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Anyone who knows me knows I love Harry Potter. If you give me time, I’ll rewatch all the Harry Potter movies. I’ll tell you the best characters, arcs, and everything you could think of because I am just that much of a Potterhead. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that several Harry Potter characters from the movies and the books deserved far more screen time. Today, we’ll be going over them.
Luna Lovegood
First up on this list has to be Luna Lovegood, played by Evanna Lynch in the Harry Potter franchise. When she first appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Luna captured viewers’ hearts with her quirky nature, and she became a great friend to Harry.
She was a great addition to the franchise and deserved far more screen time. Interestingly, Lynch was intimidated by her co-stars when she first joined the movies, but she became a great part of the ensemble.
Neville Longbottom
Neville Longbottom, portrayed by Matthew Lewis, was what I would call the “nerd” of Hogwarts, as everyone picked on him from day one. However, in the books, a prophecy also revealed that he could have been a Chosen One, and at the end of both the books and the Harry Potter film franchise, he saved the day and killed Nagini. If you can believe it, as much of an impact he had, he didn’t have that much screen time in the movies.
Molly Weasley
Molly Weasley, played by Julie Walters, was the mother that everyone wanted in Harry Potter, and she was such an essential part of Harry’s life in the book. I would have loved to see her character get played out way more, especially her last fight with Bellatrix Lestrange. Nothing can quite beat a mother’s wrath.
Sirius Black
Gary Oldman has been in some incredible movies, and I’ve always considered him a shapeshifter when it comes to his roles. Sirius Black is one of those where he perfectly portrays the character. But Black had a much more significant role in the Harry Potter books, making his unfortunate death much sadder. It would have been great to see him more with the Boy Who Lived in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Kingsley Shacklebolt
There aren’t many ministry people from the Ministry of Magic that I wanted to see more since most of them were the worst people imaginable. But one individual that I did love was Kingsley Shacklebolt, played by George Harris. While he had minimal screen time, the auror left a lasting impression on the Harry Potter fandom, and he was a great addition. I wish we had just one more scene of him.
Fleur Delacour
I never thought I would want to see Fleur Delacour more, but when she married into the Weasley family, I was dying to see how that happened. We know that she winds up marrying Bill Weasley, and their story is explained far better in the books, but it happens out of nowhere in the movies. I wish we had seen more of that – honestly, I just wish we had more of the Weasley family.
It’s nice to know that the actress who played Fleur, Clémence Poésy, has been successful since then, with a recent stint in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon cast, but I really wanted to see more of her in these movies.
Kreacher
The house elves of Harry Potter in the films were downgraded so much it’s sad. Kreacher, the house elf for 12 Grimmauld Place, the Black’s home, was an essential part of the Harry Potter novels, but he was relegated to a barely memorable side character in the movie. Just sad.
Bellatrix Lestrange
Bellatrix Lestrange in the movies was one of those memorable characters on her own, almost more than Voldemort. Helena Bonham Carter has done some great films, but her portrayal of Bellatrix will always be my favorite because she can somehow show how insane this character is.
However, Bellatrix was way worse in the books, and I would have loved to see her unhinged-ness way more.
Fred And George Weasley
It may initially seem shocking for me to request Fred and George, of all people, to have more screen time, but like many others on this list, they were much more significant in the novels. The Harry Potter movies forgot that Harry gave the twins all his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. Instead, they randomly started a joke shop without any explanation in the sixth film. I would have loved to see them more.
Dobby
Plenty of characters in Harry Potter were given a decent amount of screen time but were relegated to more minor characters. Dobby was one of those, where he did have significant roles in two of the films, specifically Chamber of Secrets, but he had a much more substantial part in the books – especially in the fourth.
Peeves
Peeves, a poltergeist who played tricks on the Hogwarts students, was one of the most prominent side characters of the novels, and yet he never made it into the movie. There is a reason why he wasn’t there, so you should check that out, but it would have been great to see him in the movies.
Teddy
The seventh movie glossed over something else: Remus and Tonks, who were revealed as a couple. In the books, this is a much bigger deal – and aside from that, they have a son named Teddy, who winds up becoming an orphan after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Colin Creevey
Colin Creevey is one of those characters we have only seen once in the whole franchise, maybe twice, when he was a more significant part of the books. While he wasn’t the most fun character, he had his moments of aid towards the Golden Trio in the novels. However, in the movies, he felt like a background character that was never mentioned aside from his part in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Draco Malfoy
I know Draco Malfoy did have a decent amount of screen time in the movies, and considering Tom Felton is the biggest fan of the Wizarding World, everyone knows it. But Malfoy is another case where he played a far more prominent role in the books than in the movies. You almost feel bad for Malfoy in the novels because you get a deeper look into his psyche.
Tom Felton has done some great movies and shows since the franchise ended. Still, I think Harry Potter is his most outstanding achievement – and he certainly shows it whenever he visits Radcliffe’s star in L.A., showing his support for his friends and former castmates.
Cedric Diggory
Cedric is another example of a significant character who was played down. While he is killed in Goblet of Fire, Diggory feels more fleshed out in the books, and he could have been played up more for the film as Harry’s competitor and ally in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Also, Robert Pattinson‘s portrayal of him was fantastic in the pre-Twilight movies era. It’s one of Pattinson’s best movies, and I stand by that.
Winky
Do you know who Winky is? No? You’re not alone because no one who just watched the movies does. Winky was a house elf in the fourth novel that Hermione fought to give proper rights to, and that plotline was completely cut. I’m not sure why, considering I recall it being decently big, but I would have liked a cameo.
Ginny Weasley
Ginny is another example where she got a decent amount of screen time, but I probably would have liked her character if she had been given more. Ginny, in the books, is great, but I’m not a massive fan of her character in the movies. Even Bonnie Wright, the actress behind Ginny, said the character was “disappointing.” We could have done so much more.
Remus Lupin
Remus Lupin was my favorite professor at Hogwarts, and David Thewlis was the best person to play him, but did you know that Lupin had a much more significant role in the books than in the movies? He was a huge part of Harry’s life, and we saw his interactions with Sirius, a former friend, far more often. I would have given anything to see more of his character – and maybe even more on the Marauders since he was one of them.
Blaise Zabini
Blaise is one of those characters in the movies where it’s a “blink and you’ll miss it” moment, but as someone who actually liked seeing the other students of Hogwarts besides the Golden Trio, Blaise was one of them. He seemed so calm and collected in comparison to Malfoy’s other Slytherin friends, and I think he would have been a great addition to the main group of students that we get to know.
Professor McGonagall
Not only is Dame Maggie Smith an absolute delight, but Professor Minerva McGonagall was the teacher we all wanted and needed, and she did everything in her power to protect her students. It would have been awesome to see more, especially since she plays such an essential role down the line in the books.
Narcissa Malfoy
This is the first example where I think Narcissa Malfoy, played by the incredible Helen McCrory in the films, wasn’t seen as much in the novels either. But God, I would have given anything to see more of her in the movies after she saved Harry from Voldemort by saying he was dead when he wasn’t. You can count it up to a mother’s love, but ugh, such a great moment from a great character that, in the end, didn’t get much screen time.
Lucius Malfoy
Lucius Malfoy reminds me a lot of his son Draco in a way that people remember him plenty from the movies, but the books dove a little deeper into his character. And if we were given more time with the Malfoys in general, I think we could have been given a much better understanding of why they do what they do, especially Lucius. Plus, Jason Isaacs is always a win.
Charlie Weasley
Do you love the dragons in House of the Dragon? We could have had that in the Harry Potter movies too if Charlie Weasley was even used. The second eldest Weasley brother didn’t even show up once in the franchise and guess what – he was a dragon tamer. We could have gotten so many more dragons if we saw him.
Nymphadora Tonks
Tonks, a metamorphmagus and member of the Order of the Phoenix, is another excellent example of someone who was underused in the movies. We saw her for the first time in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and then she only appeared again in the seventh film, but we hear a lot more about her in the novels. She was great and had such a fun personality, and I would have loved seeing her more.
Mad-Eye Moody
Mad-Eye Moody was one of the best adults in this series because he was just so unhinged. While it wasn’t really him in the fourth movie, Brendan Gleeson played the character so well, and then sadly we only see the real version of the auror a few other times, which is frustrating. He’s such a great character, and he played such a big part, and movie lovers barely got to know who he was before he was killed off. So sad.
Cho Chang
Cho Chang is one of those characters you don’t know how to feel about because other than her betrayal of Dumbledore’s Army in the fifth film, she’s pretty forgettable. The sad part is that she played a much more significant role in Harry’s life in the books, but she wasn’t in the films as much, aside from a measly love interest that vanishes as soon as it comes.
Chang paved the way for Harry to wind up with Ginny down the line in the books, but since we don’t get as much romance in the movies as we did in the novels, it almost feels forced. We could have been given so much more.
Dean
There were plenty of fun Gryffindors that people didn’t get to see that much, and one was Dean, a friend of Harry, who had a more prominent role in the books, but we barely saw him that much in the movies.
Seamus
We saw Seamus a little more than Dean in the movies, namely when things were exploding in his face, but I can’t get over how he appeared way more in the books. And you could believe that he and Harry were friends aside from the few times we saw them together in the movies.
Rodolphus Lestrange
Did you know that Bellatrix had a husband in the Harry Potter novels? His name was Rodolphus Lestrange, and they escaped Azkaban together. But he was cut out entirely from the movies. While I would have loved to see him in the films, a part of me is happy because it lets Bellatrix shine. Even so, that interaction would have been fun to see.
Marietta Edgecombe
Cho Chang wasn’t even the person who revealed the location of Dumbledore’s Army in the books. That, my friends, was Mariette Edgecombe, a character that did exactly that but was cut out from the movies because, well, for the drama, I suppose. We could have been given an accurate portrayal of Cho, but nope, she had to be the betrayer.
Professor Binns
Few professors were left out of the Harry Potter novels, and one of them was undoubtedly Professor Binns, the history professor of Hogwarts. Would it have been cool to see another ghost? Of course. And not only that, his classes usually offered some pretty funny moments in the books.
Crookshanks
Crookshanks is one of those characters that is way smarter than you would believe. That cat never trusted Scabbers and always chased him. That rat wound up being Peter Pettigrew, so who knows what else this cat could have hunted down. We don’t know what happened to the cat after the fifth film, so hopefully, she’s just living her life now. I would have loved to see more.
We were deprived of so many great Harry Potter characters from the movies. The new Harry Potter adaptation is coming to Max, so maybe we’ll get to see more of them or see them have more screen time, but until then, a girl can dream.