With the Harry Potter TV Show coming soon, I wanted to give my take on what I am hoping to see in season 1. For this article, I am focusing on 5 things from the first Harry Potter book that were cut from the movie. With the HBO show having more run time, they will be able to focus more on some of the great stuff that was in the book. Let’s get into it.
1) The Opening Scene (Vernon Dursley’s Weird Day At Work)
The first movie starts off with Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Rubeus Hagrid dropping Harry off at the Dursleys home. The producers skipped some interesting stuff from the first chapter of the book, which I hope they dive more into for the opening scene of Harry Potter season 1.
In the first book chapter, J.K Rowling introduces the world through the eyes of Vernon Dursley. Weird things start to happen to Vernon during his usually boring day at work. He thought he saw a tabby cat reading a map. He saw an abnormal amount of people in cloaks while sitting in traffic. There were owls flying around in broad daylight. He overheard someone mention ‘The Potters’ and their son Harry. Vernon was also called a ‘muggle’ by someone. It was made clear that this was a weird day in the normally boring life of Vernon and all of this takes place before Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid appear.
For me, I think this scene is a great introduction to the story. It paints the Dursleys as a normal and boring family. Then, the weird things start to happen, which sets the table for the magic to be introduced. .
This scene was probably cut from the movie due to time constraints. With more time in the HBO show, I think they should include this opening Vernon scene. This scene can hook first time viewers and keep them watching. It hooked millions and millions around the globe, and they kept reading. So seems silly to cut it for the show.
On a related note, try our Which Dursley are you quiz next.
2) The Sorting Hat’s Song
In the movies, there is a fun scene with the sorting hat. During this, we see Harry and some other students get sorted into their Hogwarts houses.
This was fine but in the sorting hat chapter from the first book, there is a lot of fun stuff that they can dive into for the TV show. This includes a song from the Sorting Hat, which provides more context into the history of the different houses.
Here is an excerpt from a song from the sorting chapter:
‘You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart; ‘
From this, viewers know that Gryffindor students are brave and daring. They also know the traits from the other houses from the song as the original version is much longer. Viewers are able to know more about the houses before they see people get sorted. It also places more fun and emphasis into the entire sorting ceremony, which is a big thing at Hogwarts.
It makes sense why this scene was cut down in the movie to save time. With more time in the tv show though, they really need to dive more into this. Sorting hat quizzes (like we have at Potterquizzes.com) are still really popular (and it has been many years since the books and movies came out). This tells us that fans love the sorting hat and everything to do with it. It makes sense for the HBO show to dive more into it and be more faithful to the books.
3) Peeves
Peeves is a Poltergeist, who spends time causing chaos and terrorizing students and teachers at Hogwarts. He serves the role as comedic relief and he was originally introduced in the first book.
Peeves was completely cut from the movies. There are reports that they filmed scenes involving Peeves for the movies but they didn’t make the final edit. So they were obviously strongly considering including him but didn’t decide to do it.
They definitely will and should include Peeves in the TV show as he was a great source of entertainment in the books. Not only would he create fun moments in the first season but throughout the rest of the series.
If they can nail the casting of the character, then they will have some real potential for all 7 seasons.
4) Harry Returns To The Dursley’s Before His First Year At Hogwarts.
In both the book and the movie, Harry goes with Hagrid to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies before his first year at Hogwarts. An interesting change between the book and movie though is what happened after this. In the movie, it basically goes right into Harry’s first year at Hogwarts. In the books, Harry actually has to go back to live with the Dursley’s and spend the month of August with them. He goes with Hagrid in July but school doesn’t start until September 1st.
This provides a fun dynamic where Harry has to go back to live with the Dursley family with everything now changed. He knows he is a Wizard and they now know he knows. There is potential for a fun moment or two from this, even if it is quick.
In the book, Harry also asks Vernon to drive him to King’s Cross station, which he does. Vernon also helps Harry with his trunk, and the Dursleys leave laughing as Harry has to try and figure out how to get to Platform 9 ¾. This is a nice set-up for the moment with the Weasley’s helping him.
I definitely get why this was changed for the movie but I would like to see it in the show. I think it further highlights the Dursleys and their relationship with Harry. This relationship will play out between them all throughout the books, so I think the more the better. I also love Vernon as a character, so the more screen time the better in my mind.
5) Draco Malfoy’s Fight With Ron Weasley & Neville Longbottom
In the first book, Draco Malfoy bullies Neville Longbottom by using the leg-locker curse on him. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger try to get Neville to stand up for himself.
Later during the Quidditch match, Draco ends up making comments about Ron and Neville. This leads to Neville standing up for himself. Draco and Ron wrestle, while Neville tries to take on Crabbe and Goyle by himself. Neville gets knocked out and taken to the hospital wing but he stood up for himself.
The main reason I think this should be included is because it further solidifies the friendship between Neville, Ron, Hermione and Harry. It also will hit harder and provide more context when Neville tries to stand up to them when they sneak out and look for the Philosopher’s Stone, putting Gryffindor house at risk in the House Cup. I think this earlier fight scene lays the groundwork for that in a nice way and think that it should be included.
What are you looking to see in Harry Potter season 1? Let me know what you think in the comments.