Although theHarry Pottermovies remain a beloved franchise with fans who grew up reading the books, there is a common thought process that alot of key things were left out, including one major scene inHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This was a huge scene too and not just something small that book fans loved.
The franchiseleft out notable side characters like Peeves the Poltergeistand side storylines like Hermione’s dedication to helping House Elves and the history between Remus Lupin and Fenrir Greyback. However, the movies often kept major action sequences intact.
The breathtaking scenes during the Triwizard Tournament inGoblet of Fire, the fight at the Department of Mysteries inOrder of the Phoenix, and Harry battling the basilisk inChamber of Secretsare all in the films. Yet there’s one missingHalf-Blood Princescene that theHarry Potter TV showneeds to nail since the film left it out.
The Battle Of The Astronomy Tower In Half-Blood Prince Was Cut
InHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,Harry goes off with Dumbledore to find a Horcrux, but before he leaves, he suspects the Death Eaters will try something at Hogwarts. It turns out he was right as Draco Malfoy let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts,sparking the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, which isn’t in the movie.
Technically, the fight does happen, but it’s never actually shown. The film focuses on Harry and Dumbledore’s adventure, only showing the remnants of the battle when the two return to Hogwarts. That’s a lot different than how it goes in the book.
TheHalf-Blood Princenovel lays out the battle in more detail, including how the Felix Felicis that Harry gave his friends helped them survive. Stunning spells and other attacks by the Death Eaters were completely missing the characters when they should’ve hit them.
Snape even went and told Luna and Hermione to alert the Order of the Phoenix of what was going on, even though he was on the side of the Death Eaters (at least in everyone’s eyes but Dumbledore’s). Not having this battle on screen left out that interesting moment for Snape, as well as plenty of action.
Why The Astronomy Tower Fight Needed To Be In The Movie
For starters,Half-Blood Princeshould’ve included the Battle of the Astronomy Tower because it’s such a big part of the book. Leaving that out feels like a missed opportunity. It immediately adds excitement to the film, and the idea of cutting back and forth between that and Harry’s adventure with Dumbledore would’ve been pulse-pounding entertainment.
Thefight would’ve also given us a real look at the Death Eaters going up against the heroes. Death Eaters only come into prominence in the fourth film and when they fight Harry and his friends inThe Order of the Phoenix, it’s kind of rushed. This battle would showcase how vicious and uncaring they truly are.
Ultimately, the Battle of the Astronomy Tower didn’t need to be shown in full. A bit of intercutting to some of the action would’ve worked as a preview to the eventual clash that takes place at the end of the entire franchise.
The Astronomy Tower Fight Was Cut Due To Fear Of Repetition
Filmmakers Believed It Was Too Similar To The Battle Of Hogwarts
David Yates, who directed the last fewHarry Pottermovies, ultimately went on to explain why the Battle of the Astronomy Tower was cut fromThe Half-Blood Prince. He said thatthey wanted to avoid repetition because the Battle of Hogwarts at the tail end of the entire franchise is similar(viaIGN).
While that’s understandable on the surface, it is the kind of thing that fans wouldn’t have been upset about. The battles themselves are different, even if the locations are mostly the same, and if they didn’t go into too much detail about it, it wouldn’t have been too repetitive.
The Battle Of Hogwarts Wasn’t For Another Two Films, So This Wouldn’t Have Been Repetitive
The biggest hole in the idea that the Battle of the Astronomy Tower and the Battle of Hogwarts would be repetitive is that they don’t happen back-to-back. It’s that way in the books, but withThe Deathly Hallowssplit into two films,there was an entire movie in between the fights.
That means that even if the battles inThe Half-Blood PrinceandThe Deathly Hallowswere very similar, there was enough time between them for it not to feel repetitive. The producers even noted that there was another battle “in the next one,” but given the split films, that ended up not being true.
On top of that, the fights are actually pretty different. The Battle of the Astronomy Tower even works more like a heist as the Death Eaters invade somewhere that was previously though impossible. Add in the personal rivalry between Harry and Snape that boils over when Snape kills Dumbledore and too much of this battle was left out.
