While you might feel pretty confident about your Harry Potter movie knowledge as a superfan, there are still some things that even superfans have missed.
Things like the color of Voldermort’s robes and how Professor McGonagall was a Quidditch master.
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If you’re ready to have your mind blown, here are 10+ hidden details in Harry Potter movies that fans didn’t catch.
1. This heartbreaking twin moment:
Prepare to shed a tear over this one.
When it’s discovered that Harry is still alive in the Deathly Hallows Part 2 , George turns to tell Fred because, well, that’s his twin and they’re best friends.
Tragically, George had already been killed.
2. Voldemort’s fading robe:
Voldemort took a page from Joseph and his Coat of Many Colors. Basically, every time a Horcrux was destroyed, his robe faded in color.
This was the sneaky way to show that he was slowly fading away.
3. Professor Minerva McGonagall’s Quidditch skills:
It was Professor Minerva McGonagall who actually discovered Harry’s talent for the game. Even though she believed in him, he still had a lot of anxiety.
This is why Hermione brought him to the Hogwarts’ trophy display to show him that his father once won an award.
But what fans didn’t notice is that the plaque right next to it had another familiar name.
It was Professor McGonagall who won a Quidditch award as a young student in 1971.
It just goes to show that she knew what she was talking about!
4. Neville and his remembrall:
This one might make you love Neville even more.
In this scene, Neville’s grandmother sent him a remembrall. This is a glass sphere that fills up with red smoke whenever the wizard possessing it forgets something.
Problem is, Neville can’t remember what he forgot.
Thanks to this visual cue from the director, though, you’ll see that all of the other students are wearing their robes for their school day while he is not.
5. This cameo of J.K. Rowling’s books:
When Harry messes up the command for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , he finds himself in the dangerous area of Knockturn Alley, near a bookstore.
Seemingly innocent, right? Well, let’s continue.
He was also with Hagrid who thankfully found him and kept him safe.
But if fans were to look in the bookstore’s window, they would see hard copies of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
Talk about something that’s super meta!
6. Mike Newell’s caring message for fictional creatures:
The Triwizard Tournament takes place in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire .
In order to pass the first obstacle, Harry must retrieve a golden egg that’s being guarded by a scary dragon.
The night before the event, though, the dragons were shown locked up in cages and being treated poorly by their handlers.
To ensure fans knew that the fictional creatures were okay, director Mike Newell included this disclaimer in the credits.
Where was this in Game of Thrones ?
7. This clever detail with the food:
The attention-to-detail in the Harry Potter franchise is second to none.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , there’s a scene where Harry, Ron, and Hermione are walking down the Great Hall.
If fans were to look to the left, they would spy a box of “Cheeri-Owls” with Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang.
Lunfrey, a wizarding food production company, was on the box.
This means that, in addition to making the food in the films wizard-like, they even created their own branding for it!
8. Snape’s coded message to Harry:
As we all know, Snape was secretly in love with Lily, Harry’s mother.
So when he talks to Harry for the first time, he asks him this question: What would result in adding the powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?
By doing so, he was actually referencing Lily by using code.
That’s because asphodel is a lily, which, under Victorian flower code, means regret, while wormwood means loss and absence.
In the end, he really said: “I bitterly regret Lily’s death.”
9. The *Harry Potter* intros:
They keep getting darker and darker, just like the films do. The color schemes in each movie are also slightly darker.
It just goes to show how easy these young wizards had it in the beginning.
10. Ron, Hermione, and Harry’s scarves:
While the three main characters change a lot over the series, this picture says a lot about each of the main character’s core personalities.
Hermione’s scarf is tied prim and proper into her neck, Harry’s (not pictured) is tied loosely around his neck, and Ron’s isn’t even done up.
11. This logo that has something spooky lingering in it:
If you look closely at the Warner Bros. logo for The Goblet Of Fire , you can see the reflection of a Nagini slithering by.
Anyone else just get the shivers? I know I did.
12. This familar poster in the cafe:
In the Deathly Hallows Part I , there’s a scene that takes place in a cafe.
If you look closely behind Emma Watson, you’ll spy a poster for the play Equus . Let us explain why that’s important.
As it turns out, this is actually a real-life play that Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths starred in.
Sadly, Richard passed away in 2013. Daniel even led the tributes for the great British actor.
“In August 2000, before official production had even begun on Potter, we filmed a shot outside the Dursleys’, which was my first ever shot as Harry. I was nervous and he made me feel at ease,” he said following the actor’s death.
13. Newt Scamander appears in *The Prisoner of Azkaban*:
When we met Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , fans fell in love with him.
He was such a good-natured person who truly wanted the best for others, so it was impossible not to adore him! But it actually wasn’t his first appearance in a Harry Potter film!
Newt actually appeared, by name at least, in *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*.
When Fred and George are showing Harry how to use the Marauder’s Map, Scamander’s name is actually shown on the map, as he is walking the halls of the school!
14. Lucius Malfoy’s curse:
We all know that Lucius Malfoy would have killed Harry in Chamber of Secrets if Dobby hadn’t stopped him.
If he had, everything that happened after would not have happened, including the return of Voldemort, and many deaths that came after.
15. The Ministry Of Magic’s code:
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , Harry is making his way to the Ministry of Magic for his hearing, as he used magic as an underage wizard.
However, they have to get there through Muggle transportation as much as possible.
That brings us to the phone booth that they come to, which, when they press the proper code, will bring them underground to the Ministry.
After stepping in, Mr. Weasley dials 6-2-4-4-2. This actually spells out magic on the telephone pad.
16. Harry’s Quidditch number:
This is a super clever detail the filmmakers added!
This is clear foreshadowing of Harry’s role as the seventh horcrux. And funnily enough, this is not the only time this has happened in the movies or books.
Even in *Chamber of Secrets*, there are 7 snakes at the opening of the chamber.
And in The Deathly Hallows Part 1 there are seven Harrys that are escorted to the Weasleys’ house when trying to escape Voldemort.
Do you know of any other hidden details or references in the *Harry Potter* movies?
If not, do you have a favorite detail that we pointed out to you?
Let us know what it is down below in the comments section!
