Place 7: Peeves, the Poltergeist
Hardly any character causes as much chaos as Peeves the Poltergeist. At least in the books. In the first film, he was supposed to appear originally but then got completely cut out.
Peeves never misses an opportunity to annoy the students of Hogwarts. This regularly provides relaxed and funny moments that simply don’t exist in the films.
Especially in part 5, readers were delighted in the book by the mischievous ghost. When the Weasley twins leave Hogwarts, they instruct Peeves to make Professor Umbridge’s life “hell here.” Of course, he happily fulfills their wish.
Place 6: The Dursleys
Okay, Harry and the Dursleys will probably never be best friends. But in the books, they were at least given a bit more depth than in the films:
- Petunia is especially jealous of her magically talented sister Lily. As a child, she even begged Dumbledore in a letter to let her go to Hogwarts too.
- After Harry saves his cousin Dudley from the Dementors, he slowly begins to be a bit nicer to Harry. In the end, they even say goodbye properly, and Dudley thanks him for his rescue.
Tip: On the Blu-Ray of part 7.1, there is a “deleted scene” where Petunia shows her vulnerable side. When she bids farewell to Harry, she says, “You didn’t just lose a mother that night […]. I lost a sister.”
Place 5: The Marauders
“The Marauders” were a group of friends consisting of James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Together, they developed the “Marauder’s Map,” which plays a significant role in the third installment.
To help their werewolf friend Remus during his transformation, the other three became Animagi. Based on the animal they could transform into, they received nicknames:
- James Potter: Stag (nickname Prongs)
- Sirius Black: Dog (nickname Padfoot)
- Peter Pettigrew: Rat (nickname Wormtail)
- Remus Lupin: Werewolf (nickname Moony)
Although the story of the Marauders was also somewhat adopted into the films, the connections were not properly explained. For example, it is never mentioned that James could transform into a stag, which is why his Patronus was a stag, and he was called “Prongs”.
Place 4: Dumbledore’s Dark Past
After the death of Albus Dumbledore, Harry learns that he didn’t know as much about his headmaster as he might have thought. This is also hinted at in the film. However, no real details are revealed.
It is primarily about Dumbledore’s sister Ariana. As a child, she was so severely traumatized that her magic became uncontrollable. During a duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, Ariana tragically lost her life. The thought that he might have killed his sister himself haunted Dumbledore for his entire life.
More about Dumbledore and Grindelwald is seen in the prequel films “Fantastic Beasts.” However, we want to exclude them for this ranking.
