Fans of the Harry Potter franchise are eager to dive into a new adventure in the upcoming video game Hogwarts Legacy. While it is still unclear what the game will entail, Hogwarts School is known for its secrets and riddles, so the new game is likely to live up to its name and continue with the series' legacy of mystery.
In the Harry Potter books and movies, Harry often had to sift through these mysteries on his journey to the series' final plot twist. However, along the way, several smaller twists and turns were revealed. Compared to the final reveal of Harry's destiny, these plot twists were easy to forget but each shows a lot about the story's characters and themes and are worth remembering.
Barty Crouch Broke His Son Out Of Prison
In Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch was described as a strict man who valued the law. These values were so deep that Crouch put his son in Azkaban Prison after it was discovered that he was one of Voldemort's Death Eaters. However, Harry and co. quickly learned that not everything was as it seemed.
While the biggest plot twist of Goblet of Fire was the revelation that Hogwarts Professor Mad-Eye Moody had really been Barty Crouch Jr in disguise, audiences also learned that Crouch Sr had broken his son out of prison and kept him concealed at home under the Imperius Curse for years. This twist left readers gaping, but it wasn't important enough to make it into the movie.
Ludo Bagman Was A Cheater
As Harry tried to deduce who could have put his name into the Goblet of Fire, several suspects stood out to the audience. Of course, Igor Karkaroff was an obvious choice, but there was another character that was behaving suspiciously.
Ludo Bagman was the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and was therefore mainly in charge of organizing the Triwizard Tournament. Harry often spotted him trying to get away from Fred and George and groups of angry Goblins. However, what struck Harry as strange was that Bagman kept offering to help him cheat. Ultimately, it is revealed that Bagman wasn't evil, but he wasn't entirely good either. He had bet money he didn't have on the Quidditch World Cup and needed Harry to win so he could get out of debt.
Kreacher Betrayed Sirius
Dumbledore had often told Sirius that he should treat Kreacher better, but Sirius despised the elf that, to him, represented the evil nature of the Black family. Unfortunately, Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange took advantage of Kreacher's mistreatment to get him on their side and convince him to lie for them.
The central plot twist in Order of the Phoenix was that Voldemort had been intentionally letting Harry into his thoughts to lure him to the Department of Mysteries. However, the small forgotten twist that Sirius' poor treatment of his servant resulted in his death had a resounding impact on the themes of Harry Potter.
Tonks And Lupin Fell In Love
Throughout Half-Blood Prince, Harry was determined to discover how Malfoy was getting away with harming students right under Dumbledore's nose. He became obsessed with finding answers, but another mystery was also drawing his attention. Tonks, energetic and talkative the previous year, had suddenly become distant and melancholy.
Since Harry had suspected that a woman had helped Malfoy deliver the cursed necklace in the girls' bathroom of the Three Broomsticks, some readers wondered if Tonks was somehow involved. However, Tonks' twist ended up being that she was in love with Lupin, who was too afraid to pursue a relationship. The movie focused on the twist that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince and not the romantic relationships in Harry Potter, so Tonks' revelation was forgotten.
Slytherin's Locket Had Belonged To Voldemort's Mother
Harry learned in Half-Blood Prince that Voldemort liked to keep trophies for his most evil deeds. As Tom Riddle discovered the Dark magic of Horcruxes, he began to search for the items that would be worthy of holding his soul. Over time, he managed to find several magically significant items that he felt proved his unique place in the wizarding world.
Audiences know that one of these items was a locket with the sigil of Salazar Slytherin on it. However, a twist left out of the movie is that this locket had once belonged to Voldemort's mother, Merope. While she was still pregnant, Merope sold the locket to the shop Borgin and Burke's, where it was eventually purchased by an elderly collector of magical objects. Voldemort murdered this collector and took back what he believed to be rightfully his.
Regulus Black Switched Sides
Half-Blood Prince ended with the revelation that the locket Horcrux had been replaced with a fake by someone with the initials RAB. In Deathly Hallows, Harry discovered that RAB had been Regulus Arcturus Black, Sirius' brother.
However, the Deathly Hallows movie left out the lesser plot twist: Regulus had died trying to protect his family and bring Voldemort down. Sirius had believed Regulus to have been a Death Eater until his dying day, but Kreacher revealed a different truth. Regulus had been disgusted with how Voldemort treated the Black family's house-elf, and after learning what Voldemort intended to do, he realized he wasn't a Lord who deserved loyalty.
Dumbledore Knew More Than Anyone Realized
Everyone in the wizarding world knew that Dumbledore was a genius and talented wizard. However, there was always a lot of debate about whether he knew what he was talking about or if he was just mad. Especially after his death, the people close to Dumbledore started to wonder if he had ever really had a plan.
While Deathly Hallows saw Harry feel a lot of doubt about his old headmaster, he eventually had to learn to put that aside and simply trust. In the end, it is revealed that Dumbledore knew that Harry Potter, as the Chosen One, would sacrifice himself willingly and that that action would ensure his safety. With the twists about the Elder wand, it was easy to miss that Dumbledore really had been in control the whole time.
Draco Didn't Want Harry Dead
Harry and Draco Malfoy were enemies from their very first year at Hogwarts. Harry despised Malfoy's obsession with power and the Dark Arts, and Malfoy hated Harry's fame and heroic nature. The two fired a lot of threats at each other over the years, but when Malfoy became a Death Eater, it was expected that they would eventually face off for real.
However, Malfoy quickly learned that Voldemort's cause was too much for him. This was surprising enough already, but the real twist was that when given a chance to do Harry great harm, Malfoy didn't take it. It may be going too far to say that Malfoy protected Harry, but the action was certainly a turn for his character.
The Deathly Hallows Don't Make The Owner Master Of Death
When Harry is introduced to the Deathly Hallows quest, he is told that whoever reunites all three Hallows will become the Master of Death. However, when Harry walked into the forest to face Voldemort with the Invisibility Cloak, the Resurrection Stone, and the allegiance of the Elder Wand, their power did nothing to keep him alive. Instead, Harry survived because Voldemort had used Harry's blood to regain a body, ensuring that he could never mortally harm his enemy.
Dumbledore told Harry that he was always meant to reunite the Hallows, but what good were they really? In the end, the twist was that the legend that stated the bearer of the Hallows would become the Master of Death was misunderstood. Instead, the legend foretold that the Master of Death, the one who defied the killing curse three times, would be the one worthy of reuniting the Hallows.