Is Buckbeak Indispensable (& Other PoA Edits)?

[cynthiaanncoe at home.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27395

Barb wrote:
> The beginning of the book could be streamlined by having the 
blowing-
> up-Aunt-Marge-Grim-sighting-Knight-Bus-Harry-staying-at-the-Leaky-
> Cauldron bit reduced to the amount of time it would take to run the 
> credits.  These early sequences don't even have to have audible 
> dialogue (we'll get the message if we see Uncle Vernon turning red 
> while screaming at Harry, and if we see Aunt Marge floating to the 
> ceiling like a zeppelin), which would make these scenes perfect for 
> being on the screen at the same time as the opening credits with 
the 
> soundtrack playing in the background...
> 
> By the time the credits were done, he'd be nearing the end of the 
> summer, getting his school supplies and preparing to take the train 
> to school...
> 

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

I absolutely love everything that happens at the Durleys and Knight 
Bus!  I can't bear to cut even one minute of it.  I'd spend as much 
movie time there as it takes to do all of those scenes as written.  
Aside from the character development and amusement, we learn about 
Sirius from the Dursleys and Stan, we see Fudge's odd presence when 
Harry gets off the bus (something to do with the protections at the 
Dursley's).  

Can we compromise and chop some of the Diagon Alley stuff and keep 
the Durleys' and Knight Bus?

Cindy
-----------------
"Do they still use the cane at St. Brutus's, boy?" she barked across 
the table.
Uncle Vernon nodded curtly behind Aunt Marge's back.
"Yes," said Harry.  Then, feeling he might as well do the thing 
properly, he added, "all the time."
"Excellent," said Aunt Marge.