The Harry Potter movies will remain etched in our memories till the day we pass away. After all, we all grew up with them. From 2001 to 2011, a complete ten years, the films were out consistently and someone who was merely 10-years-old at the time of release would’ve turned 20 when the series ended. Naturally, a lot of nostalgia now rides on the series seeing that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the final part of the franchise, is 8-years-old by the time 2019 starts.
The movies have a drastic shift in tone starting from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. From Philosopher’s Stone to Prisoner of Azkaban, they had a much innocent tone and always ended on a happy note. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire combined both the innocent aspect with darker themes and ended on a sadder note. Starting from Order of the Phoenix, however, the series was permanently grown-up in tone.
This makes the later movies stand out compared to earlier ones as the fanbase itself had grown up rather significantly. A six-year gap separated the first and fifth films, meaning that the kids who watched the first part were much older for the fifth. Due to this, there is an interest in seeing the behind-the-scenes happenings of the later films to find out how the cast and crew went about making them with the change in attitude and theme.
With that in mind, here are 25 Behind-The-Scenes Photos That Change The Way We See The Later Movies.
25 Hogsmeade Snow Scene
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Malfoy went forward with plans to end Dumbledore’s life; whatever means necessary. In Hogsmeade, he accidentally cursed Katie Bell with a necklace rather than Dumbledore.
The Hogsmeade scene made it seems as if the environment was expansive.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed to be in for a long walk back to Hogwarts, but you can see now that there was nothing in the background at all. All of Hogsmeade was the work of green screen.
24 Seven Potters
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Harry’s guard all took upon his appearance to transport him to the Burrow. The preceding scene was a funny one that showed all the characters turning into Harry using polyjuice potion.
As you can see in the picture, the actors were all present upon time of takeoff but had their own faces. Of course, we’re not saying that we thought the actors had really changed faces, but this does offer a new perspective.
23 Emma Feeling Cold
Hermione’s bag was an odd bit of magic we saw. She could store potentially endless amounts of supplies without space ever running out. In this picture, you can see the green fragment that is used to make the CGI bag look expansive.
This still doesn’t help Emma from feeling too cold. Unlike her male counterparts, she doesn’t have a suit on and the film was shot in cold weather. Emma is visibly feeling the chilly weather; too bad neither men seems interested in handing her a coat.
22 Harry Shattering Mirror
There’s a small chance you missed this in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as there was a lot was going on-screen when this was shown. Harry was possessed by Voldemort in the Ministry and was shown his own reflection turning into Voldemort’s as part of the Dark Lord’s plan to make Harry give in to the possession.
Here, Director David Yates gives Daniel Radcliffe instructions as to how to properly break the glass before him. In the film, Harry did so when denying Voldemort victory and shattered the mirror before him. Looks like David wanted a specific manner of glass shattering from Daniel.
21 Tower Scene
The final scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince showed the trio solemnly looking out from the Astronomy Tower while Fawkes flew into the horizon. It was a poignant setting that really underlined the loss of Dumbledore.
The overview was still beautiful and showed us the melancholy of the situation. In actuality, it was all just a small set with everything you saw of Hogwarts’ grounds being a fabrication made by the magic of green screen. Here, David Yates tells the kids how best to pretend there is something to look at outside.
20 Filming Quidditch
There was a break from Quidditch sequences in Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. Rupert Grint was particularly looking forward to filming the Quidditch scenes after sitting out Ron’s Quidditch story in Order of the Phoenix.
He got his wish in the sixth part.
Ron’s keeping was on display in Half-Blood Prince, although this was still minimal compared to the Quidditch matches in Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets. Part of the reason might be because of difficulty in filming. The picture above is anything but easy to understand with all the strings and blue screen.
19 How To Make Potions
According to Severus Snape, brewing Potions is an art form that needs to be carefully done. Harry and Ron were generally below average when it came to this art and were reprimanded by Snape. Going by this picture, Potions really is an art form seeing that David Yates is out there teaching Horace Slughorn how to do it right.
You would think that this being a fake brewing scene it wouldn’t make any difference how the actor went forward with it, but David isn’t taking any chances and chooses to show how it’s done right.
18 Harry And Dumbledore Leaving Privet Drive
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we finally got scenes with Dumbledore and Harry carrying on a conversation without there being a desk between them or the scene taking place in an office. The film started off with the two leaving Privet Drive together in the middle of the night.
Just how deserted the setting was is based on if you think being around over a dozen people filming you counts as being alone. Even a simple scene as the two walking and talking needed a bunch of crew members to film.
17 Dumbledore’s Body Scene
After Harry was incapacitated by Snape, once the latter had taken out Dumbledore, Harry returned to the bottom of the Astronomy Tower to mourn Dumbledore’s demise. This was followed by students filing out and paying their respects to the Headmaster.
Filming this scene was easier said than done as a whole crowd of people needed to be briefed by the director. Funnily enough, this picture shows you that Robbie Coltrane wasn’t even present when it was filmed. Instead, a stand-in appears as Hagrid in something of a bionic body.
16 Bellatrix Vs Molly
One of the most hotly anticipated scenes awaited by fans for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was the confrontation between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange. This was the fight that showed motherly love would triumph over sinister intent. The scene was completed by Molly yelling an insult at Bellatrix before ending her life.
Filming the scene doesn’t seem to have been filled with such acrimony, though. Both actresses look sedate yet excited as the scene is ready to be shot here.
15 Malfoy Manor Shooting
The ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 featured the trio being held captive in Malfoy Manor. This was a perfect end to the movie as it had action packed with some of the series’ darkest aspects. Hermione was brutally questioned by Bellatrix before being saved.
Dobby rescued everyone by dropping a chandelier on Bellatrix. This still shows that scene playing out with the chandelier already fallen and shards all over the place. Obviously, Dobby’s nowhere to be seen, considering he doesn’t actually exist.
14 Neville And Luna Final Scene
The greatest love story that never was in the Harry Potter series might belong to Snape and Lily, but Neville and Luna aren’t so far behind. In the novels, it wasn’t outright stated the two had something going on, but it in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Neville openly tells his friends he’s into her.
This scene was the final one on camera for both of them, where it was implied they would get together. Although there was no dialogue in it, David Yates must have had specific requirements for the expressions the actors needed to convey.
13 Voldemort Throttling Harry
The final confrontation between Voldemort and Harry was greatly altered in Deathly Hallows: Part 2. In the film these, two engaged in a lengthy battle all around Hogwarts. One of these involved Voldemort beating Harry severely.
The above scene in the film showed Voldemort grabbing Harry by the throat and flinging him around in anger. The proper antagonism needed to be portrayed, which is why everyone involved seems to be giving extra care to it. David Yates looks very invested in how things are going.
12 Director And Emma Laughing
When it had been announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would be split into two films, Emma Watson hadn’t been too sure of filming a whole other movie. When it came out, though, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 garnered the best reviews of the series and became the highest-grossing film of the franchise as well.
Emma must have been fine with the idea eventually as here she and Director David Yates are seen having a great time on set.
11 Emma Hugging Rupert
The final scene of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 had the trio mourning the end of Dobby at the beach by Bill and Fleur’s house. It was both a touching and heartbreaking moment to see Dobby passing away after rescuing our heroes from Malfoy Manor.
As Dobby never existed in real life, the actors were free to joke around.
Here you can see Emma giving Rupert a hug from behind while on the beach. Judging by Daniel’s stance, it must have been extremely cold that day, so Rupert should appreciate Emma’s gesture.
10 Final Train Scene Filming
The ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 saw the group of friends as adults and seeing off their children at the Hogwarts Express. The main cast had only just entered their twenties so it was a big stretch to pass them on as being in their mid-thirties as the story called for it.
Now that Rupert at least is 30-years-old, it looks incredibly silly that his interpretation of a man in his thirties looks nothing like Rupert of today. Ron here looks well over 40-years-old.
9 Daniel Feeling Out Of It
The final confrontation between Voldemort and Harry was draining for the audience to watch with all the destruction and emotions flying about. But we hardly ever put any consideration as to how the actors must feel filming these laborious sequences. In the above picture, Daniel displays the tiredness from undergoing the exhausting battle sequence with Voldemort in the Great Hall staircase.
David Yates, being the captain of the ship, gives the actor some time to regain his bearings. After years of filming, he must have developed some affection for his cast.
8 Voldemort Vs Harry
The fight scene between Voldemort and Harry required a lot of bumping around and falling about. It would’ve been ridiculous had the director started filming the actors without rehearsing how the scene would be played out. To this end, David Yates had both actors play the scene without filming them first.
Here, you can see Daniel not yet dressed as Harry but still retaining the emotions of the Boy Who Lived. Or maybe after so many years, he really did come to believe that Ralph Fiennes wanted him out of the picture for good.
7 Snape And Lupin
Just like you would think Ralph Fiennes really hated Daniel the way Voldemort hated Harry, the same way you might think that Alan Rickman disliked David Thewlis.
This picture should rule that out.
First of all, David was much younger than Alan, unlike Snape and Lupin who were both the same age. Secondly, these two clearly got along famously seeing as how Lupin wasn’t even supposed to be in the scene that was being filmed here. Perhaps David just wanted to be on set while to keep Alan company.
6 Harry Threatening Dudley
The opening scene of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix differed from the novel’s events. Here, it was Dudley who bullied Harry whereas in the book it had been Harry mocking Dudley. Daniel and Harry Melling didn’t have the book to base their performances on and so it fell upon Director David Yates to instruct them how to act it out.
David is shown here to direct Daniel how to point the wand at Harry in a threatening manner. It must have been good as the crew behind them looks entertained already.
