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Plot Holes: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneA guide for those who didn't read the book.

By Josh DanielPosted Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001, at 12:20 PM ET

Whatever critics have thought of the new Harry Potter movie, they've agreed on one thing: It's a remarkably faithful adaptation. But even at more than two and a half hours, it compresses or leaves out key scenes and details, and anyone who hasn't read the book (all dozen of you) may have trouble following all the ins and outs. Hence, a guide to some of the movie's more puzzling questions. (Plot Holes habitually gives away crucial bits of the story, so quit reading now if you don't want to know.)

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Who are the two goons that Draco Malfoy—the snotty blond kid—introduces at Hogwarts?
Crabbe and Goyle, who serve as Malfoy's henchmen. They do play a bigger part in the book, mostly in scenes that didn't make it into the movie. The filmmakers probably figured the book fans in the audience would expect to at least see them.

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Previously in Plot Holes: The Deep End; Planet of the Apes; Memento; Along Came a Spider; Traffic, Cast Away, and Hannibal; The Gift; Con Air and Face/Off; The Postman, and vampire movies. Tim Carvell wrote a Plot Holes roundup for Slate; read it here.

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Why does that library book scream at Harry?
Actually, the book doesn't explain this one either. Maybe it's a spell designed to protect whatever is in the book. Or maybe Rowling simply needs a plot device to get Harry out of the library.

Where does Harry's invisibility cloak come from?
Harry receives a mysterious Christmas present—a cloak that makes its wearer invisible—and attached to the parcel is an unsigned note explaining that the cloak once belonged to Harry's late father. It seems like a setup for a later scene, in which Harry's benefactor is dramatically revealed. But the payoff never comes. Near the movie's climax, Harry and his friends use it to sneak into the room with the three-headed dog, then drop it—and we never see it again. (And no, it's not called an invisibility cloak because it disappears without explanation.)

As the book explains, it turns out that the school's kindly headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, gave Harry the cloak. But like the movie, Rowling doesn't say what happens to it after Harry drops it.

Why is Ron riding that knight during the life-size chess match?
On their way to stop an evil wizard, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione find themselves on a life-size chessboard and realize that, to continue their quest, they have to play out the match themselves. It's a scary proposition, because when a piece is taken in wizard chess, it's not just removed from the board; it gets smashed to bits. Harry and Hermione, subbing for a bishop and a rook, stand on the board as Ron directs them to various squares. Ron, though, mounts a knight, which he's thrown from when it's crushed by the opposing queen. Why doesn't he hop off the horse before the queen smashes it?

The filmmakers pretty much botch this scene. In the book, Ron learns from one of the chess pieces (they're magical, remember) that each young wizard has to stand in for a piece. Then—here's the crucial thing the movie leaves out—the replaced pieces walk off the board. Ron isn't riding the knight; he is the knight. Harry and Hermione play by the rules of the book—they substitute for other pieces—but the movie makes up a new rule for Ron.

Presumably, screenwriter Steven Kloves rewrote the scene because what happens in the book is pretty gruesome and doesn't reflect especially well on Harry. The queen hits Ron hard on the head and drags his unconscious body off the chess board. Harry basically glances at Ron, says unconvincingly, "He'll be all right," and gets Hermione to move along to the next puzzle. In the movie, Harry tells Hermione to stay behind and tend to their friend, which makes him seem more compassionate.

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Josh Daniel is Slate's West Coast editor.

COMMENTS

Notes From The Fray Editor:

Many readers think they know what happens to the Cloak of Invisibility: they say Dumbledore returned it, some say with a note and some say in person. But it seems to the Fray team (expanded in this case to include some junior members, consulting experts on all things Harry Potter) that these readers are conflating two different episodes in the book. Earlier, the children leave the Cloak at the tower, and Dumbledore (it is assumed) returns it under Harry's pillow with a note. But the second time it is lost there is no such scene. John Chadwick Holloway says the entire movie is "highly implausible," and SDC replied "It's a story about hundreds of witches and wizards going to a boarding school in the middle of modern-day England. How plausible could it be?"

Comments:

To me, the biggest plot hole in the "Harry Potter" movie is why does Dumbledore award 10 points to Neville for standing up to his friends when they sneak out to attempt to prevent Voldemort from reaching the Sorcerer's Stone? As played out in the movie, Neville tells Harry, Ron, and Hermione that they shouldn't leave, and Hermione casts a spell on him. Taken as presented in the movie, I don't see why Dumbledore would award Gryffindor points for this, and these points are what gives Gryffindor the house championship.

In the book, it is Neville, not Ron, who is caught out after lights out with Malfoy, Harry, and Hermione. Ron is in the infirmary. Thus it is Neville who is punished by being sent into the Dark Forest, and it is Neville who costs Gryffindor 50 points. Given how severely Neville was punished for what was, in his eyes, a good deed, it is understandable that he wishes to prevent Harry, Ron, and Hermione from getting into trouble again. In the movie though, his motivation is quite lacking. Chris Columbus might as well have left out the whole awarding of 10 points to Neville.

Another plot hole is Mrs. Weasley's Christmas gift to Harry. In the movie, she is not aware that the boy she meets on the train platform is Harry, so why does she send him a sweater? I guess we have to assume some unseen correspondence between Ron and his mother triggers her gift to Harry. In the book, the Weasley family are all introduced to Harry on the platform, and both Mrs. Weasley and her daughter Ginny develop an affection for him there.

--Al V

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(12/14)

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