Seven Underrated Moments the TV Show Needs to Put on Screen

Here’s the thing about movies: they can only be so long… unless James Cameron directs them. There are over 4,000 pages in the Harry Potter series, and a lot of the contents of the books didn’t make it into the eight-film series. Fortunately, that’s where the TV show comes in: bringing these never-before-seen moments to life.

Some of them are obvious. Peeves. The Marauders. It’s been reported that each season will correspond to a book, so we’ll know exactly when we can expect the best moments to come up. The book series is so long and detailed, though, that some of those moments have been forgotten.

But, that doesn’t make it any less exciting that we’ll soon get to see them.

 

Season 1: Snape referees a quidditch match

In this one short sequence in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we get multiple incredible moments.

 

 

First, Wood announces that Snape is refereeing, George falls off his broom, and the whole team goes crazy. Then, at the match itself, there’s more. Snape awards a penalty when George hits a bludger at him; Harry almost knocks Snape off his broom; Ron and Neville get into a brawl with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Then there’s a moment of triumph as Harry makes one of the quickest catches anyone can remember…and then, to top it off, we get a scene that happened very differently in the movie, as Harry flies over the forest and lands in a tree to listen in on Snape and Quirrell’s conversation.

 

Season 2: TIE — Lockhart’s Valentine’s Day celebration, de-gnoming the garden

Two wonderful sequences of comedy.

First off, the visual of hurling gnomes like frisbees over the fence sounds absolutely hilarious. “The air thick with flying gnomes” is a visual we need to see. Imagine a montage with “Chariots of Fire” playing while we focus on one flying gnome after another.

 

 

Then, we get Lockhart’s Valentine’s Day celebration. The highlight, of course, is when an annoyed dwarf comes up to Harry and sings, “His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,” which, I mean, come on, there’s no excuse for not capturing that moment for posterity.

 

Season 3: The Quidditch final

Quidditch is one thing that the original film series doesn’t do that well, and the TV show has a chance to fix it. We need an episode devoted almost entirely to the final itself. It’s an adrenaline-pumping moment of triumph, maybe the happiest Harry has ever been. It will also be a chance to capture better Quidditch on-screen, which should help give fans a better sense of how the game works (it’s very different than the movies make it look!).

 

 

Season 4: Wizarding hijinks at the Quidditch World Cup

We need to see Old Archie walking around in a nightgown refusing to put on men’s clothes; Mr. Weasley failing to start a fire for an hour; Mr. Roberts constantly being obliviated because wizards keep showing off. This will also be a perfect opportunity to showcase Ludo Bagman, who was excluded from the films entirely – and a great chance to show the ridiculously cool “omnioculars,” which should exist in real life.

 

 

Season 5: Post-Weasley mayhem

We see the Weasley twins’ escape from Hogwarts in the film. What’s missing, though, is what happens next: basically, anarchy. Entire classes are taking Skiving Snackboxes; Professor McGonagall whispers to Peeves that a chandelier unscrews the other way; Lee Jordan starts levitating Nifflers into Umbridge’s office. Book Five is all about the power of dissent, so a scene like this, in which dissent completely undermines the power structure that Umbridge is trying to impose, basically captures the essence of the story. And it will be hilarious.

 

 

Season 6: Celestina Warbeck’s Christmas Special

This is a very niche moment, but one that’s incredibly funny. Mrs. Weasley sings along increasingly loudly; Mr. Weasley goes along with it while quietly apologizing for how bad it is; Fleur is openly disgusted by it, and later starts making an impression of Celestina, which is everyone’s cue to go to bed. J.K. Rowling’s skill at writing humor is one of the most underrated elements of the books, and the TV show has a chance to nail it.

 

 

Season 7: Trelawney fighting with crystal balls

This is a great moment of anarcho-awesomeness. We’re in the middle of a dark battle, when suddenly – BAM! It’s a slow-motion shot of Trelawney spinning a bunch of crystal balls with her wand, then firing them at the Death Eaters, knocking out every target as each missile finds its mark and explodes. In both the films and the books, Trelawney is a pretty annoying character, but in the books, she finds redemption in this scene. Here, the TV show has a chance to do it better than the books did. Give Trelawney her moment – and make it absolutely mind-blowing.