top ten wizarding moments
By Lyall Carter with guests Abbey Macalister and Jackie Doussau
To celebrate the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald we thought we'd bring a little magic of our own - our Top Ten Wizarding World Moments! We asked the two biggest Harry Potter fans we know, Abbey Macalister and Jackie Dossau, for their top moments too!
Anything you would've added to the list?
happy birthday harry (philosopher's stone)
i am voldermort (HP: chamber of secrets)
The Dursleys are hiding out with Harry in the shack by the sea, avoiding Dumbledore’s attempts to advise Harry of his place at Hogwarts. Harry is lying on the hard, cold, dirty ground. He draws himself a birthday cake in the dust, before blowing it out and wishing himself a happy 11th birthday. There’s a thump on the door before its knocked down and Hagrid’s massive frame fills the doorway. He scares the heck out of the Dursley's (about time someone did!). He then enters and briefly mistakes Dudley for Harry, before giving Harry his first ever real birthday cake with that glorious pink and green icing (HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY) and telling him he’s a wizard, just like his parents.
I love this scene because it is so pivotal to the storyline. Harry has been treated so badly for so long, and he thought his life would carry on that way until adulthood. He’d even had a brief sense that things could get better when the owls kept bringing letters for him, but here he is lying on the floor with no hope that his lot will improve. But when this gigantic stranger comes along and tells him he gets to leave that life behind, it gives me goosebumps every time. This signals the start of Harry finding out more about his parents, a different world, and starting his new life as famous wizard and Hogwarts student Harry Potter.
There's just too many awesome moments to love in the Chamber of Secrets (the flying car!) but when Tom Riddle reveals himself to be Lord Voldemort its not only a jaw dropping point in the film, its an absolutely pivotal part of the whole Harry Potter story arc.
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Ginny has found a friend buuuuuut its a crazy guy in a diary. Tom Riddle (yes the aforementioned crazy guy in the diary) gets her to do some mad things like scrawling messages in blood and opening the Chamber of Secrets.
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Harry goes to find and rescue Ginny and its then that Tom Riddle appears and reveals his true identity as Lord Voldermort or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I remember seeing Chamber of Secrets as a kid and this moment just blew me away. Oh the nostalgia.
expecto patronum! (Hp: Prisoner of azkaban)
quidditch world cup (HP: Goblet of fire)
We’ve already met Sirius, we’ve watched his and Harry’s relationship form and then in one scene that happiness we all feel because Harry has found a link to his past, someone who truely loves him, is all almost ripped away.
Sirius and Harry lay by the lake with dementors swooping over them casting the “kiss of death”. A patronus is cast in the distance saving both Harry and Sirius. Not only does Harry think he's losing this new found ‘family’ member but he’s convinced he saw his father - queue the water works. When Harry and Hermione time turn back to this moment, Harry is convinced that it was his Dad that performed the patronus and that he is coming back. We wait with baited breath as we see the dementors continue to attack Harry and Sirius. It’s then we realise that its Harry, not his father, who is the one to perform the patronus.
Seeing the pain in Harry’s eyes when he learns his father isn’t coming back gets me every time. In that moment he discovers how truly strong he is and he saves his new family, Sirius Black.
Who hasn't grabbed a broom, jumped on, and raced around the backyard pretending to play Quidditch? OK - just me.
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Anyway. The whole Quidditch World Cup scene is just glorious. The Weasley's along with Harry and Hermoine meet up with Amos and his son Cedric (Mr. Robert Twilight Pattinson) and find a manky old boot in a field. Mr. Weasley tells Harry to grab hold and they are magically transported to the Quiddich World Cup.
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But the magic doesn't stop there. Wizards from all over the world are zipping around on broomsticks and Mr. Weasley leads them all to a tiny tent. "Home sweet home," he declares. You're thinking how are all those people going to fit into such a tiny tent?!
But as Harry walks in the tent is much bigger and super flash on the inside. You can't help staring and uttering in amazement along with Harry: "I love magic."
the death of sirius (HP: order of the phoenix)
snape revealed (hP: deathly hallows Part 2)
There's quite a lot of death in Harry Potter but the death of Sirius has to be the most heartbreaking.
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After seeing a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius, his beloved god father, Harry and his friends head to the ministry of magic in an attempt to rescue him. But its all a ruse used to lure Harry. A battle between Harry and the Order of the Phoenix and some Death Eaters ensues with Bellatrix Lestrange killing Sirius.
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It just absolutely rips your heart out and stomps all over it. The pain in Harry's face as he watches Sirius fall through the veil is just too much. After finally finding a father figure, someone to look up to, its snatched away from him in the most cruellest way. Even after the 100th time of watching this scene the tears still flow.
Deathly Hallows Part 2 has so many great moments that we had to pick three!
Everyone grew up hating Professor Snape thinking that he had it in for Harry and all of his mates and we were all more than convinced that he was on Voldermort's side.
But what we discover makes us go from hating Snape to loving him. As Snape lies dying in the Shrieking Shack, he releases a whole lot of memories. We see that Snape loved Lily, Harry's mother, and even after she met and eventually married James, Snape still loved her. He even tried to protect her from Voldermort all those years ago. We also find out that he didn't kill Dumbledore in cold blood but that Dumbledore had asked him to kill him so that Draco wouldn't have to.
Such a brilliant story arc for a character that was so hated and you just can't help but love in the end.
harry faces death (HP: deathly hallows part 2)
dumbledore at kings cross (HP: deathly hallows part 2)
After seeing Snape's memories Harry realises that when Voldemort attacked him he inadvertently made him a horcrux. For Voldemort to become mortal Harry must let Voldemort kill him.
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Voldemort is waiting with his followers in the Forbiden Forest for Harry. As Harry appears Voldemort utters that famous line: "Harry Potter. The boy who lived, come to die."
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Harry doesn't say a word as Voldemort casts a curse, killing Harry instantly.
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This is the Harry we know. Loyal to his friends to the very end; willing to do the right thing no matter the cost. That scene always gives me goosebumps.
Harry wakes up in a sort of after life that looks very similar to Kings Cross station AND DUMBLEDORE IS THERE!!!!! WHAT. THE. HECK!!!
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One of the best moments in the whole franchise as not only Harry but we, as the audience, are reunited with Dumbledore. Its just so, so good.
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And there are so many memorable quotes too from the wise old wizard. "Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who deserve it. "Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic." "Pity the living and above all, all those who live without love." Just brilliant.
neville's moment (HP: Deathly hallows part 2)
the niffler (Fantastic beasts and where to find them)
"Harry Potter is dead!" screams Voldemort, telling Dumbledore's army that they should join him or they will be killed. Neville Longbottom, the bullied, clumsy kid, stumbles out to meet Voldemort, limping, blood splattered all over his face.
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Voldemort and his Death Eaters laugh at this figure and then Neville begins to speak.
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“I’d like to say something. Doesn’t matter that Harry’s gone. People die everyday—friends..family. Yeah, we lost Harry tonight. But he’s still with us…in here. So is Fred, Remus, Tonks…all of them. They didn’t die in vain! But you will! Cause you’re wrong! Harry’s heart did beat for us! For all of us! It’s not over!”
Its one of the most greatest punch in the air moments of the whole franchise made all the sweeter when Neville kills Nagini, Voldemort's snake.
The niffler is the first creature to escape Newt's case in New York city and with the help of No-Maj Jacob Kowalski, Newt sets off to find him.
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Unsurprisingly, as nifflers love to scavenge and steal anything sparkly, Newt and Jacob find the niffler in a jewelery store. All hell breaks lose as they try to catch him with them all being discovered by the police who believe that they are trying to rob the store.
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The niffler is not only darn cute but he pretty much steals the whole Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. You fall in love with him so much that you just wish that you could find your own niffler one day.
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