Corrected entry: When everyone goes out of the castle after Fred and George do their prank to be expelled, you can see a cast member hidden behind a pillar in the upper left of the screen. (01:37:20)
Corrected entry: During the scenes where "Dumbledore's Army" are practicing their spells, at one point they are using the spell 'Levi Corpus'. It is not until the next book (The Half Blood Prince) that this spell is actually discovered and used.
Correction: James Potter used it on Snape at school and the death eaters used it on the muggle campsite owner at the quidditch World Cup. Both of these events happened before this film, meaning its not beyond probability that they would know it.
Corrected entry: In the Ministry of Magic near the end, Neville tells Harry that he couldn't pick up the prophecy ball because it had Harry's name on it and only the person whose name is on a prophecy may remove it. But a few moments later Hermione is able to use her wand to make numerous prophecy balls fly off the shelves in order to escape the Death Eaters.
Correction: Neville never says that. He calls to Harry and says "It's got your name on it". Later, Lucius Malfoy tells Harry that only the person whom the prophecy is about can retrieve it, meaning retrieve the prophecy from the ball. Anyone can touch the ball. You'll notice the prophecy isn't spoken from the ball until Harry holds it.
But why does Lucius Malfoy want it if he can't listen to it?
Lucius was ordered by Voldemort to bring it to him. Voldemort can listen to it just like Harry can. It involves both of them.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Harry, Ron and Hermione have just finished talking to Sirius in the Hogwarts Common Room, wait for the shot to cut to Hermione and watch as the shot moves to look out the window. You can see a pole/microphone as the camera moves. (00:50:45)
Correction: I looked for the "pole/microphone" in both the widescreen and fullscreen versions, but did not see anything unusual at all.
Corrected entry: When Luna just entered the Room of Requirement, and Filch, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle are running after her. The members of the Dumbledore's Army are standing around the dummy practicing on it. It is extremely clear that Neville says expelliarmus, and succeeds, but no one applauds him (this is before he disarms Parvati.).
Correction: In the first instance, Neville is using the spell on a dummy, which is hardly difficult to hit with a successful spell. In the second instance, Neville's taking on a live opponent, and defeats her, which is a considerably harder challenge. Given his perceived lack of ability, his first victory in a duel, even a practice one, is understandably worthy of applause.
Corrected entry: At the Hogshead's Inn, when the students are meeting with Harry to determine if they want him to train them, they begin naming some of his accomplishments. Nevill makes mention that Harry killed a basilisk in Dumbledores office, when, in fact, Harry killed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, not Dumbledores office.
Correction: Neville actually says: "He killed the Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office", meaning that Harry killed the Basilisk with the sword that usually resides in Dumbledore's office, and not meaning that Harry killed the Basilisk in Dumbledore's office with a sword.
Corrected entry: At the end of the fight in the ministry of magic, Voldemort is saying to Harry: "You're a fool Harry Potter and you will lose everything". During that moment, you can see someone walking in the window behind Voldemort. (02:03:00)
Correction: No, we do not "see someone walking in the window behind Voldemort" in the background during this shot. The only movement we see are the glistening particles of sand floating in the air in the foreground.
Corrected entry: While Harry is fighting with Sirius against the two Death Eaters, he just all of a sudden knows how to use non-verbal spells.
Correction: He doesn't "all of a sudden" know how. He (and the rest of Dumbledore's Army) has been practising the spells for months. Being able to use the spells non-verbally is an indication of both innate ability and familiarity with the spells.
Corrected entry: The playground where Harry is during the first few scenes is located in a rural setting, separated from the nearby subdivision by a highway and an underground pedestrian walkway. However, when Harry first sees Sirius (in grim form) and the Knight Bus an the beginning of "Prisoner of Askaban," the exact same park is surrounded on three sides by houses. Though it is possible that contractors built the two identical playgrounds, it does not make sense why Harry and Dudley & co. would go all the way there when the other one is closer and doesn't involve leaving the neighbourhood.
Correction: That's because the films were directed by different directors, who both had different views on what the surroundings should look like. As such, this is artistic license, and not a mistake.
Corrected entry: When Harry enters his room at the Dursley's after being expelled, this is the first time he's been in there since before the dementor attack, during which he used his wand. However, his wand is already lying on his bedside table when he enters the room although he should be carrying it on him.
Correction: This is incorrect. Harry is not shown entering his bedroom, with or without his wand. When the scene cuts from the Dursley's leaving in the car to take Dudley to the hospital, Harry is already inside his room, banging his fists on the wall. At some point he came in and placed his wand on the nightstand (all off camera), then he is seen reacting in anger.
Corrected entry: During the first DADA lesson Padma and Parvati Patil make a flying piece of paper, and it is clear that they are in the second row sitting behind two other people. Near the end of the scene it shows the two of them in the front row.
Correction: Not really. When Umbridge fries their flying bird, it lands on the twins desk. It doesn't show anyone in front of them, but the front of their desk is even with the bottom of the film. Later in the scene, it shows them seated behind other people. Just because the camera view didn't show anyone in front of them, doesn't mean that they were in the front row.
Corrected entry: When Hermione hits Ron with her spell, as he flies back you can briefly see the wire guiding him as he flying backwards.
Correction: Actually, no wire is visible during these shots.
Corrected entry: In the Department of Mysteries, when each Death Eater has their wand aimed at a member of Dumbledore's Army, Lucius Malfoy walks towards Harry. Jason Issacs, who plays Malfoy, has brown hair, and in one shot you can see his real hair under the blonde wig.
Correction: His brown hair can not be seen definitively. It could easily be argued that what you see are simply shadows near his scalp line. The scenes are simply too dark to tell.
Corrected entry: When Lord Voldemort holds out his hand to receive the "prophecy-bubble" he is forcing Harry to give to him, we see a shot of Neville shouting "Don't give it to her!" Her? You-Know-Who isn't exactly a very masculine type, but... (There was probably a scene with Bellatrix there which was cut out.)
Correction: First, it is Lucius Malfoy, one of Voldemort's Death Eaters, that demands the Prophecy orb. Second, Neville actually says, "Don't give it to him, Harry." He does not say "her."
Corrected entry: When Harry is having a dinner with the Order of Phoenix group, look at the glasses - the liquid inside differs from empty to full from shot-to-shot.
Correction: You are confusing different glasses on the table. The liquid, or lack thereof, in their individual glasses is consistent for the duration of this scene.
Corrected entry: When Umbridge gets caught by the fireworks-dragon, the doorway fills with smoke. Umbridge vanishes from that shot; the smoke clears enough to see that she isn't there anymore. She reappears in one of the next shots, after the ministry decrees have fallen down and the smoke has cleared.
Correction: It's all an illusion. The dragon 'eats' her, she vanishes for a moment, and then reappears. It's all magic.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Harry first arrives at Sirius's house, Ginny is seen laughing at Tonks's nose. In one shot, she has her hand over her mouth, laughing. In the next shot, a wideshot of the whole table, her hand is no longer over her mouth and she has a straight face.
Correction: There was more than enough time for her to move her hand. It takes only a split second to do so.
Corrected entry: In the movie, the spell Stupefy is used in the Room of Requirement. The spell should make Harry become knocked out but he just flies backwards.
Correction: The spell may not have been strong enough.
Corrected entry: The established continuity of traveling through fireplaces tells us that to do so, one must throw floo powder into the fireplace you are using, then state your destination. However, during the battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore, Bellatrix Lestrange simply crawls into a fireplace and leaves. Even if she didn't care about her destination, she still skipped the important first step- the floo powder was never thrown in.
Corrected entry: The kiss scene between Cho Chang and Harry Potter took 30 takes.
Correction: I just saw a televised interview with the director. He said that scene was done in 19 takes. (not unusual) He also said that to spare the actors embarrassment, he had all non-essential persons leave the set. The rest of the cast and crew gathered in the next room and watched the scene on the monitors.
Correction: I provided a timecode for this entry, and when I was providing a screenshot I became unconvinced that this person gives any clear indication of being an actual crew member (not "cast member" which means member of the cast). Yes, we see someone who's standing to the side with his arms crossed, wearing a T-shirt and trousers. The problem is that in this shot we see half the students are not wearing their school robes and are dressed casually as well. We also see a Slytherine girl standing behind Harry who has quite a sour look on her face and she's not cheering at Fred and George's antics. So seeing a student stand to the side isn't a dead give-away since logical explanations could be any or all: 1) he's another annoyed Slytherine; 2) he is personally not fond of Fred and George; 3) he's a jealous 7th year who's irritated that Fred and George are leaving and he's not. This person may very well be a crew member, but since there's nothing particularly revealing about him we can't just presume he's a member of the crew. Anyone else have thoughts about this specific person seen in this shot?
Super Grover ★