Harry Potter: 10 Most Heart-Breaking Movie Moments
8. Hermione’s Memory Charm
Sometimes, not every casualty of war is death and the Harry Potter series is no different as it explores all the lives the war between witches and wizards influence. During the dramatic opening montage of the Deathly Hallows Part One, Hermione Granger is shown to make a tragic sacrifice in another brief, yet powerful moment.
In order to protect her parents from the possibility of being interrogated by Death Eaters or discovering their daughter has died during the current conflict between two sides of the Wizarding World, Hermione performs the Obliviate charm. The spell had been previously utilised to comedic effect in the Chamber of Secrets, when Professor Lockhart accidentally wiped his own memory, however, the dark tone of the final chapter is immediately established in this scene.
The expressions on her mother and father's faces grow vacant as photographs containing Hermione slowly disappear and she silently leaves her home behind for the last time. The implications of her brave choice are devastating as the stakes of the finale are firmly put in place.