List of Improvements on the Book

[Barb]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., "Marcus " <prefectmarcus at y...> wrote:
> Instead of nitpicking the movie where it changed details of the 
> book, here is my preliminary list of where the movie actually 
> improved things IMO.
> 
> (1) Fluffy's origin.  It always bothered me that somebody from 
> Greece shows up in Scotland with a gigantic three-headed dog.  The 
> logistical nightmares that entails boggles the mind.  Where was 
> the MoM?  It makes more sense for somebody from Ireland to have 
> him.  It might even be an Irish bloke living in Scotland.  Yes, 
> yes, I am fully aware of Cerebus, or whatever his name was.  But 
> Centaurs aren't exactly standard British mythology either.

I agree that there are some things that were improved upon in the 
film, but IMO, this isn't necessarily one of them.  It still strikes 
me as an unnecessary change, especially since the idea that Hagrid 
is the one who acquired Fluffy is still in the script.  You do make 
a good point, however, that the MoM seems to be asleep at the switch 
when it comes to regulating magical creatures.  Just look at the 
sequence in PoA where Buckbeak is "on trial."  A bit like closing 
the barn door after the horses have gotten out.  What if he really 
WAS a dangerous creature?  And look at the Skrewts.  No one seems to 
be keeping track of what Hagrid is up to, do they? (BTW, the three-
headed dog is Cerberus.)

> (2) Norbert's fate.  It makes more sense for Dumbledore to step in 
> and take care of Norbert.  I've had a very hard time swallowing 
> the idea that Draco Malfoy would sit on such a juicey piece of 
> information for more than a week and not try to take advantage of 
> it.

I had a very, very hard time picturing a pair of eleven-year-olds 
smuggling what had become a very large, unwieldy dragon up a tower.  
Logistically, I think this is the least believable part of the first 
book.  JKR doesn't even have them using any sort of levitating charm 
or anything; they're just supposedly carrying the dragon. (JKR 
glosses over this by writing, "How they managed to get the crate 
back up to the castle, they never knew."  I don't think SHE knew, 
either.) The film represents a HUGE improvement over the 
implausibility of Harry and Hermione managing this alone.  (Perhaps 
they needed Ron there saying, "Are you a witch or not?" so she'd 
remember to levitate the dragon. <g>)

> (3) The end of the quest.  It has always bothered me how quickly 
> Dumbledore arrives on the scene.  Just how did he get through all 
> the obstacles so fast?  If he had a back door, the bad guys could 
> easily find it and use it.  If only he could use it, then what use 
> is all the obstacles.  Just seal the passages up and be done with 
> it.
> 
> As it is, he showed up "in the -- TA DA! -- nick of time."  In the 
> movie, Harry collapses and he is found at an unspecified time 
> later.  This makes far more logical sense.  

I was unclear about how Dumbledore did that, as well.  It's never 
properly explained in the book; Dumbledore talks about him and 
Hermione's owl crossing in the air, and Dumbledore being afraid that 
the effort required for Harry to fight back against Quirrell had 
killed him, but it's all rather vague.

--Barb

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