only one. At that moment, Viktor Krum comes past and scares the mermaids away, having turned himself into a half-shark, half-human creature for the task. Harry looks around for Fleur but cannot see her. It turns out Fleur was unable to finish the task after being attacked and is standing with the other spectators, fearing the worst as she sees that the other Champions are saving their loved ones. Harry decides to risk it, and takes both Ron and Fleur’s sister. He starts to swim to the surface but is attacked by a swarm of squid-like Grindylows. Harry pushes Ron and Fleur’s sister to the surface, as he tries to defend himself, seeing that the Gillyweed is wearing off. Harry has just enough energy to use his wand to get the creatures off him, but starts to lose consciousness as the task’s hour is up. Eventually, he finds it in himself to cast the spell Ascendio, launching himself up and out of the lake, onto the spectators’ platform. He believes he has come last, but Hermione tells him that Fleur, who is eternally grateful to Harry – and Ron – for saving her sister, that she didn’t finish, so he actually placed third. Thanks to Dumbledore though, it is decided Harry should place second given his intentions to save everyone, with his dithering costing him time.

After the task, Bartemius Crouch congratulates Harry on his performance, and tries to empathise with Harry over the loss of his parents, saying they would’ve been proud of him today. However, Professor Moody interrupts the conversation and does a weird thing with his tongue, which makes Crouch suspicious of something. That evening, Harry, Ron, and Hermione meet with Hagrid and take a walk in the Forbidden Forest to talk about Harry’s chances of winning the Triwizard Cup. Harry finds Crouch’s body; he has been murdered.

Harry goes to Dumbledore’s office, and overhears Dumbledore talking with Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, asking that the Triwizard Tournament be cancelled because of the death. Fudge refuses to do that. Moody alerts the two that someone is listening in and Harry is let into the office. He is told to wait for Dumbledore to return. As he does, Harry sees a cabinet open. Going to inspect it, Harry ends up falling into it. He turns up in a memory from the days after the downfall of Voldemort thirteen years before. Here, Dumbledore is watching as Death Eater Igor Karkaroff, who just so happens to be the Headmaster of Durmstrang, gives further evidence to try and lessen his sentence as a follower of Voldemort. Karkaroff starts to give up names of other followers, but these aren’t of much use to Crouch, who is overseeing the meeting. Karkaroff finally reveals one other name: a Bartemius Crouch…Junior, Crouch’s son. Crouch Jr. is arrested and sent to Azkaban, by his own father. Harry is taken out of this memory, returning to Dumbledore’s office, where he sees Dumbledore. This was the Pensieve, something that Dumbledore uses to revisit memories, as he tries to make sense of what is going on at the moment. Harry tells Dumbledore that he has seen Crouch Jr. before; he’s the other man in his recurring dream. Dumbledore seems concerned, but tells Harry to cast it aside. As Harry leaves Dumbledore’s office, he sees Snape talking to Karkaroff, seeing the Dark Mark on Karkaroff’s arm. Snape then tells Harry to stop stealing from his store, believing Harry has been making Polyjuice Potion again.

A few days later, it is time for the third and final task. The Champions are placed in front of four different entrances to an enormous maze. They must search the maze for the Triwizard Cup, which Professor Moody has hidden. The first one to touch the Cup wins the tournament. But Dumbledore warns the students that people change in the maze, and may become very different people there. Harry enters the maze cautiously, seeing that the maze can close at random and push them towards other areas of the maze. He soon hears a scream and rushes to it, where he sees a seemingly bewitched Viktor Krum, who has attacked Fleur. She is about to be consumed by vines and the maze itself. Harry sends out red sparks to alert the teachers to her location to save her. Harry goes on, eventually finding Cedric, who saves Harry from being attacked by Krum. Harry stops Cedric from attacking Krum. They then see the Cup up ahead and race for it. Cedric falls down and is consumed by vines. Harry thinks about leaving him, but goes back to save him. They both head to the Cup, where Harry says they should both touch it at the same time.

The Cup transports Harry and Cedric but not back to the start of the maze. Instead, they come out at a graveyard. Harry realises it is the graveyard from his dream, but before he can tell Cedric, Cedric is killed by Wormtail, who has appeared with the skeletal form of Voldemort. Harry is trapped against the tombstone of Voldemort’s Muggle father, and Wormtail starts up a potion, putting Voldemort’s body into a cauldron, along with the bone of Voldemort’s father, Wormtail’s own arm as a sacrifice, and some of Harry’s blood. With all this combined, a transformation begins, resurrecting Voldemort into a full physical form. He calls his Death Eaters, including Lucius Malfoy, and tells them he is disappointed in their lack of loyalty, before rewarding Wormtail for his by giving him a new arm. Lord Voldemort is then reminded that Harry is still there after Harry tells Voldemort not to touch Cedric’s body. Voldemort explains that because Harry’s blood was used to resurrect him, the ancient magic of his mother’s protective sacrifice is now in his own veins, so he can harm him now. Voldemort instantly demands that Harry duels with him, planning to kill him. Harry casts a defensive spell back at him and the two wands connect. Within this connection, the spirits of the last few people that Voldemort killed appear, these being the caretaker, Cedric, and Harry’s parents. Harry’s parents tell Harry they can break the connection for a few seconds and tell Harry to get back to the Cup to get away from here. Cedric asks for his body to be taken back to his father. At the right moment, Harry stops his spell and dashes to the Cup.

Back at Hogwarts, the students celebrate the winner of the Triwizard Tournament finally being revealed, however, they soon discover Harry has returned with Cedric’s dead body, and Harry reveals that Voldemort is back. Everyone moans the loss of Cedric, but none more so than Cedric’s father who is rightly inconsolable. Professor Moody takes Harry back to his office. Harry thinks this is to support him through his grief, but in actual fact, Moody wants all the details from his time in the graveyard. This makes Harry realise that something isn’t quite right, as he never mentioned going to a graveyard. Moody starts to behave strangely, saying he led Harry to this point of the tournament, by getting everyone else to help him with his tasks. Harry realises Moody put his name in the Goblet of Fire too, and must have killed Bartemius Crouch. Moody says he will now be rewarded by the Dark Lord, and is about to attack Harry when Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall arrive. Snape forces Moody to drink Veritaserum, which makes him reveal the truth: that he is not Professor Moody, and has actually had Moody kept in a trunk in his office the whole year. Snape sees that this Moody is Barty Crouch Jr., who has been using Polyjuice Potion all year to keep his real identity hidden, having escaped from Azkaban Prison. This is the person stealing from Snape’s stores. Crouch Jr. is taken to Azkaban – again.        

Dumbledore holds a memorial service for Cedric Diggory with all the Hogwarts students, and those from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. He reveals that Cedric was killed by Lord Voldemort who has returned, with the Ministry of Magic not wanting this information told. The students and teachers mourn the loss of their friend. Afterwards, Dumbledore speaks with Harry in his dormitory. Dumbledore tells Harry that his wand connecting with Voldemort’s is a phenomenon called Priori Incantatem, and asks if he saw his parents. He warns Harry that no spell can reawaken the dead, and there will be difficult times ahead, but he has friends to help him choose between doing the right thing instead of the easy thing.

As the school year ends again, the Hogwarts students say goodbye as the Beauxbatons and the Durmstrangs leave and head back home. Krum asks Hermione to write to him, and Fleur kisses Ron on the cheek to thank him for his bravery in saving her sister. Hermione states that everything is going to change now. Harry confirms that it is but they’ll still have each other to face any dangers that come their way.

CHARACTERS & CAST

During the events of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we once again see the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione navigating school, hormones, and the usual dangers along the way, although Harry does face some much tougher tests here and has to do so alone. The usual teachers, like Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape, also make a return, but thanks to the Triwizard Tournament, and the need for yet another Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, there are plenty of new characters introduced in this fourth film. 

Professor Alastor Moody, also known as “Mad-Eye”, because of his magical left eye, is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for Harry and his friends during their Fourth Year at Hogwarts. He is quite eccentric, breaking plenty of rules of teaching during his year, such as discussing and demonstrating the three Unforgiveable Curses in the classroom, and transfiguring Draco Malfoy into a ferret as a punishment. Despite his quite cold demeanour, and no-nonsense attitude, Moody can also be caring at times, as can be seen with his handling of Neville’s trauma after that first class. He is also a good mentor to Harry during the Triwizard Tournament, although we discover he was not doing that out of the goodness of his heart, but to lead him to the graveyard in order to resurrect Lord Voldemort… However, it should be pointed out that the Professor Moody we see throughout Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is not even the real person. The only time we see the actual Moody is when Dumbledore opens up that trunk in the office, and the only thing we can glean from his personality in that brief scene is that Moody seems pretty sad and dejected. But then wouldn’t we all be like that if we’d been captured and trapped in a box for a full school year! We should assume that Barty Crouch Jr. had learnt how to behave just like Moody in order to get through the year and the Triwizard Tournament undetected. The real Mad-Eye Moody went on to reappear in other Harry Potter films.

Brendan Gleeson was cast as Mad-Eye Moody. Gleeson is known for a variety of acting roles in both film and television. In film, some of his earlier roles include playing Hamish in Braveheart (1995); John C. McCloy in Mission: Impossible II (2000); Frank in 28 Days Later (2002); and Menelaus in Troy (2004). After Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Gleeson went on to be cast as Ken in the comedy crime film In Bruges (2008), alongside fellow Irish actor Colin Farrell, which earnt him a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Gleeson and Farrell later teamed up again for the movie The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), with Gleeson playing Colm Doherty. This led to an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild nomination too. More recently, Gleeson was cast as Jackie Sullivan in the sequel Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), and as Alisdair Macdonald in H Is for Hawk (2025). In TV, Gleeson was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Into the Storm (2009), where he portrayed Winston Churchill. Gleeson did win an Emmy for his performance, and was later nominated for another for Outstanding Actor in a Short-Form Comedy or Drama Series for his role as Scott in Season 2 in State of the Union (2019-22). Gleeson may also be known for his roles as Father James Lavelle in Calvary (2014); as Knuckles McGinty in Paddington 2 (2017); and as William “Bill” Hodges in crime drama series Mr. Mercedes (2017-19).

Barty Crouch Jr. is a Death Eater and loyal follower of Lord Voldemort. It would seem he had hoped that he would avoid being discovered as a supporter of Voldemort after the Dark Lord’s disappearance, perhaps because his father was quite a high-ranking official within the Ministry of Magic at the time. However, Crouch Jr. is outed as a Death Eater by Igor Karkaroff and is sent to Azkaban by his own father. If Crouch Jr. wasn’t already considered to be mentally unhinged, with his tongue-flicking tick giving that away as well, then this must’ve sent him over the edge, as he escapes from Azkaban and commits himself to serving Voldemort once again, using a teenage boy to ensure the Dark Lord’s return. Barty Crouch Jr. is evil and twisted, but is quite skilled at deceiving others, as his identity is only discovered at the last minute, and after the events of Voldemort’s return have already played out. He expects to be welcomed back to Azkaban as a hero amongst others who support Lord Voldemort – and by ensuring his return, I’m sure he would’ve been…

David Tennant was cast as Barty Crouch Jr. Around this same time, Tennant was about to become well-known for an even bigger role: playing the Tenth Doctor in the long-running BBC series Doctor Who (2005-25), becoming a favourite Doctor of many. Tennant won the National Television Award for Most Popular Actor and Outstanding Drama Performance for his role in Doctor Who. Also within the realm of science-fiction, Tennant voiced the droid Huyang in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-13), winning an Emmy for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, before reprising the role for the Disney+ series Star Wars: Ahsoka (2023-present). Outside of this, Tennant is also known for other television work, including being cast as DI Alec Hardy in the ITV crime drama Broadchurch (2013-17), and for portraying serial killer Dennis Nielsen in the ITV miniseries Des (2020), for which he won an International Emmy for Best Actor. Tennant is also known for voice acting roles, including voicing Scrooge McDuck for Disney’s DuckTales (2017-21), voicing Charles Darwin in Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012), and voicing Spitelout Jorgenson in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. Recently, Tennant has played such roles as Crowley in the fantasy series Good Omens (2019-26) for Prime Video; Tony, Lord Baddingham in the Disney+ series Rivals (2024-present); and Ian Ventham in The Thursday Murder Club (2025) on Netflix.

Having only seen Voldemort as half of a head, and then as his teenage self in the series to this point, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we get to see Voldemort become a (sort of) full human, having apparently become a skeletal kind of baby since the events of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Lord Voldemort returns as a veiny, creepy-looking person, with no hair and no nose, supposedly to make him seem snake-like, because that suits his personality. Voldemort is obviously pleased to be back to a relatively normal physical form; however, he acts erratically after being “reborn”. Voldemort initially seems to be happy to be surrounded by his followers, before getting angry that they weren’t loyal enough to him. He speaks to Harry with an almost charm at first, but then demands that he duel with him, meaning that Voldemort just wants to get on with it and finally kill Harry Potter – and yet, Voldemort insists on all the formalities of duelling, like bowing to each other, which no doubt confuses Harry and puts Harry on the back foot instantly. Voldemort is, obviously, deranged, evil, and full of hatred. None of these things have changed in the years since he first came to power in the Wizarding World and they certainly aren’t going to change now he’s back. Voldemort is intent on seeking his revenge on everyone who was against him the first time, and now he has the means to do so. He may’ve lost this battle, but he has no intention of losing this new war he’s beginning.

Lord Voldemort was played brilliantly by actor Ralph Fiennes. In the earlier days of his acting career, Fiennes was known for his roles as Amon Göth in Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993), for which he was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor, and for playing Count Laszlo de Almásy in The English Patient (1996), where he was once again nominated for an Oscar, this time in the Best Actor category. Fiennes did not win either award, although both films did win the award for Best Picture, amongst many others. Fiennes has been cast in numerous films of many different genres since then, including as Christopher Marshall in the romcom Maid in Manhattan (2002), alongside Jennifer Lopez; and as Justin Quayle in the thriller The Constant Gardener (2005). In more recent years, Fiennes has been cast as M in the James Bond movies, first appearing in Skyfall (2012) and played the characters Orlando, Duke of Oxford in the Kingsman prequel The King’s Man (2021) and Chef Julian Slowik in The Menu (2022). He was also nominated for another Oscar in 2025 for his role as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence in Conclave (2024). Fiennes reprised his role as Dr. Ian Kelson in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) and is set to play Coriolanus Snow in the prequel The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (2026). On the lighter side, Fiennes has also done some voice acting, having voiced Rameses in DreamWorks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt (1998), and later voiced Victor Quartermaine in Aardman Animation’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). Fiennes is also known for his stage work, with recent productions that he has starred in include a tour of Macbeth in 2023, where he played the title role, and starring as Robert Moses in the play Straight Line Crazy in 2022, both in London and Off-Broadway. He is currently portraying Henry Irving in Grace Pervades on London’s West End until July 2026.

The character of Voldemort was not something that Fiennes was familiar with when he was first considered for the part. He discussed it with his sister, who had children that were fans of the series, and told him that he absolutely had to take the part. After being shown designs for Voldemort, Fiennes thought that it was an interesting character and accepted the part. Despite taking around three hours in hair and makeup every day, to have veiny transfers applied to his skin, and having some prosthetics added around his eyebrows, as well as having his nose removed via CGI to make Voldemort more snake-like, Fiennes has said on numerous occasions how much he enjoyed playing the character[1].

Bartemius Crouch is the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, meaning he is leading the organisation of the Triwizard Tournament. He seems quite strict and stern, wanting to follow the rules of the tournament regardless of the outcome, like continuing to believe that Harry should have to compete in the tournament, despite being underage and unwilling. Crouch later congratulates Harry for his performance in the tournament, and they have a conversation about his parents and their untimely demise at the hands of evil. However, Crouch is later found dead by Harry and we discover he was murdered by his own son, whilst he was pretending to be Mad-Eye Moody. This was part of a revenge plot by Crouch Jr. against his father because Crouch sent his son to Azkaban for being a follower of Voldemort’s when Crouch was prosecuting those involved.

Roger Lloyd-Pack was cast as Bartemius Crouch, who is likely well-known for his roles as Trigger in Only Fools and Horses (1981-2003), and Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007). Outside of that, Lloyd-Pack was cast as Mendel in the film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and George in Made in Dagenham (2010). He passed away in 2014.

Now that the main actors within the villain’s plot have been discussed, it is time to move on to some of the students and teachers. Firstly, we have Cedric Diggory, a Sixth-Year student who is the official Champion in the Triwizard Tournament for Hogwarts, although Harry is the other one. Cedric is intelligent, highly skilled at magic, and is generally a considerate person. Despite Cedric’s friends mocking and hating Harry for his participation in the tournament, Cedric doesn’t seem to care about all that, and in fact helps Harry figure out the second task, and even warns him not to run out of time during it. This is perhaps partly down to the fact Harry gives Cedric a heads-up about the first task. Cedric becomes a little bit more competitive by the final task, wanting to win the Triwizard Cup by beating Harry to it, but after Harry comes to his rescue, Cedric tells Harry to take the Cup. Sadly, it would’ve been better for both of them had Harry just taken the Cup on his own, because with Harry’s suggestion they take it together, this leads to Cedric’s death as he comes face-to-face with Wormtail and Voldemort in the graveyard. It is a shame that Cedric had to die in this story, because he could’ve been very useful in later stories, with his determination and skill.

Cedric had previously appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, during the Quidditch match, however, this same actor, Joe Livermore, did not return for the fourth film. Instead, Cedric Diggory was played by Robert Pattinson, who would go on to have another role in a teen-centric movie franchise, and that is his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight films, which made him a teen heartthrob, whether he liked it or not! Over the years, Pattinson has managed to break away from his Twilight role, with a variety of different roles. In recent years, he was cast as Neil in Tenet (2020), and played Batman in The Batman (2022) with a sequel in the works for 2027. He also recently starred as Charlie Thompson in the comedy The Drama (2026) opposite Zendaya. Pattinson is set to play Antinous in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026), and will play Scytale in Dune: Part Three (2026). Part of the Harry Potter fandom allegedly wanted Henry Cavill to play the role of Cedric, and not Pattinson. I think Cavill did alright for himself though, being literally Superman and all.

Then, we have Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw student, who becomes Harry’s love interest in this film. Cho is sweet, kind, popular, and smart. Harry becomes quite smitten with Cho over the course of the film, even plucking up the courage to ask her to the Yule Ball. And it looks like she would’ve accepted his invitation – had she not already said she’d go to the ball with Cedric Diggory. Cho does apologise though, saying that she really was sorry she couldn’t go with Harry. Although there aren’t all that many scenes with Cho and Harry here, this film lays the groundwork for a potential romance, albeit thanks to Cedric’s death…

Katie Leung was cast as Cho Chang, having beaten out around 5,000 other girls who were all vying for the role at an open casting call in February 2004. It has been said that her father saw an advert for the casting call on television and encouraged her to go for it. Leung’s casting was announced around May 2005, with this being an important new casting for the series[2]. I think I remember it being announced on CBBC’s Newsround, that’s how big a deal it was! This might’ve seemed like a dream come true for anyone, however, recently, Leung has since said that she received a large amount of backlash and racist comments around her casting from fans of the Harry Potter series, which affected her negatively. It was overwhelming already being in the media swirl that surrounded Harry Potter generally, but to have comments picking apart her appearance was mean and not the experience she’d hoped for[3]. It would seem that with Cho Chang being Harry’s first love interest, fans seemed to think they were right to have opinions over what she “should” look like. Newsflash: they didn’t. Despite all that, Leung committed to reprising her role in later Harry Potter films, and continued to act afterwards. Leung went on to play Mei Ashley in the BBC miniseries One Child (2014), and was cast as Lau Chen in the ITV crime drama series Strangers (2018). More recently, Leung was cast as DC Blair Ferguson in the BBC crime series Annika (2021-23) with Nicola Walker in the title role. Also, for the BBC, Leung appeared as Rachel Li in their thriller series Nightsleeper (2024), before going on to star as Lady Araminta Gun in Season 4 of the popular Netflix series Bridgerton (2020-present).

For Beauxbatons, the Champion representing them is Fleur Delacour. Like the other Beauxbatons, Fleur is elegant, graceful, and pretty, but we are reminded that despite appearances, Fleur must be very talented, brave, and determined, otherwise why would she put her name in the Goblet of Fire? We don’t actually get to see Fleur compete in the tasks much, seeming to have completed the first task with the dragon, but she is forced to abandon the other two tasks, due to being attacked on both occasions. I’d like to think Fleur was simply unlucky, or was even being sabotaged to help Harry win the tournament, because it would’ve been great to see the only girl in the competition do well against the boys, and not seem like the damsel-in-distress, as she ended up appearing to be.

French actress and model Clémence Poésy was cast as Fleur Delacour, going on to reprise her character in later films. Prior to this though, Poésy had portrayed Mary, Queen of Scots in the BBC miniseries Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004). Not long after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, she was cast as Chloë Villette in In Bruges (2008), before going on to portray Joan of Arc in the French historical film The Silence of Joan (2011). She also appeared as Rana in the biopic 127 Hours (2010), which starred James Franco, and played the recurring role of Eva Coupeau in Season 4 of the teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007-12). More recently, Poésy was cast as Barbara in Tenet (2020), and played Matilda in the BBC historical drama series King & Conqueror (2025). She was also cast as Isabelle Carriere in Seasons 1 and 2 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (2023-26).

The Headmistress of Beauxbatons is Madame Olympe Maxime, a half-giant, who is quite sophisticated, but then, she would be, being French, and has a close friendship with Hagrid, who is also half-giant. The two even get to dance together at the Yule Ball, and bond over their love of magical creatures. Olympe Maxime is Fleur’s mentor during her time in the Triwizard Tournament, arguing against Harry’s inclusion in the tournament, and wanting Fleur to do her best to win. Sadly, things do not work out well for Fleur but Madame Maxime is still there supporting her during the difficult tasks.

Frances de la Tour was cast as Madame Maxime. Just after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, de la Tour won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her role as Dorothy Lintott in the Alan Bennett play The History Boys, later receiving a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress for reprising the role in the 2006 film. She was also known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the sitcom Rising Damp (1974-78) and its 1980 film. After Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, de la Tour could be seen in a variety of family-friendly films, including as Aunt Imogene in the live-action Alice in Wonderland (2010), as Madame Emile in Hugo (2011), and as The Giantess in Into the Woods (2014). She later was cast as Violet Crosby in the ITV comedy series Vicious (2013-16), which was very funny, and starred Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen. Recently, Frances de la Tour was cast as The Dowager in the Netflix film Enola Holmes (2020), with Millie Bobby Brown in the title role, and plays Adelaide Tempest in the ITV crime drama series Professor T. (2021-present).

Viktor Krum is the Champion in the Triwizard Tournament for Durmstrang. Krum also plays as the Seeker for the Bulgarian national Quidditch team, with this being seen in the final of the Quidditch World Cup, making Ron an instant fan of Krum’s. Ron is even more starstruck when Krum arrives at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament, but soon becomes jealous of Krum when it is discovered he is Hermione’s date for the Yule Ball. Krum is seen as very strong and masculine, but isn’t the smartest guy around, which means him and Hermione were never really meant to be. In the tournament, Krum is seen to do well, although his second-place finish in the second task is, perhaps a little unfairly, demoted to a third-place finish due to Harry’s “outstanding moral fibre”. However, at the end of the tournament, Krum is possessed and tries to attack the others in the maze, tainting the ending of the tournament for him. Still, he leaves Hogwarts with his life in tact and with a potential pen-pal friendship with Hermione. Viktor Krum was played by Bulgarian actor Stanislav Yanveski. After Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Yanevski was cast as Bernhardt in the film Resistance (2011), before landing a recurring role as Angel Yakimov in the first two seasons of Bulgarian crime drama Undercover (2011-16). Yanevski was apparently spotted by a casting director for Harry Potter as he was running late for afternoon registration at his drama school in London and was invited to an audition. He didn’t think this was a serious comment so didn’t go, but later got a phone call asking why he hadn’t gone!

Igor Karkaroff is the Headmaster of Durmstrang, meaning he is Krum’s mentor during his time in the tournament and advocates fiercely for Krum in the competition, showing his annoyance at Krum being demoted to third-place in the second task. Yet, Karkaroff is clearly still proud of his student, as can be seen at the start of the third task. However, we learn that Karkaroff was once a Death Eater and follower of Voldemort, who gave names of others to the Ministry of Magic to have his sentence in Azkaban lessened, signalling him turning his back on Voldemort and the other Death Eaters. During the events of this film, we see Karkaroff talking to Snape on occasion, with Snape having also been a former Death Eater, but solely as a spy, according to Dumbledore. Karkaroff appears to be speaking to him about the potential return of Lord Voldemort, and in a deleted scene set during the Yule Ball, it shows Karkaroff is anxious about this, fearing revenge for his betrayal. Serbian actor Predrag Bjelac was cast as Karkaroff. Shortly after this film, Bjelac went on to be cast as Lord Donnon in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), before going on to be cast as Miloš Marić in Season 1 of the anthology series Genius (2017-24). More recently, Bjelac appeared as Grigoriy in Series 3 of the acclaimed series Killing Eve (2018-22).

Then, there are a few more minor characters that appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. One of these is journalist Rita Skeeter, who is more than just a little bit shady. She tries to come across as friendly and enthusiastic, wanting to lure people in to telling her their secrets. But it’s not a problem if they don’t because she’ll just make them up otherwise! In this case, Rita tries to make out that Harry intentionally entered the Triwizard Tournament, which he didn’t, and thinks he’s two years younger than he is, not listening when Harry tries to correct her. In a different article, she goes after Hermione, making it seem like she is making her way around all the Triwizard Champions, after Rita takes a photo of her hugging Harry before the first task, saying Hermione is after Viktor Krum next. Despite Rita’s dodgy journalistic antics, she is a fun and funny character, breaking up some of the tension.

Rita Skeeter was played by the Miranda Richardson. Prior to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Richardson was known for her role as Queenie in Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder (1983-89), before going on to win awards for her roles in various films, including winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical in 1993 for her performance as Rose Arbuthnot in Enchanted April (1991), and winning the BAFTA for Best Actress in Supporting Role for her role as Ingrid Fleming in Damage (1992) as Ingrid Fleming. Later roles of Richardson’s include being cast as Lady Mary Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow (1999); Madame Giry in The Phantom of the Opera (2004); the Duchess of Kent in The Young Victoria (2009); and Clementine Churchill in Churchill (2017). Recently, Richardson was cast as Rosalind Hale in Season 2 of the Netflix series Fate: The Winx Saga (2021-22) and voiced Mrs. Tweedy in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023) for Netflix. Apparently, Rosamund Pike had initially been offered the role of Rita Skeeter[4].

Then, there is Amos Diggory, Cedric’s father, who believes his son has a real chance of winning the Triwizard Tournament, so much so that he attends the final task and stands up with Cedric as he is applauded by the spectators prior to entering the maze. We first meet Amos as Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys join Amos and Cedric to go to the Quidditch World Cup together; Amos also works at the Ministry of Magic, so is a colleague of Mr. Weasley. Sadly, Amos’ time in the movie does not end well as we see a distraught Amos next to his deceased son’s body. It’s a heartbreaking moment and makes me cry every time.

Amos was played by Jeff Rawle, who had previously been known for roles such as playing Billy Fisher in the sitcom Billy Liar (1973-74); playing George Dent in the sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey (1990-98); and being cast as Paul in the comedy series Faith in the Future (1995-98) for ITV, which starred Lynda Bellingham and Julia Sawalha. After Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rawle later played the recurring role of serial killer Silas Blissett in the British soap Hollyoaks (1995-present) from 2010 to 2022. He also played television producer Mervyn Pinfield in the BBC television movie An Adventure in Space and Time (2013), which recounted the story of how Doctor Who first came to our television screens.

There are a few other characters to mention and one is Frank Bryce, the Caretaker at the Riddle family home. He doesn’t last long in this film, only appearing in the opening sequence, as he investigates who is in the house that shouldn’t be there. Sadly, this was a mistake as he is instantly killed by Voldemort for eavesdropping on their conversation. Frank Bryce was played by actor, comedian, and writer Eric Sykes, who wrote for sketch show The Tony Hancock Show (1956-57), and co-wrote and starred in his own sitcoms like Sykes (1972-79) during his career.

Then, there are students Parvati Patil and Padma Patil, twin sisters who are Harry and Ron’s dates to the Yule Ball. Every time they see Harry both of them say to hello to him and giggle as they walk past him. After they’ve done this a couple of times, Harry gets the idea to ask them to the Yule Ball, since he and Ron can’t get dates. Nice. Initially, Parvati at least seems happy to go to the ball with Harry, even getting a special entrance into the hall as a date of one of the four Champions, however, Padma is not at all happy about being paired up with Ron. She certainly got the short straw as Ron is moody the whole evening, after seeing Hermione with Krum, and refuses to dance with her. Harry stays by Ron’s side, probably out of loyalty, and also doesn’t dance with Parvati after the first dance, so both Parvati and Padma eventually go and find other people to dance with. I don’t blame them! Parvati was played by Shefali Chowdhury, and Padma was played by Afshan Azad, with both of them reprising their roles in later films.

There is also Nigel, Ron’s “assistant”, who delivers a parcel to him, hoping for an autograph from Harry Potter as his reward. He doesn’t even get one, so Ron is just using him as some sort of slave! William Melling was cast as Nigel, having previously been credited as Young Rawdry in the ITV miniseries Vanity Fair (2004). Melling reprised his role as Nigel in later films, before going on to be cast as Joe in the BBC sitcom Fried (2015-16). It would seem that Nigel was not a character in the novels, only appearing in the films.

Finally, just because this is an interesting cameo for British sitcom fans, Roger Davies, Fleur’s date to the Yule Ball, is played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, who had a recurring role as bully Mark Donovan in the sitcom The Inbetweeners (2008-10) and its 2011 movie after his minor appearance here. He went on to be cast as Ralph Whelan in the Channel 4 drama Indian Summers (2015-16); landed the role of Aaron Peel in Series 2 of Killing Eve (2018-22); and played Colonel Pontmercy in the BBC miniseries Les Misérables (2018-19). He was also cast as Allen Scott-Frank in Now You See Me 2 (2016). Recently, Lloyd-Hughes appeared as Bogdan in The Thursday Murder Club (2025) and as Casper Boyd in Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day (2026).

MUSIC

For Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the soundtrack moves in a slightly different direction from the first three movies, and not just because John Williams was unavailable to score this fourth film due to his busy schedule.

The score instead was composed by Patrick Doyle, although Williams’ “Hedwig’s Theme” does reappear as a motif on occasion within the musical score. Some of Doyle’s previous works include the score for Sense and Sensibility (1995), being nominated at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Golden Globes for it; Hamlet (1996), also being nominated for his score at the Academy Awards and the Satellite Awards; Gosford Park (2001), winning the World Soundtrack Award for Soundtrack Composer of the Year; Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001); and Nanny McPhee (2005). More recently, Doyle has composed the scores for Pixar’s Brave (2012); Disney’s live-action Cinderella (2015); and the Poirot films Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022) both directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. Doyle had previously worked with director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Mike Newell on his films Into the West (1992) and Donnie Brasco (1997).

Within the score, my favourite track is “Potter Waltz”, which is used as the opening dance at the Yule Ball. Another track I like is “Harry in Winter”, which plays as Harry asks Cho Chang to the Yule Ball but she turns him down. “Hogwarts March” is quite a fun piece, like a school brass band, and is used for the moment that the Champions head into the maze for their final task in the tournament. Others that I enjoy are “The Story Continues”, which is the opening track for the film. It is spooky and mysterious, letting the viewer know that this isn’t going to be a light-hearted opening sequence. “The Death of Cedric” is a further piece of music that moves us away from the magical elements of Harry Potter, into the darker, emotional moments.

Outside of the usual score, there are some additional songs included in the soundtrack, and these were written for a fictional band called The Weird Sisters who are the band playing at the Yule Ball; they turn up to get the party started after the traditional waltz has taken place. The Weird Sisters consist of lead singer Jarvis Cocker, the frontman of the band Pulp; lead guitarist of Radiohead Jonny Greenwood; Jason Buckle of the electronic music group All Seeing I; drummer from Radiohead Phil Selway; Steve Claydon from electronica band Add N to (X); and Steve Mackey, the guitarist from Pulp.

Within their set, the first song they perform is “Do the Hippogriff”, which was written by Jarvis Cocker and Jason Buckle. This is the best of the songs performed at the Yule Ball for me; it’s a good track to dance to. They then move onto “This is the Night”, written by Jarvis Cocker, although this isn’t as obviously heard as it plays in the background whilst Ron and Hermione argue about Krum. Their final song is “Magic Works”, also written by Cocker, which is a slow song to end the night. It plays as Ron and Hermione argue, again, a bit later in the night, and as some of the other couples, like Hagrid and Madame Maxime, dance.

In terms of awards, Patrick Doyle’s score was nominated at the Saturn Awards for Best Original Score, but lost out to John Williams – ironically – for his work on Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) and War of the Worlds (2005). The song “Magic Works” was nominated for two awards: the Satellite Award for Best Original Song, losing out to “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” from Brokeback Mountain (2005), and a World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song, this time losing to the song “Our Town” from Pixar’s Cars (2006).

There are a couple of other sort-of-songs that appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire too. The first is the riddle-like song, apparently known as the Mersong, that is playing from the egg that the Champions had to retrieve on their first task with the dragons in order to figure out the second one. I only really mention it because I like it; I think it’s both clever and pretty. It was also composed by Patrick Doyle and is part of the track “Underwater Secrets” in an extended version. Abigail Doyle provides the vocals. 

The other song to mention is the Hogwarts School Song that Hermione and Hagrid sing in the woods, as they discuss Harry’s chances of winning the Triwizard Tournament, just before Harry finds Bartemius Crouch’s dead body… The inclusion of this song would’ve made more sense had we heard this school song at any other point in the movie series, however, it does not. It was meant to be in the film, as can be seen from the deleted scene of the students singing the song together after the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang have been welcomed to Hogwarts. The lyrics to this song were written by J.K. Rowling and first appeared in the first novel.

PRODUCTION

The novel Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published in July 2000, ending up being over 700 pages long. The fourth book was, according to Rowling, the hardest one of the novels to write to this point, due to the plot’s complexity and the darker themes that were being explored within it. The working title was at one point said to be Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament, before changing to Harry Potter and the Triwizard Tournament, however, Rowling found she liked Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire better because it had a “cup of destiny” feel to it[5]. The fourth novel proved to be incredibly popular with fans.

But with every book-to-screen adaptation sacrifices have to be made for the good of the movie, whilst also adhering to the necessities of the original source material. In this case, Steve Kloves was once again tasked with adapting the novel and writing the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, having written the screenplays for the previous three films. Given the length of this novel, Christopher Columbus, the director of the film two Harry Potter films had actually suggested Warner Bros. split the fourth movie into two films[6].

That never happened. Instead, to deal with the hefty novel, it was decided that any subplot or character not specifically related to Harry and the Triwizard Tournament would be omitted. This led to many elements of the original story being missed out of the film, which irked some fans of the book. For example, a large proportion of readers were upset or annoyed that a whole subplot about Hermione creating an organisation called Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, where she campaigned for greater rights for the house-elves in the Wizarding World, was left out of the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film. The catalyst for Hermione creating this society was seeing the mistreatment of Winky the House-elf by the Crouch family, who was later fired and began working in the kitchens at Hogwarts. Since this was not related to either Harry, Voldemort, or the Triwizard Tournament, it would’ve been unnecessary material for the film. However, Rowling has since said she regrets allowing this element of the story to be omitted from the film, as it gave Hermione a purpose in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and was linked to later events[7].

There were numerous other changes and differences between the book and film too. One is that Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are not single-sex schools in the books. I believe this change was made for the film to make the distinction between the two schools absolutely clear, without having to explain too much. Another is that in the dragon task in the novel, the Hungarian Horntail does not break its chain, and the battle is contained to the arena, however, having the dragon chase after Harry is much more cinematic. The third task was not just a maze in the novel either, as it was meant to be populated with creatures, such as a Boggart, an Acromantula, and a Sphinx guarding the route to the Cup that wouldn’t move until a riddle was answered. Very little of the Quidditch World Cup appears in the movie when compared to the book, and the Dursleys do not appear in the film either.

Further differences include altered or missing characters. In terms of characters being altered, Rita Skeeter’s role in the film is smaller than the book, and a major element of her character that is missing is that she is an unregistered Animagus in the book, turning into a beetle in order to eavesdrop on conversations and find out gossip, this being something Hermione discovers and threatens her with. Another character change is that Dumbledore in the book calmly asks Harry if he put his name in the Goblet of Fire, however, in the film, some have since taken to mocking Dumbledore’s quite aggressive questioning of Harry in the film. Personally, I quite like it because it shows Dumbledore is struggling to understand what is going on and is lashing out through sheer frustration, just like all humans do.

Missing characters include Ludo Bagman, who is a washed-up Quidditch player with a gambling addiction. Bagman appears throughout the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book as he is involved in organising the Quidditch World Cup and is a judge in the Triwizard Tournament; Bagman’s official job title is Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Also, Dobby is a character in the book, giving Harry the Gillyweed for the second task, having been manipulated by Barty Crouch Jr. to steal it for the task. I think Neville and the Herbology book makes perfect sense for the movie though.

Finally, in the film series, we never hear about Crouch Jr. again, being led to believe he was returned to Azkaban prison. In the book though, he had a completely different ending, being given the Dementor’s Kiss, apparently ordered by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in order to silence him so that the Ministry’s narrative of Lord Voldemort not being back would stick. This would’ve been good information to know ahead of the fifth film[8].

After having the same director for both Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Christopher Columbus, a new director was sought for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, because Columbus was too exhausted to commit to doing any further films. In this case, Alfonso Cuarón was brought in to direct the third film. However, he, too, was said to be too exhausted to do another Harry Potter film, so British director Mike Newell was brought on for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Newell had previously directed films such as Enchanted April, which was nominated for three Academy Awards, and three Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy there; and popular British romantic comedy film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), written by Richard Curtis and starring Hugh Grant. Four Weddings and a Funeral was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, and won Best Film and Best Direction, for Newell, at the BAFTAs, amongst many other awards. After Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Newell went on to direct such films as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010); Great Expectations (2012); and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018).

Newell was the first British director for the Harry Potter series, and was ready to push the danger and threat level up a notch, and wanted to push the young actors further with their acting ability. Newell was well-liked by the cast for his excitable nature and for giving the young cast detailed notes to help improve their performances. He was also not afraid to get stuck in with the scenes, as was demonstrated when Newell jumped in to help James and Oliver Phelps with the scene where Fred and George are fighting after their spell backfires and they become old. Newell tried to show them how to really fight each other, but ended up cracking a couple of ribs in the process[9]!

Newell may have still taken some inspiration from Alfonso Cuarón in his direction of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in some ways, including with the weather in this film. Cuarón can be credited with beginning the moody atmosphere that dominates all Harry Potter films after the third one, with all the grey, cloudy skies. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire goes one step further with even darker, greyer skies, as well as plenty of rain, especially at the start of the film! Beautiful landscapes are something else that is replicated in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, despite the cast not filming the fourth film in Scotland, whereas much of the third was.

Within Scotland, it would seem that Loch Shiel was used for the establishing shots of the Black Lake, the setting of the second task in the Triwizard Tournant, but the cast did not film there. This was also the case with Steall Falls in Glen Nevis, which was used as the backdrop for the first task with the dragon chase[10].

Some locations the cast did travel to for filming though include the Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire, used for the wooded area where the Weasleys, Ron, and Hermione meet up with the Diggorys to go to the Quidditch World Cup, with Cedric jumping down from a tree in the Frithsden Beeches part of the estate. It was reported the tree had split in two in 2014[11]. The cast and crew also went back to Oxford, where the Divinity School at Oxford University was used for the scene of Professor McGonagall attempting to teach the students how to dance for the Yule Ball. The Bodleian Library was also used as the setting for the Hogwarts library, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are trying to find him something to use to breathe underwater for the second task. The New College area was also used for various scenes in the film, like when Draco Malfoy is turned into a ferret by Mad-Eye Moody[12]. Other locations used were Black Park in Buckinghamshire, used as the filming location for the Forbidden Forest, and Virginia Water in Windsor Great Park, used for the scene when Harry is given a message from Ron by Hermione and she responds with that great line: “I’m not an owl!”.

Although Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire does not benefit from the cast and crew filming long stretches of the film in person in Scotland, as its predecessor had been, there were still a huge number of impressive sets built for this film.

One of these was the transformation of the Great Hall for the Yule Ball. It was described in Rowling’s novel as looking like an ice palace, so it was up to the set designers to decide how to best show that on film, because using ice was not going to be feasible for this type of production! Instead, they found they could use a highly reflective silver fabric and cover the entire Great Hall set in it to transform the area into something fit for the Yule Ball. It took over four weeks to complete but it was worth it, as everyone was stunned by the transformation[13]. It wasn’t just the sets being transformed either; all the cast had to be dressed up for this fancy dance, with the boys being made to look elegant in their suits, tuxedos, and cloaks. Well, all except Rupert Grint who had to wear those awful dusty pink, frilly “dress robes”! Hermione was the character to receive the biggest “glow up” though, as she was given a real grand entrance into the Yule Ball in a beautiful pink, floaty gown. Emma Watson was said to be quite scared about ruining the dress, so much so that she wouldn’t even sit down in it whilst on set! She also didn’t like Hermione’s big moment of walking down the stairs, with director Mike Newell giving her direction on how she needed to walk down the stairs for the scene. Awkwardly, Watson even tripped at one point. Outside of that, the dancing of a traditional waltz was another challenge for the young actors, who had lessons to be taught the proper choreography, with some getting around three weeks’ worth of it. Daniel Radcliffe though was only given a few days to learn it. He struggled through it but he got there. Besides, Harry is supposed to look like he’s struggling in that scene anyway[14].

A full new set that had to be built for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the maze set for the third task. Large sections of the maze were created, with this being an early challenge during production as it was one of the earliest scenes to be filmed. The team made walls that were 25 feet high, in some cases, more like 40 feet, but were only about 5 feet wide, making small channels for the cast to run through, which Daniel Radcliffe said did feel a bit claustrophobic at times. Although some portions of the third task were filmed with the cast, running through these channels with wind machines blowing and leaves being thrown at them, and Robert Pattinson being pulled by ropes for the moment that Cedric falls and is attacked by roots, some computer-generated hedges were also created, to show the hedges moving up close and to do the wide shot showing how large the maze is supposed to be. The roots were also computer-animated[15].

For the second task, the underwater task, the crew found that the only way they could get this scene to look realistic was for the cast to actually shoot their scenes underwater. To do this, a huge tank was built. This tank could hold 2.5 million litres and measured at 60 x 60 feet and was almost 20 feet deep. Radcliffe, who had the most scenes to film for this task, was given dive training for around six months prior to filming so he would be prepared for this difficult challenge. The other three actors, Clémence Poésy, Stanislav Yanevski, and Robert Pattinson also had to learn to scuba dive for their scenes, which was particularly difficult for Yanevski who had a fear of deep water. They all found it was challenging to complete their scenes, with the chlorinated water making it hard for them to keep their eyes open. Communicating with the director was also a little bit difficult, given they were kept underwater for hours at a time, despite only filming shots in around 10-second bursts before being given air. They had built a dry area within the tank though that the actors could swim to, so they could have a rest break and communicate better with the crew who were on dry land. Radcliffe later said that he was given a logbook detailing all of his dives by the stunt team as a Christmas present. It said he had spent 41 hours and 38 minutes in the tank over the space of three weeks to film these scenes. The cast, who were represented as dummies in the tank, to mimic the students being put under a sleeping spell for the duration of the task, also had to film their scenes of coming up to the surface and swimming to the spectators’ platforms within the tank[16].

Once the live-action shots were completed, it was then passed over to the team to create the computer-generated underwater environment and the creatures, to go over the blue screen that had been used in the tank. For this task, a reed-filled forest is first seen and swum through by Harry, before coming to an underwater kingdom. The water had to look like a dark lake though, so the water was green and not clear, unlike tropical waters. The creatures created here were mermaids and Grindylows, who look like small squid-like things. The animators looked at squid and octopus to figure out how to animate the movement and skin texture for the Grindylows. For the mermaids, it was decided they couldn’t look like a person in a mermaid tail, and although they had to be graceful and be beautiful to some extent, they did also need to be scary, so the mermaids in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire have fish faces, Medusa-like hair, and sharp teeth[17].

There are the usual owls here used for a filming, even a ferret this time, but most of the creatures seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire are computer-generated. The other creatures within Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that were made using CGI were, of course, the dragons, specifically the Hungarian Horntail. A model was first designed by the Model and Creature shop to get an idea of what the dragon’s proportions and overall design would be, using some information from the original novel and expanding on it. This model was then scanned into a computer, where the animators could figure out how the character would move and behave. They decided it would fly and attack like eagles and hawks, but also watched how dragons moved in other films, paying attention to their aerodynamics. Meanwhile, as all this was being done, Daniel Radcliffe was busy filming the stunts for it, like jumping onto the broomstick, and falling down the rooftop as the Horntail is chasing him through Hogwarts. Radcliffe had real trust in his stunt team who talked him through the stunts beforehand, but it was still quite a physical shoot, with Radcliffe actually jumping from a roof set, whilst attached to a wire[18]. Despite the dramatic chase scene, it does say in the credits that no dragons were harmed in the making of this movie.

After filming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for just over 10 months, many of the young actors were glad to take a break before filming began for the fifth film. Others, though, weren’t quite so happy because that meant it was soon time to take their GCSE exams!

RECEPTION

After holding its London premiere on 6^th November 2005, followed by another in Paris on 8^th November, and one more in New York City on 12^th November, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came to cinema screens in countries like the UK and the US on 18^th November 2005, with a few others seeming to have released the film a couple of days earlier. By the end of 2005, the film had reached the majority of other international countries. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was also released in IMAX too, and was the first in the film series to be given a 12, or PG-13 rating, signalling the change to a darker tone.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was incredibly successful at the box office, breaking many records during its opening weekend. It ended up topping the worldwide box office with a total of a little under $896 million. The fourth film in the franchise beat out some tough competition, which included Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which made just under $850 million; and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, with $745 million. Other films in the top 10 that year were family-friendly movies like DreamWorks’ Madagascar at No. 6 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at No. 8, as well as blockbusters like Batman Begins, at No. 9, and King Kong, in fifth spot. This was the second time a Harry Potter film had topped the worldwide box office, after the first movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had done in 2001. The other two finished second.

However, just because Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire performed well financially, that doesn’t mean that it was all praise and acclaim for the film. In fact, viewers seem to respond quite differently to this film. I, for one, really like this fourth film. It took me a while to like it, but now I’d say I much prefer it to either the first or the third film. Many, however, took aim at the fact that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had cut out way too many parts of the book, and had altered the personalities of some of the characters, annoying fans of the original novels. Some of these fans did admit that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire likely appealed to those who had not read the books though. The other reason Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire seems to have divided audiences is because of the love some have for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, with this film paling in comparison. Others commented on its rushed pace, yet spent too much time on “non-essential” sequences, such as the Yule Ball, and that it was too dark, no longer feeling appropriate for younger children to watch. Another humorous comment about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire comes about from the fact that the boys in this film all have quite shaggy hairstyles, with some calling this film Harry Potter and the Year of the Bad Haircuts. Having been a similar age to the characters whilst the films were coming out, all I can say is, although I don’t like these hairstyles, I knew many teenage boys who had hair just like them in the mid-2000s!

On the other side, there are still plenty of positive comments for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The story is full of dramatic sequences and plenty of action, pushing the story forward, leaving viewers with much to enjoy. Some also felt that, despite some story elements being omitted from the movie, the scene of Voldemort’s return was a particular highlight, largely due to Ralph Fiennes portrayal of the character. Brendan Gleeson was another new cast member to the series who was also praised. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was considered to have, on the whole, managed to balance a lot of different emotional elements and moments, and mix a range of film genres together well.

Much like its predecessors, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was nominated for numerous awards. One of these was an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction, a category the first film had also been nominated in. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire lost out to Memoirs of a Geisa on this occasion. The Harry Potter films had historically had more luck at the BAFTAs though, and that was still the case for the fourth film, where Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was nominated for Best Makeup and Hair, losing to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; and Best Special Visual Effects, but lost to King Kong. It did, however, win the award for Best Production Design, having previously had nominations in this category for the other three films.

Elsewhere, at the Satellite Awards, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was up for Best Costume Design, which was won by those behind the costumes for Pride & Prejudice. At the Saturn Awards, honouring the genres of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire received numerous nominations. These included Best Fantasy Film, won by Batman Begins; Best Director for Mike Newell, which Peter Jackson won for King Kong; Best Screenplay for Steve Kloves, with the award going to Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer for Batman Begins; Best Costume and Best Make-Up, both won by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; and Best Visual Effects, which went to King Kong. Daniel Radcliffe was also up for Best Young Actor/Actress, but Dakota Fanning was the winner this time for her performance in War of the Worlds. Emma Watson was up against Dakota Fanning at the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Young Actress and once again, the prize was won by Fanning. For Daniel Radcliffe at this ceremony for Best Young Actor, this time he lost to Freddie Highmore from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe won Best Family Film here.

At the MTV Movie Awards, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire received some further nominations, including the trio of Ron, Hermione, and Harry being nominated for Best On-Screen Team; this award went to Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan in Wedding Crashers, which I kind of understand. Ralph Fiennes lost out on Best Villain here to Hayden Christensen in Star Wars: Episode III, which I don’t understand. Daniel Radcliffe lost Best Hero to Christian Bale in Batman Begins; obviously a superhero was going to win this one! Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire did have some wins though. At the Teen Choice Awards, it won for Choice Movie: Drama and won the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Movie.

LEGACY

A few months before the fourth Harry Potter film came to cinemas, fans of the books were already absorbed in the story of the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which had been released on 16^th July 2005 around the world.

The release did not go off without its own problems though. Fans were excited for this sixth book as author J.K. Rowling had teased the death of a major character in this new story. This meant that people wanted to be the first to know who this character was, so much so that extra security was hired to patrol the printing process to avoid any leaks. Rowling even stated that she had seen people rooting through her trash to find any information on this sixth novel! Reporters were allegedly trying to bribe workers, and GCHQ even contacted Bloomsbury Publishing to say they had discovered an early copy of the sixth book online earlier in 2005. However, once a page of it had been read out to an editor, it was confirmed to be a fake[19]. Some bookstores also accidentally sold a few copies of the book earlier than the official release date. With all this in mind, it was clear just how important this new book was to a whole legion of Harry Potter fans, and some stores were opening at midnight to allow readers to purchase the book at the earliest opportunity[20].

It might seem like production on the Harry Potter films was beginning to catch up with Rowling’s novels, but no worries; that was not the case, as fans would have to wait until 2007 for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to come to their screens, and the final book was released in July 2007.

After the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the usual merchandise was available to purchase to coincide with it, such as posters, LEGO sets, and of course video games. The game version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is nowhere near as good as the ones based on the first three films though. The Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup game was also already available to purchase in 2005, having first been released in 2003. It even featured Seeker for the Bulgarian National Team Viktor Krum.

A few years later, as the Harry Potter film series were coming to an end, theme park lands were built in some Universal resorts. The first one was at Universal’s Islands of Adventure Park in its Orlando resort, opening in June 2010. Here, a previous rollercoaster called Dueling Dragons, which opened in 1999 and consisted of two different coaster trackers, was rethemed to fit in with the new Wizarding World area. It was renamed to become Dragon Challenge. It was therefore rethemed to match the dragon task in the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with the two tracks being called Chinese Fireball and Hungarian Horntail, matching two species of dragon used in that task. This rollercoaster, which had been unable to “duel” on multiple occasions due to guests being injured by loose objects falling from one train onto another as they passed each other, was later closed down in September 2017 to make way for a new attraction. This turned out to be Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which opened in June 2019. Dragon Challenge was not replicated at any other Wizarding Worlds.

Also at the Wizarding Worlds in Universal Orlando, at its Islands of Adventure Park; Universal Japan; Universal Beijing; and Universal Hollywood, you can watch the same short stage show titled Triwizard Spirit Rally, which sees a Hogwarts student welcome the girls of Beauxbatons and the guys of Durmstrang to the stage to perform dance and acrobatic routines together ahead of them taking part in the Triwizard Tournament. It takes place a few times a day on a small stage by Hogwarts Castle.

Outside of that, at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, there have been events themed around Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In 2025, to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of this film, additional costuming and elements from the film were included in the tour. It also allowed for guests to put their name in the Goblet of Fire. There has also been a specially ticketed event called Dinner in the Great Hall, held around the festive period, which sees guests enjoy a two-course meal in the Great Hall. On occasion, it appears to have been decorated with some elements that appear in the Great Hall for the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire works as a dramatic thriller, perfect for the big screen. Although it is not a perfect adaptation of the book, it works well from a cinematic standpoint.

It has emotional drama, mixed in with comedically embarrassing teenage moments, that will have resonated with the teen fans around the world. It also has moments of peril, encounters with terrifying creatures, the risk of certain death, and some very evil characters.

This film is a major turning point because you can consider the Harry Potter series as being split into two halves, with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ending the first half where us – and Harry – are getting to grips with the fantastical, magical elements of the Wizarding World, as well as Harry’s past and his destiny.

With the return of Lord Voldemort, the second half of the story refocuses on him and his plans for revenge, domination, and total control, as Harry and his friends do their utmost to stop him once and for all.

---

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).

[2] Credit: CBBC Newsround, ‘Exclusive: First official Cho pic’, News.BBC.co.uk, 16^th May 2005.

[3] Credit: Zach Sharif, ‘Katie Leung Says Racist Backlash Over ‘Harry Potter’ Casting as Cho Chang ‘Probably Made Me Less Outgoing’’, Variety.com, 9^th January 2026.

[4] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ’10 Actors Who Were Almost Cast In Harry Potter Movies’, ScreenRant.com, 28^th April 2020.

[5] Credit: Jeff Jensen, ‘J.K. Rowling talks about writing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, EW,com, 4^th August 2000.

[6] Credit: Lexy Perez, ‘‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus Reflects on Pressures to Adapt Book and Hopes to Direct ‘Cursed Child’’, HollywoodReporter.com, 11^th November 2021.

[7] Credit: Warner Bros., Creating the World of Harry Potter Part 7: Story (2012), Special Features YouTube Channel, 31^st March 2024.

[8] Credit: Matthew Rudoy, ‘Harry Potter: 10 Differences Between The Goblet Of Fire Book & Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 20^th August 2020.

[9] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).

[10] Credit: Visit Britain, ‘Visit Harry Potter filming locations’, VisitBritain.com, date unknown.

[11] Credit: National Trust, ‘Explore Harry Potter filming locations’, NationalTrust.org.uk, date unknown.

[12] Credit: Naomi Gordon, ‘Where was Harry Potter filmed?’, RadioTimes.com, 19^th October 2022.

[13] Credit: ITV Granada, Harry Potter: Behind the Magic (2005)’, Special Features YouTube Channel, 5^th April 2024.

[14] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Preparing for the Yule Ball’, from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[15] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘The Maze: The Third Task’, from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[16] Credit: ITV Granada, Harry Potter: Behind the Magic (2005)’, Special Features YouTube Channel, 5^th April 2024.

[17] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘In Too Deep: The Second Task’, from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[18] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Harry vs. The Horntail: The First Task, from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[19] Credit: BBC, ‘Harry Potter: GCHQ ‘intervened over Half-Blood Prince leak’, BBC.co.uk, 10^th April 2016.

[20] Credit: BBC, ‘Potter fans snap up latest book’, News.BBC.co.uk, 16^th July 2005.

1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book and film, was to be a turning point in the Harry Potter series, for various reasons.

Book Three was the point where the story became a lot darker. Here, Harry encounters people from his parents’ past, learns secrets and mysteries about their death, and comes face-to-face with some more terrifying beings in the Wizarding World. As well as dealing with all of this, Harry is still being tormented with the potential return of Lord Voldemort, who murdered his parents, and has to deal with that most dreaded of time: puberty. Yes, even witches and wizards have to endure those awkward teenage years!

Film Three was going to deal with these topics, but had some changes of its own. The director who had created the whimsical, enchanting Hogwarts that we had seen in the first two films decided not to return for the third film, and was replaced with Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, who had a history of making coming-of-age movies and delving into the realm of fantasy, making him a good choice to take the helm for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which had to be darker and more mature. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, along with introducing more new characters to the franchise, had to cope with a difficult recasting too, that of Richard Harris as Dumbledore after Harris’ passing in 2002. The role of Dumbledore passed over to another legendary British actor, Sir Michael Gambon, who made the character his own, becoming more eccentric, but still commanding.

With all these changes going on, and a lack of interest in the novels, although a love for the second film, it’s not much of a surprise that eleven-year-old me completely ignored the cinema release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Instead, my dad, my sister, and I watched it on DVD months later, and honestly, I thought very little of it. I didn’t understand the time-travelling sequence, even though it’s not all that complicated, so I can’t have been paying much attention, and there were just too many dark elements to it for me.

Having rewatched this film multiple times as an adult though, I have found parts of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that I like, and luckily, I have worked out the time-travelling and how it relates to the sequence of events that takes place. And yet, despite this third film and book being a fan-favourite, I would consider it my least favourite of the films. This does sometimes swap positions with the fifth film, but Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix does at least involve lots of my favourite villains, making it more interesting for me.

PLOT

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins with Harry Potter secretly practising magic in his room at night, specifically the Lumos spell. Harry is still staying with the Dursleys, and his aunt Petunia, uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. Uncle Vernon keeps hearing noise from Harry’s room and keeps coming into his room to find out what Harry is up to, but every time Harry just pretends to be asleep.

On a new day, Harry finds that Uncle Vernon’s sister Marge is coming for a visit. Harry tries to get Vernon to sign a permission slip for school, so he can visit the town close to Hogwarts School, Hogsmeade. Vernon says he will only sign it if Harry behaves himself. Harry retorts he will behave if Marge does. At dinner that night, Marge tells Harry he’s lucky that her brother chose to take him in and not send him to an orphanage, and continuously insults Harry’s parents, saying Harry’s father was a lazy drunk, but that Harry’s real issues no doubt stem from his mother. Harry angrily tells Marge to shut up, and the glass Marge is holding shatters in her hand. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia start to worry, knowing this was Harry’s magic, but Marge believes it was just her strong grip. As Marge is about to respond to Harry, she sees her finger is swelling up. Soon, her whole body has swollen up like a balloon. Marge bounces out of the dining room, out of the conservatory, and out of the Dursleys’ house entirely. Uncle Vernon tries to hang on to Marge, but after receiving a bite from Marge’s dog Ripper, he lets go. Marge flies away into the night sky…

Knowing he’s in trouble now, Harry packs up all of his things and tries to leave the house. Uncle Vernon demands Harry bring Marge back now, but he refuses. In actual fact, I don’t think he knows how! Harry threatens Vernon with magic, making Vernon step away. However, Vernon reminds Harry that he won’t be allowed back at Hogwarts now, after doing magic whilst he is still under the age of 17, a highly enforced law in the Wizarding World. Harry pretends not to care and leaves, walking into the night with no plan.

Harry makes his way to the local playground and sits on the curb with his trunk and cases, and his owl Hedwig. As he waits, Harry sees movement in the bushes opposite and looks up to see a large black dog staring at him. Suddenly, a triple-decker purple bus pulls up in front of him. The bus conductor gets off and introduces the bus as the Knight Bus, an emergency form of transport for stranded witches and wizards. Harry is told to get on the bus, and it’ll take him where he wants to go. Harry wants to go to The Leaky Cauldron, a wizarding pub and inn in London. The bus travels at great speed making for a bumpy ride, with the elderly driver Ernie at the helm, and his sarcastic Shrunken Head assistant providing ongoing commentary on the journey. Harry sees the conductor reading the latest edition of the wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet, and notices the front page talking about a man who has escaped the wizarding prisoner Azkaban. The conductor tells Harry that man is Sirius Black, a convicted murderer, and they should all be concerned.

After a near-miss with an elderly woman crossing the road, and almost crashing into two regular double-decker buses, the Knight Bus gets Harry to The Leaky Cauldron, where he is promptly sent to a meeting with the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. Harry fears he is about to get expelled for using magic on Aunt Marge, but Fudge reassures Harry that all is well, Marge has been found and her memory has been wiped; Harry will still be attending Hogwarts this year. Fudge has even brought all the equipment and books for Harry’s Third Year at school to inn. Harry is taken to his room to await the new school year.

The next day, Harry looks over his new school stuff, and is particularly interested by The Monster Book of Monsters, that has a furry cover with eyes. And yet, this book is not fluffy and friendly. The book gets quite bitey when it is opened and goes on a rampage through the room, hiding under Harry’s bed. Harry coaxes it out and hits it with his shoe so it can be closed! Harry then goes downstairs to the pub and is happily surprised to see his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Grainger standing there, although they are arguing about Hermione’s new cat, Crookshanks, and its interest in Ron’s rat Scabbers. Ron then tells the two all about his family’s trip to Egypt. Ron’s father, Mr. Weasley, takes Harry aside and asks him what he knows about Sirius Black. Mr. Weasley tells Harry that Black is still a loyal follower of the dark wizard Voldemort and is eager for his return. He has likely escaped Azkaban because he plans to kill Harry. He warns Harry not to look for Black, to which Harry responds: why would he go looking for someone trying to kill him? Good point.

Soon after, Harry and his friends board the Hogwarts Express to start their new school year, and end up sharing a carriage with a sleeping man, who turns out to be Professor Lupin, a new teacher at Hogwarts. Harry tells Ron and Hermione all he knows about Sirius Black, and they share their concern. Suddenly, the train stops and everywhere starts to feel cold with surfaces frosting over. The three see a skeletal, cloaked figure come to their carriage. It comes in and starts to attack Harry, causing him to faint. Professor Lupin wakes up at this point and repels the attacker. He explains to Harry, when he regains consciousness, that the figure was a Dementor, and was likely searching the train for Sirius Black. He tells Harry to eat some chocolate to feel better and leaves to talk to the train driver. Harry asks if either Ron or Hermione fainted, or heard a scream, like he did. They say they didn’t, only that they felt they’d never be happy again when the Dementor was near them.

At Hogwarts, the students are all assembled in the Great Hall for their usual start-of-term assembly. Professor Dumbledore introduces the students to their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Lupin and explains that Hagrid is the new Professor for Care of Magical Creatures. He also tells everyone that there will be Dementors stationed at Hogwarts this year as they continue their search for Sirius Black. Dumbledore warns the students not to get in the way of the Dementors, as they do not differentiate between real criminals and those who get in their way. And just to boost the mood, he also tells them that happiness can be found if one remembers to turn on the light. So, another fun year then…

The next day, classes begin and Harry and Ron’s first one is Divination class with the spiritual Professor Trelawny. She has the class read each other’s tea leaves. Ron is asked to read Harry’s tea leaves, but struggles to understand them. Professor Trelawny takes the cup, and immediately puts it down, with a little scream. She tells Harry he’s got The Grim. Woah, sounds terrible – and contagious. Another student explains that The Grim is the omen of death, which takes the shape of a large black dog, like the one Harry saw as he was waiting for the Knight Bus. Harry begins to fear for his safety.

As Ron and Harry, and Hermione, who randomly popped up towards the end of Divination class, walk to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, they talk about the class, with Hermione seeing it as a complete joke. Harry forgets about it – for now. At Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid introduces the class to a Hippogriff, a half-bird, half-horse creature, named Buckbeak. Harry is asked to meet Buckbeak first. He gains the creature’s trust and respect so Hagrid puts Harry on its back and Buckbeak takes him on a flight around Hogwarts. On his return, Draco Malfoy doesn’t believe that Buckbeak is dangerous, despite what Hagrid says, and struts up to the creature. It takes an instant disliking to Malfoy and kicks its leg out at him, injuring his arm. Hagrid takes Malfoy to the school hospital.

The next day, Draco milks his injury for all its worth to anyone who will listen, annoying Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hermione says Draco’s father is furious and will not let the incident go. Other students then start discussing the new front page of the newspaper, saying that Sirius Black was spotted in Dufftown, which is not far from Hogwarts. But there’s no time to dwell on that as it is time for their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Professor Lupin. Here, Lupin teaches the students about Boggarts, a creature that shape-shifts into whatever the person looking at it fears the most. He gets the students to line up and use the spell “Riddikulus”, which will turn the Boggart into something funny. The class do well, with Neville Longbottom making his Professor Snape-shaped Boggart show up wearing his grandmother’s clothes, and having Ron turn his spider into a roller-skating spider. However, on Harry’s turn, Professor Lupin pushes in front of him and the Boggart turns into the moon. With Lupin’s spell, it becomes a balloon, blowing into the wardrobe it was kept in.

Later that day, all of Harry’s year are heading out to Hogsmeade, the town where Hogwarts is located, however, Harry did not get his permission slip signed and is not allowed to go. Instead, Harry speaks to Lupin. Lupin apologises to Harry for what happened in class, fearing that the Boggart was going to turn into Lord Voldemort. It actually began to turn into a Dementor, Harry’s newest fear now. Lupin also says he knew Harry’s mother and father, and says Harry is very much like both of them, with Lily’s eyes and James’ talent for trouble.

On returning to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry finds a commotion outside their portrait entryway. The Fat Lady, who would normally allow students entry into the Common Room, has gone, and the portrait is scratched up. Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Filch, the caretaker, arrive to investigate. They find the Fat Lady in another portrait, cowering behind a hippo. She tells Dumbledore that Sirius Black was here, in the castle. Dumbledore orders the castle be secured and searched, whilst the Gryffindor students are made to sleep in the Great Hall. Dumbledore and Snape discuss the risk this poses to Harry, with Snape saying another teacher, like Lupin, may’ve helped Black enter the castle. Dumbledore dismisses this theory. Snape asks if Harry should be warned. Dumbledore says later, not realising that Harry has been awake through all of this and heard everything.

The next day, during Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry is shocked to find that Professor Snape is covering the class. They are told they will be learning about werewolves and Animagi, and the differences between the two. Hermione pops up to class, late again, and says they weren’t due to start learning about these creatures for weeks. Snape assigns an essay on the creatures and how to recognise them. Harry says he can’t possibly have time to write this essay with the Quidditch match going on tomorrow. He tells Harry then he’d best be careful, because even loss of limb won’t excuse him from it.

The Quidditch match takes place in stormy, thundery weather and Harry ends up having to fly high above the stadium to search for the Snitch. He sees an image of The Grim reflected in the clouds during a lightning strike, distracting him. Dementors then start to surround Harry, and despite his attempts to evade them, more and more appear. They attack him, and Harry faints, falling off his broom. The pupils and teachers watch in horror as Harry falls into view. Dumbledore saves him from certain death. Harry wakes up in hospital to find his broom blew into the Whomping Willow and is no more. Harry says to Lupin that he wants to learn how to fight Dementors. Lupin says he will teach him, after the holidays.

To make things even worse, once again, the students are sent off to Hogsmeade, and Harry is still unable to join. He decides to take his Invisibility Cloak there, but is stopped by Ron’s older brothers, Fred and George, who see Harry’s footsteps in the snow. They tell him they want to help him, and proceed to give him the Marauder’s Map, which they stole from Filch’s office. The map shows secret passageways and the movements of individuals in the school, like Dumbledore pacing in his office. Fred and George tell Harry to use the secret passageway that ends up in the Honeydukes sweet shop basement to get to Hogsmeade.

Harry arrives and quickly finds Ron and Hermione who are by the Shrieking Shack, being teased by Draco Malfoy and his friends. Harry, still in the Invisibility Cloak, messes with Draco and the others, getting them to leave, fearing they are being haunted. Harry then hears that Cornelius Fudge and Professor McGonagall need to speak to Madam Rosmerta about Sirius Black. Harry sneaks into the pub to overhear the conversation. Inside, he learns that Sirius Black is the reason that Harry’s parents are dead, as he told Voldemort where they were hiding during the Wizarding War all those years before. They also say Black murdered one of their friends, Peter Pettigrew, who was attempting to warn Harry’s parents what Black had done. Only a single finger of Pettigrew’s was found after Black destroyed him. Harry is horrified to hear that the escaped prisoner is the reason his parents are dead, and to land the killer punch, he learns Black is actually his godfather. Harry storms off, upset. Hermione and Ron find him. Harry says he wants Black to find him, so he can kill him first.

With all this anger inside him, now seems to be a good time for Harry to learn how to repel Dementors. Using a Boggart, Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus charm to do this, however, it requires a strong, happy memory to do this. Harry’s first attempt fails and he faints again, as he uses a simple memory of when he first learnt to fly. Harry asks to go again, choosing a different memory. This time, it works and Harry successfully repels the Dementor-shaped Boggart, using a memory of hearing his parents speaking to him.

Later, Harry learns that Ron and Hermione are fighting again because Scabbers has gone missing and Ron blames Hermione’s cat Crookshanks for it. They head off to see Hagrid as he had a meeting about the “Buckbeak incident”. Hagrid is upset because Buckbeak has been sentenced to death, thanks to testimony from Draco Malfoy’s father.

That night, Harry is looking at the Marauder’s Map as everyone else is asleep. He sees the name “Peter Pettigrew” on there. Confused, Harry leaves his dormitory and starts to follow the movements of Pettigrew, not understanding how he can be in the castle when he is dead. Harry doesn’t find anything though, and is actually found by Professor Snape. Harry tries to hide the map, but Snape sees a piece of parchment and puts a spell on it to reveal its “secrets”. Harry is ordered to read what it says. It turns out to be an insult to Snape. Lupin arrives just in time, and is given the parchment to investigate by Snape. Lupin takes Harry back to his office, telling Harry the map was a silly thing to have in his possession because it would be a map to Harry should Sirius Black find it. Harry apologises for not handing it in, but says the map doesn’t seem to work anyway. Lupin asks why he thinks that and Harry reveals that the deceased Peter Pettigrew was spotted on it.

The next day, in Divination class, Professor Trelawny is trying to inspire her students again, but Hermione tries to make a mockery of the class by referencing The Grim again. Trelawny tells Hermione she has no aptitude for this class, having a shrivelled dry soul like an old maid. Hermione walks off in a huff, and knocks over one of the crystal balls which rolls out of the room. On leaving the class, Harry sees the ball and returns it to the classroom. Harry then sees Sirius Black in the ball, and Trelawny appears in some sort of trance. She says he will return to tonight; he who betrayed his friends and whose heart rots with murder shall break free, innocent blood will be spilt, and servant and master shall be reunited once more. Harry is terrified, but Trelawny doesn’t remember a thing!

That evening, Hermione, Ron, and Harry go to Hagrid’s Hut as support because this is the day that Buckbeak is to be executed. Before they get there, they see Draco and his friends wanting to watch the execution. Hermione threatens Draco for his role in all this, and punches him in the face. They run away. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spend time with Hagrid and want to set Buckbeak free but know they cannot, and besides, Dumbledore, Fudge, and the executioner are already here. They are told to leave, and just before they do, Hagrid returns Scabbers to Ron. They sneak out the back door and run back up the hill. They see the executioner raise his axe and bring it down, as birds scatter. It is done.

Randomly, Scabbers then chooses that moment to bite Ron and runs to the Whomping Willow. Ron manages to retrieve him, but then sees a black dog behind Harry and Hermione. It jumps over them and goes straight for Ron, biting his leg and dragging him into the tree. Hermione and Harry go after him, but the Whomping Willow’s branches start attacking them. After a bit of a struggle, they go into the trunk of the willow and see it is a secret passageway, heading to the Shrieking Shack. They eventually find Ron, who tells them the dog was actually Sirius Black – he is an Animagus, someone who can transform into an animal at will. Sirius Black approaches them, causing Harry to attack him, trying to strangle him, but Black simply laughs. Professor Lupin then arrives and quickly shows himself to be on the side of Black. Black says they have to kill him now. Hermione is shocked to find that Lupin is on Black’s side, and reveals that she knows Lupin is a werewolf. Lupin explains that it was not Black who betrayed Harry’s parents, but was actually Peter Pettigrew. Lupin realised Pettigrew must’ve faked his death after Harry said he saw the name on the map. Snape then arrives and says he looks forward to bringing Black to the Dementors, and is pleased with himself for knowing Lupin was the one helping him.

However, Harry wants to know more about what Black and Lupin are saying so disarms Snape instead. They say that Pettigrew is in this room and points to Ron. Ron thinks they’ve gone crazy, but they say Pettigrew is the rat. Ron says that can’t be true as Scabbers has been in his family for about twelve years, which is a very long lifespan for a common garden rat. “Scabbers” tries to escape the room, but his true form is revealed before he can do so. Black and Lupin want to kill Pettigrew now for betraying their friends, but Harry says they should take him to the Dementors.

They all head to the castle, with Ron needing some help after getting a nasty bite from Black whilst he was in his dog form! Outside of the Whomping Willow, Black becomes distracted by the fresh air, admiring Hogwarts. He asks Harry if he would like to live with him instead of the Dursleys, once this “misunderstanding” has been cleared up. Harry says he’d like that. All of a sudden, they notice the full moon and see Lupin transforming into a werewolf. Pettigrew takes the opportunity to turn himself back into a rat and run off. Lupin then starts to attack the group. Snape comes out of the tree to have a word with Harry but sees Lupin, and tries to protect the children. Black turns back into a dog and fights Lupin. They hear a wolf call and Lupin runs off into the forest to follow it. Black turns back into his human self and tumbles down a hill. Harry follows him, finding Black unconscious by the side of a lake. A large group of Dementors come to attack Black, and Harry as he is seemingly an accomplice. Black’s last breath appears to be taken, but then, Harry sees a powerful Patronus charm being cast from across the lake. The Dementors vanish. Harry passes out.

Harry wakes up in hospital and proclaims it was his dad who cast the Patronus charm. Hermione tells Harry to listen to her: the Dementors are going to perform their “kiss” on Sirius Black soon, which will suck out his soul. Dumbledore comes in and Harry, Hermione, and Ron, who is also in a hospital bed with his bad leg, tells Dumbledore that Black is innocent. Dumbledore believes them but knows it is not enough to persuade anyone else. He starts talking about time and retracing their steps, and that more than one life could be spared tonight, saying “three turns ought to do it”, before leaving. Confused, Harry looks to Hermione, who has already wrapped a necklace with a pocket watch on it around his neck. Hermione turns the watch three turns and Harry sees they have gone back in time. It is now 7:30pm. Hermione asks what they did at that time last night. Harry says they were going to Hagrid’s. Hermione and Harry go there.

Harry witnesses Hermione punching Draco and can’t understand what is going on. Hermione pulls Harry into a hiding place and explains that the necklace she has is a Time Turner. Professor McGonagall gave it to her on the first day of term so she could attend all the classes she wanted to that year. She warns Harry that they cannot be seen by their past selves. She tells Harry to follow her to Hagrid’s.

They hide behind the pumpkins by Hagrid’s Hut, and wait for themselves to leave, because they cannot take Buckbeak right away, as they need Fudge and Dumbledore to see it first so they don’t suspect Hagrid. Hermione wonders why they aren’t leaving, and sees a pebble on the pumpkins that looks like one she saw in the hut that night. She realises she must’ve thrown the two that hit a pot and then Harry, prompting them to look out the window and know that they had to leave right that minute. Hermione does just that and she and Harry hide in the forest, as their past selves take their place by the pumpkins. They wait for their past selves to leave, before coaxing Buckbeak into the forest with dead ferrets. They are successful, despite being spotted by Dumbledore, who distracts Fudge. Fudge then turns around to find Buckbeak has vanished. He wants to search for Buckbeak but Dumbledore tells him not to bother and asks Hagrid if they can stay for a drink. The executioner instead uses his axe to split a pumpkin.

Harry and Hermione then wait in the forest close to the Whomping Willow. They see Lupin and Snape enter the tree, so wait for the events to play out. Whilst they do, Harry reiterates that his dad performed that Patronus charm and tells Hermione that Sirius asked Harry to live with him. All of a sudden, they see everyone leaving the Whomping Willow and watch as Lupin transforms into a werewolf and starts to attack them all. Hermione makes a wolf call, learning that she was the one to do that and get Lupin away from them. However, this means that this has now drawn Lupin to them. Harry and Hermione are chased through the forest, with Buckbeak coming to their rescue to fight off Lupin. They then watch as the Dementors come to the lake and see the attack on past Harry and Sirius across the lake. Harry says they just need to wait for his dad to come and perform the charm. Hermione says no-one is coming and fears that the past Harry and Sirius are about to die. Harry stands up and casts the very powerful Patronus charm himself, making the Dementors flee. The two then fly on Buckbeak to free Sirius from the Dark Tower. They take Sirius to the courtyard.

In the courtyard, Harry is told he must stay at Hogwarts but that he and Sirius will be reunited soon. Sirius tells Harry what he is always being told: that he looks so much like his father but has his mother’s eyes. On this occasion, Harry doesn’t mind being told that for maybe the hundredth time! Sirius says that the ones that love us never leave us, and flies away on Buckbeak to lie low for a while.

Hermione and Harry run back to the hospital to be back at the point where they went back in time. They tell Dumbledore that they succeeded in their mission; Dumbledore feigns ignorance and wishes them a goodnight. They arrive back in the hospital and see Ron looking very confused about what just happened! They don’t let him in on the secret.

Harry goes to see Lupin and realises that Lupin is leaving Hogwarts. Lupin says he has decided to leave before any of the parents can complain that they have a werewolf teaching their children at Hogwarts. Harry is sad, both that Lupin is leaving as they had a bond, but also that he sees last night as making no difference because Pettigrew escape. Lupin reminds Harry that he made a world of difference, not least because he spared an innocent man from death. Now that Lupin is no longer his teacher, he also allows Harry to have the Marauder’s Map back, telling him goodbye.

Harry finds his friends in the Great Hall and they excitedly tell him he has a parcel. Sadly, Ron has already half-opened it, blaming it on the poor wrapping, so it is obviously revealed to be a new broomstick, a Firebolt no less. It didn’t come with a note; however, it did come with a Hippogriff feather, meaning it was sent by Sirius. Encouraged by his friends, Harry takes the Firebolt for a quick spin around Hogwarts!

CHARACTERS & CAST

To go alongside the variety of teachers, and actors, we met in the first two stories, such as Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Rubeus Hagrid, in his new role as Professor for Care of Magical Creatures, who all return here, and the large quantity of students who walk the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, like Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Draco Malfoy, Fred and George Weasley, and of course, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Grainger, who are also back for this film, numerous new characters are introduced to us in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

After Professor Lockhart’s departure at the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts needs a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. This time, Professor Remus Lupin was hired. Harry, Ron, and Hermione first meet him on the Hogwarts Express, and luckily find out that he is actually a very competent teacher – unlike Lockhart – because he successfully repels a Dementor that is attacking Harry. Lupin also proclaims chocolate to be the great healer of all ills, so that’s another reason to trust him! Lupin is kind and supportive to his students, most of all Harry, who he bonds with over their conversations about Harry’s parents. However, Lupin is hiding a dark secret – that he is actually a werewolf. When Lupin transforms into a werewolf, he is not himself, and attacks anyone close to him without realising what he is doing. Because of this, it makes Lupin a danger to his students, and makes his position as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher untenable. His departure from Hogwarts signals the end of his time as a professor, but does not mean a goodbye from the series; Lupin would later return in a different role: as part of “the Order”.

David Thewlis was cast as Lupin, having originally been considered for the part of Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Early in his career, Thewlis won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, amongst others for his role as Johnny Fletcher in the film Naked (1993). Other film roles Thewlis secured after this include the part of Knox Harrington in the crime comedy film The Big Lebowski (1998) and a voice role as Mr. Earthworm in James and the Giant Peach (1996), based on the Roald Dahl novel. After his role in the Harry Potter films, Thewlis went on to appear in many other films, including as Nick Davies in The Fifth Estate (2013); as Dennis Sciama in The Theory of Everything (2014); as Sir Patrick / Ares in Wonder Woman (2017); and as Peylak in Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). More recently, Thewlis has been cast in a variety of television series. For his performance in Season 3 of Fargo (2014-24), where he was cast as V. M. Varga, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Primetime Emmys. Thewlis was also nominated for a BAFTA for his role as Christopher Edwards in the true crime series Landscapers (2021), with Olivia Colman as his co-star. He has also been cast as Norbert Fagin in the Disney+ series The Artful Dodger (2023-present), with Thomas Brodie-Sangster in the title role, and co-starred with Jason Watkins to play Ash Smith in Dirty Business (2026), a miniseries for Channel 4.   

When the audience first hears about Sirius Black, we only know him as a murderer who has escaped from Azkaban prison, a notorious prison in the Wizarding World. We later learn that Black was the reason that Harry’s parents were discovered and killed by Lord Voldemort when Harry was just a baby, and that he killed one of his friends, Peter Pettigrew. All of this led to Black’s detention in Azkaban. During the course of events in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban though, we realise that Black was falsely accused, and had been left to take the blame. Black was always loyal to Harry’s parents and always against Voldemort, revealing that Pettigrew was the one who betrayed them, and then faked his own death, which Black was convicted of. Black shows himself to be a highly loyal person, and not an insane killer, only wanting Pettigrew to pay for all those years Black spent in Azkaban. We also discover that Sirius Black is Harry’s godfather, who later invites Harry to live with him, so he can be away from his awful aunt and uncle. Harry finally gets a real father figure in his life, but knows that he and Sirius must be separated until the heat dies down on Sirius.

Sirius Black was played by Gary Oldman, whose career has spanned film, television, and stage work. On stage, Oldman was cast in performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1980s. In 2025, Oldman starred as Krapp in Krapp’s Last Tape in York. In film, Oldman has been cast in a variety of films, such as playing Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990); portraying Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991); Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992); and for playing James Gordon in the Batman films. Oldman has also been nominated for countless awards for his roles in other films. For portraying Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017), Oldman won the Academy Award, the SAG Award, the BAFTA, and the Golden Globe in the Best Actor category. He would also be nominated at the Academy Awards, amongst others, for his roles as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Solder Spy (2011) and as Herman J. Mankiewicz in Mank (2020). In television, Oldman has become well-known for starring as Jackson Lamb in the Apple TV series Slow Horses (2022-present), for which he has been nominated at the SAG Awards, the BAFTAs, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes. Oldman has also had voice roles in some animated movies, including as Lord Shen in DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), as Lord Ruber in Quest for Camelot (1998), and as Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, and Tiny Tim in Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009), which involved motion capture.

To round out this dysfunctional trio, we have Peter Pettigrew, described by Professor McGonagall as a “lump of a boy”, who used to follow Sirius Black and James Potter, Harry’s father, around when they were at school together. The teachers believe that Pettigrew was “destroyed” by Sirius Black, with only a finger left as evidence of his existence, however, it turns out Pettigrew faked his death, cutting off his own finger to frame Sirius for his murder, before disappearing by shape-shifting into a rat. This rat would end up with the Weasley family being named Scabbers. How weird must it have been for Ron to find out that the rat he has been holding on to for years was actually a man in his mid-30s… Pettigrew is forced to confront his past by Black and Lupin as they make him regain his human form. Here, Pettigrew admits he did give away Harry’s parent’s location to Voldemort out of fear. Black wants to kill Pettigrew for this act of cowardice but Harry says they should let the Dementors deal with him. Sadly, Pettigrew gets away as the group become distracted by Lupin’s werewolf transformation and scurries off in his rat form. Nowhere knows where he ends up.

Timothy Spall was cast as Peter Pettigrew. One of Spall’s earliest film roles was as Harry in Quadrophenia (1979), going on to be cast as Barry Spencer Taylor in the British comedy series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983-86, 2002-04). He was BAFTA-nominated for his roles as Maurice Purley in Secrets & Lies (1996), and as Richard Temple in Topsy-Turvy (1999). Spall has been cast in various films of different genres, including as Rosencrantz in the Kenneth Branagh-directed Hamlet (1996); voicing Nick in Aardman’s Chicken Run (2000); being cast as Mr. Poe in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004); and playing Nathaniel in Disney’s Enchanted (2007); and Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Spall would have further success with his role as Peter Taylor in The Damned United (2009), and for his portrayal of artist J. M. W. Turner in Mr. Turner (2014), winning numerous awards including the Cannes Film Festival’s award for Best Actor. Spall also portrayed Winston Churchill in the critically-acclaimed The King’s Speech (2010). More recently, Spall was cast as Equerry Major Alistair Gregory in Spencer (2021), and as Bernie Cheshire in Netflix’s Goodbye June (2025). In series, Spall won a BAFTA television award for his performance as Peter Farquhar in the BBC true crime series The Sixth Commandment (2023), going on to be cast as the Duke of Norfolk in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (2024), which starred Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell. Currently, Spall stars as John Chapel in the BBC crime series Death Valley (2025-present).

Professor Trelawny is the Divination teacher at Hogwarts, who we first see in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, although she is not a new teacher to the school. Trelawny’s Divination classes consist of teaching the students about interpreting signs around them, such as through tea leaves or through crystal balls. Many students don’t take Trelawny’s classes very seriously, especially Hermione who doesn’t believe in auras, and seeing into the future. Trelawny, however, does prove to be useful, as she does predict that Harry is in danger, although her prediction of The Grim, which would’ve meant imminent death to him, was not quite right, and she delivers a prophecy to him that does turn out to be true, as the truth of what happened to Harry’s parents is revealed in the Shrieking Shack with Sirius Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Trelawny is a bit strange but she means well.

Dame Emma Thompson was cast as Professor Trelawny. In the 1990s, Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Actress in Howards End (1992) for her role as Margaret Schlegel and was nominated the next year in the same category for The Remains of the Day (1993) where she played Miss Kenton. In 1995, Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), playing the part of Elinor Dashwood, where she was once again nominated for Best Actress, and won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Thompson later became known for her roles of Karen in Love Actually (2003); and as Nanny McPhee in the 2005 movie of the same name and its 2010 sequel. Thompson has been cast in both live-action and voice roles for numerous Disney movies as well. She voiced the character of Captain Amelia in Disney Animation’s Treasure Planet (2002) and voiced Queen Elinor in Pixar’s Brave (2012), before starring as P. L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks (2013) alongside Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, and was cast as Baroness von Hellman in Cruella (2021). Recently, Thompson played Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical (2022); Nancy Stokes in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022); and Dame Katherine Newbury in Late Night (2019), receiving nominations at the Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the latter two roles. Currently, Thompson stars as Zoë Boehm in Down Cemetery Road (2025-present) for Apple TV. Thompson was made a Dame in 2018. Allegedly, Tilda Swinton was up for the role of Professor Trelawny, however, she was not cast due to scheduling conflicts, although some report she simply did not want to be involved[1].

There was also a new addition to the Dursley family, as Uncle Vernon’s sister, Marge, came to visit the family at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with her bulldog, Ripper. Marge had previously been alluded to in the first Harry Potter film, after Vernon reads out a postcard from her. Aunt Marge is rude and insensitive, simply saying what she thinks without any care for who is around her. She says that Harry is lucky that her brother didn’t send Harry off to an orphanage after his parents died, whereas she wouldn’t have kept him, and then goes on to check that Harry is being disciplined at his school. The final straw for Harry is when Marge starts discussing Harry’s mother and father, saying that Harry’s father must’ve been a deadbeat because he didn’t work, and that perhaps that is why Harry is the way he is. She moves on to Harry’s mother, saying that is really where the problems would stem, which naturally riles Harry up, leading to him inadvertently using magic to make her swell up and fly off into the sky. Luckily, Harry doesn’t see her again, although she is found and dealt with so she has no memory of the incident.

Pam Ferris was cast as Aunt Marge. For those watching the Harry Potter films in the 2000s, they’d likely have known Ferris from her role as Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda (1996), the non-musical and original adaptation of the Roald Dahl film. Ferris was actually nominated at the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her terrifying portrayal of the character. She was also known for starring as Florence “Ma” Larkin in The Darling Buds of May (1991-93) on ITV, with David Jason being cast as “Pop” and Catherine Zeta-Jones playing their on-screen daughter Mariette. Also in the 1990s, Ferris starred as Peggy Snow from Series 1 until Series 4 of the ITV drama Where the Heart Is (1997-2006), being nominated at the National Television Awards for Most Popular Actress for her role here. In the 2000s, Ferris was cast as Cath Smith, Smithy’s mum, in the popular comedy series Gavin & Stacey (2007-24), and as Laura Thyme in ITV’s Rosemary & Thyme (2003-07), co-starring with Felicity Kendal. She played Sister Evangelina in the BBC’s drama series Call the Midwife (2012-present) up until Series 5.

Now, for some smaller roles. The Knight Bus sequence features a few characters who only appear for that section. They are the Bus Conductor, who seems quite bored and irritated by his job! He begrudgingly lets Harry onto the bus, wanting him to hurry up and get on, and then struggling to carry his luggage on to it. He just wants to get going with as little chat as possible, although he does tell Harry who Sirius Black is after Harry sees him on the front of the newspaper, albeit rather dramatically. The attitude of the Bus Conductor is quite a contrast to the magical experience of being on the Knight Bus, but I do love his line: “What’cha fell over for?”, when he sees Harry lying on the curb as the bus picks him up.

The Bus Conductor was played by Lee Ingleby. Ingleby went on to be cast as Mole in the 2006 BBC TV adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, going on to have roles in numerous television series after that. Some of these include DS / DI John Bacchus in BBC’s Inspector George Gently (2007-17); George Mottershead in the drama series Our Zoo (2014); and as DI Tony Myerscough for the Netflix series Criminal: UK (2019-20). Recently, Ingleby was cast as DSI Jim Hobson in The Long Shadow (2023); as DCS Neil Adamson in The Hunt for Raoul Moat (2023); as David Leigh in The Hack (2025), all for ITV.

The Knight Bus is being driven by the elderly Ernie, who doesn’t seem to be able to see very well, so uses his talking Shrunken Head next to him to be his eyes. The Shrunken Head alerts Ernie to the fact they are about to run over an old lady crossing the road, and that the bus is about to crash with two double-decker buses, leading to Ernie braking sharply in the first instance and then slimming the bus to get in between the two buses. Ernie might be an erratic driver, but the Knight Bus certainly gets people where they need to fast!

Ernie was played by actor Jimmy Gardner. Gardner was cast as Con Lynch in 10 Rillington Place (1971), which starred Richard Attenborough. Around the time of his casting in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gardner appeared as Mr. Snow in Finding Neverland (2004). He passed away in 2010. The voice of the Shrunken Head was provided by comedian and actor Sir Lenny Henry. Henry went on to voice other characters in film, such as Peg-Leg Hasting in Aardman’s The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists (2012); Mr. Convenience in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024); and The Great Know-All in The Magic Faraway Tree (2026). Recently, Henry appeared as Sadoc Burrows in the Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-present) and wrote the drama television series Three Little Birds (2023) which aired on ITV, also appearing as Remuel Drake. He had also previously written and starred as Samson in the television film Danny and the Human Zoo (2015). Henry was later revealed to be Blob in Series 2 of The Masked Singer UK (2020-present). He received the Special Recognition Award for his work at the National Television Awards in 2022.

 At The Leaky Cauldron, Tom, the innkeeper, welcomes Harry after his arrival of the Knight Bus, also having to turn his car alarm off after the Knight Bus hits into his car! Tom shows Harry to his meeting with Cornelius Fudge, before taking Harry to his room. Tom was played by Jim Tavaré, who was part of the ITV sketch comedy show The Sketch Show (2001-04) around this time, appearing with other comedic actors like Lee Mack, Tim Vine, and Ronni Ancona. He later appeared as The Dog Catcher in Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (2014). Tavaré is also a stand-up comedian.

At Hogwarts, the Fat Lady is the portrait that is the entryway to the Gryffindor Common Room. For Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Fat Lady seems to have had a makeover and a personality transplant, as she looks completely different to the regal woman who guards the Common Room in the first film. In this third film, the Fat Lady is too distracted trying to prove her singing abilities to let the students in on one occasion, irritating Harry, and on another, she is seen hiding in a completely different portrait after she sees Sirius Black in the castle; she is terrified. We don’t actually know what happened to her after that, but I can only assume she went back to her regular duties after some time off to reset!

Dawn French was cast as the Fat Lady here. French is known for her comedy sketch show French and Saunders (1987-93, 1994-2005) with fellow comedienne Jennifer Saunders. The two were awarded the BAFTA Television Fellowship in 2009 for their work. French is also known for her role as Geraldine Granger in the comedy series The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007). She starred in other series too, like as Rosie Bales in Jam & Jerusalem (2006-09) and as Joy Aston in Psychoville (2009-11), before being cast as Gina Benelli in the Sky drama series Delicious (2016-19), which also starred Emilia Fox. She also played Maggie Cole in the ITV series The Trouble with Maggie Cole (2020), starring alongside Mark Heap. Recently, French and Heap appeared together as husband and wife once again in a new comedy series called Can You Keep a Secret? (2026-present), playing Debbie and William Fendon respectively. In film, French voiced the part of Miriam Forcible in Coraline (2009) and played Mrs. Bowers in Death on the Nile (2022).

Then we have Madam Rosmerta, the pub landlady of The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. She is annoyed with Cornelius Fudge for sending Dementors into her pub as they search for Sirius Black, and then is asked to have a meeting with him and Professor McGonagall where she learns more about Black and his complicated past with Harry Potter. The three don’t realise that Harry has snuck in and overhead all of this. This is the only appearance of Madam Rosmerta, though we also learn that Ron fancies her!

Julie Christie was cast as Madam Rosmerta. Early in her career, Christie was cast as Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago (1965); as Diana Scott in Darling (1965); and as Clarisse / Linda Montag in Fahrenheit 451 (1966), earning her numerous award wins and nominations, including a BAFTA and Oscar win for her role in Darling. Christie was cast as Gertrude in Hamlet (1996), and starred as Phyllis Hart in Afterglow (1997). She received another Oscar nomination for her role in Afterglow, gaining two others during her career: one as Fiona in Away from Her (2006), for which she won the Golden Globe and SAG award for Best Actress amongst others, and another for McCabe & Miller (1971), being cast as Constance Miller alongside Warren Beatty, and another She collaborated with Beatty on other films, including Shampoo (1975), playing Jackie Shawn, and Heaven Can Wait (1978) playing Betty Logan. Christie is played Mrs. Emma du Maurier in Finding Neverland (2004).

Two new students make appearances in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban too, only showing up for this film. One of these is Bem, a student who we meet in Divination, one of the few who seems to take the class seriously as he tells the class just what The Grim is and what it means. Bem was played by Ekow Quartey, who went on to be cast as James in This Way Up (2019-21), a Channel 4 series, created, written and starring comedian Aisling Bea, and appears as JJ in the comedy series Amandaland (2025-present).

Another is Pike, seemingly Malfoy’s new friend, who appears in some scenes with him, when either Crabbe or Goyle, his usual two goons, do not, like when Harry uses his Invisibility Cloak to mess with the group after they start on Ron and Hermione. Pike was played by Bronson Webb. He went on to appear in films such as being cast in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) as Cook; Victor Frankenstein (2015), appearing as Rafferty; and in Pan (2015), where he was cast as Steps. In television, Webb later appeared as Evan Duffield in Series 1 of the crime drama series Strike (2017-present), and more recently, appeared as Jeremy in the Apple TV series Ted Lasso (2020-23).

Finally, I will just mention Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore was first introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, where he was played by Richard Harris. Harris sadly passed away in 2002, forcing the character to be recast. Many actors were considered for the part. One of which was Ian McKellen, who at the time had recently finished playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. He turned down the chance to play Dumbledore as McKellen knew that Harris had previously made negative comments about his acting ability and felt it would not be appropriate to take the part[2]. Chris Columbus also stated that he had had long conversations with Peter O’Toole about taking the part, who Harris’ family very much approved of due to his and Harris’ friendship. O’Toole declined to fulfil the role of Professor Dumbledore, so ultimately, Michael Gambon was chosen for the part, with his portrayal of a more intense and eccentric Dumbledore[3]. Knowing what I know now about how the character of Dumbledore progresses, I’m not sure how Harris would’ve tackled that progression, and I like how Gambon played the character.

Sir Michael Gambon’s career spanned both stage and screen and multiple decades, so will be known for a multitude of roles. He played Baltus Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow (1999), Sir William McCordle in Gosford Park (2001), Alexander Flyte in Brideshead Revisited (2008), and portrayed King George V in The King’s Speech (2010). In his later years, Gambon voiced the character Uncle Pastuzo in the Paddington franchise; played Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army (2016), based on the sitcom, and was cast as Billy “The Fish” Lincoln, alongside Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, and Tom Courtenay in King of Thieves (2018). He was also cast as Bernard Delfont in the biopic Judy (2019), which starred Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland, and was also appearing in television series in the 2010s. Examples of these are playing Howard Mollison in the BBC/HBO miniseries The Casual Vacancy (2015), based on J.K. Rowling’s novel; and appearing as Henry Tyson in Season 1 of Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude (2015-18). Throughout his lifetime, Gambon won numerous awards, including four BAFTA Television Awards for Best Actor in series like The Singing Detective (1986) in the role of Philip Marlow, and Perfect Strangers (2001) as Raymond, as well as winning three Olivier Awards for his roles in the stage productions of A Chorus of Disapproval in 1984; A View from the Bridge in the 1987 revival, and Man of the Moment in 1988. Sir Michael Gambon will also always be remembered for his legendary lap of the Top Gear (2002-22) track as part of the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment, as he took one of the last corners on two wheels, having the corner renamed for him after that. Sir Michael Gambon was knighted in 1998, and sadly passed away in September 2023.

MUSIC

Legendary composer John Williams, who had composed the scores for both Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was back to compose the score for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Williams is known for composing music for such movie franchises as Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park, winning numerous awards, including Grammys and Academy Awards, during his career.

Since Williams composed it and included it in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the track “Hedwig’s Theme” has become iconic, and the music immediately links back to the Harry Potter films. It always makes an appearance in the opening titles of any Harry Potter film. In this case, it is used as Harry practises the Lumos spell late at night, with the track titled “Lumos! (Hedwig’s Theme)”.

Other pieces of music I like within the score include the jazzy “The Knight Bus”, which mimics the crazy ride that the bus takes Harry on through London; the magical “Buckbeak’s Flight”, accompanying Harry’s ride around Hogwarts on Buckbeak the Hippogriff; and “A Window to the Past”, which is used when Harry and Lupin are discussing his parents on the footbridge. The ethereal voices that feature in “The Patronus Light” are also very fitting for the almost miraculous moment when Harry casts the Patronus that saves his and Sirius’ lives from the Dementors. It’s quiet, but powerful. “Forward to Time Past”, playing as Harry and Hermione travel back in time, is also a good one, although the ticking clock sounds can get a bit irritating if you listen to it too many times!

There are many scarier moments in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban too, so these are conveyed through the music. Any scene with the Dementors is tense, as they replace happiness with darkness, and this is reflected in both “Apparition on the Train”, when Harry is attacked by a Dementor on the Hogwarts Express, and “The Dementors Converge”, when they swarm around Harry and Sirius by the lake. Lupin turning into a werewolf is also quite terrifying so “Lupin’s Transformation” and “The Werewolf Scene” express that feeling.

There is also one actual song in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, performed by the Hogwarts students and their “Frog Choir”, with Professor Flitwick conducting. This takes place as the students are welcomed back to Hogwarts for their first day of term. It is called “Double Trouble”, with the lyrics being inspired by the Three Witches in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. I very much like this song, and feel that it sounds quite mysterious and creepy, matching the darker tone of this film.

As with both the previous two films, Williams was recognised for his work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, returning to the Academy Awards with a nomination for Best Original Score. Williams had not received a nomination at the Oscars for his score on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. At the Oscars, Williams did not win, with Jan A. P. Kaczmarek winning for his work on Finding Neverland (2004). Williams’ score was also nominated at the Grammys, for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The winner turned out to be Howard Shore and John Kurlander for their music in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), the final film in the trilogy. However, Williams did win a BMI Film Music Award in 2005 for his score on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and won the Public Choice Award at the World Soundtrack Albums for it. He was also nominated at those awards for Soundtrack Composer of the Year and Best Original Score of the Year. The winner of both categories was Gabriel Yared for Cold Mountain (2003). 

PRODUCTION

After the success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, their director Christopher Columbus was rightly exhausted.

The two films had been filmed quite close together, with filming on the second film starting as the first one was released to theatres. Columbus had assumed he’d have the energy to complete the full series, but found after the second film that he couldn’t. The filming schedules had been intense, more intense than anticipated, and Columbus knew he could not repeat that over and over for another seven, or eight years.

Although stepping down as the director, Columbus did continue to have a presence and an input in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as a producer[4]. But this meant that a new director for this third film would need to be found, with plenty to choose from.   

Some names that were considered were Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker famed for his work on fantasy and horror films like The Shape of Water (2017) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and more recently, Frankenstein (2025), and M. Night Shyamalan, whose early films included The Sixth Sense (1999) and Signs (2002). However, Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón was hired to lead Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Cuarón had previously directed the film adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel A Little Princess (1995) before making Y tu mamá también (2001), which was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, and won this award at the Venice Film Festival. No doubt with his experience from these two films in particular, of dealing with fantasy and coming-of-age themes, Cuarón was seen to be well-placed to tackle the more serious events that play out in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, propelling the series forward into darker territory, where danger lurks around every corner, and the feeling is more of melancholy than triumph. Apparently, Guillermo del Toro encouraged Cuarón to take the offer of directing this third Harry Potter film, despite Cuarón having not read the books beforehand. Cuarón went on to direct movies such as Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018), winning the Academy Award for Best Director for both. Roma also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and Cuarón won BAFTAs for Best Direction for both films.

For a third time, Steve Kloves was tasked with adapting Rowling’s third novel in order to write the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Whereas Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were seen to be quite faithful to their respective source material, with this being both praised and criticised by viewers, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban did not strictly follow all the elements of Rowling’s novel, which was, again, both criticised and praised by fans.

Despite the third novel having quite a complex story, Rowling said that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the easiest one to write, of the five novels she had written by 2004. Rowling had creative input into the story of all the Harry Potter films, especially the earlier ones that were being made without the full series having been published. This was to ensure continuity and adherence to the rules of the Wizarding World she had created. For example, there were location ideas for some scenes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that had to be vetoed due to them not fitting into the universe. However, Rowling was well aware that her entire novel could not be adapted word-for-word and scene-by-scene for the screen, so at times, she understood the need for certain moments to be dropped for the films. She also appreciated the creation of new moments for the films, such as the Shrunken Head on the Knight Bus, wishing she’d come up with that herself[5]!

I haven’t read the books, but in my opinion, the most important story points within Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that were required to understand later plot points were included in this film. Some examples are the backstory into Harry’s parents’ deaths, and the dynamic between those involved, i.e., Lord Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. and the introduction of characters that would make a return in later films, with those three and Lupin being the main ones. If you can understand the conversation in the Shrieking Shack, then the rest of the series will be understandable. We also got to see new elements of the Wizarding World in this film, like the Knight Bus, Hogsmeade village, and the Shrieking Shack, along with the Marauder’s Map, which is referenced in later films.

Outside of that, there might have been moments that fans of the book may’ve liked to see, but that aren’t all that important to the films, like how characters got certain items. For example, in the book, you’d discover that Professor McGonagall sought special permission from the Ministry of Magic to allow for Hermione to use the Time Turner, in order to attend all her classes. In the film, we are just told that McGonagall gave it to Hermione. Hermione also has a cat in this film, named Crookshanks. We aren’t told how she got it in the film, but in the book, Hermione purchases Crookshanks whilst out in Diagon Alley that summer. In the film, Harry spends his time in The Leaky Cauldron and does not go out, but in the book, he enjoys his summer in Diagon Alley with his friends. There is also more about Ron and Hermione’s feud over their pets in the novel[6].

There were a few other story points that were omitted that fans might have liked to see. One of these relates to the Quidditch Cup. In the book, Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup, and there are additional Quidditch matches, where the character Cho Chang is actually first introduced, as Ravenclaw’s Seeker. In the film series, Cho Chang is not introduced until the fourth film. In the third film, we only see the one match, where Harry is attacked by Dementors and his broom ends up destroyed. Speaking of brooms, in the film, Harry receives a gift of a new broom, the Firebolt, at the very end, with this being a gift from Sirius, only known to Harry and Hermione as they see it came with a Hippogriff feather. In the book, the Firebolt is actually sent to Harry earlier in the year, and as Hermione suspects it was sent by Sirius Black, who they still believed wanted to kill Harry, she reports it to Professor McGonagall who confiscates it for testing, before returning it to Harry later. Sirius would also sign Harry’s permission slip, allowing him to go to Hogsmeade in later stories, which is not mentioned in the films, and Sirius gifts Ron an owl named Pigwidgeon to replace Scabbers.

Lastly, there is one story point that might’ve been useful to viewers who were unfamiliar with the books, and that is around the Marauder’s Map. It is possible to piece together the creators of this map from references in later films, but it isn’t something that is outwardly talked about in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. The map was created by four people who call themselves Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. In the book, Lupin reveals to Harry and his friends that he was in fact Moony; Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew – with this nickname being used in later films; Padfoot was Sirius Black – again, we hear this name again later; and Prongs was James Potter. The four created it so they could know where Filch was at all times to stop themselves getting into trouble, although Filch did eventually confiscate the map from them. These nicknames refer to their Animagus forms, with Padfoot being a dog, Wormtail a rat, and Prongs a stag. The three students became Animagi to help Lupin during his werewolf transformations. This would’ve been good backstory to have at this time, but it’s not hard to connect the dots later[7]. We also don’t hear how Sirius escaped from Azkaban – by transforming into his Animagus – in the film, but again, it might have been nice to know, although not relevant to the unfolding story.

Some have also been annoyed about Harry’s opening scene of practising the Lumos spell at night, because this ignores the underage magic law, with this technically being illegal use of magic as Harry is under the age of 17 and not at school. Yet, Harry doesn’t become worried about being expelled until he accidently blows up Aunt Marge. This was an oversight I presume, and was just an opening shot to take the viewer right into the magical world.

It was decided that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had to feel darker, more dangerous, and show the child actors growing up, because they are thirteen in this story, so teenagers, and teenagers behave more erratically and are more emotional. This meant Cuarón wanted to treat his actors like adults, even giving Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint an essay assignment in order to get them to think about their characters and how they are evolving, also giving Cuarón further insight into how the actors see their characters, since they knew the characters better than he did. In this case, Watson and Radcliffe both completed the assignment, however, Grint did not. When asked by Cuarón about why he did not do it, Grint simply said he felt that Ron just wouldn’t do it!

This film could also be seen as a turning point in terms of the three main actors’ acting abilities. Columbus had said himself how it had been a bit of a struggle at times to get the child actors to focus whilst on set due to their young age. For Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Watson, Radcliffe, and Grint were no doubt starting to take their acting more seriously, and bringing in further brilliant British actors was a good opportunity for the three to learn from some of the best. Radcliffe in particular was a big fan of Gary Oldman’s work and the two got on very well, with Oldman even teaching Radcliffe had to play the guitar. This friendship between the two actors was no doubt helpful to translate that dynamic on screen for the scenes between Harry and Sirius; you can see the bond on screen. Radcliffe also remembers the Shrieking Shack scene, with the confrontation between Lupin, Pettigrew, Black, and Snape, thinking it was like watching a major acting masterclass play out before them between David Thewlis, Timothy Spall, Gary Oldman, and Alan Rickman.

Cuarón wanted to put his own stamp on the Harry Potter franchise with this film and to do that, he wanted to focus some attention on making Hogwarts and its grounds feel like a living entity. This is obvious by some of the sequences that simply focus on the landscape, like the one of the bird as it flies around Hogwarts – only to fly straight into the Whomping Willow. Cuarón wanted the viewers to be able to connect different areas of Hogwarts together from this film. He also wanted to create a certain mood and atmosphere in this film, with darker skies, more rain and mist, adding to the already tense story moments[8].

So, where do you go if you want rain and moody landscapes? Scotland, of course! Apparently, they chose to film in May hoping for nice weather but it rained almost every day. This turned out to be a good look for the film though with those overcast grey skies. I actually have a longstanding joke where I compare the weather to which Harry Potter film the sky best represents that day, and it is all thanks to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that I can really do that, because it signalled a gradual darkening of the landscapes and backgrounds of the Harry Potter films as the series progressed.

There were many moments within this story that take place outside, so the natural landscape and the grandeur of the Scottish Highlands were seen to be perfect for this movie. Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands was a specific filming location, with shooting taking place here between May and June 2003. Sets were built near the bottom of Clachaig Gully, overlooking Torren Lochan and Signal Rock forest. These sets included Hagrid’s Hut, complete with its pumpkin patch garden, and the footbridge, or “Bridge to Nowhere”, where Lupin and Harry talk about his parents[9]. Loch Shiel was another location, this being the setting of Harry riding Buckbeak over the water, called the Black Lake in the film.

Other familiar locations were used again too, including the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which the Hogwarts Express goes along, and the Hogwarts Express itself. The train was actually targeted by vandals, who sprayed graffiti on it back in 2003 whilst it was stationed in Scarborough. It cost £3,000 to repaint the affected carriages[10]. Filming also returned to the streets of London, for example, for the location of The Leaking Cauldron near Borough Market, after Leadenhall Market was used in the first film, and the filming of the Knight Bus sequence, with the double-decker bus moment happened on Lambeth Bridge[11].

As with the previous two Harry Potter films, a mixture of special and practical effects were used to achieve the magical moments that appear in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. There are numerous physical transformations in this film, for example.

For Lupin’s, David Thewlis was covered in prosthetics, on his eyes, face, and hands in particular, and put in a split jacket to filmed this scene. Then, the rest of the transformation was moved to the computer to fully animate the full wolf transformation. It would also seem there was some sort of puppetry work with someone dressed up as a wolf on set, which may’ve been a visual marker for the actors or reference material for the computer work.

Peter Pettigrew also has to transform from rat to human and back again. In behind-the-scenes footage, Rupert Grint is seen to be holding an animatronic rat, and Timothy Spall then appears in a rat-like wig with scaly skin and bald patches, and claw-like nails, with the in-between work no doubt being completed digitally.

Aunt Marge swelling up is another transformation, which seems to have been done with the use of prosthetics and inflatable fat suits. There were different versions of these to show the swelling progression, and then flying harnesses were used to get Marge to “fly” outside. This was apparently done with no CGI at all.

Cuarón had hoped to not have to use CGI for the Dementors, and originally wanted to use flying puppets, to show them as floating beings with flowing dark robes. This was attempted but it didn’t quite work, so they shot the puppetry underwater and got more of the look they were hoping for but knew this was not practical for the shoot, so they had to go with CGI. After some trial and error and a lot of imagination, they came up with the look of the Dementors, which are basically skeletons in black robes. They look like the personification of Death, like the Grim Reaper, which perfectly matches their demeanour, as they seek to suck out souls and drain all the happiness and hope from their victims.

Another new character for this film was Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Animatronic figures of Buckbeak were created for close-ups and interactions with the actors, which took months to create and were a logistical nightmare to get on set too, but a CGI version was also created for some scenes. Since Hippogriffs are mythological creatures that are half-bird, half-horse, there was a framework to use when determining how Buckbeak would move, as they studied bird and horse bones and movements, discussing with physiologists and veterinarians. For the flight sequence, Daniel Radcliffe was placed on a rig that was set up to match the animation sequences that had already been shot, so Radcliffe’s reactions would fit perfectly when the two were combined. The team also confirmed that Buckbeak even does a CGI poop on screen, as Harry edges towards it during the Care of Magical Creatures class. This was added to give Buckbeak an authentic horse-like behaviour! The team decided this was probably the first time something like that had been done on screen.

Numerous sets were also built for shooting on this film, like the interior of the Knight Bus, with the bus being constructed from parts of actual double-decker buses to make this triple-decker bus and souping it up to be speedier than a regular London bus, and of course, the Shrieking Shack, which was built to look like a wooden, rickety and unstable structure, and was even placed on a moving platform to make the scenes look realistic, to make it seem like the Shack was moving in the wind[12].

The Wizarding World also features numerous animals. The crows in Hagrid’s garden were African pie crows, raised in California and trained. Hagrid’s Hut also has bats flying around it, so these were flown at intervals to go through the hut and back again, much like how owls have been used in the Harry Potter films. Two new pets were brought in for this film as well. A cat named Crackerjack became Crookshanks for this film, but it needed to look dishevelled and “manky”. To do this, its shed hair was used, by rolling it into a ball and clipping it on to the fur to make the cat look scruffy, with a small amount of jelly being put on its face to make it look “weepy”. A bulldog was on set too, becoming Marge’s dog Ripper, and it was trained to be fake-aggressive for its scenes[13].

There were also some funny moments to mention from the filming. One is a prank that was played on Daniel Radcliffe. During the scene of Dumbledore and Snape discussing the break-in at the castle by Sirius Black and Harry’s safety, all the students are sleeping in the Great Hall as the two teachers walk between them. All the actors were in sleeping bags. Radcliffe had apparently asked Cuarón if he could position his sleeping bag next to one of the extras that he had a bit of a crush on. With this in mind, it was the perfect opportunity for a prank, so a fart machine was placed inside Radcliffe’s sleeping bag. And the person with the controller to set this machine off was none other than Michael Gambon! He took this as an opportunity to prank Radcliffe and make him look bad in front of the girl he liked. Cuarón was in on the prank too, and there is actually footage of this online for anyone interested[14]!

To add to that, there was apparently a swear jar on the set to limit the amount of cursing around the young actors, which was a decision made by Cuarón to dissuade himself from swearing in front of the young cast! Also, instead of Hermione slapping Draco in the book, Tom Felton and Emma Watson felt a punch would be more intense for the scene, and had a lot of fun with that scene – even if Watson’s punches were harder than anticipated[15]!

There are some interesting cameos in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban too. One of these is former frontman of the Stone Roses Ian Brown, who can be seen magically stirring a cup whilst reading Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. Brown is a friend of Alfonso Cuarón, so that is why he is in this film in particular. Cuarón’s then-wife and child also make a cameo in one of the portraits that are to the left of the Fat Lady’s portrait. Comedian and actor Paul Whitehouse also made an appearance as Sir Cadogan, an eccentric knight who takes over from the Fat Lady as the entryway to the Gryffindor Common Room, however, this scene was deleted from the final cut of the film. Finally, in the highly detailed Marauder’s Map, you can see Newt Scamander on the map. Scamander was the fictional author of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, later becoming the protagonist of the Fantastic Beasts prequel spin-off film series. The Marauder’s Map is also used for the End Credits scene, showing more secret locations, like a Stink Bomb store.

RECEPTION

After holding its world premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on 23^rd May 2004, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then released in the UK on 31^st May 2004, to coincide with the school half-term dates, with international release dates taking place within the next few weeks in many countries. For example, the US release date was 4^th June. This film was also released in IMAX theatres.

This means Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a summer release, whereas the previous two films had both made it to cinemas for November and the festive season. Both Summer and Thanksgiving or Christmas are popular times for movie studios to show their new films. I think the tone of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was more suited to a summer blockbuster than a magical festive film, but really, a movie can be a success or a failure regardless of what time of year it is released.

In the case of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it did not live up to the financial figures of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001 or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002, although its final box-office total was still decent.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ended its initial theatrical run with just over $795 million, putting it in the No. 2 spot in the Worldwide Box Office for 2004, behind DreamWorks’ Shrek 2, which made just under $930 million. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was just ahead of two other big films of 2004: Spider-Man 2 and Pixar’s The Incredibles, which took $786 million and $631 million respectively. It also beat out other family-friendly films of the year by some margin, such as DreamWorks’ Shark Tale, Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express, and Disney Animation’s Home of the Range. Taking subsequent theatrical re-releases into account, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’s box-office total just over $810 million to date.  

In terms of reviews, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was highly rated. Many liked the additions to the cast, of powerhouse talent like Michael Gambon, Emma Thompson, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, and Timothy Spall. These actors would return to their roles in later Harry Potter films as well. It was appreciated that the tone of this film was darker and went some way to make the franchise feel more mature, as the lead characters became teenagers. Due to this shift in tone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, both the film and the book, is considered the fan-favourite of the entire series. The special effects were also praised, and viewers particularly enjoyed the Time Turner sequence, which ties all the events together to make for an exhilarating and dramatic ending to the story.

However, there will always be negative reviews for any film, and some of these relate to the film being too dark, both in regards to the storyline as well as in the overall look of the movie, especially when compared to the brightness of the first two. Some also commented that the movie was too long, which meant some parts of the story were slow and a bit boring at times. I personally can agree with this, as my attention wanders during some portions of this film, which is why I don’t like it as much as other Harry Potter films. The time-travelling sequence was also considered to be potentially confusing specifically for younger viewers. There is further debate on whether Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is faithful enough to the original books, as some feel that the film strayed away from the book too much, with sections of important plot points completely absent from the film, whereas others liked that the film was not as faithful to the book as the first two had been.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is considered to be the most critically-acclaimed of all the Harry Potter movies, although I would debate that, with critics seemingly liking the final film more. Regardless, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is beloved by the fandom, however, this film turned out to be the lowest-grossing of the entire film series. It is not clear why this was the case, however, it could have had something to do with the film being released 18 months after the second film came out, instead of just having a one-year gap between films, as had been the case with the first two. Others may have also been concerned by the darker elements of the film, feeling it was not going to be as magical or as whimsical as the previous ones, as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins the descent into a deeper and more complicated storyline that is all-encompassing.

Awards might not be everything but they do provide another examination of how well a film was received. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban saw the film return to the Academy Awards nominations list, after Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had been snubbed, although Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban did only get two nominations this time, and not the three that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had achieved. At the Academy Awards, along with John Williams’ nomination for Best Original Score, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for Best Visual Effects, losing to Spider-Man 2. The special effects team would get their deserved credit though at the Visual Effects Society Awards, where they won for Outstanding Visual Effects and Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture for Buckbeak, and were nominated in three other categories, including for Outstanding Models and Miniatures, and for Best Single Visual Effect of the Year, for the Dementor Train sequence. Stuart Craig was also recognised for his Production Design on this film, by winning Production Designer of the Year at the Hollywood Film Awards.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban would also receive numerous nominations at the BAFTA awards, in categories like Best Makeup and Hair, and Best Production Design, losing out to The Aviator; Best Special Visual Effects, with The Day After Tomorrow taking the win; and Outstanding British Film, which was won by My Summer of Love. It did, however, win the Orange Film of the Year here, a category voted for by the public.

The third Harry Potter film also picked up multiple nominations at the Saturn Awards, which honours the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was up for Best Fantasy Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Visual Effects losing to Spider-Man 2 in all cases; Best Supporting Actor for Gary Oldman, which David Carradine won for his role in Kill Bill: Volume 2; and Best Young Actor/Actress for Daniel Radcliffe, with Emmy Rossum winning for her leading role in The Phantom of the Opera. They were also nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Make-Up.

Other award ceremonies where Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban picked up some wins and nominations including the Kids’ Choice Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, and the People’s Choice Awards. At the Kids’ Choice Awards, Harry Potter was nominated for Favorite Movie, losing to The Incredibles, and Favorite Book, which was won by A Series of Unfortunate Events. At the Teen Choice Awards, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban won Choice Movie: Action Adventure, but did not win Choice Summer Movie; Spider-Man 2 did. At the People’s Choice Awards, it lost to Shrek 2 in the Favorite Sequel category.

LEGACY

The early Harry Potter films were being released alongside the publication of the remainder of the Harry Potter book series, meaning that readers were able to know what was going to happen in the rest of the film series. This might make many think that this would decrease the level of interest in the films or the books, but actually, it only increased it, with readers excited to see how their favourite scenes and moments would play out on screen.

In 2003, J.K. Rowling’s fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix was published, becoming the fastest-selling book in history at the time, surpassing that of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s publication in 2000. In 2004, there was no new Harry Potter book for readers to get their hands on, although the sixth book’s publication date was confirmed in December 2004. There were still seven months to wait though, as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would not come to bookshops until July 2005.

So, the new film would have to satisfy the Potter fans until then. A video game based on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film was released in 2004, and it was just as much fun as the previous two films’ games in my opinion. Other merchandise was also available to purchase, such as movie posters, LEGO sets, clothing, and figurines.

Most interesting though was that around 2004, discussions were taking place between Warner Bros., J.K. Rowling and certain theme park companies to bring the Harry Potter franchise to fans in a whole new way. Rumours swirled around just who Rowling was talking to, and where the potential Harry Potter attraction might end up. Well, obviously being the industry leader, Disney were the most likely to get the go-ahead from Rowling…Right?

It is true that Rowling was in discussions with Disney, and the Harry Potter attractions would potentially have filled an area of Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Florida. There were talks of two different attractions and a themed restaurant. Apparently, one of these attractions was to be an Omnimover-style shooter ride, kind of like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which already existed at this park, but instead of shooting lasers, guests would be casting spells with wands. The other attraction was said to be a magical creature petting zoo. However, despite Disney’s reputation for creating magical lands that engage and captivate guests from all over the world, Rowling was said to be less than impressed with Disney’s plan, despite signing a letter of intent with them in 2004. Rowling also did not like the idea of outside brands being featured in this “Harry Potter land”, so negotiations stalled, before being terminated, leading Rowling to look elsewhere to discuss her theme park dreams[16].

Most everyone knows that Rowling turned to Disney’s major competition, Universal Studios, who did end up building whole Harry Potter worlds at their theme parks, beginning at their Universal Studios Orlando property, mere miles from Walt Disney World. The discussions around that are a story for another time, but I do still want to mention a couple of attractions that exist in these theme parks spaces that specifically relate to the events and characters within Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The first Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Park features a recreation of Hogsmeade, which Harry and his friends first visit in this third film. The theme park land includes places like Honeydukes sweet shop, where guests can purchase Wizarding World-inspires sweets, and the pub The Three Broomsticks, for guests to have a drink or meal. You can also find the small rollercoaster Flight of the Hippogriff here, which was a simple redesign of the former coaster Flying Unicorn. An animatronic of Buckbeak is sitting at the start of the ride. The Hogwarts Frog Choir also does performances throughout the day.  At the other Harry Potter area, at Universal Studios’ main park, a recreation of Diagon Alley was created. Here, you can have a bite to eat at The Leaky Cauldron, and then go and see the Knight Bus parked up just by the entrance to the alley. You might even be able to have a conversation or your photo taken with the Bus Conductor and the Shrunken Head. The Diagon Alley area is only in Orlando.

Flight of the Hippogriff is also an attraction at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas at Universal Studios Hollywood, Japan, and Beijing though. The Buckbeak animatronic also features at these other parks. The Frog Choir exists at Universal Studios in Japan and Beijing. The Hogsmeade version of the Wizarding World exists at the parks in Hollywood, Japan, and Beijing, along with the same locations.

In 2024, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban celebrated its 20^th anniversary. A special summer event was held that year at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London, where new sets were able to be viewed, such as the Divination classroom, the interior of the Knight Bus, and a newly transformed Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, set up for Lupin’s lesson on Boggarts. The Hogwarts Frog Choir was also on display in the Great Hall set. Harry’s bedroom in The Leaky Cauldron was set up too, complete with the Monster Book of Monsters going on a rampage under the bed[17]!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban saw a rather big change from the enchanting locations and sequences we saw in the first two Harry Potter films.

Although both of those stories had elements of danger and dark magic to them, they were surrounded by bright and fun sequences, to keep away too much of the threat. Rightly or wrongly, these first two films feel more fun and less dangerous than any Harry Potter film to come after it, simply setting the stage and the atmosphere of the Wizarding World.

But as Harry and his friends get older, and a darkness starts to overshadow their magical schooling, there is no getting away from the fact that there is soon to be a battle between good and evil, light and dark. This movie was a huge jump forward towards that, and, although unsettling for some, it was a necessary shift in tone that had to be done.

The possibility had already been alluded to and prophesised before in the earlier films, yet, by the end of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the return of Lord Voldemort was starting to feel like a very real and imminent threat to Harry and his friends.

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REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ’10 Actors Who Were Almost Cast In Harry Potter Movies’, ScreenRant.com, 28^th April 2020.

[2] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ’10 Actors Who Were Almost Cast In Harry Potter Movies’, ScreenRant.com, 28^th April 2020.

[3] Credit: Debanjali Bose, ‘‘Harry Potter’ director reveals Peter O’Toole turned down being the new Dumbledore because he ‘didn’t feel it was right’ to step into Richard Harris’s shoes’, BusinessInsider.com, 14^th November 2021.

[4] Credit: Lexy Perez, ‘‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus Reflects on Pressures to Adapt Book and Hopes to Direct ‘Cursed Child’’, HollywoodReporter.com, 11^th November 2021.

[5] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Creating the Vision’, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[6] Credit: Kelvin Kwao, ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’s Biggest Changes From Book to Film’, CBR.com, 2^nd September 2022.

[7] Credit: Matthew Rudoy, ‘Harry Potter: 10 Differences Between The Prisoner Of Azkaban Book & Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 21^st August 2020.

[8] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).

[9] Credit: Glencoe Scotland, ‘Harry Potter In Glencoe’, GlencoeScotland.com, date unknown.

[10] Credit: BBC News, ‘Potter train attacked by vandals’, BBC.co.uk, 23^rd March 2007.

[11] Credit: Visit Britain, ‘Visit Harry Potter filming locations’, VisitBritain.com, date unknown.

[12] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Conjuring a Scene, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[13] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Care of Magical Creatures’, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[14] Credit: Joshua Nelken-Zitser and Eammon Jacobs, ‘Michael Gambon, the actor who played Dumbledore, used to prank Daniel Radcliffe on the set of ‘Harry Potter’’, BusinessInsider.com, 28^th September 2023.

[15] Credit: Dan Morris, ‘Harry Potter: 23 Crazy Details Behind The Making Of The Prisoner Of Azkaban’, ScreenRant.com, 4^th September 2018.

[16] Credit: Brian Delpozo, ‘How ‘Harry Potter’ Almost Ended Up at Disney World – And Why the Deal Fell Apart’, Allears.net, 7^th June 2020.

[17] Credit: Carlo Simone, ‘Harry Potter Studio Tour shares Prisoner of Azkaban exhibit’, WatfordObserver.co.uk, 20^th February 2024.

1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

The first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, had been hugely successful on its release in 2001, signalling the start of a major film franchise.

Although by no-means an Oscar-winning masterpiece, or a masterclass in dramatic acting, it had brought a fantasy world to the big screen, delighting young audiences, as well as bringing this magical world to an older generation, who perhaps had not read the book.

It was seen to be a faithful book-to-screen adaptation, which many appreciated, whilst also showcasing the best in special effects, and introducing a new crop of acting talent, alongside seeing some brilliance from titans of the British acting world.  

But now was time to adapt the second novel in the Harry Potter book series, the second of what was anticipated to be a seven-novel series, therefore suggesting there would be seven movies, each adapting one book. The second in the series was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, originally published in 1998, and the tone was about to get significantly darker, as the ending of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had indicated.

I had not read any of the novels before watching the film, so, as a nine-year-old going to see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at the cinema, I had no idea what to expect. I can’t even remember seeing the first movie, but I must’ve done, otherwise I would’ve had no reason to go and see the second. I went to see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with my dad and my sister, whilst my mum went shopping nearby – she doesn’t like Harry Potter at all. I distinctly recall which cinema it was, I know I saw a Dobby cardboard cut-out outside the cinema screen, and I know it was light when we went into the cinema but it was dark when we came out, because the film was so long – and it was winter.

I also know that I loved the film, and for a strange reason. For someone who doesn’t like being scared, not as a child or as an adult, the very reason I liked Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was because I found it creepy at that young age. It is my favourite of the Harry Potter movies, and has been ever since I first saw it. Who knows, perhaps this is where my love of villains came from. I’d grown up watching a sea of children’s television and Disney movies, even removing myself from the room whenever Maleficent turned into a dragon in my childhood favourite Disney film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). I’ve never liked being scared, but randomly, Harry Potter seems to be about my level, even to this day.

PLOT

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets starts at the Dursley home. Harry has been “gifted” cousin Dudley’s second bedroom, although Harry is still being mistreated. On this evening, Harry is being warned to stay in his room and to make no noise. Uncle Vernon has very important guests coming for dinner – the Masons – and Harry cannot disrupt that.

However, on returning to his room, Harry finds an odd creature there, jumping on his bed. The creature introduces himself as Dobby the House-elf and warns Harry that terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and that he must not return there this year. Harry has no clue who Dobby is, and does not listen to his warning. Harry can’t stay with the Dursleys any longer than he has to. Dobby can’t reveal much more information and punishes himself frequently during this conversation for his weakness. All this racket though has alerted Vernon, who barges into Harry’s room, telling him to be quiet or else. Harry reiterates to Dobby that he will be going back to Hogwarts. Dobby resorts to desperate measures to force Harry to stay in Surrey, by magically dumping a cake onto the head of Mrs. Mason, knowing this will enrage his aunt and uncle.

The next day, Vernon doesn’t hesitate in punishing Harry, and puts bars on his bedroom window, telling him he’ll not be going back to Hogwarts again. That evening, Harry is woken up by a weird noise. Looking out of his window, he sees a flying car. It turns out the car’s passengers are Harry’s best friend Ron, and his brothers, twins Fred and George. They hook on to the window and pull the bars off. This wakes up Harry’s aunt and uncle who rush to Harry’s room. They unlock all the bolts on the door just in time to see Harry being pulled into the car. Vernon grabs onto Harry’s foot and tries to pull him back, but it doesn’t work. Harry gets into the car and Vernon falls out of the window, falling into the bushes below.

After a night of driving, Harry, Ron, Fred and George arrive at the Weasley family home, The Burrow. Harry is pleased to see Mrs. Weasley again, and she is also delighted to see him, although she is none too pleased with her sons for vanishing in the night and taking the flying Ford Anglia. Mr. Weasley arrives home from a long night’s work at the Ministry of Magic that morning and is introduced to Harry. Harry also sees Ron’s younger sister Ginny again, and she seems to have a bit of a crush on Harry. Ginny is about to start her First Year at Hogwarts. As the family sit down for breakfast, Ron’s older brother Percy sees that their owl has delivered their Hogwarts letters, including Harry’s. There is a whole list of supplies they’ll need, so they’ll have to go to Diagon Alley. The Weasleys plan on travelling there via the Floo Network, a series of magical portals using fireplaces. Harry is told to watch Ron as he demonstrates how it works, taking a handful of powder, clearly stating his destination name, and disappearing in a blaze of fire. Now, it is Harry’s turn. He grabs the powder, and says he wants to go to “Diagonally”. The Weasleys watch helplessly as Harry vanishes.

Harry turns up in a dusty, dark shop. This is Borgin and Burkes, a shop only frequented by dark wizards. Not wanting to stick around for long, Harry walks outside, only to find himself surrounded by unsavoury characters, who offer to help him find his way. Uh, no, thanks! Luckily, Hagrid sees Harry and quickly leads him out of trouble. Harry was in a dodgy place called Knockturn Alley, close to Diagon Alley. Hagrid takes Harry to the bookshop Flourish and Blotts, where he is reunited with the Weasleys and other best friend Hermione. Here, they see a book signing going on for famous wizard Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart spots Harry in the crowd, and calls him over for a photo for the newspaper. He also gifts Harry his complete works completely free of charge. Whilst they wait for their parents to finish at the bookshop, Harry, the Weasleys, and Hermione are approached by Draco Malfoy. Draco is clearly jealous of Harry for being so famous in the Wizarding World, and aims a slight at Harry. His father Lucius Malfoy comes over, telling Draco to “play nicely”. Lucius introduces himself to Harry, becoming instantly fascinated by Harry’s famous scar. Lucius guesses that the kids surrounding Harry must be part of the Weasley family; Lucius works with their father. He also rudely comments on Hermione’s parents, confirming that they are Muggles, non-magical folk, meaning Hermione has no wizarding ancestry, this being a disgrace to a family of Pure-bloods like the Malfoys, who do. Mr. Weasley comes over and tells Lucius they have different ideas of what a disgrace to wizards looks like. The Malfoys then leave.

Later, Harry and the Weasleys arrive at King’s Cross station late for the Hogwarts Express. Most of the family get through the portal to Platform 9 ¾ on time, but Harry and Ron are stuck in King’s Cross with the portal not opening for them. Harry suggests they wait for Ron’s parents by the car, which gives Ron an idea: they’ll take the flying car to Hogwarts! But Ron isn’t exactly an experienced driver only being twelve-years-old, so naturally the journey starts badly, with Ron forgetting to put the invisibility booster on so everyone around King’s Cross can see the car flying, and the journey gets worse when they are almost hit by the Hogwarts Express, and Harry almost falls out of the car. Eventually, they arrive at Hogwarts, only to crash-land into the Whomping Willow, which tries to bash the car out of its branches – it is magical after all. In the chaos, Ron breaks his wand and the car falls to the ground. Ron and Harry are ejected from the car, and the car drives into the Dark Forest.

Ron and Harry hurriedly head inside, but they are caught by Filch the caretaker who takes them to Professor Snape. Snape is horrified to learn about the two’s escapades, which have made the front page of the wizarding newspaper, and states if they were in his house of Slytherin, the two would be expelled and heading home right this minute. Professor McGonagall, head of Ron and Harry’s house of Gryffindor, then comes into the room with Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster. McGonagall states that the two will not be expelled today but will both get detention and have letters sent home to their parents/guardians.

The next morning, the Second Year students, including Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Draco, arrive to their Herbology Class, headed by Professor Sprout. She teaches the students about mandrakes, getting the students to pot seedlings. We learn that the cry of a fully grown mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it, but that mandrakes are needed to create a cure to recover people who have been petrified. At lunchtime, Ron tries to fix his wand with tape, but this does nothing to help it. Harry also meets Colin Creevey, a big fan of his as well as an avid photographer. At this point, Ron receives a letter from his mother. Known as a howler, this letter comes to life and starts to shout at Ron for his bad behaviour, whilst also congratulating sister Ginny for being sorted into Gryffindor House with her brothers. The letter then shreds itself. After that, the group have their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with none other than Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart is discovered to be an incompetent teacher, although handsome and charming, as he releases a swarm of Cornish Pixies into the class, with absolutely no training given, and then proceeds to let Harry, Ron, and Hermione round them up themselves after a pixie steals his wand!

Later on, Gryffindor’s Quidditch team, which includes Harry, are set to train, but are told that the pitch has been reserved for Slytherin’s team so they can train their new Seeker, Draco. Harry, Ron and Hermione learn that Draco’s place on the team seems to have something to do with his father buying the whole team new Nimbus 2001 brooms. Hermione states that this is the only reason he is on the team, to which Draco responds by calling her a “filthy little Mudblood”. Ron tries to react like the hero he is by cursing Draco to “eat slugs”, but the curse rebounds onto him, due to the fact Ron’s wand is broken. Ron then proceeds to spit up slugs, so Harry and Hermione take him to Hagrid for help. Hagrid has no cure for the spell and says it must run its course, asking what prompted Ron to cast it in the first place. Hermione tells Hagrid what happened, and he is equally shocked by what Draco said. Harry has no clue what the term “Mudblood” means, so Hermione explains. “Mudblood” is a derogatory term used by some for witches or wizards who have non-magical parents, like Hermione. Hagrid says that Pure-bloods are no longer the majority in the Wizarding World, with many witches and wizards being “Half-blood”, so one magical parent, or less. He tells Hermione not to think about it anymore, as her magical ability speaks for itself.

That evening, Harry spends his detention answering fan mail for Lockhart in his office. Harry starts to hear voices as the evening wears on. Lockhart tells Harry he must just be getting tired and tells Harry to go back to his dorm. In the corridor though, the voice returns. He then comes face-to-face with Hermione and Ron, asking if they heard a voice. They didn’t. They come across a flooded corridor and Filch’s cat seemingly frozen in fear. They see spiders moving in a line outside, and then discover writing on the wall, written in blood: “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.” Many other students and teachers arrive at this corridor and are equally shocked. Filch sees his cat, and, believing she’s dead, blames Harry for it, as he was at the centre of the scene. Dumbledore arrives and tells all the students to go to their dormitories, except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Dumbledore and the other teachers quickly dismiss them as being involved, especially as Harry has an alibi for the evening. They calm Filch down by saying his cat has been petrified and that they can cure her once the new mandrakes are grown.

In Transfiguration Class with Professor McGonagall, no-one can concentrate on the lesson so Hermione asks McGonagall to tell them what the Chamber of Secrets is. She recounts the story of Hogwarts’ founding, saying that four wizards founded the school over 1,000 years ago: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Slytherin believed that only some witches and wizards should be able to study magic, i.e., those who have all-magical ancestry. The other three did not agree with him, so he left the school. But there were rumours that he had built a chamber in the school, known as the Chamber of Secrets, sealing it until his heir arrived at the school. The chamber is said to be home to a monster, who would prey on those Salazar Slytherin felt were unworthy to study magic. The school has been searched many times, but the chamber has never been found. After class, Ron, Harry and Hermione discuss who the heir of Slytherin might be, with the boys heavily suspecting it is Draco Malfoy. Hermione has a plan so they can be sure. She finds a recipe for Polyjuice Potion which will allow the three to turn into members of Slytherin House so they can question Draco about it, but it will take one month to brew.

Soon, it is time for Quidditch, with Harry and Draco going up against each other for the first time as Seekers. During the game, it becomes clear that a Bludger has been cursed as it starts to follow Harry. As Harry and Draco battle to find the Snitch to end the game and win it for their team, the Bludger follows Harry, even as the two go underneath the stands in search of the Snitch. At one point, Draco’s broom catches on a wooden slat, and he falls in a heap in the middle of the pitch. Harry continues on, finding the Snitch and winning the game, however, the Bludger continues to follow him, until Hermione magically destroys it. But the Bludger did hit Harry’s arm, breaking it. Lockhart comes over and tries to fix his arm, but instead, he casts a spell making Harry’s bones disappear. Gross. Harry is taken to the hospital wing, where Madame Pomfrey administers a potion to get Harry’s bones to grow again. Overnight, Harry is visited by Dobby again, who tells Harry that he cursed the Bludger wanting Harry to return home, saying things are going to get worse at Hogwarts. Harry ignores Dobby, and they are interrupted anyway, by the arrival of another petrified victim, Colin Creevey. The teachers are rightly concerned, especially as Colin’s camera has been destroyed so that he has no picture of the attacker and person responsible.

In light of these events, Harry, Ron, and Hermione try to speed up their Polyjuice Potion, which they brew in the middle of an abandoned girls’ toilets. The reason it is abandoned is because a miserable ghost called Moaning Myrtle resides there. As well as this, Lockhart and Snape decided to set up a Duelling Club to help teach the students how to deal with potential threats. Harry and Draco are put together as the first pair to duel, but they each choose to simply hurt each other as much as possible with their first spells. Draco then decides to conjure a snake in the middle of the room. Snape goes to remove it, however, Harry starts talking to it, as the snake looks set to attack student Justin. The room are astonished by what they are seeing, and Snape finally destroys the snake. Justin accuses Harry of getting the snake to attack him, and Hermione and Ron wonder why he never told them he is a “Parselmouth”, someone who can communicate with snakes. Harry says he didn’t know. Harry learns that Salazar Slytherin had the same talent, and Slytherin’s crest is a snake, so now everyone believes Harry to be the heir of Slytherin.

During study time, Harry walks out of the room, after being whispered about and stared at. He then hears that voice again, and comes across a petrified Justin and a frozen Nearly Headless Nick. Once again, he is found there by Filch who gets McGonagall. McGonagall sends him to Dumbledore’s office. There, Harry asks the Sorting Hat if he put him in the right house, given what he has learnt about his connections to Salazar Slytherin. The Sorting Hat says he could’ve been great in Slytherin, but Harry rejects that. He then comes across Dumbledore’s phoenix, which suddenly bursts into flames. Dumbledore comes in at that exact moment, making Harry plead his innocence. Dumbledore explains the phoenix is Fawkes, and he was old so his death was not unexpected. The two then watch as a new phoenix is reborn from the ashes. Hagrid arrives into the office, saying Harry has nothing to do with all these incidents. Dumbledore says he already knows that, asking Harry if he has anything to tell him though. Harry says nothing.

Later on, the Polyjuice Potion is finally ready. Hermione tells Ron and Harry to give two cupcakes to Draco’s friends Crabbe and Goyle. The cupcakes have a sleeping potion in them, so it will knock them out. Once this happens, Ron and Harry take their robes and some of their hairs. Hermione tells them to put the hairs in the potion – she has done the same with a female Slytherin student – and they drink up. The potion is disgusting, but it does transform Harry and Ron into Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione tells the two to go ahead without her. They arrive at Slytherin’s common room and are almost caught out by seeing Ron’s brother Percy there. Draco comes to their rescue, and arrogantly leads them away from Prefect Percy. Ron and Harry begin their questioning, and Draco reiterates that he doesn’t know who the heir of Slytherin, only that it isn’t him. His father wouldn’t tell him much either, only that the last time the chamber was opened a Muggle-born student died. Draco hopes it will be Hermione who dies this time. With that, Ron is about to lash out at Draco, but the pair discover that the spell is wearing off and they rush out of there, back to Hermione. They see that Hermione has accidentally turned herself into a cat, after the hairs she took were actually cat hairs. She is sent to the hospital wing to recover.

The next day, Harry and Ron see the corridor by Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom has flooded so they investigate. Myrtle thinks Harry threw a book at her, but he denies that. Harry sees the book lying on the ground and retrieves it. That evening, he opens up the diary but finds it is blank inside. He learns it belonged to someone called Tom Marvolo Riddle. Harry starts to write in the book, and begins a conversation with someone inside the diary, seemingly Tom Riddle. He asks for information about the Chamber of Secrets, and is transported back fifty years to Hogwarts. Here, Harry watches as a young female student is carried out of Hogwarts and confirmed dead. Tom Riddle approaches Dumbledore, and questions whether Hogwarts will be closed. He says it will be unless the attacker is found. Not wanting to leave Hogwarts, Tom tries to find the attacker, accusing Hagrid and his huge pet spider of killing the girl. The spider runs out of the castle and Hagrid is expelled. Harry is transported back to the common room, telling Hermione and Ron what he has learnt.

They plan to question Hagrid about it, when Neville rushes up to Harry saying someone has ransacked their dormitory. Harry sees that Tom Riddle’s diary has gone, so that must’ve been what the intruder was looking for. Harry then goes to play Quidditch but McGonagall says the game has been cancelled. She takes Harry and Ron to the hospital wing, where they discover that Hermione is the latest person to be petrified. From this point, new rules are brought in for the students, like a 6pm curfew and the need to be escorted to and from lessons. Harry and Ron have to speak to Hagrid though so take his invisibility cloak and go to him. Hagrid is very jumpy that evening, and before they can ask him anything, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, arrives to take Hagrid to the prison Azkaban, believing him to be involved in these attacks. Lucius Malfoy also turns up, stating that he has got all the school governors to back his call to relieve Dumbledore of his duties. Dumbledore walks away willingly, but Hagrid believes there will be killings next if he goes. Hagrid then states that if someone needs help, they should follow the spiders.

Once alone, Harry and Ron take Hagrid’s dog Fang and head into the Dark Forest, following the spiders. They come to a clearing where a huge monstrous spider appears to them. He is called Aragog and explains that he did not kill that girl 50 years ago and that Hagrid was innocent. Spiders actually fear the monster in the chamber. Aragog also says that the girl who was killed died in a bathroom, giving them some clues. However, Aragog doesn’t plan on letting them escape as he has children to feed, and they have surrounded Harry and Ron. As it looks like they’ll be attacked, the Ford Anglia appears to them, and drives them out of the forest and away from the spiders. They are taken back to Hagrid’s hut.

Ron and Harry return to the hospital to visit Hermione, where Harry finds a piece of paper in her hand about the Basilisk, a huge snake-like creature. They believe this must be the monster in the chamber, and that it tallies with what Aragog said. Hermione also worked out that the Basilisk must be travelling in the pipes and that anyone who looks at it will instantly die. Harry and Ron go over all the victims and learn that Mrs. Norris the cat didn’t die because she looked into the water on the floor; Colin saw the Basilisk through his camera; Justin must’ve seen it through Nearly Headless Nick; and Hermione was looking around corners with a mirror in case she saw it. Ron and Harry then figure out that Moaning Myrtle must be the girl who died in the bathroom all those years ago. Suddenly, there is an announcement calling the teachers to the corridor where another message has been left. Ron and Harry hide so they can listen in. McGonagall says a student has been taken by the monster into the chamber, with the message simply reading: “Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever”. Lockhart arrives late, and is tasked with retrieving the student as he claims to know where the chamber is. He goes to his office to get ready. McGonagall reveals that Ginny Weasley was the one taken.

Ron and Harry go to Lockhart’s office to tell him what they know, but they discover him packing. He admits that he is a fraud and hasn’t done anything he said he’d done in his books, instead stealing from other wizards and then wiping their memories. He plans to do the same to Ron and Harry but they point their wands at him first. He goes along with them to the girl’s bathroom so they can ask Moaning Myrtle how she died. She said she saw a pair of yellow eyes by one of the sinks, and just died. Harry sees snake carvings on the sink and believes it is the entrance to the chamber. He says something in Parseltongue, snake language, and it opens. They send Lockhart down the drop first, and then they follow, arriving into the chamber, which is filthy and covered in bones and snake skin. Lockhart pretends to faint at the sight of it, using the opportunity to steal Ron’s wand. He tries to wipe their memories, but the spell backfires because Ron’s wand is still broken, slamming him into the wall of the chamber. This causes a rockslide, separating Ron and Harry. Ron finds that Lockhart wiped his own memory. Harry tells Ron to clear a way out, and he’ll find Ginny.

Going deeper into the chamber, Harry finds a lifeless Ginny on the ground. Someone approaches him. The older boy reveals himself to be Tom Riddle. He says he was a memory preserved in his diary but as Ginny grows weaker, he grows stronger, and will no longer be a memory. He takes Harry’s wand, and reveals that he was behind the Basilisk attacks and the writings on the wall, putting Ginny into a trance with the help of the diary to get her to do all that for him. Ginny was the one to try and dispose of the diary in the bathroom, leading Harry to find it, and later stole it back. Harry wonders why Tom would want to do all this. Tom says his target has actually been Harry because Tom Riddle is Voldemort. The letters of his full name actually spell out “I Am Lord Voldemort”, showing Riddle’s true talent for anagrams. Voldemort claims to be the greatest sorcerer in the world, but Harry says that accolade goes to Dumbledore. With that, Fawkes the Phoenix arrives with the Sorting Hat. Tom laughs at the gift and calls for the Basilisk to attack Harry. It chases him through the chamber, with Fawkes pecking out the creature’s eyes so looking at it will no longer be a threat. Harry outmanoeuvres the Basilisk momentarily and returns to Ginny, trying to work out what to do. The Basilisk returns and as it does, Harry finds a sword has appeared in the Sorting Hat. He takes the sword and runs up onto a large sculpture. He stabs the Basilisk through the head, killing it, but not before the Basilisk bites him, sending its venom rushing through Harry.

Harry returns to Ginny and is told by Tom that he’ll die in minutes and there is no hope. Harry then takes the Basilisk fang and stabs the fang into the diary. With each stab, Tom Riddle starts to break apart, until he disappears. Ginny suddenly awakens. She sees Harry is hurt. Harry tells Ginny to go through the chamber and find Ron. At that, Fawkes returns. Fawkes then releases tears onto Harry’s arm, making Harry remember that phoenixes have healing powers. He recovers and Fawkes flies them all back to Hogwarts.

Ron and Harry find themselves in Dumbledore’s office, where they are reprimanded for their breaking of multiple school rules but are given special awards for services to the school. Ron is told to get an owl to fly Hagrid’s release papers to Azkaban, and Harry speaks to Dumbledore more about Voldemort. Dumbledore says that when Voldemort gave Harry his scar, he inadvertently passed over some of his powers, like speaking to snakes, but that Harry must be a Gryffindor as he was able to pull the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, and clearly showed loyalty to Dumbledore to have Fawkes come to him. Lucius Malfoy then arrives to find Dumbledore reinstated. Dumbledore says that many of the governors believed Malfoy would curse their families if they did not agree to let Dumbledore go. Malfoy rejects that. Malfoy asks if the perpetrator has been caught, so Dumbledore reveals all about Tom Riddle and the diary. Malfoy sarcastically congratulates Harry Potter on saving the day.

Harry asks Dumbledore for the destroyed diary and follows Malfoy out of the school. He forces Malfoy to take the diary, as Harry believes Malfoy put it into Ginny’s cauldron on that day at Flourish and Blotts before school. Malfoy refuses to admit to that, handing the diary over to Dobby, his House-elf. Harry gets Dobby to open it, and he sees a sock inside. Dobby says his master has presented him with clothes so he can be a free elf. Lucius sees Harry has tricked him into losing his servant and goes to attack him, but Dobby stops him. Harry thanks Dobby for his help, but tells him to stop trying to save his life from now on!

Later, the school is set up for dinner, and all the petrified students return, including Hermione, much to Ron and Harry’s delight. Dumbledore announces that all school exams have been cancelled given the upheaval everyone experienced this year. Hagrid then arrives, having been released from Azkaban. He thanks Ron, Harry, and Hermione for clearing his name. Harry tells Hagrid Hogwarts wouldn’t be the same without him. The students and teachers break into a round of applause, as Hagrid is embraced by everyone.

In a post-credits scene, we are taken back to Flourish and Blotts, where we see a new book on display. Titled “Who Am I?”, it is a new novel from Gilderoy Lockhart, who is seen on the cover of this book in a straitjacket, as he gets to grips with his memory loss. 

CHARACTERS & CAST

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sees a return for many characters and actors from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, whilst also introducing a selection of new ones, like The Weasleys, who were introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, however, many of them were only briefly mentioned. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we get to see more of their family life, and meet Mr. Weasley for the first time.

Molly Weasley was in the first movie; however, here, Molly is clearly shown to be the strong matriarch of the family, putting her foot down with her unruly sons. Molly is also a loving mother, which is obvious from how she dotes on her children, making sure they have everything they need for school and ensuring their home of The Burrow is kept cosy, as well as caring for Harry whenever he is around, given his difficult family situation in the Muggle World. Molly’s character only becomes more integral to the series as the movies continue.

Dame Julie Walters was cast as Molly Weasley. Walters’ film debut came with her role as Rita White in Educating Rita (1983), acting alongside Michael Caine in this film. From then on, she has had a variety of roles on screen, including being cast as Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliot (2000); as Annie in Calendar Girls (2003); as Rosie in Mamma Mia! (2008) and its 2018 sequel; and as Mrs. Bird in the Paddington film series. Walters has also had some history in voice acting for animation, such as voicing The Witch in Pixar’s Brave (2012) and Ms. Montague in Gnomeo and Juliet (2011), reprising her role for its sequel Sherlock Gnomes (2018). She is also known on British TV for working alongside comedian Victoria Wood, for example, starring in sitcom dinnerladies (1998-2000) as Petula, amongst others.

The father of the Weasley family is Arthur Weasley, who works in the Ministry of Magic, specifically in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. The flying Ford Anglia car they own is therefore technically illegal, which is why he faces an inquiry at work after Ron and Harry drive the car to Hogwarts, being spotted by numerous non-magical people. Arthur is less of a strict parental figure, as Molly seems to have that pretty much covered, but he clearly adores his children, and is proud of his family, despite their lesser economic status. He stands up for his family in front of the pretentious Malfoys, who believe themselves to better than the Weasleys due to their Pure-blood status and perceived wealth. Like Molly, Arthur also goes on to be an important part of the fight between good and evil later on.

Mark Williams was cast as Arthur Weasley. He had previously been cast as Horace in the live-action adaptation 101 Dalmatians (1996), based on Disney’s animated 1961 film, and as Exterminator Jeff in The Borrowers (1997). He later appeared as Wabash in the Oscar-winning movie Shakespeare in Love (1998). In more recent years, Williams has voiced the character of Barry in Aardman Animation’s Early Man (2018) and currently stars as the title character in the long-running BBC series Father Brown (2013-present). He also played Sir John Middleton in the 2008 miniseries Sense and Sensibility, also for the BBC.

We also get to see more of the other Weasley children, outside of Ron, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Ron’s older brother Percy, a school prefect, is seen a few times in the second movie, with Ravenclaw Penelope Clearwater, his secret girlfriend, and is spotted by Harry and Ron by Slytherin’s Common Room, after they have been transformed into Crabbe and Goyle. Chris Rankin was cast as Percy. After appearing in the majority of the Harry Potter films, Rankin went on to be an assistant production coordinator on series like Downton Abbey (2010-15) and Atlantis (2013-15), and is currently the Chair and Lead Producer at the Brecon Little Theatre in mid-Wales[1].

Twins Fred and George are the next brothers in age order. Fred and George are still part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team as they were in the first film, continuing to be seen in these sequences. They don’t have a huge amount to do with the story of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but their mischievous nature is briefly glimpsed in this film, before being made more obvious in the later films. Fred and George were played by James and Oliver Phelps. After appearing in all of the Harry Potter films, the duo went on to be cast as Brian Carter and Barry Carter in the TV movie Danny and the Human Zoo (2015) written by comedian Lenny Henry, and made a cameo appearance together in Last Night in Soho (2021). Recently, the twins have hosted the travel series Fantastic Friends (2022) and the cooking competition series Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking (2024-present).

The other Weasley sibling to mention is Ginny Weasley, the youngest of the Weasley children and the only girl. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny starts her First Year at Hogwarts, being placed in Gryffindor House with her brothers. It would be expected that Ginny’s year at school would be pretty quiet, but no; Ginny gets to be highly involved in the problems that occur at Hogwarts. Ginny inadvertently was given a piece of dark magic by Lucius Malfoy in Diagon Alley. She has no idea what the diary is doing to her, and doesn’t realise the trouble she is in until it’s too late and she is being used as a sacrifice so that Voldemort can live again. Luckily for Ginny, Harry was on hand to rescue her from almost-death. Ginny continues to play a role in the story in the later films. Bonnie Wright was cast as Ginny. After her time on the Harry Potter series, Wright went on to be cast as Rose in the independent film The Sea (2013) and as Georgina in the film After the Dark (2013). She also wrote and directed the film Separate We Come, Separate We Go. Recently, Wright has focused on activism, being involved with Greenpeace and the Rainforest Alliance. She published the book Go Gently: Actionable Steps to Nurture Yourself and the Planet in 2022. 

Gilderoy Lockhart becomes the second Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, after Professor Quirrell “crumbled” in the first film. He is seen to be both exceptionally charming, with his blond hair and bright smile, and arrogant, believing his own self-importance due to his success as an author, and accomplishments as a wizard. However, it soon becomes obvious to everyone that Lockhart actually has very little magical skill, not being able to do the simplest of spells and shying away from his teacherly responsibilities whenever the pressure gets too much. Lockhart reveals himself to be a total fraud near the end of the story, admitting to using memory charms to steal other witches’ and wizards’ life stories and pass them off as his own. When he tries to do the same to Ron and Harry so he can twist the story of finding the chamber, probably for a new book, he fails to account for the fact Ron’s wand is severely damaged and ends up wiping his own memory. He still gets a book out of the situation so I guess it’s a small victory for Lockhart!

Sir Kenneth Branagh was cast as Lockhart. Branagh is well-known for being a great Shakespearean actor, both on stage and screen, having both directed and starred in numerous film adaptations of Shakespeare plays, such as Henry V (1989) and Hamlet (1996), both nominated at the Academy Awards: for Best Director and Best Actor for Henry V, winning for Best Direction at the BAFTAs; and for Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet. He also directed Belfast (2021), which won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay, and won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film. Branagh has also appeared in various other roles. For example, he has recently portrayed Hercule Poirot in a series of movies based on Agatha Christie’s novels, also directing the movies, starting with Murder on the Orient Express (2017), and was cast as Niels Bohr in Oppenheimer (2023). On the more comedic side, Branagh was cast as Sir Alistair Dormandy in the comedy-drama The Boat That Rocked (2009) and voiced Miguel in DreamWorks Animation’s The Road to El Dorado (2000). Branagh is set to appear in The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026).

However, before Branagh was cast as Lockhart, there were multiple other famous actors who were also considered. Jude Law, who went on to be cast as a young Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts series of films, was apparently seen for the part of Lockhart, before being deemed to be too young for the role. Alan Cumming and Rupert Everett were also both offered screen tests for the part, although after discovering a pay discrepancy between himself and Everett, Cumming refused to take any further part in the process[2]. Later, it was reported that Hugh Grant was first offered the part, before having to drop out due to scheduling difficulties, filming the rom-com Two Weeks Notice (2002) with Sandra Bullock. Branagh was confirmed in the role in October 2001[3]. Although I am a fan of all of these actors, I think that Branagh was perfectly cast as Gilderoy Lockhart. Branagh even won the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor of the Year for this role.

Another major new character introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was Draco’s father, Lucius Malfoy. He is tall, menacing, and more than just a little bit evil. Lucius is tough on his son and has brought him up to believe that families of Pure-bloods are exceptional, whereas anyone who is not is lesser than them. We get to see why Draco is the snobby, arrogant child he is by meeting Lucius. Lucius is shown to have a fascination with Voldemort, after he looks at Harry’s scar, plus he has Tom Riddle’s diary in his possession. This movie only gives a brief incite into Lucius, with his true villainy still to be revealed.

Jason Isaacs was cast as Lucius Malfoy, in another perfect casting in my opinion. Strangely enough, Isaacs had originally auditioned for the part of Lockhart. He was annoyed to find he hadn’t got the part, and to make it even worse, he was asked to read for Lucius Malfoy. Isaacs’ reasoning for not wanting to play Lucius was that he was already set to play Captain Hook in the 2003 film Peter Pan and didn’t want to play two villains back-to-back, but his family encouraged him to take the part, and now, he is so glad he did[4]. Lucius is one of my favourite Harry Potter characters, so I’m glad he did too, and by being Lucius and not Gilderoy Lockhart, we got to see Isaacs in multiple films, not just one. Prior to his work on Harry Potter, Jason Isaacs was known for such roles as Ronald Quincy inArmageddon (1998); as Colonel William Tavington in The Patriot (2000); and as Captain Mike Steele in Black Hawk Down (2001). After Harry Potter, Isaacs went on to be cast as George Zhukov in The Death of Stalin (2017); John Godfrey in Operation Mincemeat (2021); Archie inMrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022); and Moth Winn in the now-controversial movie The Salt Path (2024). In television, Isaacs recently portrayed Cary Grant in the miniseries Archie (2023) and played Timothy Ratliff in Season 3 of The White Lotus (2021-present).

As for Draco Malfoy, and his sidekicks Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, we did meet them in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, shown to be the main enemies of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, they are part of the action for longer, as they are central to the three friends figuring out who the heir to Slytherin is. They suspect it is Draco as he spends much of the movie spouting out beliefs about how non-magical students aren’t worthy and are lesser than him, even going so far as to call them “Mudbloods” and hoping Hermione will be one who dies from the release of the Chamber of Secrets’ monster. With Harry and Ron transformed into Crabbe and Goyle, they try to get Draco to confirm he is the heir, but he turns out not to be, making the three Slytherins no longer useful to Harry, Ron and Hermione’s sleuthing. However, Draco later becomes a major part of the story in later films.

Tom Felton was cast as Draco Malfoy. Unlike many of the other child actors though, Harry Potter was not his first film role. Felton had previously been cast as Peagreen in The Borrowers (1997) and as Louis T. Leonowens in Anna and the King (1999), which starred Jodie Foster. After Harry Potter, Felton went on to play Dodge Landon in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011); James Ashford in Belle (2013); and Rufus Lancaster in A United Kingdom (2016). Recently, Felton was cast as Richard Goodridge in Save the Cinema (2022) before going on to star as Sam in 2:22 A Ghost Story on the West End in 2022. His stage work has continued by reprising his role as Draco Malfoy in the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, with his run going from November 2025 to May 2026. He also published his autobiography Beyond the Wand in 2022.

Goyle was played by Josh Herdman. He appeared in all of the Harry Potter films, and was cast as Ben in the CBBC series UGetMe (2003-05), going on to be cast in the recurring role of Eric Davidson in Season 2 of the ITV series Marcella (2016-21). In 2016, he started a career as an MMA fighter. Crabbe was played by Jamie Waylett, only appearing in the first six films, as he was not asked to return for the final two due to legal troubles.

Continuing with the dark wizards, although we saw Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, attached to Quirrell’s head, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, he got to appear in almost-human form, as his sixteen-year-old self, Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle is confirmed to be the heir of Slytherin, having opening the chamber when he was at Hogwarts fifty years before, instructing the Basilisk to kill Myrtle, as he set about continuing Salazar Slytherin’s task of ridding the school of any students with non-magical parents. However, on his return, although the Basilisk petrifies multiple students, Tom confirms his real target was actually Harry Potter, wanting to finally kill him, after his failed attempt over a decade before, and return to life. But Harry being Harry doesn’t let that happen, and manages to stop him, by destroying the diary with a Basilisk fang, which makes the memory of Tom Riddle disappear forever, saving Ginny in the process.

Christian Coulson was cast as Tom Riddle. He was actually 23 at the time, despite portraying a sixteen-year-old. Prior to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Coulson was cast as Ben Stemson in The Worst Witch spin-off series Weirdsister College (2001-02). He went on to be cast in the recurring role of Sebastian in the series Mozart in the Jungle (2014-18) and as Ian in Love Is Strange (2014). Many well-known actors also auditioned to play Tom Riddle, including Eddie Redmayne, who went on to be cast as Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts series, and James McAvoy.

Along with these characters, we met a few new teachers. One of these was Professor Sprout, who teaches Herbology at Hogwarts. Here, she teaches Harry and his friends about mandrakes and their importance of curing those who have been petrified. It’s lucky they potted those mandrakes on the first day of the year because they were certainly needed! Miriam Margolyes was cast as Professor Sprout, who returns only for the final Harry Potter film. She had previously appeared as The Nurse in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) and was cast as Aunt Sponge and Mrs. Glowworm in James and the Giant Peach (1998). She had also earlier portrayed Queen Victoria in the festive special Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (1988). Recently, Margolyes has appeared on our screens in a variety of travel shows, such as Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland (2021-22) with Alan Cumming; Miriam Margolyes: A New Australian Adventure (2024) and Miriam Margolyes Discovers New Zealand (2025). Margolyes has also voiced characters for animated movies, including The Matchmaker in Disney’s Mulan (1998) and Queen Oofeefa in Aardman’s Early Man.

We also spend quite a bit of time in the movie in Hogwarts’ hospital wing with Madame Pomfrey the school nurse. She has to nurse Harry back to health, after Lockhart makes all the bones in his broken arm disappear, and later has to care for the petrified students, starting with Colin Creevey who comes to the hospital in the middle of the night. Madame Pomfrey was played by Gemma Jones. Jones has had a variety of screen roles, including period dramas, such as her roles as Mrs. Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Lady Queensberry in Wilde (1997) with Stephen Fry portraying Oscar Wilde. Jones is also known for her role as Pamela Jones, Bridget’s mother, in the Bridget Jones film series. She was later cast in the recurring role of Connie James in Spooks (2002-11), and as Ivy, Elton’s grandmother, in Rocketman (2019). More recently, Jones played Rose Wright in the British drama series I, Jack Wright (2025-present). She reprised her role as Madame Pomfrey for the sixth and final Harry Potter films.

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, makes his first appearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets too. In the film, he shows up at Hagrid’s hut and takes him away to Azkaban, believing him to be behind the spate of attacks at Hogwarts, since Hagrid was made to take the blame for them fifty years before. Fudge doesn’t seem to listen to reason from others and follows his instincts blindly, without looking for concrete evidence. This makes him seem a tough figure, but his stubbornness proves to be a problem for him later on in the story. Fudge was played by Robert Hardy. Before Harry Potter, Hardy was cast as Sir John Middleton in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and as Lord Caversham in An Ideal Husband (1998). He went on to appear as Tite Barnacle in the BBC miniseries Little Dorrit (2008), with Claire Foy in the title role. Hardy reprised his role as Fudge in the following films, up to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Hardy died in 2017.

A few new students are brought in to the story for this second film too. One is Colin Creevey, an excitable First Year student, who is a big fan of Harry Potter’s and an avid photographer. He even manages to capture some action shots of the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match, almost getting hit by the rogue Bludger in the process! Colin sadly succumbs to the Basilisk, becoming the first human victim to be petrified. Thanks to his camera, Colin doesn’t look the Basilisk in the eye and survives the attack, being revived by the Mandrake potion by the end of the film, alongside the other victims. Hugh Mitchell was cast as Colin. He played Young Nicholas Nickleby in the 2002 film Nicholas Nickleby around this time, going on to be cast as Young Silas in The Da Vinci Code (2006) and later playing Richard Welles in the BBC series The White Queen (2013).

 Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff student, is the second victim to be petrified. He previously met Harry at the Duelling Club, set up by Lockhart and Snape, however, he finds himself potentially about to be the victim of cobra attack during it, and blames Harry for it. Harry starts speaking to the snake in Parseltongue, but as nobody knows what he is saying, it appears that Harry is trying to get the snake to attack Justin, making him feared after that. Justin is then discovered by Harry to be petrified just a little while later, furthering cementing the case that Harry is behind the attacks, despite not being. Like Colin, Justin is “un-petrified” by the end of the film and able to go about his life. Justin was played by Edward Randell who now seems to be a freelance journalist, having only made an appearance in this second Harry Potter film.

Moaning Myrtle, although a ghost, is also a new student character. Myrtle resides in a girls’ lavatory, which is rarely ever used because she is so miserable, resenting her early death, although she also seems to like to wallow in her self-pity as well! Basically, she can make the students feel uncomfortable so they tend to avoid her. Hermione chooses this bathroom to brew their Polyjuice potion in for this very reason, so it can remain a secret. Myrtle turns out to be the key to figuring out where the entrance to the chamber is, as it is discovered she was the first fatality from the Basilisk, after the chamber was first opened fifty years before. With the information about her death, Myrtle reveals the location of the entrance, helping Ron and Harry to rescue Ginny. She also kindly offers Harry the opportunity to share her toiler as a ghost should he die down there. Nice!

Shirley Henderson, despite being in her 30s by the time this film was made, was cast as Moaning Myrtle, likely because of the versatility of her voice, bringing a real whine to Myrtle’s lines. Early in her career, Henderson was cast as Isobel Sutherland in the mystery series Hamish Macbeth (1995-97), which saw Robert Carlyle in the title role. She also appeared as Gail in Trainspotting (1996) and its 2017 sequel. Other film roles of hers include Jude in the Bridget Jones film series; Lucille Hardy in Stan & Ollie (2018); and Agatha Christie in See How They Run (2022). On television, Henderson was cast recently, as Annie in the series Summerwater (2025) and in the recurring role of Claire Marsh in Dept. Q (2025-present) for Netflix. In voice acting, Henderson voiced the character Ooooo in Pixar’s Elio (2025) and Babu Frik in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2021). Henderson reprised her role as Moaning Myrtle only in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).

MUSIC

Legendary composer John Williams, who had created a beautiful, magical score to accompany Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, returned to compose the score for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Williams is known for composing music for such movie franchises as Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park, winning numerous awards, including Grammys and Academy Awards, during his career.

This meant that the music of both Harry Potter movies feels quite similar, with some themes returning, such as the iconic “Hedwig’s Theme”, which features in the introductory scene of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, with the title card.

I particularly like the track “Fawkes the Phoenix”, which can be heard as Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart make their way out of the chamber with Fawkes’ help. It is triumphant, showing they succeeded in their fight against evil. I also like the final track in the film, played when Hermione returns to the Great Hall after recovering from being petrified, and as Hagrid makes his grand return to Hogwarts after being released from Azkaban. This track is “Reunion of Friends”. As an adult, I always cry at this final scene, and the music is a huge part of what makes that scene so beautiful.

There are darker elements to the story in this second film, so naturally, these needed to be reflected in the score too. One piece of music that shows this is “The Spiders”, playing as Harry and Ron run from the spiders in the Dark Forest. The opening sounds of this track sound just like spiders spiralling down on their webs, making all arachnophobes’ skin crawl. “Meeting Aragog” has similar elements. “Meeting Tom Riddle”, for when Harry first sees Riddle in the chamber, is equally spooky, whilst also being mysterious as we wonder who this boy is, and where he came from. After that, we have Harry’s fight against the Basilisk. The track “Dueling the Basilisk” accompanies this sequence, making for a thrilling final battle for the film, one filled with peril and life-threatening danger.

As with the first film, Williams was once again recognised for his work on the music for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, although not at the Academy Awards as he had been for the first film. He was nominated again at the Grammys though, for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Once again, Williams lost to Howard Shore’s score for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. But Williams did beat out Shore for the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Composer, which was not only for his work on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but also for the Steven Spielberg-directed films Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can, also released in 2002. Williams was also recognised at the BMI Film Music Awards for his work on movie soundtracks that year, which including the three already mentioned, plus Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

PRODUCTION

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had opened in theatres on 16^th November 2001, but there was no time for the cast and crew to celebrate as production on the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, began just a few days later.

The total shoot for the second Harry Potter movie was apparently slightly less time than the first, at around nine or ten months, but this is still a significant amount of time, and not unexpected given the length of the movie’s runtime, the numerous impressive, vast sets, and the number of characters, and therefore actors, and locations required for filming.

Christopher Columbus was back to direct the second film, after directing the first, having been a popular director particularly with the young cast, who had had a great time filming Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Steve Kloves also returned to write the screenplay, adapting it from J.K. Rowling’s original novel, having done the same for the first.

Kloves admitted that it was difficult adapting these novels, because, since the whole series had not yet been written and published, although Rowling had a clear idea of the complete narrative, he had to check with Rowling if his screenplay was going in the right direction, so as not to allow something to be contradicted in a later film, or so something important was not omitted. In the case of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Kloves said one part of the story in particular would come back later in series, so he had to pepper in just enough clues to allow this to make sense later without giving the game away in this film. I would assume that this story element was the importance of Tom Riddle’s diary.  Rowling was particularly impressed with how the ominousness of Tom Riddle’s diary was portrayed in the film, as it is a creepy and scary concept to have someone write back to you in something as private as a diary, something many young girls turn to when wanting to express their innermost thoughts and feelings.

An element that ripples throughout the Harry Potter series is the message about racism, or classism, with the Pure-bloods against everyone else, i.e., Half-bloods or Muggle-borns. This is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, specifically differentiating Draco Malfoy and his family from the others because the Malfoys are Pure-bloods, whereas even Harry Potter is a Half-blood, because his mother was Muggle-born. The Weasleys are technically Pure-bloods, but they don’t believe themselves to be better than anyone else. This idea is a huge part of this second film and novel, with the Basilisk’s main purpose being to purge Hogwarts of Muggle-born students, but the idea comes back throughout the series. Kloves felt this theme was very important and had been perhaps more present in his first draft of the script, before having to condense it for the final film script, so the idea is quite different from the book in some aspects[5].

Although it has been noted just how faithful the first two Harry Potter movies are to the first two novels, there obviously had to be some concessions made to the story, to allow the films to be a reasonable length, and to keep the pace snappy and interesting.

One character that is referenced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, both film and novel, is Penelope Clearwater, Percy Weasley’s love interest at Hogwarts. She is only mentioned in the film, as she walks down a hallway with Percy in one scene, however, she was actually another petrified student in the book, being found beside Hermione in the library. In the book, it is Penelope’s mirror that they are using to look around corners so they don’t meet the eye of the Basilisk.

Something else that could’ve been included in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the film, but could’ve been omitted simply for pacing is that Hermoine’s potion book, Moste Potente Potions, where she finds the recipe to brew Polyjuice Potion is actually in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts Library in the novel, with Hermione having to metaphorically charm Lockhart into writing her a note, giving her permission to take the book out. In the film, this potion book just happens to be on a regular shelf of the library.

There were a few other minor changes to the story, including missing out Nearly Headless Nick’s 500^th Deathday Party, attended by Harry and his friends; a scene of the Weasley brothers “de-gnoming” their garden at The Burrow, literally throwing gnomes over a hedge to keep them out; and Mr. Weasley repairing Harry’s glasses after his visit to Knockturn Alley. For some reason, it was not supposed to be noticed that with Hermione repairing the glasses in the film, she is technically breaking the rule against underage witches and wizards using magic outside Hogwarts…A professor character is also missing entirely from the films, and that is Professor Binns, the History of Magic professor, who was the one to reveal the history of the Chamber of Secrets to Harry and his classmates. Instead, this speech was given to Professor McGonagall

Another omission includes the fact that the book first references “Squibs” in this story, specifically referring to Argus Filch, the caretaker. This leans further into the racism experienced in the Wizarding World, as the term refers to someone with at least one magical parent, but with no magical powers of their own. This may’ve initially been part of the initial script for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, because, in a deleted scene, we see Harry pass Filch a letter, which appears to be confirming Filch’s inability to perform magic. Instead, this fact is only briefly mentioned in the sixth Harry Potter film[6].

Speaking of deleted scenes, there were numerous ones that have since been available to view on DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the film. An interesting one was the scene in Borgin and Burkes, which Harry ends up in after his disastrous first attempt at using the Floo Network. Harry sees Draco Malfoy and his father entering the shop, and has to hide in a coffin to avoid being seen. Here, Lucius is selling items that he needs to get rid of from his home, since the Ministry of Magic are conducting more raids into finding dark magic. It was this scene which Tom Felton and Jason Isaacs later reflected on, as Isaacs had accidentally injured Felton’s hand here. Isaacs must’ve gotten very into character at this stage in filming, because when he used Lucius’ cobra cane to scold Draco, he accidentally hit Felton with the cane, and the pointy fangs hurt his hand. Isaacs apologised profusely after they stopped rolling, with Felton later joking that it was reminiscent of Jekyll and Hyde working with Isaacs, as he was cold and harsh one minute when acting, and nice the next when he wasn’t! The two loved working together though, and have a strong friendship even now.

Something else in the deleted scenes that might’ve helped with the plot of the story is seeing Justin Finch-Fletchley introducing himself to Harry just before the Duelling Club began. In this scene, Justin confirms he is a Muggle-born. I didn’t realise this until many years later, and simply thought the Basilisk was just attacking whoever was around, not specifically targeting Muggle-borns with Hermione just being a coincidence, since Tom Riddle says to Harry at the end of the film that that wasn’t his purpose anymore. I thought the Basilisk was trying to get to Harry and these students were just in the way, so had this scene been included, it would’ve added more clarity for viewers who were not familiar with the book. This idea was further used in a later scene, where Harry heard people talking about how Justin had revealed he was Muggle-born to Harry, making the students gossiping suspect Justin would be the next victim, since Harry must be the heir of Slytherin.

Another scene that could’ve added more clarity to the overall story was Harry, Ron, and Hermione all seeing that the diary belonged to a Tom Riddle. On hearing the name, this reminded Ron that he’d seen that name whilst polishing the school’s silver as part of his detention. Riddle had won an award for services to the school fifty years ago, with this being the same time the chamber was opened. They therefore assume Riddle will know all about the chamber, but see nothing written in the diary, so cannot read anything about it. This would’ve led on to Harry writing in the diary and conversing with Riddle through it[7].

In terms of filming locations, many of the same locations were used in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets after their usage in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, for example, Alnwick Castle. Specifically in this second film, the Inner Bailey area of the castle was used for the sequence of Harry and Ron crash-landing in the flying car on their arrival at Hogwarts[8]. The cast and crew also made a return to Durham Cathedral. In this sequel, the Cloister Garth was used for the scene of the Gryffindor Quidditch team learning about Draco becoming Slytherin’s new seeker, and Ron casting his “eat slugs” curse, with the Chapter House being used for Professor McGonagall’s classroom. It would seem that the Divinity School at Oxford University was the location for Hogwarts’ hospital wing and was also used for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone[9]. Other locations include the North Walk Cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral being the location for the scene of the writings on the wall in this film, with Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom being nearby, and the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands becoming iconic for the sequence of Harry and Ron meeting the Hogwarts Express, and almost crashing with it, whilst in the flying Ford Anglia. The viaduct makes a return in other Harry Potter movies too, during the group’s travels to Hogwarts[10]. The story also returns to King’s Cross station, where we see Harry and Ron attempt to follow the rest of the Weasleys on to Platform 9 ¾, finding the portal has closed. This is once again inside King’s Cross, or how it was many years ago, but when Harry and Ron go to get in the flying car, this exterior shot is actually of neighbouring train station St. Pancras.

With the filming of the second movie feeling very similar to the first one, for numerous reasons, it made everyone feel free and more comfortable with what they were doing, including Christopher Columbus. Additional cast members meant widening the Harry Potter family, with Kenneth Branagh, Mark Williams, and Jason Isaacs being welcomed into the cast, with the latter two becoming very integrated into later storylines. Branagh was actually set to play Richard III on stage partway through filming Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and was learning his lines for it in his downtime. Daniel Radcliffe was said to have enjoyed running lines with him for the play. Jason Isaacs had an enjoyable moment seeing just how brilliant Radcliffe was too, as Isaacs improvised the line “Let us hope Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day”, so that Malfoy could have the final say in Dumbledore’s office. Isaacs had not been expecting Radcliffe to shot back with his own bit of improv, cooly stating, “Don’t worry, I will be”. This showed a level of increased confidence in the young cast in the brief spell of time between the two movies, which did not go unnoticed by the adults on set. It was also notable that they were growing up by the fact many of the boys’ voices were breaking by this point[11]! But to really bring everyone back down to earth, that this production was centred around child actors, there was reportedly an outbreak of headlice on set during filming, which was said to have halted production briefly[12]!

Moving on, let’s discuss some important characters who were not part of the filming process, and yet feel very real to audiences. One of these is obviously Dobby the House-elf, a beloved character in the Harry Potter universe for many. Dobby was going to have to be a computer-generated character, and the animators wanted to make him appear as he was described in the books, as a sort of shrivelled and puny creature, made to wear a dirty rag all his life, as he serves one wizard family forever, a family who have tormented him and weakened his spirit. There were some concerns around making Dobby, as he had to feel lovable, without being cute and cuddly, and be a sympathetic figure that we feel sorry for. It was possible he’d end up being too annoying, like some other computer-generated characters of the time, or that he’d feel too digital to seem real. Although Dobby might appear quite strange, especially given how far computer animation has progressed since the early 2000s, he remains a figure that we want to root for[13].

The talents of his voice actor will also have helped with this. British actor Toby Jones was chosen to voice Dobby. Jones has made appearances in various well-known movies franchises, including being cast as Claudius Templesmith in The Hunger Games franchise; as Mr. Eversoll in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018); and as Basil Shaw in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Jones has also recently starred in numerous British miniseries, such as portraying Alan Bates in Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office (2024), and Alan Rusbridger in The Hack (2025). Initially, when Jones was offered the part of Dobby, he didn’t understand the importance of the character, but later came to realise how loved Dobby is. 

It was quite difficult for the actors to act to Dobby, because he obviously wasn’t there, but the two actors who had the most scenes with Dobby, i.e., Daniel Radcliffe and Jason Isaacs, did their best with them, and I think it shows. Isaacs, for instance, chose to kick Dobby down the stairs in Dumbledore’s office. Columbus apparently believed Isaacs had just slipped as he was walking down them, but he made it clear, he was actually acting! This moment made it into the film. Radcliffe was also said to have impressed many on set as he acted to a stick with a ball on the end of it for all Harry’s scenes with Dobby, being said to have twice as much focus and commitment as many adult actors in these types of scenes.

Fawkes the Phoenix is another vital character to the story, coming to Harry’s rescue whilst in the Chamber of Secrets on two different occasions. But Harry first meets Fawkes in Dumbledore’s office, and this phoenix is an animatronic figure, not a CG creation. It apparently had cameras in its eyes so it could be moved to respond to the actors. Columbus and Radcliffe later revealed that they believed Richard Harris thought Fawkes was a very well-trained bird[14]! But whenever Fawkes had flight sequences, and for when he caught fire and was reborn, digital effects were used.

Aragog the spider – an Acromantulas, to be exact – was another creature that had to be created for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It was thought that Aragog would simply have to be computer-generated, due to his size, however, it was later decided that Aragog could be constructed, even if he was such a complex and huge spider. If it didn’t work, there was always CG to fall back on, but in the end, Aragog was created, as a puppet. This must’ve been absolutely terrifying to see up close! The swarm of Aragog’s children, however, were CGI. Julian Glover was tasked with voicing Aragog. He had previously been cast as General Maximilian Veers in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Aristotle Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only (1981), showing Glover’s talent for playing villains. He later had a recurring role as Grand Maester Pycelle in Game of Thrones (2011-19).

The Basilisk, a huge snake-like creature, was created with a mixture of practical models and CGI. A 30ft long structure was built, detailing the Basilisk’s head and mouth, which was used and controlled for the battle scene with Harry. This mechanical puppet could even move towards Radcliffe as he literally fought against it. However, when the Basilisk slithers through the chamber, following Harry, this was CGI[15].

Outside of that, various new sets had to be built for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. One of these was Dumbledore’s Office, a grand office to suit the grandeur of Dumbledore and his status as Headmaster. It was thought the scale of the project may’ve had to be scaled back from original designs because of a lack of budget, however, instead of compromising on the office, further funds were secured to ensure the office was constructed as it had been envisaged. Numerous paintings of former Hogwarts’ Headmasters had to be commissioned, for those to be hung around the walls of the office, and various celestial objects, including a large telescope, were either created or purchased to fill the space, to match Dumbledore’s interests in astronomy. They also had to build the moving, spiral staircase, the Griffin Stairwell, that Harry steps into to get to Dumbledore’s office. The greenhouse for Professor Sprout’s Herbology class was another new set, although they had wanted to film in potentially one of the greenhouses at Kew Gardens, but on learning that air traffic would be a problem for them, they chose to build a set based on one of Kew’s actual greenhouses. The Weasley family home of The Burrow, a homely cottage-like building, was another new set, filled with whimsical, magical inventions, like a pan being cleaned, and moving knitting needles, which were all practical effects. The Burrow is also filled with little knick-knacks, to complement Mr. Weasley’s fascination with the Muggle world[16].

Sadly, a very tragic ending was about to unfold as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets headed into the post-production stages. Richard Harris had been able to see out the filming of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in his role as Dumbledore, however, by August 2002, Harris was struggling with ill health. Columbus saw his health decline quite quickly after that, although Columbus did say Harris seemed in good spirits when he saw him in the hospital. After visiting him, Harris warned Columbus not to even think about replacing him as Dumbledore for the next film as he’d be back. Columbus said he’d never do that, and said he’d see him in a few weeks, however, sadly, as Columbus began editing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets a few days later, he was shocked to discover that Harris had passed away, on 25^th October 2002 at the age of 72[17]. This meant that Dumbledore would have to be recast for the future films. Columbus did not even return for the third film, at least as director, as he decided he needed a break from directing the Harry Potter movies, passing them over to others to finish the rest of the series. 

RECEPTION

An official premiere was held for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 3^rd November 2002 in London. This was soon followed by the film’s release to cinemas, on 15^th November 2002, in both the US and the UK, coming to international markets either around the same time, in the following few weeks, or within the first couple of months of 2003.

In the UK, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had a high opening weekend, making around £9.8 million in its opening weekend in the country[18]. It made an estimated $87.7 million in its first three days of release in the US, making this the country’s third best opening of all time, behind May 2002’s Spider-Man, with $114.8 million, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’s $90.3 million. Across the world, the movie is said to have made $142 million in just those first three days. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was even in top position at the box office in eight other countries, including creating the highest openings ever in Taiwan and the Philippines[19].

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ended its run with a total worldwide gross of just under $880 million, in second place to the second film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which made a total of $923 million. Rounding out the rest of the Top Five were Spider-Man, with just under $805 million; Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, with $645 million, and Men in Black II, with a little over $440 million. This proves that studios even loved making sequels over two decades ago!

In comparison with the first film in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets did not end up surpassing its predecessor. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone made around $975 million during its initial release, and did top the worldwide box office for 2001. But the figures weren’t too far apart, showing that Harry Potter had a bright future as a film franchise, even though this was only two movies into an expected seven movie series.

Looking at audience reviews, there were plenty of positive comments for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and it seemed to have a similar overall view by the public as the first one had received. Many commented that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets felt the same as the first, in terms of both the story elements and the production value. This would’ve been due to the benefit of having continuity with the direction of the films as the first two were both directed by Christopher Columbus, as well as perhaps the two films being filmed so close together, with many of the same settings. This second film was also seen as staying quite faithful to the original book, something that the first film had been praised for as well. The story of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was said to have developed the overall story and the characters further, being considered scary, in a good way, with the finale battle between Harry, Tom Riddle, and the Basilisk a particular highlight. The special effects were received well too. For new characters, many of the actors performing these roles were highlighted, including Kenneth Branagh, who was a total scene-stealer as Lockhart, and Jason Isaacs, who was quietly menacing in his role as Lucius Malfoy. Fans of the Weasleys also appreciated a closer look at the family in this film too. The acting of the child actors was seen to have improved quite significantly between the first two films as well.

However, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was slightly longer in runtime than the first movie, and for some, it showed, with the story said to have dragged in places, and just generally being considered too long for a family-friendly film. There were also some who commented that Richard Harris seemed tired in this film, lacking the twinkle that Dumbledore had had in the first movie. I can’t say I noticed this to be honest; I just thought Dumbledore didn’t have as much of a role in the story here. These were likely retrospective reflections after Harris’ death. The other problem with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was that you had to have seen the first to understand the sequel, because they waste no time in explaining what is going on; there’s too much to cover that this wouldn’t have been a good use of the runtime. There were also those who obviously didn’t like the first film for varying reasons, including that the book was stuck too closely to, or that Columbus had made the film too light and breezy, and since the first two films feel very similar, if you already didn’t like the first film, it was unlikely you’d like the second.

It also turns out that Dobby was quite a divisive character. I always liked Dobby; I thought he was funny in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and he was my favourite character from the film when I first watched it. However, some found him much too annoying, comparing him to Star Wars’ potentially most-hated character, Jar Jar Binks. Perhaps in both cases, the use of these characters for comic relief purposes took away from the story of their respective films? Or they were just generally irritating with their voices and appearances. I don’t know, but I should mention that I always liked Jar Jar Binks too – sorry!

In terms of awards, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had turned out to be quite a surprise hit, even receiving three nominations at the Academy Awards for Art Direction, Costume Design, and Original Score, although it did not win in any of the categories. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ended up not being nominated at the Academy Awards for anything, this being only one of two Harry Potter films not to receive a single nomination here, but there were a few award wins and nominations for the sequel.

For example, the BAFTA Awards, seen to be kinder to the British film industry than some of the US academies, for obvious reasons, nominated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in three categories: Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects. There were no wins for Harry Potter at this ceremony though. Elsewhere, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets received six nominations at the Saturn Awards, including for Best Fantasy Film and Best Make-Up, losing out to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on both occasions; and Best Special Effects and Best Costumes, losing to Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Christopher Columbus and Daniel Radcliffe were both up for Best Direction and Best Performance by a Younger Actor, but also did not win.

A few other awards and nominations to mention include a win for Best Family Film at the Critics’ Choice Awards, alongside a nomination for Best Digital Acting Performance for Toby Jones as Dobby, which turned out to be a win for Andy Serkis’ portrayal of Lord of the Rings character Gollum. The same thing happened at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards. Sadly, Dobby was nominated in a much meaner ceremony, at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, for Most Annoying Non-Human Character. Luckily, he – and Jar Jar Binks – lost out to Scrappy-Doo in Scooby-Doo (2002)! Finally, I’ll just mention that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was nominated for Favorite Movie at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards – and lost to Austin Powers in Goldmember, which I thought was definitely not aimed at children!

LEGACY

It is common knowledge that as the Harry Potter movies were being made, J.K. Rowling was still publishing the rest of the series. By the time the first movie came out in 2001, only the first four books of an anticipated seven-book series had been published.

A little while after Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets came to our screens, the fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was published, in mid-2003. The publication date was announced in early 2003, with it being confirmed as 21^st June 2003, a Saturday so that children would not feel the need to miss school to be one of the first in line to purchase it! More than a third of million copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had been sold on its first day of release in the summer of 2000, becoming the fastest-selling book in history at the time[20]. The release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix then broke that record with its 2003 publication.

As well as the new novel being published, a computer game based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, with similar gameplay to the game based on the first film, was developed. Like the first Harry Potter game, I enjoyed playing this second one too. Plenty of merchandise and memorabilia for this first sequel have also been available to purchase over the years, including replicas of Tom Riddle’s diary with the Basilisk fang through it.

There was even a sketch created for the British charity Comic Relief which aired as part of its annual television broadcast in 2003 which parodied Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It was created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, who played Harry and Ron respectively. The sketch was humorously titled Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan. As well as recreating moments from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, including having Harry meet “Dobby”, who was being played by the beloved Basil Brush, a puppet for any non-British readers who may be unfamiliar with the character, and the flying car sequence with the Hogwarts Express, it was also made like a mockumentary, with the “actors”, including Jeremy Irons playing Alan Rickman/Snape, Ronnie Corbett, known for his small stature, playing Robbie Coltrane/Hagrid and Alison Steadman playing Maggie Smith/McGonagall, talking about how they’d rather be working on The Lord of the Rings, or not understanding how to act to allow for special effects. The sketch was simply poking fun at the films, which had already become huge successes both in Britain and around the world. J.K. Rowling took the parody in her stride by recording a mock introduction to the sketch, telling viewers not to watch because she had “nothing nice to say” about it.

The real legacy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets though is that its success, and that of the first movie, allowed for the series to be continued in movie form, because had this second one not proved to be as relevant as the first, this may’ve been the end of the film series. It wouldn’t be the first time a movie series based on novels was halted partway through due to a lack of financial success – thank you, Divergent… It also introduced the viewers, those who had not read the books, to the evil that was set to come later in the series. It gave us plenty of clues for upcoming plot points, although we were not aware of this until a few films later when everything was tied together.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Stylistically, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets feel very similar. This is thanks to the strong vision of Christopher Columbus, who wanted to stick as close to J.K. Rowling’s books as he could, without making the films hours and hours long. Columbus successfully brought in elements of dark magic and evil wizards without making the films too dark and scary for the children that would be watching.

However, with an expected seven-movie series, and a quick turnaround between the first and second films, to allow them to be released within a year of each other, Columbus was rightly exhausted and decided not to commit to directing any further Harry Potter movie.

This allowed for the remaining films to be taken in a new direction, with an even darker tone. Voldemort had returned once again for the sequel, and it was only a matter of time before the past he’d never even known about was going to catch up to Harry Potter.

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REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Martin Barber, ‘Harry Potter: ‘Percy Weasley changed my life’ says Chris Rankin’, BBC.co.uk, 22^nd November 2021.

[2] Credit: Zac Ntim, ‘Alan Cumming says he told ‘Harry Potter’ producers to ‘f— off’ after they asked him to audition for Professor Gilderoy Lockhart’, BusinessInsider.com, 9^th August 2021.

[3] Credit: ABC News ‘Kenneth Branagh Joins Second ‘Harry Potter’ Film’, ABCNews.com, 25^th October 2001.

[4] Credit: Veronica Vivona, ‘Jason Isaacs Wanted to Play Gilderoy Lockhart’, ScreenRant.com, 19^th October 2017.

[5] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Conversation with J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves (2003)’, from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[6] Credit: Matthew Rudoy, ‘Harry Potter: 10 Differences Between The Chamber Of Secrets Book & The Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 21^st August 2020.

[7] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Deleted/Extended Scenes’, from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[8] Credit: Alnwick Castle, ‘Harry Potter at Alnwick Castle’, AlnwickCastle.com, date unknown.

[9] Credit: Visit Britain, ‘Visit Harry Potter filming locations’, VisitBritain.com, date unknown.

[10] Credit: BBC, ‘Harry Potter 20^th anniversary: The UK film locations’, BBC.co.uk, 20^th November 2021.

[11] Credit: Adam Markovitz, ‘Harry Potter: Casting the Spell’, EW.com, 1^st July 2011.

[12] Credit: Tamar Altebarmakian, ‘Secrets You Didn’t Know Behind The Making Of Harry Potter’, ScreenRant.com, 30^th January 2018.

[13] Credit: Alec Cawthorne, ‘Chris Columbus – Part Two Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’, BBC.co.uk, 28^th October 2014.

[14] Credit: HBO Max, ‘Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).

[15] Credit; Warner Bros., ‘Creature Effects: Basilisk’, WBStudioTour.co.uk, date unknown.

[16] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Behind Hogwarts: Building a Scene’, from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[17] Credit: Lexy Perez, ‘‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus Reflects on Pressures to Adapt Book and Hopes to Direct ‘Cursed Child’’, HollywoodReporter.com, 11^th November 2021.

[18] Credit: BBC, ‘Potter conjures up box office record’, News.BBC.co.uk, 18^th November 2002.

[19] Credit: The Guardian, ‘Potter breaks UK box office records’, TheGuardian.com, 18^th November 2002.

[20] Credit: BBC News, ‘June debut for Potter latest’, News.BBC.co.uk, 10^th February 2003.