| Characters left out: |
There were no scenes with the Dursleys, who are characters that are involved in the beginning of each book. They are a running joke throughout the book series, and they should be at the beginning of each movie in some form.
Most of the Weasleys were left out. The only Weasleys were Mr. Weasley, the twins Fred and George, Ginny, and Ron. You see the group leaving the Weasleys' house when they are making their way to the portkey to the World Cup Quidditch Tournament, so maybe Mrs. Weasley and the others were filmed but were left on the cutting room floor. Too bad.
Dobby, the house elf, was left out. Dobby's only real reason for being in the film was that he would steal the gillyweed from Snape's office and give it to Harry. The film implies that Crouch Jr. steals the gillyweed and gives it to Neville to give to Harry. Since Neville is very interested in magic related to plants, this makes sense.
Winky, the female house elf, was left out. She is one of the reasons why Hermione moves toward the establishment of S.P.E.W., but I can see why she was left out.
Ludo Bagman was left out. Fudge and Mr. Crouch Sr. take up some of the things that Bagman does in the book.
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| Changes to other characters: |
Snape is not as sinister as he is in the book or in some of the other movies. In fact, he is more of a source of comedy than of fear. In every one of the books, he is always an enemy of Harry's, and he always makes it plain that he hates Harry as much as he did James and all of James's friends. I didn't get that feeling from the fourth movie.
The Patil twins are both portrayed as being in the Gryffindor school. In the book, one was in Gryffindor, and the other was in Ravenclaw.
Victor Krum, in the book, is small and somewhat handicapped (if I remember right). He was well-known as a great Quidditch player, and Ron virtually worshipped him. It was quite a shock to Ron, in the book, to see Krum in person. He did not look athletic. The implication in the book was that the only position on a sports team that he could have been successful at was that of seeker. In the book, Krum was also rather awkward around people, especially girls. He spent a lot of time in the library and noticed Hermione there while he was studying. The movie implies that the only reason why he went to the library was to meet Hermione. I think that he noticed Hermione at the library and became interested in her.
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| Changes to the World Cup: |
In the movie: No muggle caretaker.
In the movie: No velas. No leprauchans. No fighting between the two.
In the movie, Harry's wand isn't stolen. It isn't Harry's wand that is used to create the Dark Mark.
In the movie, there is no bet between the Weasley twins and Ludo Bagman which they obsess about throughout the HP4 book. Because of their loss, Harry gives his Triwizard Tournament winnings to them, and they begin work on opening a store. It makes you wonder if they will have a store.
In the movie, there is no indication who won. There is no Ronski (sp?) Feint by Victor Krum.
In the book, Harry is never separated from Ron and Hermione. They flee to the woods.
No woods in the movie.
Harry does not see Barty Crouch Jr. casting the spell for the dark mark. In the book, Harry hears a spell cast from behind a bush.
I don't remember that the camp outside of the World Cup was devastated by fire.
There are no Muggles floating in the air by Death Eaters.
In the book, the Death Eaters fled at the sight of the Dark Mark. Not in the movie.
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| Changes to the Triwizard Tournament Task 1: |
It is not shown in the movie that Hermione was helping Harry learn to cast spells that he could use in the Tournament.
The movie does not show the result of the other three contestants in the first task. That is an important part of the book.
The dragon in the first task for Harry does not leave the Tournament grounds, and it does not break away from the chains and disappear. The suspense in the book is whether Harry can get the dragon to fly up from the egg enough for him to dart down and get the egg. In the movie, the dragon breaks away, and Harry draws him away. He then returns for the egg. Nothing is seen of the dragon again.
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| Changes to the Triwizard Tournament Task 2: |
Moaning Myrtle never mentions to Harry in the book that she had seen some Polyjuice Potion around.
The gillyweed is supplied by Neville rather than by Dobby the house elf. This makes some sense, since Neville has a real talent for magic that involves plant-life, but it would have been nice to see Dobby again.
In the book, Harry is on his way back to Gryffindor Tower under the Invisibility Cloak, and he is looking at the Marauder's map and sees Barty Crouch's name on the map, when his foot gets caught in a trick step and the egg rolls down the steps and opens up and creates quite a racket. He is nearly discovered by Filch and Snape, but he is saved by Moody/Crouch Jr. and the map is confiscated. All of that is left out of the movie.
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| Changes to the Triwizard Tournament Task 3: |
The maze of the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was so huge, I wondered how any contestant could have found the center of the maze for days -- let along hours, or minutes as film implies. The maze was just too big for the task.
All of the tasks within the maze were left out, and the hazards in the maze that are portrayed in the movie are completely different from anything in the book. No skrewts, no giant spider, no sphinx with riddles.
Harry does not receive any winnings for finishing first in the Triwizard Tournament.
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| The Pensive: |
The way the accused were restrained during trial was different.
There was more than one trial in the book. In the movie, there was only one.
In the book, Barty Jr. was brought in with 2-3 others who were accused of torturing an auror. In the movie, Barty Jr. is in the crowd watching the testimony of Karkarov. In the book, Barty Jr. and Karkarov were not at the same trial.
In the movie, Dumbledore defends Severus Snape by stating that he had become a secret agent within the Death Eaters. That doesn't happen in the book. This is one change that greatly affects the whole story that is written by Rowling in the books. The information that Snape was spying on the Death Eaters for Dumbledore was kept secret in the book, because Snape had to meet with various Death Eaters from time to time, and at the end of HP4-book Snape is sent out on a mission to meet Voldemort and the Death Eaters. That could not have happened if the information that Snape was a spy was widely known.
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| The Ball: |
At one point in the book, Hermione's teeth were elongated by a spell that hit her accidentally during a duel between Harry & Ron and Draco & his cohorts. The point of the spell was that it made her teeth longer than they already were. She was a little buck-toothed. When she was treated at the school hospital, she let them fix her teeth so that they looked completely normal -- better than they ever had in her life. This transformation is not portrayed in the movie. The only transformation of Hermione is that she wears a new dress and has her hair done up. Not a very big transformation. In the book, there was the implication that many people did not know who she was. In the movie, she was easily recognized by almost everyone, but the main surprise was that she was Victor Krum's date.
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| Other Miscellaneous Changes: |
I don't remember that Beau Baton or Durslang Schools were for one gender only. I thought they were both mixed gender like Hogwarts.
Most of the classes at Hogwarts were missing. There was one session of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and one session of Potions. The events in Defense Against the Dark Arts where Moody gets Harry to practice resisting the Imperious Curse were left out. That is a key event in relation to how Harry resists the Imperious Curse when it was cast on him by Voldemort in the cemetary.
In the movie, there isn't a conversation between Crouch Sr. and Harry, and there isn't an attack on Victor Krum who was left by Harry to guard Mr. Crouch.
In the book, Dumbledore does not visit Harry in his room in Gryffindor Tower.
The movie does not include any scene where Dumbledore sends out Hagrid and Snape to work against Voldemort and the Death Eaters between school years. There is also very little disagreement between Fudge and Dumbledore about the state of things after Harry brings back Cedric Diggory's body.
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