Hey, all you cool witches and wizards! I know that a lot of you Magical Pandas are huge fans of the Harry Potter movies. If you’re like me, you can’t wait for someone to mention The Boy Who Lived because it’s the perfect moment to share all of your in-depth Wizarding World knowledge (yeah, I’m a geeky Ravenclaw—what gave it away?).
There are tons of delightful details, exquisite Easter Eggs, and interesting inside jokes hidden throughout the HP movies. We’re pretty sure that you might know a few of these, dear Readers, but some of the details we found honestly blew our minds.
So cast Descendium to scroll down and Wingardium Leviosa to upvote your fave Harry Potter details collected by our keen-eyed Bored Panda Aurors. Let us know in the comments what other hidden movie details you’ve found! Oh and when you’re done with this list, check out our post about an artist who drew several powerful scenes from the books that were missing from the movies.
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When Harry Reveals That He's Alive In Deathly Hallows Part 2, George Turns To Excitedly Tell Fred, Who's Normally Always Next To Him
Snape's First Encounter With Harry And His Secret Message
"One of the questions Snape asks is if Harry knows what would result in adding the powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood. Harry doesn't know the answer, but that's not the important part.
This is actually a coded comment that would be lost on all viewers that don't have an extensive knowledge of Victorian-era flower symbolism. Asphodel is a lily, which means demise under the Victorian flower code, while wormwood reflects loss and absence. Snape is actually referencing Harry's mother Lily with this comment"
In The Harry Potter Films, Voldemort’s Robes Faded In Colour Every Time A Horcrux Was Destroyed, To Give The Impression He Was Slowly Fading Away
Small details like the Cheeri-Owls cereal and how the Beauxbatons students are dancing the Macarena were completely new to me. Though I knew some of the other bits of trivia from having watched dozens of YouTube videos about HP theories, things people might have missed, and unusual interpretations of the source material. (Don’t go down that rabbit hole if you plan on doing anything productive today. Trust me.)
Fun fact, the scene where a wizard’s reading Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’ in The Prisoner of Azkaban inspired a very popular piece of fanfic, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, about an ultra-logical and super geeky version of the Boy Who Lived.
In Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (2001), You Can See A Portrait Of Anne Boleyn Hanging In The Staircase. Anne, A Wife Of Henry Viii, Was Accused Of Being A Witch, And Subsequently Executed
"Henry Viii" would probably behead the author of that autocorrect algorithm :D
Harry Potter Intros Become Darker Every Year, Just Like The Movies
I always loved this about the movies in general. The entire color palette changes from one movie to the next.
The End Credits Of 'Goblet Of Fire' Feature This Magical Disclaimer: 'No Dragons Were Harmed In The Making Of This Movie'
Now I have to read through all the credits, searching for 'dragøns trained by', and see if anyone got fired for it :)
Even though the Fantastic Beasts movies are [ahem] not as Stupefying as the originals, they’re still fun to watch. The 3rd FB film should come out in November 2021. We’re still unsure about the plot but we do know that at least some of the action will take part in Brazil.
I don’t know about you, but I like to binge-watch all of the HP movies at least once a year. And with everything that’s going on this year, I think it’s about time for some magical escapism and to Accio ourselves some popcorn. It might be the 100th time we’re watching the movies but this time, we’ll keep an eye out for hidden details. You’d better watch out, You Know Who!
In 'The Sorcerer's Stone' Scene Where Neville Gets A Remembrall, He Can't Remember What He's Forgotten — But It's Probably His Robe, As He's The Only One Not Wearing One
In 'The Sorcerer's Stone,' You Can See Mcgonagall's Name On The Quidditch Trophy Right Next To James Potter
The Ways Harry, Ron, And Hermione Wear Their Scarves And Ties Reflect Their Personalities
In Sorcerer's Stone, Hermione's scarf is tied neatly and completely around her neck, Harry's is loosely thrown over his shoulder, and Ron's is just laying flat and open and not wrapped at all. Often with their ties, Hermione's is tied perfectly and tucked in, Harry's is loose but tucked in like he's been messing with it, and Ron's is completely untied.
In Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002) Before Harry Gets Sucked Into Tom Riddles Diary, He’s In A Candle Lit Room. When He’s In The Diary, Everything Is In Black And White Yet, We Can Still See The Candle Light Flickering On His Body
In 'The Goblet Of Fire,' A Reflection Of Nagini Slithering Can Be Seen In The Warner Bros. Logo
In Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007), Harry Wears Button Down Sweaters At Da Meetings Similar To What Professor Lupin Would Wear. This Was Daniel Radcliffe's Idea As He Thought Harry Would Want To Emulate His Favorite Dada Teacher
And also Lupin was probably the only real father figure he actually had. Sirius was good to him but only really wanted a James replacement.
The Title Of The Second Film In The Fantastic Beasts Franchise, “The Crimes Of Grindelwald” Contain The Deathly Hallows
In The Background Of The Cafe In Deathly Hallows Part I, There’s A Poster For The Play “Equus” — A Real Play That Starred Daniel Radcliffe And Richard Griffiths
In 'Prisoner Of Azkaban,' Newt Scamander Appears On The Marauder's Map
In Snape’s Death Scene, There's A Gryffindor Scarf Hanging Up In The Background, A Reference To His Bravery And Dumbledore Saying He “Sometimes Thinks They Sort Too Soon” In The Books
Hermione's Hair Grows Throughout Deathly Hallows Part 1 To Show How Long She, Ron, And Harry Have Been Traveling In Search Of Horcruxes
Cool. Wait...does that mean that Ron and Harry were still getting regular haircuts?
Yes, there is a scene of Hermione cutting Harrys hair.
Load More Replies...Some people ask how they could wait so long between scenes, for the hair to grow out, or say that it's wigs...it's neither. They started filming with Hermione's hair long and filmed the latter scenes first, then cut her hair and filmed the middle scenes, cut it again and filmed the 1st scenes.
wow. never watched movie! but read in books! they don't seem so long. but this detail show it was a long time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In 'Prisoner Of Azkaban,' A Wizard — Played By Stone Roses Frontman Ian Brown — Is Reading Stephen Hawking's 'A Brief History Of Time'
In 'Order Of The Phoenix,' There's A Wizarding World Version Of Cheerios Called Cheeri-Owls
I want these. They probably taste like rubbish though as food in the wizarding world is very limited. It’s either made of pumpkin, sugar or copious amounts of meat. Yuk.
In 'The Half-Blood Prince,' When We See Tom Riddle's Childhood Bedroom There Are Seven Rocks On The Windowsill In That Bedroom, Foreshadowing Riddle Splitting His Soul Into Seven Horcruxes
my tablet does not have the mind blown emoji. picture it here➡
In Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Snape Is Still Helping The Order Of The Phoenix When He Re-Directs Mcgonagall's Spells To His Fellow Death Eaters
Never noticed that! Poor snape when I first read book 7 I felt so bad for hating on him :(
When Oliver Wood Releases The Snitch While Teaching Harry How To Play Quidditch, He Immediately Loses Sight Of It, But Harry Keeps His Eye On The Snitch, Highlighting His Future Talent As A Seeker
Chamber Of Secrets Has A Post-Credits Scene That Reveals The Fate Of Gilderoy Lockhart
In 'The Sorcerer's Stone,' The Actor Who Played Lord Voldemort Is Credited As 'He Who Must Not Be Named'
In The Deathly Hallows Part 2, You Can Spy Lucius Malfoy's Azkaban Prisoner Number Tattooed On His Neck
In The Chamber Of Secrets, You Can Spot Gilderoy Lockhart's Second Wig On His Desk
In Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004), A Courtyard Fountain Has Statues Of An Eagle Eating A Snake. This Is A Reference To The Mexican Flag. Director Alfonso Cuaron Wanted To Pay Tribute To His Mexican Heritage.
The Ministry Of Magic's Access Code Is 6-2-4-4-2, Which Spells Out M-A-G-I-C
In 'The Sorcerer's Stone,' You Can See Aunt Petunia Dying Dudley's Old Clothes Gray For Harry's School Uniform, Which Was A Scene In The Books
There's a full deleted scene of this where Harry complains that he'll look like he's wearing bits of old elephant skin, right before he gets the post. It also explains why Dudley is wearing his ridiculous uniform in this scene.
In 'The Sorcerer's Stone,' Harry's Scar Burns Because Quirrell Has His Back To Him, Meaning Voldemort, On The Back Of Quirrell's Head, Is Facing Him
In 'Chamber Of Secrets,' One Of The Options On Molly Weasley's Magical Clock Is 'Prison'
In The Chamber Of Secrets, Sherbet Lemon Is The Password Into Dumbledore's Office. Then, In The Half-Blood Prince, The Candy Can Be Seen On Dumbledore's Desk
Because it's his favourite muggle sweet. He offers McGonagall one in the first chapter of the first book.
In 'Goblet Of Fire,' We Catch A Shot Of The Deathly Hallows Symbol Way Before We Even Knew What They Were
In Prisoner Of Azkaban, The Bartender Makes A Bottle Disappear
Also the guy in the bottom right stirring something with his finger is Ian Brown from The Stone Roses.
In The Sorcerer's Stone, School Children Wearing Green School Uniforms Walk By The Reptile Room. This Is A Nod To Slytherin's House Color Being Green And Their Symbol Being A Snake
In The Deathly Hallows Part 2, You Can Spot One Of The Chess Pieces From The Sorcerer's Stone In The Room Of Requirement
Slughorn Drinks A Vial Of Liquid Luck Right Before The Battle Of Hogwarts In 'Deathly Hallows — Part II'
In The Sorcerer's Stone, You Can See That Everyone In The Dursleys' Neighborhood Has The Same Car. This Makes Everyone, Including The Dursleys, Appear As Normal As Possible
In 'Goblet Of Fire,' The Beauxbatons Students Do A Very Familiar Muggle Dance: The Macarena
In 'The Half-Blood Prince,' Slughorn's Feet Give Him Away When He Is Disguised As An Armchair
In 'The Half-Blood Prince,' When We See Tom Riddle's Childhood Bedroom, There's A Photo Of The Cave Where Eventually Hides His Horcrux
In The End Credits Of Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004), You Can See Three People Running Out Of The Stink Bomb Store After Someone Sets One Off
In The Sorcerer's Stone, When Hagrid Takes Harry To The Leaky Cauldron For The First Time, You Can See The Sign Become Visible As They Approach The Door — The Sign Is Hiding From Muggles On The Street
In 'Order Of The Phoenix,' Sirius Says 'Nice One, James' When Harry Disarms Lucius Malfoy, The Same Thing He Said To Harry's Dad In An Earlier Flashback
Tom Felton's Then-Girlfriend Played His Wife In The 'Deathly Hallows — Part II' Epilogue
After all these years I still hate the epilogue. Also the make up effects were truly awful.
In Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009), The Spell Books On The Shelves In Dumbledore's Office Are Actually Yellow Pages Covered With Old-Looking Bindings
Does that mean J. R. Hartley was a wizard then? (for anyone who doesn’t know who that is he was a fictional character in Yellow Pages ads from the 1980s in the U.K.).
And What Luna Tells Harry While Looking For Her Shoes After Sirius's Death Also Foreshadows The Use Of The Resurrection Stone
In 'Chamber Of Secrets,' Ron Wears Robes That Are Noticeably Older And Dingier Than His Peers', Probably Because They Were Hand-Me-Downs
No probably about it. Everything of Ron’s once belonged to one of his older brothers.
What Sirius Tells Harry When He Says Goodbye In Prisoner Of Azkaban Foreshadows Harry's Use Of The Resurrection Stone In Deathly Hallows Part 2
In 'The Sorcerer's Stone,' The Inscription On The Mirror Of Erised Reads: 'I Show Not Your Face But Your Heart's Desire'
During The Prisoner Of Azkaban Credits, You Can See Two Pairs Of Feet On The Marauder’s Map That Appear To Be Kissing Or Doing Something More
In The Same Cabinet, You Can See Tom Riddle's Award For Special Services To Hogwarts Right Behind The Quidditch Trophy
In 'Deathly Hallows — Part II,' Harry, Ron, And Hermione Fight Giant Spiders, A Troll, Dementors, And A Werewolf — All Enemies They Fought In The First Three Movies
What’s most amazing is how the dong even have time to think about it, the just do.
Lots are interesting, but some are a bit of a stretch or already obvious from the books. Mixed enjoyment lol
I only have a casual appreciation of the series but much more appreciation for the writing and directing for the detail shown here. This is really clever world-building and I know this level of dedication to the fans really means so much to them! Great share, BP.
JK Rowling also did a LOT of foreshadowing in the books, which only becomes apparent when you re-read!
Load More Replies...please stop referring to the philosophers stone as the sorcerers stone. the sorcerers stone is not a thing. the philosophers stone turns base metal into gold and is the key to eternal life
Tell that to the millions of book covers with "The Sorcerer's Stone" on them. Yes, it was originally The Philosopher's Stone" but in America it's "Sorcerer's." You DO understand the concept of translation, right? TMNT are called "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" in the UK, too.
Load More Replies...Now I'm going to rewatch the movies to see what I've missed. Great thread!
yep..l foresee a movie marathon in my near future..chuckles..
Load More Replies...this kind of post should appear more often! really entertainign and interesting
I love the Harry Potter series! (Well, you can see it in my username, duh)
#Ravenclaw And Proud!!! What er your guys houses? Edit: Are not er
Ravenclaw!!! I also know my wand measurements, my patronus, and my favorite characters. :D
Load More Replies...What hasn't been noted is right in the rest of the world's face. The real title of the first Harry Potter book is 'HP & the Philosopher's Stone'. But the publishers decided to dumb down the title for the American market & call it the Sorcerer's Stone instead. It's difficult enough for a British book to break into the American public, they didn't want a big word like Philosopher to get in the way! No other country, just the US. So for those entitled Americans with a superiority complex, just remember that.
Lots are interesting, but some are a bit of a stretch or already obvious from the books. Mixed enjoyment lol
I only have a casual appreciation of the series but much more appreciation for the writing and directing for the detail shown here. This is really clever world-building and I know this level of dedication to the fans really means so much to them! Great share, BP.
JK Rowling also did a LOT of foreshadowing in the books, which only becomes apparent when you re-read!
Load More Replies...please stop referring to the philosophers stone as the sorcerers stone. the sorcerers stone is not a thing. the philosophers stone turns base metal into gold and is the key to eternal life
Tell that to the millions of book covers with "The Sorcerer's Stone" on them. Yes, it was originally The Philosopher's Stone" but in America it's "Sorcerer's." You DO understand the concept of translation, right? TMNT are called "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" in the UK, too.
Load More Replies...Now I'm going to rewatch the movies to see what I've missed. Great thread!
yep..l foresee a movie marathon in my near future..chuckles..
Load More Replies...this kind of post should appear more often! really entertainign and interesting
I love the Harry Potter series! (Well, you can see it in my username, duh)
#Ravenclaw And Proud!!! What er your guys houses? Edit: Are not er
Ravenclaw!!! I also know my wand measurements, my patronus, and my favorite characters. :D
Load More Replies...What hasn't been noted is right in the rest of the world's face. The real title of the first Harry Potter book is 'HP & the Philosopher's Stone'. But the publishers decided to dumb down the title for the American market & call it the Sorcerer's Stone instead. It's difficult enough for a British book to break into the American public, they didn't want a big word like Philosopher to get in the way! No other country, just the US. So for those entitled Americans with a superiority complex, just remember that.