Talk:Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)/Book and film differences

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This is a draft page of the article that may become Differences between book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Please take topics not already covered from [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

These are differences between the book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling. {{Spoiler about|the first five books and all four movies in the Harry Potter series}}

Omitted Plot Elements[edit]

The following characters appear in the book but not in the film (in order of appearance): Piers Polkiss, Mrs. Polkiss, Gordon (Dudley's gang), Malcolm (Dudley's gang), owner of the Railview Hotel, Madam Malkin, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Hermes (Percy's owl), Augusta Longbottom, students mentioned in specifics at the Sorting ceremony, including Hannah Abbott, Terry Boot, Millicent Bulstrode, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Padma Patil, Blaise Zabini, Peeves (see note at #Peeves), Pomona Sprout, Professor Binns, Irma Pince, Bane (centaur), and Ronan (centaur).

Peeves[edit]

The character of Peeves was cast and set to be portrayed by Rik Mayall. It is reported that scenes with him were filmed, but they were cut from the final outcome of the movie. They were not included in deleted scenes either. It is rumored that an extended director's cut version of the film will be released featuring Peeves, but as of yet no footage of Mayall in character is available.

Plot Differences[edit]

Item (alphabetical)	Book (origin of story) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	2001 film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Before Hogwarts	The Dursleys leave their house at Number 4, Privet Drive to escape the horde of owls delivering letters to Harry. They travel to a place called the Railview Hotel, but are soon bombarded on July 31, Harry's birthday, and hand-delivers the letter, an acceptance letter to the Hogwarts school. Hagrid takes Harry shopping for his supplies at Diagon Alley, and returns Harry to the Dursleys for about a month before he is to board the Hogwarts Express on September 1.	The Dursleys leave their house at Number 4, Privet Drive to escape the horde of owls delivering letters to Harry. They travel to a desolate hut on a rock, far out to sea, when Rubeus Hagrid breaks down the door on July 31, Harry's birthday, and hand-delivers the letter, an acceptance letter to the Hogwarts school. Hagrid takes Harry shopping for his supplies at Diagon Alley, and does not return Harry to the Dursleys for about a month before he is to board the Hogwarts Express on September 1. Instead, it is assumed they spend the time at The Leaky Cauldron before they depart.
Climax	Quirrell snaps his fingers to bind Harry with tight ropes. Later, whenever Harry touches Professor Quirrell, the latter is burned by the deep magical enchantment set upon Harry unknowingly by his mother.	Quirrell snaps his fingers and the room's perimeter becomes a ring of fire, so as to prevent Harry from escaping by some means. Later, whenever Harry touches Professor Quirrell, the part of Quirrell's body he touches turns to ash and hardens to stone. Before Harry passes out, he sees Quirrell die. This does not cause any kind of plot hole in the fifth film when the concept of Thestrals is introduced because Harry sees Cedric Diggory die at the end of the fourth film.
Discovering Fluffy	Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville are tricked by Draco Malfoy to leave their dormitory at night to attend a wizard's duel. Malfoy doesn't show up, and instead alerts Argus Filch to the fact that there are four students out of bed after hours. As they run to evade Filch, they land in the room in which Fluffy is stored.	Harry, Ron and Hermione wind up in the forbidden corridor when the staircase they are walking up moves. They run from Argus Filch, whose cat Mrs. Norris senses the three students. They land in the room in which Fluffy is stored.
Draco Malfoy	Draco is the first fellow Hogwarts student that Harry ever meets. They meet in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, a store on Diagon Alley. They are both trying on wizard’s robes, and Draco is friendly to Harry. They don't learn each other's names until later on, but after Draco insults Hagrid, a character whom by now Harry has grown rather fond of, Harry starts to choose not to be friends with Draco. Later on, when Draco tries to convince Harry that he'd be a better person to be friends with than Ron, Harry makes his wish to remain friends with Ron and not with Draco clear.	Harry doesn't meet Draco until they get to school, but Draco still looks down upon the Weasley family, often known as "blood traitors," and Harry still chooses not to be friends with him.
Dumbledore's quirkiness	Dumbledore has the school sing the school song before they head off to settle in their dormitories. When Dumbledore discovers Harry by the Mirror of Erised, he tells Harry that if he were to stand in front of the Mirror, which shows your heart's desire, he would see himself holding a pair of socks.	Neither the song nor the socks reference appears in this film, though Hagrid, Hermione, and Ron sing it in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire just before the body of Barty Crouch Sr. is found.
Firenze and other centaurs	Firenze is a blond, blue-eyed, palomino-colored centaur. Fellow centaurs are Ronan and Bane.	Firenze is dark-haired and dark-skinned. He is the only centaur to appear.
Forest	The forest in which Harry, Hermione, Neville and Draco serve their detention is called the Forbidden Forest.	The forest in which Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco serve their detention is called the Dark Forest.
The Mirror of Erised	When Harry looks into the Mirror, he sees his extended family, including his parents.	When Harry looks into the Mirror, he sees only his parents.
Neville Longbottom's role	Neville accompanies Hermione on the Hogwarts Express. He is with the main trio when they meet Fluffy for the first time. He serves detention with Harry, Hermione and Draco when they are caught out of bed after hours. Neville also gets in a fight with Malfoy at a Quidditch match. Ron is always teaching Neville to stand up for himself, which he does in the end to prevent the trio from leaving the dormitory to save the Philosopher's Stone. However, Hermione Full-Body Binds him to prevent him from stopping them.	Neville is basically only apparent when he is Sorted, when he loses his toad Trevor, and in classroom scenes. He does not meet Fluffy nor does he serve a detention. He does, however, stand up for himself in the end to prevent the trio from leaving the dormitory to save the Philosopher's Stone. However, Hermione Full-Body Binds him to prevent him from stopping them.
Norbert's Escape	At midnight, Norbert is taken to the tallest tower by Harry and Hermione to give to Charlie Weasley and his friends, who tame dragons in Romania. Under the protection of the Invisibility Cloak, they are not seen on the way there, but they accidentally forget it on the way back to their dormitories and are caught by Argus Filch.	The escape of Norbert is not shown, but it is said that the exchange was successful.
Snape/James Relationship	Albus Dumbledore explains to Harry why Snape shows such dislike towards Harry. The two went to Hogwarts together and were great enemies. However, when James' best friend Sirius Black attempted to lure Snape into a room where Remus Lupin, transformed completely into a deadly werewolf, James realized this would put Snape's life in danger, and he stopped him from entering the room. Snape hated James from that day forward, because he realized he would have to repay his debt by helping Harry. Though these details are not explained in particular in this book, they can be pieced together from all of the stories to form the preceding tale.	Harry does not find out why Snape was so mean to him all year, or that his father even knew Snape.
Tasks Leading to Climax	Each major faculty member – Professors Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall, Quirrell, and Snape – has offered a protection to the Philosopher's Stone in regard to their subject. Sprout's challenge is Devil's Snare. Flitwick enlarged hundreds of keys and charmed them so that they would fly around the room; only one fit the door to the next room and to capture it one would have to fly on a broom. McGonagall made a life-size Wizard's Chess game. Quirrell offers a troll to guard the next room. Snape made a logic puzzle/riddle that encorporates seven potions, three of which are poision, two of which are nettle wine, one of which returns the drinker to the previous room, and the last of which advances the drinker to the next and final room.	Only the first three tasks are shown – Quirrell's and Snape's are not.
Wizard's Chess	Chess pieces confer with their player and recommend moves. If they capture a piece of the other color, they drag it off the board.	Chess pieces are mute but are quite savage when they capture a piece of the other color; they destroy the piece with a sword that is part of the outfit of the piece. When the king is checkmated, his sword falls forward as a symbol of defeat.

Omitted Plot Elements[edit]

Peeves[edit]

Plot Differences[edit]

See also[edit]