‘Harry Potter’: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint Wanted a Morbid Book Scene in the Movies
It would have been impossible to fit every moment of action in the seven Harry Potter books into the movies. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint understood that. Still, there’s one moment from the Chamber of Secrets book the trio “absolutely loved.” Find out which morbid scene the cast wishes made it into the second Harry Potter movie.
Nearly Headless Nick has a ‘Deathday Party’ in ‘Chamber of Secrets’
The ghosts of Hogwarts play a much bigger role in J.K. Rowling’s books than they do in the movies. In the second installment of the Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Nearly Headless Nick invites Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a party commemorating the 400th anniversary of his death.
During his “Deathday Party,” Nearly Headless Nick learns he’s cannot join the Headless Hunt, an exclusive group of ghosts who died by losing their heads. Since Nick is only “Nearly Headless,” the group turns him down from joining. They even make fun of him during his “Deathday” event.
‘Harry Potter’ stars wish the ‘Deathday Party’ made it into the second movie
In 2014, Radcliffe hosted an AMA on Reddit where he answered fan questions. “Assuming you read all the Potter books before their respective films were made, did you ever get upset about changes or omissions from the stories when you were reading your script?” one fan asked. “I think I remember the thing early on that me, Emma, and Rupert were all slightly surprised by that we all ABSOLUTELY LOVED the chapter in the Chamber of Secrets book about … Nearly Headless Nick’s Birthday Party,” he added in his reply.
Of course, he means the “Deathday Party” commemorating the day Nick nearly became headless. According to the Harry Potter Wiki, this kind of event calls for a “candlelit dinner of rancid, moldy food, the smell of which would cause a normal living creature to gag.”
More ‘Harry Potter’ book details the movies left out
Radcliffe said he and his castmates “very quickly” became aware they couldn’t include everything in the films. ” I know some people would have been quite happy to see a four-hour-long Harry Potter movie with every detail in there,” Radcliffe started. “But some people also would not have.”
Like Nearly Headless Nick’s “Deathday Party,” many other details from the books were left out of the Harry Potter movies. For example, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione campaigns for house elves through S.P.E.W — the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. While house elves appear in the Harry Potter movies, S.P.E.W does not come up in the films.
Another ghost that was in the books but left out of the Harry Potter films was Peeves, the poltergeist of Hogwarts. He appears when Fred and George Weasley leave Hogwarts after rebelling against Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Peeves — who took orders from no one besides the Bloody Baron — helps the twins torture Umbridge, saluting them as they exit the school. This was a special moment in the books that filmmakers could have easily worked into the fifth movie.
Which moment from the Harry Potter books do you wish made it into the films? Stream all eight Harry Potter films on HBO Max.
