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 differences between book and movie for the title “Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince”. In last article, I promised to provide more points, here are 10 more differences in addition to previous :-

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

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

12. Professor Slughorn’s meeting with Harry & Hagrid :- When Hagrid invites Harry, Ron and Hermione for the Aragog’s (his spider friend) funeral, only Harry agrees and goes in 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 he actually asks Hagrid nicely for the venom. But in actual he steals the venom when Hagrid was 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 was when confrontation between both begins. Myrtle starts crying when Harry curses Malfoy with deadly curse, he learned from Half Blood Prince’s book. At last Snape comes to the rescue of Malfoy, who was loosing blood so quickly and as a punishment gives Harry detention, which was also the reason, Harry misses 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 the confrontation between them. There was no Myrtle and also Harry gets 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 from 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 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. Actually Harry was supposed to kiss her after Quidditch win which I also covered in 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 the 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, death mark appears after Dumbledore’s death and actually caused by Bellatrix who was never present at the climax according to book. Her only appearance in the story is when she accompanies her sister to Snape’s house.

16. Harry 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 about his presence.

In movie, they changed everything. In this version, Harry was never under Invisibility Cloak and Snape actually asks him not to do anything, giving him assurance 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, tries to attack Snape, who diffuses his attacks very easily. Death eaters also attack Hagrid and burn his house. Ginni, Longbotton, 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 small fight between Harry and Snape. Bellatrix was the movie addition, else she was never the part of this fight.

18. Logic behind “Half Blood Price” title :- Title of the book “Half Blood Prince”, deserves a good reasoning. At the climax it is revealed that Snape was actually 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 says to Harry at the climax that he is Half Blood Prince. How ? No one knows 😛

19. Bill Weasley attack :- During the fight with death eaters, 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 disfigured Bill. Ron’s mother, who never liked her, first time accepts her as her daughter-in-law in true means.

There is no mention of Bill, Fleur and this event in the movie.

20. Funeral of Dumbledore :- Last but not least, Dumbledore’s funeral. After Dumbledore’s sudden demise, 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 Globe come to pay their respect to the most respected wizard of his time.

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

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

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

Happy Reading ! Keep Traveling !!!