Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died - Emerson Spartz [75]
When Ron tells Dobby the address of Shell Cottage, perhaps Bill has not put the charm on his house yet. It is only after Harry and a bunch of wounded people Apparate on his doorstep that Bill realizes he needs extra protection. Bill also doesn’t give anyone Aunt Muriel’s exact address, but only mentions her name and her house. So, hey, no problem. J.K.R. hasn’t contradicted anything, and all is well with the Fidelius Charm.
Verdict
Were the rules of the Fidelius Charm changed in Deathly Hallows to help the plot keep moving along? Or, is this a case of nitpicky readers who can’t accept new information about an old charm? Until J.K.R. clears up the secrets of Secret Keeping, the verdict is: Oh yeah—the new Secret-Keeper information completely contradicts the old.
Which movie did a worse job capturing the important details of the book?
In these movies, the choices made by the studios of what to exclude diminishes the story, and sometimes the spotlight is on the wrong characters.
Order of the Phoenix
Several problems make OotP the least true-to-the-story movie, and to anyone who has read the book, it’s noticeable right away. Mrs. Figg is there, but not Mundungus Fletcher, so the humor that balances the attack of the Dementor in the book is lacking. At the Dursleys, it’s the same old thing with Petunia taking Dudley’s side against Harry, but sadly missing is the big scene in which Petunia has to admit she knows about the wizarding world—she never gets the Howler message from Dumbledore that says “Remember my last!” reminding her that she must protect Harry. Professor Lupin is missing from the Advanced Guard scene, and it would have been much better to see him and Tonks together from the beginning. As it is, David Thewlis’s character seems almost an afterthought in the movie, and he hardly has any lines. Ron, unfortunately, misses his big Quidditch moment, because the whole “Weasley is our King” subplot isn’t in there.
While the studios warned us that this movie would be “dark,” no one knew they were talking about the murky lighting. Except for Umbridge’s pink office and Luna Lovegood’s Spectrespecs, every scene appears filtered through a blue lens: dark skies, dark tunnels, dark houses, dark forest, dark dungeons—even Dumbledore’s office looks darker than it did in earlier movies. Grimmauld Place is drab, except for one glimpse of the Black Tapestry. Where are the snaky Slytherin light fixtures? Or the cupboards full of dangerous objects? Kreacher the house-elf turns out strangely cute instead of ugly, and we never see his “lair” under the boiler. Fans were looking forward to seeing Mrs. Black’s portrait, but it remains covered up with no shrieking.
And once the kids are at Hogwarts, Dolores Umbridge takes over the plot. The actress Imelda Staunton plays her evil role with glee, but after a while she wears out her welcome with her shrill voice and pink costumes. The focus on Umbridge is just wrong because the filmmakers played down her counterpoint, Severus Snape, played passionately by Alan Rickman in one good scene. In the book, the ironic twist is that Dolores, with her little girl giggle, is the monster while the dark and moody Snape is working for the Order of the Phoenix. But half of Snape’s scenes are cut. Instead of a big showdown about Harry with Sirius Black, we barely hear them talking through the kitchen door for just a second. There is no Potions class in which Snape makes sure that Harry knows how to brew the Draught of Peace.