It is the mark of a really great story that no matter how many films we get in a franchise, there's still so much wonderful content that doesn't make it onto the screen. The Harry Potter universe is filled with interesting and engaging characters, but unfortunately, they didn't all survive to the film versions intact. With a limited amount of time, it's only logical that some characters wouldn't be as well-developed as they are in the books, but for the most part this series has done a good job representing them as well as possible. Some characters are particularly well served by the films -- for example, it's unlikely that anyone could walk away from this franchise thinking that Fred and George or Luna Lovegood or Hagrid got a poor showing. But its difficult to fit everything from the books into the movies, and sometimes what gets left behind are the complexities that made these characters great. Little moments that would go on to define the characters, and whose absence would snatch their best attributes away from them. Here are just a few of the Harry Potter characters that we wish had been a little bit more like their canonical selves.
10. Neville Longbottom
It's fairly well established by this point that Neville Longbottom is pretty much the superhero of the Harry Potter franchise. He doesn't have any of the natural advantages that Harry has, but he still manages to be a great person and help save the world. And for the most part, the film actually does a pretty good job of bringing to life the Neville we all know and love (aided by the wonderful Matt Lewis). That said, there are a few aspects of the character that we really wish could have been included in the films. We would have loved to see Neville visiting his parents at St Mungos - the scene in Order of the Phoenix where he discusses his parents with Harry was nice, but the parallel between him and Harry would have been so much stronger had we actually seen their visit. Also, it seems almost churlish to complain about Neville in the last film, considering how much of his character development was included, but his speech when he faces Voldemort? When he goes on about how Harry died for all of them and the power of love and all that? "I'll join you when hell freezes over," is so much more simple, powerful, and doesn't slow the film down at its climax.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
