With any book-to-movie adaptation, there are bound to be things lost in translation as many films often lose sight of what made the original story popular. So when a film actually gets it right, fans take notice and most Wizarding World fans will agree, the Harry Potter films are some of the best adaptations to hit theaters. Still, even the best franchises have to make concessions when it comes to getting on the big screen, and sadly, not every detail from the book will make it into the movie.
If fans have any complaints about the Harry Potter films, it’s that the movies don’t feature all the wonderful characters from the books. Some fans might even be surprised to hear that some important characters were excluded from the movies entirely. As great as the films are (though J.K. Rowling turning out to have some truly awful opinions has definitely soured the experience), they could’ve been even better if they found the time to include these characters.
In an effort to bring attention to some fan favorites from the books, we’ve made a list of the 10 best characters left out of the Harry Potter movies.
Ludo Bagman
We can understand why Ludo Bagman was ultimately cut from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (it’s a big book) but we still think his character would’ve been a welcome addition to the film. In the book, Bagman is a former Quidditch star turned Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and organizes the Quidditch World Cup the year Harry goes with the Weasleys. After Bagman acts suspicious after the World Cup, Harry suspects he might be Voldemort’s inside man; his suspicions are nearly confirmed when Harry watches a memory of Bagman on trial for sharing ministry secrets with a Death Eater. Including Bagman in the movie would’ve added more mystery to the plot even if the true culprit remained the same.
Bagman’s inclusion would’ve also cleared up any questions about where Fred and George Weasley got the money to open their own shop after leaving school. In the book, the twins win a large bet with Bagman and eventually, after chasing him down the entire year, get their winnings.
The Longbottoms
Neville Longbottom was raised by his grandmother after his parents Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange and other Death Eaters. His parents were members of the original Order of the Phoenix and Neville’s existence, like Harry’s, threatened Voldemort due to the mysterious prophecy about the Chosen One. Frank and Alice are only shown in a moving photograph in the movies but in the book version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry, Hermione, and Ron actually meet them.
While visiting their former professor Gilderoy Lockheart, Harry and the gang run into Neville and his grandmother as he’s visiting his parents in the same ward at St. Mungo’s Hospital. The scene makes us empathize with Neville and gives us a soul-chilling peek at the horrors the Death Eaters are capable of.
Charlie Weasley
Shockingly, Charlie Weasley was essentially written out of the movies as his only appearance is in a photograph of the family on vacation. In the books, the second oldest Weasley sibling is described as an excellent Quidditch player with a knack for taking care of magical creatures. After graduating from Hogwarts, Charlie heads to Romania where he studies dragons.
Charlie helps out with the first task of the Triwizard Tournament in The Goblet of Fire and is Bill’s best man at his wedding. Charlie may not have as much to do in the books as his other siblings but his presence was still missed in the films.
Marietta Edgecomb
In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry’s relationship with Ravenclaw Cho Chang hits a snag when he believes she has sold out Dumbledore’s Army to Professor Umbridge. In the books, the relationship doesn’t fare any better but Cho is not the one who betrays Harry. Instead, her best friend Marietta Edgecombe is the one who snitched.
Marietta reluctantly joins Dumbledore’s Army as a favor to Cho but never gets over her distrust of Harry. After mounting pressure due to her mother’s ministry job, Marietta eventually tells Umbridge about the group. Her confession is cut short when her face breaks out in painful pimples that spell out the word “SNEAK” due to a jinx Hermione cast on all the members of Dumbledore’s Army.
Peeves
Despite being a constant (and annoying) presence in the books, Peeves the Poltergeist was ultimately cut from the films. Peeves gives Fred and George a run for their money as Hogwarts’ chief menace and plays pranks on anyone in the castle, whether it is a student or faculty member. While not super important to the plot, Peeves is a part of the Hogwarts atmosphere as much as the ghosts haunting the halls.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Peeves entertains us all by tormenting Umbridge and Filch as they try to rid the school of the poltergeist. While we understand why he was cut from the films, it would’ve been satisfying as a book fan to see this on the big screen.
Teddy Lupin
In the books, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks have their first child together a short while before the Battle of Hogwarts. While Harry, Hermione, and Ron are hiding at Bill and Fleur’s home, Lupin announces their son Teddy’s birth and even asks Harry to be the baby’s godfather. It’s a cute moment that redeems Lupin in Harry’s eyes after his former teacher considered leaving Tonks out of fear of passing on his lycanthropy.
Even though Teddy only really appears in the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he’s become a fan-favorite and his absence was noticeable in the films. We would’ve enjoyed seeing him waiting for the Hogwarts Express as an Easter egg for fans.
Professor Cuthbert Bins
Imagine having a ghost for a professor; sounds cool, right? Evidently, whoever was responsible for adapting the Harry Potter books into films didn’t think so because Professor Cuthbert Binns didn’t make it into the movies.
The History of Magic Professor might be the most boring professor at Hogwarts but we would’ve loved seeing the ghost professor walk through the blackboard to his desk just once in the films. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione asks Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets as he’s their history teacher, which makes a lot more sense than the question being directed at Professor McGonagall in the film adaptation.
Bane
The Harry Potter movies cut out many scenes with centaurs from the books. Many of the centaurs living in the Forbidden Forest dislike humans and believe helping them goes against what they’ve seen in the stars. One such centaur is Bane, a centaur who looks down on Firenze for being friendly with Hogwarts students. In the books, Firenze replaces Professor Trelawny as the school’s Divination teacher and the other centaurs almost kill him for the same as they saw it as a betrayal.
This anti-human sentiment sets the scene for when Bane and the other centaurs drag Umbridge into the forest after the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It would’ve been a nice moment for book-readers to see Bane and the other centaurs eventually defend the humans they once hated during the Battle of Hogwarts.
The Gaunts
Much of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was spent traversing various memories connected to Voldemort’s past and most of these pivotal scenes were cut from the film. In an effort to understand what made young Tom Riddle become the Dark Lord, Harry and Dumbledore wander through a memory of Riddle’s wizard grandparents, the Gaunts. We watch Riddle’s mother Merope Gaunt bear the brunt of her father Marvolo’s abuse in the sad memory of a Ministry of Magic employee.
This constant mistreatment eventually leads to Merope using a love potion on the nearby Muggle town’s most eligible bachelor, Tom Riddle Senior, after her father is sent to Azkaban. The memory of Riddle’s wizarding family gives us insight into his backstory and shows us two of his eventual Horcruxes.
Winky
A house elf name Winky is a big part of the story in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. During the Quidditch World Cup, Winky is found with the wand that cast the Dark Mark over the crowd of wizards and her owner Barty Crouch Senior immediately dismisses her from service for the crime. In Winky’s mind, this is a fate worse than death and she falls into a state of depression that not even her friend Dobby can help her get out of.
It’s later revealed that Winky was in charge of watching Barty Crouch Junior, who had been assumed dead for years. Winky ends up working at Hogwarts and fights in the Battle of Hogwarts. Her situation inspires Hermione to fight for the rights of house elves, a subplot completely cut from the films.