Indeed, the Harry Potter saga films were full of small errors here and there. In truth, because of the cuts made to save time, certain inconsistencies were logically inevitable.
Even though certain errors, thanks to their discretion, did not drive people crazy, others much more enormous completely removed the meaning of certain messages and greatly distorted the original work.
Clearly, the passage about the death of Lord Voldemort is the error that comes up most often in readers’ mouths.
Remember when Harry finally manages to defeat the Dark Lord? The first rays of the sun then touched the windows of the Great Hall. Both were trying to disarm each other. Their spells collided, locking them once again in a Priori Incantatem . But the Elder Wand, refusing to kill its true master, ultimately flew towards Harry. The killing curse bounced off him, hitting Lord Voldemort. The latter’s lifeless body , finally hitting the ground, hands crossed.
“With his free hand, Harry, with the unerring skill of the seeker, snatched the wand from the air, while Voldemort toppled backwards, arms outstretched, the slit pupils of his scarlet eyes rolling back. Tom Riddle fell to the ground with a trivial end, his body weak, shriveled, his hands white and empty, his snake face expressionless, unconscious. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own curse that had rebounded on him. Harry, both wands in hand, looked at the remains of his enemy. – Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Of course, it goes without saying that the original scene was a pivotal moment in the book. Not only did it finally end all these long years of confrontations against one of the greatest dark mages of all time, but it was also full of meaning.
Unfortunately, the filmmakers opted to emphasize the artistic side rather than the realism of the books. Of course, the artistic aspect is essential and must be present in a film. Nonetheless, this scene was far too important a moment in significance to be altered. In my opinion, they clearly should have stuck to the original material.
Besides the fact that Daniel Radcliffe’s facial expressions as he and Voldemort tumbled through the air were truly ridiculous, why did Voldemort’s body disintegrate and fly into pieces of ash? This took away all the symbolism of the original scene.
Lord Voldemort’s goal, always, was less to exterminate the Muggle race, than to become an immortal being. Indeed, having grown up in the anonymity of an orphanage and hating normality, he wanted at all costs to become an exceptional being, an unbeatable being, and above all to postpone his death, of which he was so afraid, forever. This is why he created his Horcruxes.
In fact, his Horcruxes truly made him an exceptional being. However, once these items were destroyed, he would become completely mortal again.
The point of this scene was to show that, despite all his Horcruxes and magical talents, he was still a mere mortal wizard, and not some sort of deity. Bursting his body into a thousand pieces of ash went against that message.
In truth, Lord Voldemort was foolishly killed by his own spell and not by that of a formidable opponent. In fact, the final confrontation had everything of a psychological duel and nothing of an epic fight. The reason for his death was entirely due to his ridiculous inability to understand the deeper laws of magic, hence his eternal disagreement with Albus Dumbledore.
He died like an ordinary human being, nothing more, nothing less. This will mark his failure, he who had always wanted to be unique. Certainly, his death was not epic, but it was well deserved.
Ultimately, the scene in the film was far too dramatic and clichéd. Seeing the villain disappear into thin air was nothing very original. Sure, it was visually beautiful and very cinematic, but it was a missed opportunity to show Voldemort’s mortality. It also prevented the public from understanding JK Rowling’s views on mortality and vanity. Giving him this extraordinary death completely undermined this message.
In addition, let’s not forget that in the book everyone present at Hogwarts, at that time, was gathered in the Grange Hall around the two duelists. This scene was one of the best moments in the books.
The bad guys were fighting the good guys, Voldemort was fighting against both McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley. Then, finally, everyone surrounded them and listened to Harry’s explanation. The latter simply showing Voldemort why he was screwed and why he was going to lose. Without forgetting the final embrace of the winners after their success.
“For a moment of quivering silence, the shock of the moment was as if suspended. Then the tumult broke out around Harry. The cries, the cheers, the roars of the gathered crowd rent the atmosphere. […] Ron and Hermione were the first to reach him and it was their arms that surrounded him, their unintelligible cries that deafened him. Ginny, Neville and Luna arrived in turn, then all the Weasleys and Hagrid and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout. Harry couldn’t understand a word they were shouting, nor did he know whose hands were grabbing him, pulling him, trying to hug any part of his body, there were hundreds of them. pressing against him, determined to touch the Survivor, the one thanks to whom everything had finally ended…”– Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
When we remember this scene so epic, so exciting and so strong in emotion, we wonder why stupidly filmed them fighting in this courtyard of the castle, completely empty of people? What a pity. How frustrating.
Once again, they missed the point of the scene. Harry had always fought Lord Voldemort alone and in the shadows. Consequently, it was rarely believed. Remember their confrontation in the cemetery, during the tournament, no one will believe in his return, because no one had seen him.
Finally, it will be during this final duel that Harry will fight Voldemort for the very first time in front of an assembly of witnesses. Therefore, no one could deny that the young wizard had indeed defeated him.
In the film, not only were there no witnesses, but above all, there was absolutely no corpse to prove that Voldemort was finally gone forever…
In fact, having no body at hand, how could we prove to others that Voldemort was indeed dead?
Some wizards necessarily assumed, and rightly so, that the latter had simply disappeared, as he had already done before. After all, no one had known of the existence of the Horcruxes, nor of the fact that these objects had allowed him to survive, despite the killing curse which had turned against him during the first war. The wizarding world would therefore have been logically right to believe that he would return one day.
When we watch the scene from the movie, it’s always fun to imagine Harry killing Voldemort, then running into the Great Hall, asking the others to stop the fighting and warning them that he had just killed Lord Voldemort, but unfortunately , he had no body, because the latter had flown into hundreds of pieces of ashes. It’s just hilarious, it makes absolutely no sense.
In addition, the Great Hall had always been a very emblematic place in the Harry Potter saga . Both within the story, but also visually. She appears in the very first film. Why not use it?
The fact that his body was moved to another room also had a lot of significance.
“They carried Lord Voldemort’s corpse to another room, away from the Great Hall, away from the bodies of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevey and the fifty others who had died fighting him. » – Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The most ironic part of all this is that they had actually filmed the real scene. Of course, Harry was always alone in the courtyard of Hogwarts, but Voldemort’s corpse was there. This cut scene proves it very well.
The filmmakers therefore shot this scene, but apparently decided that the one in which Lord Voldemort disappeared was more suitable. Which is not certain.
Obviously, cinema must be epic. Of course the work of a screenwriter is always greatly needed. However, it is essential to maintain consistency and on this point, the last film in the Harry Potter saga greatly lacked it.