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Novel and Film Differences in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
By Ryan Parsons | Buy the Poster from AllPosters by clicking on the image, some quotes taken directly from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.
Your ultimate guide to differences between film and novel.
Differences Between Book and Movie in Prisoner of Azkaban
Before I start, I have to say that this article is extremely SPOILER
dense. If you have not read the Prisoner book or watched the film, you
should NOT read this article. If
you have seen the film and planned on reading the books, you should NOT
read this article. However, if you know you will never read the Potter books [which
is a bummer], and continue to stick with the movies, you SHOULD
read this article.
Here is the ultimate guide to things you MUST know for the Potter
story [details in order of when the book states them:
The First Quidditch Game
Even though the movie does not necessarily state
it, Gryffindor played Hufflepuff instead of their usual contender, Slytherin.
The movie shows Harry fall off of his broom due to the dementors that
arrive at the game, which is the same for the book. In the film, we later
find Harry in the hospital with a broken broom and a story how nobody
blames him for the team's loss to Hufflepuff.
However, the significance of this event was very important [more so than
the film conveys]. This is Oliver Wood's last year to have a chance to win
the Quidditch Cup, and, according to Wood, the latest Gryffindor team
was the best he's ever played with. While Harry is not allowed to leave
Hogwart grounds, Professor McGonagall allows concessions to Potter as
she enjoys Quidditch and would also like to see her house win the Cup
again.
The match leaves Harry without a broom in both the book and movie.
This game also introduces Cedric Diggory, a very nice fifth year wizard
who is the key player for Hufflepuff. Cedric becomes a very important
character in later books.
The Werewolf Essay
In the film, just like the book, Professor Snape substitute teaches for
Lupin while he is out 'sick.' During this time, Snape makes the class
jump ahead of schedule to learn about werewolves and how to spot them.
However, the film never discusses the outcome of this essay.
In the book, Lupin is able to return for the next class. He hears about
Snape's homework assignment and immediately cancels it. Everybody is excited
except for Hermione, who has alredy written the essay. This is why she,
and only she, is the only student who figures out that Lupin is a werewolf;
a fact she keeps secret, as she likes Lupin as her teacher.
Potter Sneaks to Hogsmeade
In the film, Potter goes to Hogsmeade under his invisibility cloak. There
he discovers that Sirius is his godfather by listening in on a conversation
between Professor McGonagall and Cornelius Fudge. In the film, Harry hears
this news alone.
In the book, Harry Potter goes to Hogsmeade [the first time] without his
invisibility cloak. He is forced to hide under a table that Ron and Hermione
are sitting at when Fudge, McGonagall, Hagrid, Flitwick and Rosmerta enter
the inn of the Three Broomsticks. The group of teachers sit right next
to Ron, Hermione, and Harry; with the only cover being a plant that separates
the two tables. At this point, all three of the kids are allowed to listen
in on what the teachers and Fudge are saying.
During this conversation Harry learns that his father, James Potter, and
Sirius Black were so close that they were like brothers. The two are even
compared to Fred and George Weasley. Harry also learns that Black was
James Potter's best man for his wedding to Lily [Harry's mom]. The conversation
continues and we learn that the Potter's were tipped off that Voldemort
was after them. In an attempt to hide from Voldemort, Dumbledore helped
the Potter's to do the Fidelius Charm. The charm allows a person to remain
hidden from all who look for them. However, for the charm to work, the
Potter's had to choose a Secret-Keeper. Their chosen Keeper being Sirius
Black, who was suspected to telling this secret to Voldemort. A great
point made in the book is James extreme trust of Sirius. Dumbledore volunteered
to be the Secret-Keeper for the Potter's, but James refused and said that
Black would die before telling where the Potter's were. A trust that was
broken? Furthermore, Dumbledore remained skeptical as he suspected that
some one close to the Potter's was Voldemort's spy.
We then learn that Hagrid met Sirius immediately after the Potter's demise.
When Hagrid went to investigate the Potter hideaway, he encountered Black
who insisted on taking Harry Potter to further protection on his flying
motorbike. He also mentions that Black was white and shaking; an assumption
of Black's worries and guilt about Voldemort's demise by Harry. Black
asks for Potter, but Hagrid refused and said he had to take Potter to
Dumbledore. Black gives his motorbike to Hagrid so he can have a quick
journey. The conversation [between the teachers and Fudge] continues with
what-if statements about what Black would have done to Harry if he had
gotten his hands on him.
Just as in the film, Harry then learns about Peter Pettigrew, a fat little
boy who worshipped James and Sirius. The teachers claim that Pettigrew
seeked Black out for revenge and was blown to bits with the only thing
left of him being a finger.
The final note on this conversation was Fudge stating that Sirius Black
was NOT mad, even after all those years in Azkaban. Fudge recently visited
Black and gave him the current newspaper for reading. It is later mentioned,
in the book, that Black was able to keep his sanity only because he knew
he was innocent.
*The main reason the Ministry believed Black escaped to finish the job
on Harry was that, while asleep, Black murmured 'he's at Hogwarts.' However,
the book and film show that the Weasley's were front page of the newspaper
because of their trip to Egypt. This was the same paper handed to Sirius.
On this paper was a picture of Ron and Scabbers, Sirius recognized Scabbers
immediately as Peter Pettigrew and knew he had to break out of Azkaban
to exact his revenge and protect Harry.
The Firebolt
In the Prisoner film, Potter receives the Firebolt from Sirius at the
end of the movie. This is completely different than in the book. Harry
receives his Firebolt soon after he breaks his Nimbus. He gets it as a
gift for the holidays and has no idea who it is from. Harry gets excited
and thinks that his house will once again have a chance of winning the
Quidditch Cup. However, Hermione gets suspicious and reports the gift
to Professor McGonagall. McGonagall takes the broom from Harry to inspect
it for jinx's. *This makes Harry angry at Hermione, who is already hated
by Ron [discussed later].
Harry gets the Firebolt back just before their Quidditch match versus
Ravenclaw. Gryffindor wins this match, but with some minor events along
the way.
*Harry does not discover that the broom was from Sirius till the end of
the book when Sirius writes to Harry saying the Firebolt was a gift to
cover thirteen missed birthdays.
Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw.. Patronus
After the match verse Hufflepuff, Potter started taking Patronus lessons
with Professor Lupin; he did so for himself and the request of Wood who
knew he could not afford Harry falling off of his broom again. During
the lessons, Harry was able to achieve only a wisp of the Patronus; which
was still pretty good considering that it is a very advanced spell. An
ordinary Patronus spell spits out some type of animal protector that is
extremely powerful as it chases away danger.
During the match, Harry thinks he sees dementors down on the Quidditch
field. While chasing the snitch, Harry fires a Patronus down at this group
and then grabs the snitch to win the match. Harry later finds out that
the dementors were not dementors at all, they were some Slytherins, including
Malfoy, who were hoping to scare Harry into falling off of his broom.
Harry, instead, scared the Slytherins as he unknowingly shot a real patronus.
A patronus that Dumbledore immediately recognizes. *Explained later.
On another important note: this match introduces Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw
seeker, an attractive girl who Potter will later have relations with.
Harry Has Pictures of Sirius Black
Just a small bit of information that was interesting to the book, and
not mentioned in the movie. Harry has a whole photo album of his parents.
However, he did not realize that a lot of the pictures he had of his parents,
also had Sirius Black in them. Harry notices that Black is a good looking
guy [much different than how he looks in the recent papers], and a really
friendly looking guy as well.
Harry was finally starting to put two and two together.
Everybody Hates Hermione
This is almost a constant theme through the entire Prisoner of Azkaban
book. While the film only shows Ron upset with Hermione, the book has
both the boys hate Hermione for some period of time. Their relationship
with Hermione gets so bad that Hagrid calls the boys down to his hut to
discuss how Hermione always cries to him about her failing relationship
with Harry and Ron. This relationship really does not heal till near the
end of the book.
Also, the film makes an attempt to show that there may be some type of
love interest between Ron and Hermione; which is true. While the book
shows a lot of hate between the two, there are also some compassionate
moments where their relationship becomes more love-hate.
Crookshanks Is More Important Than You Know
In the movie, Crookshanks [Hermione's cat] constantly goes after Scabbers
[Ron's rat]. This is one of the main reasons Ron and Hermione do not get
along during the Azkaban book and film. However, the movie makes
it seem that Crookshanks goes after Scabbers just because Crookshanks
is a cat and that is the natural thing for cats to do. In the book, Harry
awakes early one morning, as he can't sleep due to his upcoming Quidditch
match versus Slytherin. He looks out his bedroom window and notices that
Crookshanks is free and wandering around Hogwarts grounds. Harry continues
to watch and realizes that Crookshanks has befriended the big, black,
dog that he has taken to be the Grim. Crookshanks seems to be hanging
out, and conspiring, with this animal.
As you know, we later find out that this big black dog is Sirius Black
[in both the film and book]. But, if you only watched the movie, you didn't
know that it was Sirius who was telling Crookshanks to attack Scabbers
and bring him back to him. Crookshanks was attacking Scabbers as a favor
to Sirius Black, not as a cat reflex. Crookshanks is an extremely intelligent
cat who was able to see through Scabbers disguise. And, as in the book
and film, Scabbers is really Peter Pettigrew, the real Secret-Keeper and
murderer of the Potter family.
Crookshanks later shows Hermione and Harry how to tame the Whomping Willow
as he leads the two down into the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack.
While in the Shack, Harry and Sirius get into a fistfight, Crookshanks
bites Harry to protect Black. Crookshanks was also the one responsible
for stealing the Gryffindor passwords for Sirius from Neville. To top
it off, Crookshanks was also the one who retrieved the gold Black used
to purchase the Firebolt with.
Gryffindor Wins the Quidditch Cup
Just a minor detail. It seems that Alfonso Cuarón was not all that
in to having too much Quidditch in his film. Prisoner of Azkaban
is the first time Gryffindor wins the Cup in over seven years. A pretty
important feat that puts Professor McGonagall in tears.
The Marauder's Map
During the encounter between Lupin, Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione in
the Shrieking Shack, the kids learn that Lupin is one of the creators
of the map; he is Moony. The names on the map are nicknames to the people
who created it. The people who created the map were: Lupin, James Potter,
Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. However, the movie only shows that
Professor Lupin knew how to use it, not that he was actually one of the
map's creators.
Un-Registered Animagi
I thought this was a wonderful addition to the Potter story and
fully explained why Black was able to escape from Azkaban and stay hidden
from authorities. The story behind this also shows just how close these
friends were [Lupin, Sirius, James Potter, and Pettigrew] and the risks
they took to take care of one another.
Lupin tells the story about how he had been bitten by a werewolf when
he was very young. He did not believe Hogwarts was going to accept him
as a student, but they did under the conditions laid down by Dumbledore.
Every full moon, the teachers would sneak Lupin out of Hogwarts through
a hidden path underneath the Whomping Willow. The Willow was actually
planted because of Lupin in order to protect his identity. They would
hide Lupin in a built shack where he would remain isolated, causing him
to only hurt himself. The screams heard from this shack, created by Lupin,
earned it the title 'the Shrieking Shack.' Lupin was good friends with
James Potter, Sirius, and Peter. Because of this, they started to catch
on and learn what was wrong with their dear friend. The only solution
thought of by these friends was that each had to learn how to transfigure
into an animal. However, this was extremely difficult magic that required
the guidance and acknowledgement of the Ministry of Magic [it is also
very dangerous]. Being rebellious, the group of school friends went on
their own to learn how to do it. After some time, they were all Animagi
and able to hang out with their friend Lupin; even when Lupin was a werewolf.
As werewolves can be friends with other animals, its people they uncontrollably
attack.
The key point here is that Sirius was able to become a dog, James Potter a stag, and Peter Pettigrew a rat. This is also why Harry Potter shoots out a
stag as his Patronus. Harry has much of his father in him, therefore causing him to fire out a stag [which his father could become] as his protector.
Since the gang never became registered Animagi, it was easy for Pettigrew
to disappear and frame Black for his, and the Potters', murder. Nobody
knew to look for Peter as a rat. Also, Black later used his hidden abilities
to sneak out of Azkaban and hide from authorities; who had no idea that
Black can transfigure into a dog.
In the end, this story strengthens the bond of friendship between Lupin,
Sirius, James Potter, and even Peter [till he turned]. Harry can only
learn of his parents through stories such as this. Black continues to
use his unknown ability to become a dog in future books.
*It is said that James Potter saved Professor Snape's life. During the
Shrieking Shack scene, we learn that Snape was a nosy student who was
very jealous of James and his friends. Snape always tried to get the group
expelled and tried to discover what secret Lupin was hiding. As a joke,
Sirius Black [as a student] told Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow
to find Lupin. However, if Snape succeeded in getting into the Whomping
Willow, Lupin [as a werewolf] would have killed him. Sirius told James
Potter of the joke causing James to catch up to Snape and prevent him
from approaching Lupin in the Shrieking Shack. However, Snape did see
the werewolf and, from then on, knew what Lupin was. A secret that Snape
promised Dumbledore he would keep. James Potter risked his life to save
Snape as he had to grab Snape out of the tunnel as a human.
Peter Pettigrew Admits Following Voldemort
During the scene in the Shrieking Shack, Peter finally admits that it
was he as the spy for Voldemort and that it was he who told Voldemort
where to find James, Lily, and Harry Potter. Peter did not only go into
hiding to help frame Black, but he also feared Voldemort and Voldemort
supporters that were still loose. Voldemort supporters saw Peter as a
spy for the other side, considering he was the one who sent Voldemort
to confront the Potter's; the same place Voldemort lost his power. Therefore,
Peter continued to lay low until his master's return.
Harry, Sirius, AND Hermione Almost Die from the Dementors
During this scene in the film, Harry tries to protect Black from the dementors
all by himself. In the book, Harry asks Hermione to help him create a
Patronus. Soon after his request, he feels Hermione faint and realizes
that he is alone and must fight to save all of them.
When Harry later goes back in time, he returns to where the dementors
attacked and creates a Patronus by himself. Hermione does not show up
until after he successfully creates one. Hermione gets angry with Harry,
stating that he is changing time [a big no no]. In retort, Harry claims
he just saved their lives.
Harry and Hermione Confronted by Snape
After Harry and Hermione successfully save Buckbeak and release Sirius
Black, they return to their beds in the hospital while nobody noticed
they were missing. Soon after, Snape comes busting in, flaming mad, accusing
Potter of doing something to have helped Sirius escape. Fudge, who had
first considered Snape for the Order of Merlin, looked at Dumbledore and
mentioned that he should keep a close eye on his professor [Snape]. A
great revenge on the most hated teacher.
Peter Pettigrew is Debted to Harry
In the wizarding world, when you save another wizard they owe you a life-debt
that binds them to you. Dumbledore mentions that Peter now owes Harry
a life-debt, which should really piss Voldemort off. Dumbledore goes on
to say that it is important that Peter survived as he may work for their
cause in the future.
Minor Details
Ron did not hurt his leg from being bitten from the dog [Sirius] as the
film suggests. In the book, Ron is bitten on the arm and, in an attempt
to prevent himself from being pulled into the Whomping Willow, Ron wraps
his leg around one of the tree's roots. Sirius pulls on Ron so hard that,
with a large crack, his leg breaks.
In the film, we hear Hermione say, 'If you want to kill Harry, you'll
have to kill us too!' However, the real person who says this line [in
the book] is Ron, a sign that he may be braver than the story has allowed.
There is a scene in the film where Potter attacks Snape by trying to disarm
him through use of the 'expelliarmus' spell. You see Snape get hit by
a bolt and thrown into a bed; unconscious. In the book, Snape is knocked
unconscious as he is thrown against a wall accidently. At the same moment,
both Harry and Hermione use the 'expelliarmus' spell on Snape, and it
is said that Hermione's spell was more powerful; causing Snape to be knocked
back instead of just disarmed.
Black blames himself for the Potters' deaths. He admits that they asked
him to be a Secret-Keeper and suggested that Peter Pettigrew should do
it.
In the Prisoner of Azkaban film, Black tells Potter he is his godfather and that Potter can come live with him. In the film, Potter is unable to answer. However, the book has Potter excitedly agree
to come live with Black.
Prongs, one of the creators of the Marauder's Map, was James Potter's nickname.
In the film, we see Professor Lupin tell Potter that he 'made all the difference in the world,' after Potter claimed that he did not
make any difference with the actions he took. In the book, it is Dumbledore who tells him this.
We learn of the Quidditch World Cup during the train ride out of Hogwarts, a Cup that is very important for the next book.
At the very end of the book, Harry receives a letter, carried by a young
owl, from Sirius. In the letter Sirius tells Harry how he is safe and
that the Firebolt was a gift from him. He also states that the carrier
owl is a gift to Ron Weasley as he no longer has a rat. In one of the
most touching moments of the book, Ron takes the owl and offers it over
to Crookshanks to have a sniff [a cat he had continuously hated and distrusted
for the entire book]. The act shows final acceptance by Ron for Hermione's
cat, and it is the final mend to Ron and Hermione's relationship.
THE END
Hope I didn't miss any other important elements. If I did, let me know.
Remember, this article is for those who refuse to read the books and will
only watch the movies. The missing details may become a larger problem
with the next Potter films as the books have been growing much
longer each time; too long for a film to take it all in. Pass it on.
*I am not attempting to bash the film for missing the details. It is just important to know these little details if you are too lazy to read the book. |
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Ryan Parsons
Sources: Buy the Poster from AllPosters by clicking on the image, some quotes taken directly from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.
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