Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Other mistake: After Ginny sees Hedwig and Harry's trunk at the Burrow, everyone gathers at the staircase and talks to Ginny about Harry's whereabouts, and when Hermione exclaims "Really?" we hear Harry answer "Really!" but the subtitles read that Ron answers Hermione. (00:13:00)

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Other mistake: While Harry, Ron, and Hermione are walking back from the Three Broomsticks, Ron whispers to Harry about Hermione's earlier comment about snogging, and when we hear Ron say, "As if!" the subtitles read that Harry said it. (00:51:45)

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Other mistake: In quite a few shots during the film, it is much too obvious that there are no lenses in Harry's glasses, whereas in previous and following shots the glasses have lenses. A couple of instances are: when Harry drinks the Felix Felicis and when Harry kneels beside Dumbledore, at the foot of the Astronomy Tower.

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Other mistake: In the film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Professor Slughorn (during one of the 'Slugclub' meetings) asks Hermione what her parents do for a living, she replies, 'They're Dentists.' Slughorn and the other wizards stare blankly, not knowing what Dentists are. However, in the film 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' in the burrow, we see the magical clock that shows the family's whereabouts, and we see that there is a section marked 'Dentist'.

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Other mistake: When Harry and his friends visit the Weasley's house the second time - when the Death Eaters attack - the constellation Scorpio is visible in the sky. Scorpio is a summer constellation. It shouldn't be visible in the winter. Furthermore, it probably can't be seen as far north as England (although I don't live there, so I'm not sure).

Other mistake: When Professor McGonagall is talking to the trio about the necklace incident and Professor Snape is walking by in the background, he stops just before she calls him over.

Continuity mistake: In Potions class, when Hermione stands before the cauldron explaining what she is smelling in her closeup, we see Neville behind her with the broad space to his right (viewer's left), just as she says, "Spearmint toothpaste". In the instant cut to the wideshot, Harry is now shoulder to shoulder with Neville, too fast for him to suddenly be standing that close to Neville. (00:34:35)

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Trivia: Young Tom Riddle is played by newcomer Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, who is the nephew of Ralph Fiennes, the actor who plays Lord Voldemort, aka Tom Riddle.

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Question: Instead of using the Pensieve to view Voldemort's and Slughorn's memories, wouldn't it have been much easier for Dumbledore to simply tell Harry of his first meeting with Tom and Harry simply asking Slughorn what he knew?

Answer: The purpose of the Pensieve is to preserve the memory exactly as it was recorded. Telling Harry something years after an event occurred is not as effective or as accurate as seeing. It is more impactful if Harry can watch events exactly as they unfolded. Regarding Slughorn, he had refused to give his complete memory because he was ashamed of the unintentional part he played in Voldemort's plan to create the Horcruxes. He was duped by Riddle, but he still did not want anyone to know how foolish he was.

raywest

Answer: Dumbledore went to great lengths to recover the modified memory from Slughorn and convince him to return to Hogwarts as a teacher. Asking Slughorn about the memory upfront would greatly reduce their chances of getting the rest of the memory. It was important for Harry to charm Slughorn because that was one of his weaknesses. He held Harry's mother in high regards, so Harry really was the only key to getting the memory.

Answer: It would have been pointless for Harry to simply ask Slughorn about Riddle because, as Slughorn previously did, he would react angrily, simply refuse, lie, or alter or delete facts as it was too painful and he was too ashamed to admit what he'd done. Even if Slughorn did tell him, memories are tricky, and, over time, people recall facts differently than what actually happened. Dumbledore needed the pensieve for both his and Slughorn's memories so Harry would have an accurate as possible picture of what happened. This is also J.K. Rowling's magical world. It would be pretty dull, literary-wise, to simply have Dumbledore or Slughorn tell Harry what happened.

raywest

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