Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: 12 HUGE Changes To The Battle Of Hogwarts

The early books and films in the Harry Potter series introduce a lot of minor characters to serve specific purposes that necessitate their onscreen existence. But beyond their standout appearance, the need to only express the important parts of the story in later instalments means these characters are swiftly written out, even when they continue to appear in the later books.

Colin Creevey is one of those characters, appearing as a first-year photographer that dotes on Harry in The Chamber of Secrets, eventually becoming a victim of the basilisk's petrifying by seeing the creature only through his camera lens. Colin continues to appear throughout the books though minor capacities as a member of Dumbledore's Army, and his brother Dennis appears in The Goblet of Fire to continue the admiration of Harry from the family.

As muggle-born students are forced to go on the run during the events of Deathly Hallows, the Creevey brothers drop out of Hogwarts to go into hiding, though Colin returns to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts despite not being of age. Harry sees his corpse when returning to the Great Hall during the peace interim, being carried on a stretcher by Oliver Wood and Neville. Harry notes that Colin was "tiny in death", adding to the list of casualties Harry feels responsible for causing in his quest and emphasising the sheer amount of tragedy experienced during the battle.

Colin does not appear in any Harry Potter film past Chamber of Secrets, and Dennis is not mentioned at all. Some of Colin's roles in the books are given to original character Nigel Wolpert instead. Nigel was even supposed to be seen dead during the battle in a similar way to Colin's character, but his actor William Melling stated he had grown too much to make the physical comparison the book gives meaningful, and was allowed to survive instead.