The Forgotten Characters of Harry Potter

There are many minor characters not included in the film, for obvious reasons, but there are a few key players also not included or their roles were reduced dramatically. I know I left out a lot but these were a few that had noticeable roles in the books. They were characters you remember and remember not appearing.

PEEVES
Peeves the Poltergeist is a Hogwarts ghost who wreaks havoc throughout the halls of the castle. Because this is the only answer anybody has when they discuss who was missing from the Potter films he’s top of the list. He was very close to making it into the film which may be why people are most annoyed. Or maybe it’s because he is a fun character in the books.

LUDO BAGMAN
In Goblet of Fire, Bagman plays a major role in both organising and announcing the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. He’s a former professional Quidditch player and is the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic.

RODOLPHUS LESTRANGE
Rodolphus is Bellatrix Lestrange’s husband who is imprisoned with her in Azkaban following Voldemort’s downfall. His omission meant we got more of Bellatrix’s creepy Voldemort love.

FRANK AND ALICE LONGBOTTOM
In both book and film we’re told that they were tortured by Death Eaters, but aside from one photo we don’t see them. The touching scene at St Mungo’s is omitted which is a shame because it’s wonderful.

AUGUSTA LONGBOTTOM (NEVILLE’S GRAN)
Augusta appears often in the later books, telling Neville how proud she is of him for being in the DA, she fights off an enemy Auror and puts him in St Mungos, goes on the run, and ends up fighting alongside Neville in the Battle of Hogwarts

WINKY
Winky is the Crouch family house elf who knew the family’s darkest secrets and yet was freed by Barty Crouch Sr. For supposedly stealing Harry’s wand during the Quidditch World Cup. Winky didn’t want to be freed and begrudgingly began working in the Hogwarts kitchen, drinking heavily while doing so. By extension all of the other house elves were left out as well.

PROFESSOR CUTHBERT BINNS
Professor Binns is the History of Magic professor at Hogwarts, who taught until a very old age and died in his sleep. Binns didn’t realise that he died when he woke up the next morning and continued to teach as a ghost.

MARVOLO, MEROPE, AND MORFIN GAUNT
The Gaunts are ancestors of Voldemort and distant descendants of the Peverells. In Half-Blood Prince, Marvolo is revealed as the grandfather of Tom Riddle who hates muggles and muggle-born wizards. Marvolo’s son Morfin is a Parseltongue and his daughter Merope falls in love with a muggle, Tom Riddle Sr., and places him under a love spell. The two have a son, Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort. The Gaunt family plays an important part in Voldemort’s backstory in the books, but don’t appear in the movies.

THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
The new muggle Prime Minister is visited by the Minister for Magic in Half-Blood Prince and introduced to the wizarding world.

ANDROMEDA AND TED TONKS
Nymphadora Tonks’s parents played a role in helping the Order of the Phoenix in the books, but they’re both cut out of the films.

Hogwarts Ghosts

BLOODY BARON, The Grey Lady, Nearly headless Nick, and Fat Frier
There was a severe lack of ghosts in the films. And it wasn’t just those four, I’m sure there were other ghosts mentions floating around. Yes we had Nick for a while but he didn’t exactly stick around past the second movie.

CHARLIE WEASLEY
Charlie is the second son of Arthur and Molly Weasley, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, works with dragons in Romania.

ARIANA DUMBLEDORE
The full extent of Ariana’s story and her complicated relationship with her brothers wasn’t explored in the films at all.

CREEVEY BROTHERS
Both characters were condensed into Nigel in the film who still only appeared once, but the brothers were part of the DA and fought gallantly in the battle of Hogwarts. I honestly still picture them as brave twelve-year-olds, not like the older teens they would have been by the end of the books.

HEPZIBAH SMITH
Another character of Riddle’s past that provided more of his back story. She was a rich older witch who claimed to be the descendant of Helga Hufflepuff and was an avid collector of magical antiques. Riddle used Hepzibah to gain access to artefacts for his horcruxes.

MARIETTA EDGECOMBE
A Ravenclaw student and Cho Chang’s best friend, Marietta Edgecombe had a small but pivotal role in Order of the Phoenix . She signed up for Dumbledore’s Army but then rats Harry and his friends out to Umbridge (not Cho under the Veritaserum as the movie claimed). She gets SNEAK hexed onto her forehead which was irremovable.

EILEEN AND TOPBIA SNAPE (SNAPE’S PARENTS)
Their treatment of their son is another component of Snape’s overall personality problems. They were in an unhappy marriage and neglected their son. We could have had at least a quick scene of this in Snape’s memories but instead, we got more about Lily.

ERNIE MACMILLAN
Ernie was the Hufflepuff Prefect who supports Harry in his DA club and believes him about Voldemort’s return.

LEE JORDAN
Lee is a Gryffindor student two years above Harry. He is the Hogwarts Quidditch commentator and friend of Fred and George Weasley. So many of Fred and George’s hijinks were with Lee by their side. We got a quick look at him as the Quidditch commentator in the movies but that is all.

FIRENZE
A centaur who we first see in Philosopher’s Stone but his role as professor of Divinations is left out. Some of my favourite parts of Order of the Phoenix were his classes actually.

DEDALUS DIGGLE
Member of the Order of the Phoenix who took the Dursleys into hiding. In the films the Dursley’s leave in their car alone.

GRISELDA MARCHBANKS
Griselda was the Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority which ran the O.W.L, N.E.W.T., and W.O.M.B.A.T. exams Because so many school moments and exams were not included, there wasn’t much point in having Griselda in the films.

WILKY TWYCROSS
Wilky is the apparition instructor in Half-Blood Prince. Until I reread the book I completely forgot about him and the apparition lessons.

 

For a comprehensive list, here’s a list of all Harry Potter characters. And, it’s not all about who didn’t make the movies. Here’s a list of characters that didn’t even make it into the books!

Beyond the Novels: Additional Books and Stories

In addition to the seven Potter novels, Rowling has released numerous extra books and stories over the years. These are not new novels, instead they are books that exist in the Harry Potter universe that now exist for us to read. The first was in 2001 when she released Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (a textbook mentioned in Philosopher’s Stone) and Quidditch Through the Ages (a school library book Harry reads) as part of Charity Relief. The next came in 2007 when Rowling hand wrote seven copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard (fairy tales mentioned in Deathly Hallows). It was then published internationally at the end of 2008.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 

In a 2001 interview Rowling stated that she chose the subject of magical creatures because it was a fun topic for which she had already developed a lot of information in earlier books. What was great about it was that it was published to look like one of Harry’s textbooks, complete with Newt’s name as author and even a ‘Property of Harry Potter’ sticker on it. Further editions have changed this, with both names appearing on the cover. An updated version was published earlier this year, with six new creatures added to it, and of course, it was recently turned into a film.

Quidditch Through The Ages

Like Fantastic Beasts, Rowling originally published this book as it would have appeared in the wizarding world, writing under the pseudonym of Kennilworthy Whisp, a renowned expert in the sport. It covers the sport’s origins, the details about each of the balls in play, the evolution of flying brooms, the introduction of the snitch and much more. The copy exists in the series as a library book and the 2001 first edition reflects that with a check out list in the front of characters who’ve borrowed the book.

 

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Unlike the other two which were written for charity, originally only seven hand written copies of the book existed. Rowling has stated that the idea of writing the books was to thank six key people who had been very closely connected to the series. She had the idea to write the book, handwritten and illustrated by herself, just for those people. She then decided if she was doing six, she may as well do seven and auction if off for a good cause. The original editions were bound in brown morocco leather, and decorated with hand-chased silver ornaments and mounted semiprecious stones. Looking at pictures of them they are gorgeous, and I am so envious of those seven people.

 

All three of these books contain extra information about the wizarding world that isn’t in the seven books. But it’s not the only thing Rowling has created that is separate from the novels. While those books were written as in-universe books, Rowling has also written other things that reveal a little bit more about the world.

The Prequel

In 2008 Rowling wrote an 800-word prequel as part of a fundraiser. Rowling adamantly stated she is not writing a prequel, this was merely a good idea to raise money for worthy charities. The original was a handwritten story on a piece of A5 card which was auctioned off for £25 000.The story revolves around James and Sirius when they were teens. It was published online in June that year and can be read here. This original story was stolen earlier this year. The owner has stated that “If it’s destroyed, or if it’s lost, it’s a great loss” and whoever took it or may purchase it may not understand “the benefits to people out there [and] what it can do.” Already this story is expected to be worth £65 000.

The Short Stories

In 2016, three ebooks were released which contained short stories about Hogwarts that Rowling had written. I did not even know about these until I started researching so I am incredibly exited to get these and read them. Presented by Pottermore, these stories came from the Pottermore archives with exclusive new information added. The three ebooks are titled:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#5) by JK Rowling

Published: 21st June 2003Goodreads badge
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages: 766
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors’ attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord’s return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort’s savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time.

It is so easy to dub this book ‘the one where Harry is angry’, but rereading this, he has a valid point. He is frustrated no one believes him, he suffered a traumatic event and didn’t really get the support afterwards he needed, and the people he turns to for help aren’t helping him. Not to mention with all his bad dreams he probably has PTSD.

Personally, it’s about time Harry was overwhelmed with everything. In the other books he, admittedly, gets himself into these situations, but for once I think he was dragged into danger kicking and screaming in GoF. Now, in the aftermath, he’s trying to deal with it. There are so many one off scenes and sentences about Harry that break my heart. How can you not feel sorry for him? What’s great though is that people do call him out a lot, as good friends should, when he’s being unreasonable. He also learns to channel his frustrations into something productive which is excellent.

Rowling puts a lot into this story, which is why it’s the biggest of them all, but there is a lot to cover. There’s possibly less individual subplots going on, while a lot is happening it is all connected in some way. Our trio have exams coming up which is a focal point, reminding us they are still at a school and not just out saving the wizarding world all the time. There are also more wizarding world discoveries as the revolt against Voldemort reignites, we learn more about a few characters, and get some new villains.

Umbridge is a great villain because she is so unreasonable, and malicious just for the sake of it. She doesn’t have grand master plans to take over the world like Voldemort, she just likes being cruel and tormenting for fun. I found a previous review I’d written and was actually interested to see how much it changed. I mentioned that I thought this book was too political, and wasn’t my favourite, I did give it four stars though. Which is interesting because I remember thinking about it being too political with the Order and stuff, but rereading it that didn’t bother me as much. It’s quite curious how it changes.

Fun Facts

At 257,045 words it is the longest book in the series

First published on 20 June 2003

Cover art is by Jason Cockcroft

The book forged new pre-order records, with thousands of people queuing outside book stores to secure their copy at midnight.

In 2004 the book was cited as an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and as an American Library Association Notable Book.

The first official foreign translation of the book appeared in Vietnamese on 21 July 2003, when the first of twenty-two instalments was released.

The first official European translation appeared in Serbia and Montenegro in Serbian, by the official publisher Narodna Knjiga, in early September 2003.

It is the first book in the series to be released while the movies were being produced.

The phone number to get into the Ministry of Magic is 62442, which can be used to spell “magic” on a mobile phone.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#4) by JK Rowling

Published: 8th July 2000Goodreads badge
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages: 636
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can’t wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and there are spells to be learnt and (unluckily) Potions and Divination lessons to be attended. But Harry can’t know that the atmosphere is darkening around him, and his worst enemy is preparing a fate that it seems will be inescapable.

This book was the tipping point in the series, it was the moment when things suddenly changed and everyone grew up a little bit faster. There is so much to love about this series, it’s got new information about the wizarding world, new characters to love, new adventures. I love that we get to see more magical events and everyday wizarding things. The World Cup and the TriWizard Tournament are incredible parts of the story, and I love reading about everyday wizarding life.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are wonderful as always. When I reread the books I remember more how they’re only teenagers, and that they hang out with other teenagers and members of their houses much more than is shown in the movies. I love reading about shared common room experiences, and doing things with the other Weasley children. Plus with the introduction of two extra schools, it not only expands what we know, but also makes for interesting storytelling as the three schools come together.

Rowling delivers in terms of surprise and suspense. The Triwizard events were interesting enough, but with the added mystery of who put Harry’s name in the Goblet, and multiple little subplots to weave in-between it goes to a whole other level. After the break of a Voldemort free book three, book four returns the focus as rumours and mahem resurfaces about the Dark Lord. Rowling brings numerous big events together intricately, beautifully, and stylishly with all the impact and emotion they deserve. The gut-wrenching scenes and the anticipation is almost too much and Rowling uses her words well to conjure up a scene in your head as you read. You feel like you are there beside Harry, in these moments of fear and stress and triumph. It’s an incredible reading experience. No matter how many times I reread this I will never get over how amazing Rowling is at hiding secrets and offering slow reveals. Definitely one of my favourites books of the series.

Fun Facts

Is the fifth longest book at 190,637 words.

First published 8th July 2000

Cover art is by Giles Greenfield

The first book in the series to be released in the United States on the same date as the United Kingdom

To publicise the book, a special train named Hogwarts Express was organised by Bloomsbury, and run from King’s Cross to Perth, carrying J.K. Rowling, a consignment of books for her to sign and sell, also representatives of Bloomsbury and the press. The train departed from platform 1 at King’s Cross – which had been given “Platform 9 34” signs for the occasion

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#3) by JK Rowling

Published: 8th July 1999Goodreads badge
Publisher: 
Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages: 371
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts is full of new dangers. A convicted murderer, Sirius Black, has broken out of Azkaban prison, and it seems he’s after Harry. Now Hogwarts is being patrolled by the dementors, the Azkaban guards who are hunting Sirius. But Harry can’t imagine that Sirius or, for that matter, the evil Lord Voldemort could be more frightening than the dementors themselves, who have the terrible power to fill anyone they come across with aching loneliness and despair. Yet despite the relative safety of life at Hogwarts and the best efforts of the dementors, the threat of Sirius Black grows ever closer.

This is the book where we start to see the books getting longer as more detail is included. This is of course a good thing because with book three so much of the basic wizarding rules have been established and we’re secure in what we know about the world. With this story Rowling really takes advantage of this and takes on such a deep and detailed journey, not only through the expanding wizarding world, but into the past, learning more about the war and more information about Harry’s family.

As always with a Potter book there are surprises and unexpected twists, even now rereading it for the umpteenth time I still get nervous and worried as I read, despite knowing full well what is about to happen. Rowling immerses you so deeply into her world that you feel like you are falling into them as you read, surrounding yourself with the events on the page.

I always love reading about the daily schooling life, something the movies don’t focus on very much which is a shame but understandable. There’s also so much history and backstory revealed, as well as the typical Rowling hints that something is going on but we aren’t sure of what yet, no doubt to be revealed in a later chapter or even book.

There is a great sense of action and thrill through this book, the killer on the loose angle is paced wonderfully, and as I say, the twists Rowling throws in there are enough to keep you reading intently no matter ow many times you’ve read the same words before.

Fun Facts

It is the third longest book at 107,253 words.

First published 8 July 19999

Cover art is by Cliff Wright

Rowling started to write Prisoner of Azkaban the day after she finished Chamber of Secrets.

Sold more than 68,000 copies in the UK within three days of publication, which made it the fastest selling British book of the time

Won the 1999 Booklist Editors’ Choice Award plus numerous others

Most of the reviews were favourable, however one reviewer, Anthony Holden, who said that the characters are “all black-and-white”, and the “story-lines are predictable, the suspense minimal, the sentimentality cloying every page”

An illustrated edition will be released 3 October 2017, with illustrations by Jim Kay

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