Things In “Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince” Movie Different From The Book – Part 2

So here is the second part of the last post on the differences between the book and movie, “Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.” In the last article, I promised to provide more points; here are 10 more differences in addition to the previous ones:-

11. Professor Slughorn’s appearance:- As per the book, Professor Slughorn was an enormous, fat, old, bald man with walrus-like mustaches.

In the movie, he was a decent, good-looking old man with nothing similar to the description given in the book except his strong desire to be among bright students or those with good family backgrounds.

12. Professor Slughorn’s meeting with Harry & Hagrid:- When Hagrid invites Harry, Ron, and Hermione to the Aragog’s (his spider friend) funeral, only Harry agrees and goes in the night, hidden inside his invisibility cloak. On the way, he meets Professor Slughorn and tells him the reason for this odd night visit. Slughorn accompanies him in pursuit of the spider venom, which is a pricey possession.

In the Film, Slughorn simply accompanies Harry for his safety and asks Hagrid nicely for the venom. But in actuality, he steals the venom when Hagrid is distracted due to grief.

13. Fight between Harry & Malfoy and Snape’s handling of the situation:- Harry finds Malfoy talking with Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom, and that is when a confrontation between both begins. Myrtle starts crying when Harry curses Malfoy with a deadly curse he learned from Half-Blood Prince’s book. At last, Snape comes to the rescue of Malfoy, who was losing blood so quickly, and, as a punishment, he gives Harry detention, which was also why Harry missed his Quidditch game against Ravenclaws.

While in the movie, Harry chases Malfoy and, when sees him weeping in distress, tries to talk with him, which results in a confrontation between them. There was no Myrtle, and Harry got away very easily without any punishment. Funny, isn’t it?

14. Hiding of Half-Blood Prince’s book:- Snape quickly understands the situation and asks Harry where he got to know about this curse. When unable to divulge the information, he asks Harry to bring all of his study books, suspecting Half-Blood Prince’s copy. Harry goes to collect his study material but hides the Prince’s book inside the Room of Requirement.

In the movie version, Harry goes with Ginny to hide the book, and she kisses him first time in the Room of Requirement. Harry was supposed to kiss her after Quidditch win, which I also covered in the last post.

15. Death mark trap:- This one was a big change. When Dumbledore and Harry return from the cave, they notice Death Mark and rush towards Hogwarts, suspecting the death of any student by death eaters. After reaching there, they realize that it was actually a trap for them; no one was harmed.

In the movie, the death mark appears after Dumbledore’s death and is actually caused by Bellatrix, who was never present at the climax, according to the book. Her only appearance in the story is when she accompanies her sister to Snape’s house.

16. Harry was frozen by Dumbledore during the attack:- Realizing the situation, Dumbledore freezes Harry, who was still under his Invisibility Cloak. Harry watches everything – Malfoy’s hesitation, Snape’s arrival, and Dumbledore’s death, but does nothing due to his frozen state. Death eaters were also unaware of his presence.

In the movie, they changed everything. In this version, Harry was never under the Invisibility Cloak, and Snape asks him not to do anything, assuring him of handling the situation.

17. Fight sequences at the climax:- After Dumbledore’s death, there was a long fight sequence between Order of the Phenix members and students v/s Death eaters. Harry chases them and tries to attack Snape, who easily diffuses his attacks. Death eaters also attack Hagrid and burn his house. Ginni, Longbottom, Hermione, and other students also take part in the fight. Many of the death eaters are killed as well.

In the movie, all such sequences are reduced to just a small fight between Harry and Snape. Bellatrix was the movie addition; she was never part of this fight.

18. Logic behind “Half-Blood Price” title: The title of the book “Half-Blood Prince” deserves good reasoning. At the climax, it is revealed that Snape is actually a Half-Blood Prince. Hermione was keen to find out who this prince was since the possession of the book by Harry. She even suggests that this title can belong to a girl, too, but Harry & Ron ignore her. At last, she solves the puzzle by finding out about Snape’s family. Snape’s mother was Eileen Prince, a witch, and his father was a muggle, Tobias Snape, thus making him Half-Blood Prince.

In the movie, Snape simply tells Harry at the climax that he is Half-Blood Prince. How? No one knows 😛

19. Bill Weasley attack:- During the fight with death eaters, the elder brother of Ron, Bill Weasley, gets injured. His face becomes disfigured, almost beyond recognition. Weasleys get sad and disappointed, but Fleur Delacour brings some cheers after expressing her desire to be with the disfigured Bill. Ron’s mother, who never liked her, first time accepts her as her daughter-in-law by true means.

The movie does not mention Bill, Fleur, or this event.

20. Funeral of Dumbledore:- Last but not least, Dumbledore’s funeral. After Dumbledore’s sudden demise, the whole wizarding community comes to attend his funeral. He is given a grand adieu outside the castle near Black Lake. Wizards from different parts of the Globe come to pay their respect to the most respected wizard of his time.

In the Movie, they didn’t find it necessary to show the funeral of the beloved headmaster. In spite, all students lift their wands towards the sky to pay their respects.

So this completes our short series on differences between the book and movie of Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince.

Please write in comments if you find some more inaccuracies between the two.

Happy Reading! Keep Traveling !!!