The Harry Potter franchise remains popular to this day, despite being twenty years old, due to the imagining of a complex magical world transporting those who read and watch. Most importantly, it is the unique and wonderful characters that readers and audiences meet throughout each book and film that make Harry's story all the more captivating.
Unfortunately, due to the limitations of adapting a book to screen within just two hours, many characters were affected or even removed from the Harry Potter films. There characters not only had serious plot lines removed, or were included in scenes that were cut for time but aided greater chronology of the story. If viewers have only seen the films, they are missing plenty of individuals who frame Harry's experience of the magical world.
10 Hermione Granger
Despite being one of the key characters in the franchise, Hermione's character was portrayed completely differently than in the book series. Although she continued to be the best in her classes and an avid bookworm, many of her contributions to helping Harry were overlooked.
Most notably neglected is her friendship with Harry and how significant it was, as she is the only character who truly understands what it means to enter The Wizarding World as a Muggle. Plenty of heart-warming scenes between them were cut or not included in the films, although this was slightly redeemed in the Deathly Hallows films.
9 Molly Weasley
The matriarch of the Weasley family and plenty of other Hogwarts students too, Molly Weasley was a powerful and fearless witch. Her maternal instincts and the kind and warm home that she kept are compelling throughout the books, as this is the first real home that Harry sees.
Plenty of scenes of Molly Weasley were cut from the film and viewers do not get to see as many of these moments. There are so many events in the books that show her kindness and tenderness towards other characters. In particular towards Harry, as she always treated him like her own son and gave him the family he never had.
8 Remus Lupin
Teaching spells by day, becoming a werewolf by night, Remus Lupin was one of the best characters in the Harry Potter series. Yet, despite his connection to Harry through being the sole surviving friend of his parents is often overlooked in the later films. Although this is likely due to timing, plenty of scenes of him were cut or not included from the later films that demonstrate his importance.
Particular scenes not included are his budding relationship with Tonks and the birth of his son, Teddy. Despite these not being important to the film storylines, they are integral to the books as Harry is made Teddy's godfather. It is a shame to not see them develop.
7 Nymphadora Tonks
Similarly to Lupin, Tonks is also a character who is not given enough screen time. Her bold personality makes every character laugh with and love her and this was not portrayed enough in the films. Film viewers also do not get the sense of her family dynamic that is explored in the books, which adds plenty of fun and importance to the stories.
In addition, her and Lupin's deaths were not given proper attention in the films, as it is merely glossed over in a single shot. It seemed strange that Harry should not be given processing time on screen to handle this, as he was in the books. Him taking custody of their son is also not included in the films.
6 Lavender Brown
After being controversially recast to Jessie Cave in Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, Lavender only appears crucially in this film. However, her character was underrated across all Harry Potter films, as she is solely made the needy and whiny girlfriend of Ron.
In the books, Lavender is brave and excitable throughout as a fun character. She joins Dumbledore's Army and fights in The Battle of Hogwarts, where she is sadly killed by werewolf Fenrir Greyback. This is mostly glossed over in the films, and it is a shame that she was not shown more.
5 Bill Weasley
It is easy to say that, in the books, Bill Weasley is the most accomplished and incredibly cool Weasley sibling. The books do go more into his backstory before he meets future-wife Fleur, as a curse breaker and employee of Gringott's Bank. The books also show how his family were not happy with him dating Fleur at first.
He is always described as being dressed like a rock star and having a dangly earring in one of his ears. He does feature more prevalently in the later Harry Potter films and does his part during the war. Yet, it would have been fun to see more of the lighter side of his storyline.
4 Albus Dumbledore
Dumbledore is one of the most contested characters of the Harry Potter films due to the later films substituting his earlier benevolence for a dark complexity. This was in part due to the earlier actor, Richard Harris, passing in 2002, and so the character was then portrayed by Michael Gambon. Whilst both actors gave outstanding performances, the direction that Dumbledore as a character took certainly proved intriguing.
Although some scenes across the eight films were spot on, there were moments throughout the film where Dumbledore's kind and gentle manner completely disappeared. This throws the viewer off, as some scenes show him as completely distant and irrationally angry, which consequently takes away from his witticisms in the books.
3 Cho Chang
Cho Chang is, unfortunately, the most overlooked character in the Harry Potter films as, despite being Harry's first girlfriend, she does not appear as frequently as she should. From being unfairly made a villain, to slowly disappearing from screen, she faces an awful injustice in the film series.
She appears to just be written off when everybody believes that she betrayed the DA, yet the reality of her being given a truth serum is never explained properly in the films. This lack of resolution does a disservice to a sweet and kind character who just cannot catch a break.
2 Charlie Weasley
The above image is the only time that we see Charlie Weasley in any of the films, despite him being mentioned multiple times. Why does he not appear in anything other than a family photo in a newspaper?
Ultimately, Charlie Weasley was cut from the films as his brief storylines were not central to the story. It is rational that he did not appear so that more time could be focused on more important storylines, yet is still a shame that he is the only Weasley child not to feature in the films.
1 Ginny Weasley
Ginny is, ultimately, written so much better in the books. Funny and witty, intelligent and an amazing Quidditch player, the films neglect all the reasons that Harry actually likes her and how she properly challenges him. She is a very likable character and yet, in the films, Ginny and Harry are simply thrown together with no actual explanation.
It has since been revealed that Ginny goes on to achieve plenty of success as a professional Quidditch player after marrying Harry. So whilst she gets a happy ending, it is a shame that her fiery personality does not feature as much in the films.