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Harry Potter had many Easter eggs throughout the movie franchise. With seven movies in the series, there was always room for hidden references. With movies being readily available on streaming services, finding Easter eggs is easier than ever, as viewers can’t pause movies in the cinema but can at home.
Whether it be teasing characters that would eventually debut in the wizarding world or a nod to the iconic novels, Harry Potter made sure to include hidden details that fans have now picked up on. Some of the references were not instantly noticed by even die-hard fans who watched the movies over and over.
Newt Scamander Visited Hogwarts in The Prisoner of Azkaban
Newt Scamander was good friends with Albus Dumbledore, as seen in the Fantastic Beasts trilogy.
The Marauder’s Map was created by Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew during their time at Hogwarts. It’s a magical map that shows the movement of every person walking around the wizarding school while showing every room and secret passage that exists.
Names can be seen on the map, including a familiar name for Harry Potter fans who have been going to the Fantastic Beasts movies over the years. Newt Scamander is featured on the map, meaning he was present during The Prisoner of Azkaban. This means that the two great wizards occupied the same place without Harry knowing the importance of Newt. It’s a great Easter egg that fans regularly went back to after the first Fantastic Beasts was announced.
Harry Potter Books Made a Cameo in an Early Movie
The final three Harry Potter novels weren’t released by the time The Chamber of Secrets was released.
Pronouncing Diagon Alley isn’t the easiest for English speakers, as many say it differently than how it’s supposed to be said. Trying to use the Floo network to go to Diagon Alley, Harry says the name wrong and ends up in Knockturn Alley. Luckily, Hagrid finds Harry, and it’s just a short walk back to safety.
As Harry and Hagrid walk toward Diagon Alley, they pass by a bookshop that has numerous books on display. It turns out that some of the books are real-life Harry Potter novels that are planted in plain sight as a fun Easter egg for fans to spot. This is a common thing nowadays with movies becoming analyzed so heavily, filmmakers make sure to plant references that will please viewers, like Harry Potter passing by his own books.
The Death Eaters Destroyed a London Bridge That Shouldn’t Exist
The Millennium Bridge was opened in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium.
London played a big part in Harry Potter, with many important locations featured throughout the series. Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic are the two most notable, while Platform 9 3/4 is iconic and still attracts visitors to King’s Cross Station to this day. However, one of the most iconic sequences in Harry Potter had a big continuity error to do with a London landmark.
The Half-Blood Prince opens with Voldemort’s Death Eaters unleashing their magical might on the Muggle world as they cause chaos throughout London’s streets. After kidnapping Ollivander from Diagon Alley, the Death Eaters fly past the Millennium Bridge, causing it to buckle and fall into the River Thames. However, the Millennium Bridge didn’t exist during the movie’s ’90s-set period, as it was opened in 2000. This was a major oversight that made for a great scene but made no sense in retrospect.
Tom Felton’s Girlfriend Played His Wife in Harry Potter
Malfoy’s wife wasn’t a Pure Blood witch, which angered his father.
Tom Felton’s Draco Malfoy is one of the most popular characters in Harry Potter. He was a nuance throughout the early movies, picking on Harry and his friends. Draco becomes more of a threat when he joins Voldemort’s rank, following in his father’s footsteps. However, Draco takes a surprising turn before the end of the Harry Potter franchise.
With Draco and Lucius Malfoy abandoning Voldemort, Draco becomes friendly with Harry for the first time. The final scene in The Deathly Hallows Part 2 showcases an older Draco Malfoy alongside his wife as they send their son off to Hogwarts. It turns out that Draco’s wife was played by Jade Olivia Gordon, Felton’s real-life girlfriend at the time. It’s a fun nod to reality.
Harry Potter Discovered Ravenclaw’s Diadem Before They Knew What It Was
Helena Ravenclaw led Harry Potter to the diadem Horcrux.
Rowena Ravenclaw possessed a special diadem while she was alive that Voldemort made one of his seven Horcruxes. Strangely, Harry didn’t have a connection to the diadem, given his strong links to every Horcrux in the final two movies. However, it’s possible that the movies weren’t thinking that far ahead.
Harry entered the Room of Requirement in The Half-Blood Prince and saw Ravenclaw’s diadem for the first time. In the following movie, Harry realizes that the diadem is a Horcrux that needs to be destroyed, so he tracks it down to the Room of Requirement, where it still lies. However, Harry cannot destroy the Horcrux straight away, as Malfoy interrupts him before Vincent Crabbe uses a fiendfyre curse, lighting the whole room on fire.
Were the Hogwarts Banquets Real or Fake?
There is something so special about the vast spreads of luxurious food that were present in Harry Potter‘s many movies. Fans couldn’t help but want to dig into the food as the Hogwarts students feasted on the endless, sumptuous-looking food.
Ending the debate on whether the food was real or fake, it was confirmed that director Christopher Columbus insisted that all the food had to be real in The Sorcerer’s Stone. He did this to give the feasts an allure, but they stopped putting out real food in later films because the food would spoil quickly when shooting all day. They were replaced by prop food that looked identical to the real food items.
Harry Potter’s Quidditch Number Has Significance
Harry Potter wasn’t the only successful Seeker in Harry Potter lore, as Ginny Weasley found great success too.
Quidditch is a huge sport in the wizarding world. Hogwarts specializes in producing some of the best Quidditch players that the world has ever seen. Following in his father’s footsteps, Harry becomes an excellent Chaser who is a pivotal part of the Quidditch team. He eventually becomes the Captain of Gryffindor, leading the team out to take on the other houses. There are many great Quidditch scenes throughout Harry Potter.
The number that Harry wears on his Quidditch jersey is seven, which is meaningful for several reasons. Harry spent seven years at Hogwarts in the seven Harry Potter books, and there were seven Horcruxes to destroy before Harry could defeat Voldemort. It’s a significant number that reoccurs many times.
Did Professor Lockhart Wear a Wig in Harry Potter?
Gilderoy Lockhart was a self-obsessed author who had very little experience with the Dark Arts.
Professor Lockhart was a confident teacher who believed he was a powerful wizard, but the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor got embarrassed by Professor Snape in a duel. Everything went downhill from there, as the once arrogant teacher lost any respect he had and was exposed when asked to save Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets.
Adding to how funny and entertaining Professor Lockhart was, there was a brilliantly hidden Easter egg that most fans didn’t notice in his office. Among the many items in Lockhart’s place of work a blonde wig that matches his haircut is seen. It begs the question if he has real hair or if he has been wearing a wig all along.
The Goblet of Fire Teased the Deathly Hallows
Despite making appearances, the Deathly Hallows were first mentioned in The Deathly Hallows Part 1.
Albus Dumbledore talks to Harry Potter about Barty Crouch, Jr. before Cedric Diggory and Harry enter the maze in the final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament. There is a major Easter egg that teases what’s to come in future movies.
In this scene, Dumbledore looks at a display case that showcases the Deathly Hallows symbol. This was before The Deathly Hallows novel was released to the public, so it was some clever foreshadowing that anticipated how important that symbol would become when the movies got to adapting the final novel.
Fred and George Weasley Were Born on April Fool’s Day
Fred and George Weasley were inseparable until Fred Weasley was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts.
A little-known fact is that Fred and George Weasley were born on April 1, 1978. That’s April Fool’s Day, which is extremely fitting for the prankster twins who relish the opportunity to mess with people. This was never properly discussed in the movies, but it’s a great Easter egg that hints at their nature.
