Between the books and the movies, the Harry Potter series has been beloved by fans for multiple decades now. At the time of their release, fans would line up outside book stores and movie theaters in order to be a part of the newest installments of the series. Now that they both have been completed, the hype has not fallen, with fans taking to both the books and movies again and again in order to memorize every second.
As fans have been able to rewatch and reread, they have begun to further analyze the differences between both forms of the series. While the books naturally contain considerably more information than the movies, the creators of the movies managed to add some scenes that were completely unique from the original story. Some fans may have scoffed at some of these additions, but as some Redditors pointed out, these added scenes truly benefitted the beloved story of Harry Potter.
Helena Ravenclaw's Hint To Harry
This Redditor said that they really enjoyed the hint that the ghost Helena Ravenclaw gave Harry in Deathly Hallows Part 2. When Harry asked about the location of Ravenclaw's diadem, she responds with "if you have to ask, you'll never know. If you know, you need only ask," revealing to Harry that the diadem was hidden in the Room of Requirement.
In the book, Helena goes into a story explaining how she had stolen the diadem from her mother and was murdered before she could retrieve it from its hiding place. In order to save time, the movie writers had to find another way for Helena to help Harry, and the way they did it truly worked towards the feel of the film.
Hedwig's Sacrifice
In both the book and movie, Hedwig's death was one of the most shocking things to happen in the Harry Potter series. In the Deathly Hallows Part 1 movie, Hedwig is killed by Death Eaters when she flies in front of a killing curse in order to save Harry's life. In the books, however, Hedwig is killed while locked in her cage, which is sitting on Harry's lap in the sidecar.
Redditor KrustyKrabpizza "liked" that Hedwig's sacrifice had a much bigger impact than her accidental death in the books. The large cage in Harry's lap would have visually made the scene more awkward in the movie as well, so having her free and flying killed two owls with one stone.
Voldemort's Graveyard Speach
When Voldemort is resurrected in the graveyard in Goblet of Fire, he fills in his Death Eaters on what all had happened to him over the last 13 years since his downfall. In the movie, his verbiage differed slightly, giving his speech a much more dramatic flair.
Redditor BoboMuerte specifically quoted one of the best lines in Harry Potter, "No matter, no matter, things have changed. I can touch you...now!" stating that the actor, Ralph Fiennes, delivered these lines perfectly. Fiennes's delivery, combined with the memorable way he pressed his finger to Harry's head made this scene leave quite an impact.
Harry's Confrontation With Snape
In the Deathly Hallows book, Harry only sees Snape from under his invisibility cloak before he watches the supposedly evil Hogwarts professor die. In both the book and movie, McGonagall has an impressive duel with Snape, but the movie adds a scene that sat rather well with fans (like Redditor King_weasley).
In the movie, Harry steps out from the crowd of students in the Great Hall and confronts Snape, yelling at him for daring to take the place of the man he had murdered. Between Harry's appearance, the Order of the Phoenix walking in the doors, and Snape's expression of surprise, this Redditor "really liked" how this added scene was made valuable.
McGonagall At The Battle Of Hogwarts
Professor McGonagall is a formidable witch in both the books and the movies, but fans really enjoyed the version of the transfiguration teacher that they got to see in the Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie.
Redditor Iowaminute specifically said they were "obsessed" with McGonagall in Deathly Hallows - Part 2 as she played an integral part in the movie. Some fans also loved how McGonagall brought the statues of Hogwarts to life in order to protect the school and says with an excited giggle "I've always wanted to use that spell!" as it showed a softer side to McGonagall that was more often shown in the books, but the movies typically skipped over.
Harry And Hermione Commiserating
In the Half-Blood Prince books, Harry secretly pines over Ginny, fearful that if Ron were to find out, it would end their friendship. While Hermione would sometimes give Harry knowing glances, she ultimately kept her suspicions of Harry's feelings to herself.
In the movie, however, after Hermione has her heartbroken by Ron, she says "How does it feel, Harry, when you see Ginny with Dean?" and the two sit together, knowing that the other knows exactly what they are feeling, Redditor OakAvis felt that this was a great addition to the movie. It further develops the brother-sister relationship that Harry and Hermione share and helps bring the inner-dialogue from the books to the screen audience.
Slughorn And Francis The Fish
In both the Half-Blood Prince book and movie, Harry uses alcohol and the sentimental memory of his mother to convince Slughorn to give him a memory that he and Dumbledore need. The movie writers, however, added a story from Slughorn that broke audiences' hearts.
Slughorn tells Harry that Lily once gave him a flower petal in a bowl of water that transformed into a fish in front of his eyes. He named the fish Francis and kept it as a pet for years, but on the day of Lily's death, it disappeared. Redditor Flowercandy shared that this scene "messes with [their] head." It is truthfully a very sad story that drives home the talent of Lily Evans and just how much of an impact her death had on the people that knew her.
Hermione Modifying Her Parent's Memories
In the Deathly Hallows book, a heartbroken Hermione tells Harry how she removed all memory of her from her parent's minds to ensure that they would be safe from interrogation from the Death Eaters. In the movie, however, the scene is actually shown, with Hermione's image shown fading away from all the family's photos.
Reddit user Fallaryn said that this scene "really added to the seriousness" of the situation. If Hermione had only told Harry what she had done as she had in the books, audiences might have missed out on just how difficult and selfless Hermione's actions were.
Mr. Diggory's Lament
One of the most impactful scenes of the Goblet of Fire movie is when Cedric Diggory's father sees his lifeless body on the ground outside of the final task's maze. His desperate scream of "my boy!" has left viewers in tears on every watch-through of the film, driving home the impact Cedric's death had on the series.
Redditor Seidlka felt that this was the best scene added in the movies and a "favorite." While book fans were able to read Harry's inner dialogue as he worked his mind around Cedric's death, they never actually saw Mr. Diggory's reaction. The movie did this scene so well, that on a repeated read-through of the book, the scene just seems to fall short.
Hermione's Torture
In both the Deathly Hallows book and movie, Bellatrix, the most evil of Voldemort's Death Eaters, tortures Hermione in order to find out how they managed to get the sword of Gryffindor, which she believed to be in her Gringotts vault. The scene is important as it is what tips Harry off to the fact that another Horcrux may be in the Lestrange vault. However, the movie adds something a little different to this scene.
In the movie, Bellatrix not only tortures Hermione but slowly carves the word "mudblood" into her arm with a knife. Redditor Dayafterxmas remembers saying "wow, that definitely didn't happen in the books...but I'm okay with it" when they first saw this added scene. It not only gives audiences respect for Hermione's toughness but further showed them the prejudice against muggle-borns in the wizarding world; quite an interesting addition.