The Harry Potter books are full of often-ignored plotlines, many of which are subtly imperative to Harry’s overarching story. Of course, the primary reason that these arcs are typically forgotten is that they were left out of the Harry Potter movies. Even among book fans, certain events have fallen into the background, and their importance has been forgotten. This could all change with HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter remake.
HBO has promised a book-faithful adaptation with its new Harry Potter TV show, which should be much easier to achieve with its planned seven seasons across 10 years. With approximately 50 to 70 episodes, the more subtle plotlines can finally be done justice. With renewed attention to these key characters and story arcs, the Harry Potter remake can be all the more impactful.
Dumbledore’s Secret Agenda In Philosopher’s Stone
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Over the course of the Harry Potter books, Harry got to know Dumbledore more and more. They spent more time together, and Harry began to understand how the Hogwarts headmaster thought and worked. This meant that some of Dumbledore’s actions from years past began to make more sense—for example, Dumbledore’s seemingly irresponsible choices in Philosopher’s Stone.
It’s easy to label Dumbledore as fairly incompetent when looking at his choices during Harry’s first year at Hogwarts. Each of the seven obstacles guarding the Philosopher’s Stone was overcome by a first-year, unqualified, 11-year-old wizard—it’s pretty abysmal. However, even in Philosopher’s Stone, Harry guessed that Dumbledore was purposely testing his strength. This was confirmed in Deathly Hallows.
In the final Harry Potter book, Harry’s mind went back to his first confrontation with Voldemort in front of the Mirror of Erised. He realized that the headmaster had orchestrated a controlled opportunity for Voldemort and Harry to come face to face. Six of the seven protections were never meant to achieve much. Only the Mirror was guaranteed to keep Voldemort from claiming the stone, while it specifically tested the sort of wizard Harry was.
Dumbledore’s Triumph In Goblet Of Fire
Dumbledore talking to Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire
Another interesting moment in Harry Potter came in Goblet of Fire, when we caught a small glimpse of just how far ahead of the game Dumbledore really was. This plotline began when Harry returned to Hogwarts from the graveyard in Little Hangleton after Voldemort’s resurrection. Dumbledore asked Harry to recount all that had happened, and the headmaster subtly gave away a key plot detail.
When Harry told Dumbledore that Voldemort had used some of his blood to create his new body, he observed the headmaster take on a brief expression of “triumph.” Harry quickly decided that he must have imagined it, since the Headmaster’s expression immediately returned to that of concern. The moment is never mentioned again until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
When Harry was reunited with Dumbledore’s spirit in Deathly Hallows, the headmaster revealed that he had known since Voldemort’s resurrection that the villain had officially sealed his own downfall. By using Harry’s blood to make a new body, Voldemort had ensured that a part of Harry would remain in the living world, even if the boy were killed. It was as if the Dark Lord had created a purer sort of Horcrux for Harry, and this small thread of plot reveals just how long Dumbledore was aware of it.
The Tragic Truth About Petunia Dursley
The Harry Potter movies were forced to significantly cut down Snape’s memories in Deathly Hallows, so we lost out on the intriguing reveals about Petunia and Lily’s relationship. While they were certainly estranged, and there’s no denying that Petunia is a truly despicable character, the whole overarching plotline becomes more complicated and tragic with the additional context.
In the Harry Potter books, we learn that Lily and Petunia, though wholly different from one another, were close as young children. Petunia was disturbed by Lily’s magical abilities, but she was also intrigued and jealous of what her sister could do. When Lily got her Hogwarts letter, Petunia desperately wrote a letter to Dumbledore, begging to be allowed to attend Hogwarts as well.
It wasn’t until Lily confronted Petunia about this letter that things really fell apart, and within 10 years of this event, Lily was dead. In the Order of the Phoenix book, Harry realized for the first time that Petunia quietly mourned her sister. Then in Deathly Hallows, it becomes clear that her rejection of the magical world was both in response to being rejected by it first and the understanding that magic had taken Lily’s life. Petunia’s behavior is inexcusable, but it only adds further nuance to her tragic arc.
Dudley Dursley’s Redemption Arc
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry threatening Dudley with his wand
Dudley’s redemption in Harry Potter is another plotline revealed only retroactively. Of course, it’s also a story that was ultimately dropped by the movies. The thread starts in Order of the Phoenix, when Harry saves Dudley’s life from the Dementors. Though Dudley initially believes that Harry was responsible for all he had experienced that night, it turns out that he eventually recognized that he owed his cousin his life.
In the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book, Harry steps out of his room at the Dursleys’ home right onto a cup of tea, which had been left outside his door. Harry assumed the tea had been a booby trap from Dudley and quickly disregarded the thing. Later, however, when Harry and the Dursleys said their awkward goodbye, Dudley announced that he didn’t think Harry was a waste of space and shook his cousin’s hand.
In this moment, Harry suddenly realized that Dudley hadn’t been cruel toward him since the Dementor attack years before. The tea had been meant as a gift. It’s clear that Dudley was trying to find ways to connect with Harry, which reveals a great deal about his character development. Dudley might have learned to abuse Harry from his parents, but he grew up to think for himself.
Molly Weasley’s Heartbreaking Family History
Arthur (Mark Williams) and Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) hugging each other in Harry Potter.
Many of the adult characters’ backstories in Harry Potter are told only passively and subtly. For example, there was no chapter that really dove into Molly’s past, but the books are full of clues, gradually revealed over time. This begins as early as Philosopher’s Stone, when Hagrid reveals that Voldemort himself had murdered the Prewetts. It’s not until much later in the series that we learn that this was Molly’s family.
In Order of the Phoenix, Mad-Eye Moody shows Harry a picture of Fabian and Gideon Prewett, explaining that both were murdered by Death Eaters. Later, in Deathly Hallows, Molly Weasley gives Harry a gold watch that had belonged to her brother. Then, in the epilogue of Deathly Hallows, the grown-up Harry checks the time on this gold watch, which is noted to have once belonged to Fabian Prewett.
In those final moments of the Harry Potter books, we were able to put the pieces fully together regarding Molly’s family. Since Hagrid said Voldemort himself murdered “the Prewetts” (he didn’t name them specifically), we can assume they were Molly’s parents. Then, only shortly after, she lost both her brothers to Death Eaters. No wonder Molly Weasley was so terrified of losing her new family to the Second Wizarding War.
Voldemort’s Big Horcrux Mistake
Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort looking afraid in Harry Potter
Voldemort’s full story is, likely, the most mysterious of Harry Potter. Even Dumbledore could only guess about certain things regarding the villain’s past and plans. However, once again, there are a variety of clues in the books that piece some additional things together—one of them being why Voldemort’s Horcrux plan didn’t work.
On the surface level, Voldemort’s Horcruxes were effective. When his killing curse backfired, his soul remained tethered to the world of the living, and he was able to rise again. However, Voldemort never intended for his Horcruxes to work the same way as other Dark wizards before him. Otherwise, he would have only made one. Instead, Voldemort intended to make himself truly immortal—no limitations.
Voldemort’s plan to split his soul into seven pieces took advantage of the magical practice of arithmancy, which dictates that seven is the most magically powerful number. With six Horcruxes and a seventh fragment of soul kept within Voldemort’s body, the Dark Lord’s immortality would be stabilized. Unfortunately for the villain, his body was destroyed before he could create a sixth Horcrux.
After Voldemort returned, he hastily placed a piece of his soul in Nagini, making her his sixth and final Horcrux. What he didn’t realize was that he had accidentally turned Harry into a Horcrux as well. This meant an extra Horcrux and eight total soul fragments. The power of seven was null, and Voldemort was, therefore, vulnerable.
The Evolution Of Harry Potter’s Magical Number 7
Speaking of the power of seven—Voldemort’s soul was far from the only way this came up in the Harry Potter series. The number seven is highly prominent throughout each of the seven books, and every instance is meaningful. Students attend school for seven years, the castle itself has seven floors, and wands cost seven Galleons. But wait, there’s more.
Dumbledore ensured there were seven obstacles protecting the Philosopher’s Stone. So, while they were still easy enough for children to get past, this magical number likely contributed to Voldemort’s inability to claim the stone (along with the Mirror of Erised, of course). In Deathly Hollows, Mad-Eye Moody arranged for six people to take on Harry’s form, ensuring that seven Potters left Privet Drive that night—another sort of magical protection.
The in-world truth that the number seven protects, reinforces, or stabilizes magic is introduced for the first time in Half-Blood Prince, and it retroactively shifts the events that came before.
The in-world truth that the number seven protects, reinforces, or stabilizes magic is introduced for the first time in Half-Blood Prince, and it retroactively shifts the events that came before. The realization makes Voldemort’s downfall all the more impactful. We see the magic’s potential and limitations, and how it subtly pushes and pulls the story from beginning to end. Unfortunately, it’s another Harry Potter detail that is too often ignored.
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Harry Potter
Showrunner
Francisca Gardiner
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Dominic McLaughlin
Harry Potter
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Janet McTeer
Minerva McGonagall
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Created by
J.K. Rowling
First Film
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
First TV Show
Harry Potter
Cast
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen
TV Show(s)
Harry Potter
Movie(s)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students’ time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.
