Harry Potter: 10 Movie Scenes That Are Completely Different In The Books
9. Dumbledore's Death (The Half-Blood Prince)
In The Book: Snape kills Dumbledore as Harry watches on, immobilised under the invisibility cloak.
In The Film: More or less exactly the same scene, except that Harry was never immobilised by Dumbledore.
Summary: Either way, Dumbledore is killed atop the Astronomy tower by Snape, but there are a few, subtle differences that make the book version of Dumbledore's death the clear winner here. First, Dumbledore paralysing Harry is the reason Draco has enough time to disarm him in the first place, whereas Draco outright disarmed one of the greatest wizards of all time in the film scene, which doesn't make any sense.
Second, the death itself. While much the same dialogue takes place between Snape and Dumbledore, the Headmaster's cries of 'Severus... please' in the book seem as though he is genuinely pleading for his life, while Snape strikes down Dumbledore with a look of genuine revulsion on his face. Between Michael Gambon's delivery and Alan Rickman's expression of deep uncertainty, the film version more or less lets you know straight up that this was planned between the two characters.