HBO’s Harry Potter Season 1 Still Has Dozens of Cut Characters It Should Include (in 1 Single Scene)

HBO’s Harry Potter remake is set to debut this December, and the TV series has the chance to stick more closely to the books as early as Season 1. Although the Harry Potter movies don’t lean into larger changes until later, they all feature at least a few differences from the source material. It’s inevitable with movie adaptations, as there’s no way to fit every detail of a lengthy book into a film’s runtime. Fortunately, dedicating an entire TV season to each novel opens a lot more opportunities.

In its eight-episode run, Harry Potter Season 1 can do much more with its world-building and story — and it can include characters who don’t appear in the films. Harry Potter doesn’t cut too many prominent players, but there are two supporting figures from Hogwarts who will finally appear on-screen: Peeves and Professor Binns. There are also dozens of cut minor characters the show’s first season can include, and they all appear in a single book scene. Their absence isn’t that noticeable in the films, but working them into the show would be another way of making it more faithful.

The Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Movie Cuts Harry’s Extended Family From the Mirror of Erised

Harry discovering the Mirror of Erised is a key development in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Not only does the magic object tell us more about Harry’s and Ron’s deepest desires, but it lays the groundwork for the book’s endgame. As such, the film adaptation can’t get around including this scene, but it does remove a significant number of characters present for it. In the Sorcerer’s Stone movie, Harry only sees Lily and James when he looks into the enchanted mirror. Showing just his parents still gets the point across well enough — he desperately wants the family he lost — but it’s not a complete depiction of this book moment.

In the source material, Harry sees a whole group of his ancestors standing behind his parents, seemingly representing generations of Evans and Potters. It’s easy to see why the film cut them, as they don’t do more than smile and wave. And the film places a greater emphasis on Harry’s parents by removing this detail, plus it saves itself from needing to bring in dozens of extras. Even still, it’s an intriguing detail that changes how you analyze this part of Harry’s story. For that reason, the HBO show should consider including it in Season 1.

Harry Potter Season 1 Should Include Its Dozens of Cut Characters in Its Mirror of Erised Scene

Harry Potter Season 1 can finally adapt the Mirror of Erised properly if it wants to, and there’s a good argument to be made for doing so. For one, it would signal fidelity to the source material. It would also set the series apart from Warner Bros.’ prior films, and that’s something that’s sorely needed to make the remake feel worthwhile. Perhaps the largest argument for including these dozens of ancestors, however, is that they change how Harry’s deepest desire comes across. It makes perfect sense that he wants to know the parents he lost, since their absence directly impacts every facet of his life. It’s why he has to live with the Dursleys, and it’s why he has so little support growing up. It’s an obvious wish for the Mirror of Erised to focus on.

Harry seeing his extended family is more interesting, as it suggests he longs for more than an ordinary childhood with loving parents. It indicates that Harry wants a broader sense of belonging — to fit in among a larger system of people connected to him. He also wants a better understanding of his own background, something that highlights how little he actually knows about James and Lily at the start of the series. In a lot of ways, the extended family in this scene make it sadder. Including them would add layers to Harry Potter Season 1, though it would also present a mystery to solve.

This Harry Potter Change Would Raise a Question That Even the Books Don’t Answer

Although there are promising reasons to include these minor characters cut from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the TV series would raise questions by doing so. Even the books don’t elaborate on Harry’s relatives, but they do leave us to wonder what happened to all the people he sees behind his parents. It’s possible his mind is merely constructing them, part of his wish to have a larger support system. However, if Harry’s family really is that big, where exactly are they all? Surely they don’t all perish like Lily and James…and if they do, there’s the massive question of how. This is something the books don’t address, and even at eight episodes, the TV show likely won’t have time to either. Even still, it’s a detail worth unpacking…and I’d love to see the theories that spring up surrounding it.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!