15 Things That Almost Completely Changed The End Of Harry Potter

12. ...And The Protection Of His Parents

What Happened

As Harry heads into the forest to meet his fate, he is joined by the ghosts of some of his loved ones thanks to the Resurrection Stone who effectively gee him on to march to his slaughter, while calming his mind and focusing his will. In Goblet Of Fire, he also sees the "ghosts" of other victims - including Cedric Diggory - thanks to Prior Incantato, though their impact on Voldemort is really unclear.

In other words, there are ghosts - or echoes - of Voldemort's victims seen in the books, but only (mostly) for emotional impact.

What Could Have Been

According to Palast's alternate ending, when Harry takes his final journey to the forest, he is joined by the ghosts of Tom Riddle's parents, who steady his nerve and offer their protection to Harry.

And when Voldemort clasped eyes on his dead parents, he would have "howled as if cut in half" and cast his spell, only for the ghosts to fly at him and transform him into a child as his spell rebounded off Harry again and freeze him forever as a child in the protective arms of his parents.

Pretty weird, if you believe the authenticity.