FOR the sixth Harry Potter flick, screenwriter Steve Kloves worked his magic on J.K. Rowling’s 652-page novel, cutting, adding and altering to squeeze almost every twist and turn into a 2 1/2-hour feature.
While some parts of the film are nearly identical to the book, others underwent complete transfigurations for the big screen — some that could leave die-hard Potter geeks completely confounded. The Hagrid-size changes include:
* Random attack on the Burrow: The Weasley home burns down in a Death Eater attack that is not in the book, and seems to serve no purpose.
* “Girl” talk: Hermione confesses to Harry that she has the hots for Ron in a tear-filled talk on the Hogwarts steps. It’s out of character for Hermione, who’s usually private about her love life. Her boyfriend choice is also not revealed in the books until the end of the series.
* The death scene: Harry isn’t frozen while one of his beloved teachers is murdered, yet he still stays hidden while it happens. Harry would never stand by and do nothing, no matter what the danger, as he proved repeatedly in the books. Also, the film is lacking the big book battle in Hogwarts during the killing, a major plot point.
* Harry and Ginny: In the book, Harry and Ginny start as friends, become a serious couple, then emotionally break up before Harry hunts Horcruxes. In the movie, they’re in love from the start, snog only once and have no closure.
* Silent coward: One of the book’s most popular and important pieces of dialogue — Snape’s enraged response to Harry, “Don’t call me coward!” — is inexplicably left out of the movie. The line provides a critical clue about Snape’s true allegiances, and is later revealed to be one of the most important plot twists in the series.