The ending of the sixth Harry Potter movie had some massive differences from the book it was based on. Throughout the process of adaptation, it's natural for things to be left on the cutting room floor. Addionally, entire perspectives can be altered... As much as this angers some diehard fans, the truth is novels and films are completely different mediums. This means that have different rules, storytelling techniques, and technical requirements. It seems obvious but we're often quick to forget that when watching a movie based on a book we adore.
Over a decade later, fans still can't get over why the ending of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was changed... Here's the reason...
The Biggest Changes From The Book To The Movie
Every single one of J.K. Rowling's masterful "Harry Potter" books was changed during the process of their adaptation to the big screen. In the case of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the penultimate book and the third to last movie, much was altered or left on the cutting room floor.
Among the many changes were the significant amount of flashbacks to Voldemort's past and the origin of some of his most important Horcruxes. We lost the explanation of the Gaunt family and much of the cruelty Tom Riddle endured and inflicted on others. These chapters were some of the darkest elements of the book and they were abandoned for moments that weren't even in the book. Chief among them was the burning of The Burrow. This confused fans but also delighted them as they saw Helena Bonham Carter's Bellatrix Lestrange get an extended sequence... and that's always a good thing.
Perhaps the reason they cut these scenes was that they were too dark? Although Alfonso Cuaron already revolutionized the Potter movies by making them a little edgier.
Regardless of those exclusions, the ending of the book is what went through the most notable alterations.
The Deletion Of The Battle Of The Astronomy Tower
Anybody reading this has likely seen Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince multiple times and have probably read the books as well. But if they haven't, they may not know that after Snape kills Dumbledore at the top of Hogwarts' Astronomy Tower, a major battle ensues.
In the book, several Death Eaters enter the castle and assist Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape in the assassination of the school's Headmaster. Soon after, The Order of the Pheonix arrives and does battle with them as they try to escape.
Including this in the movie would have allowed even more A-listers to cameo as The Order is occupied by a star-studded cast. However, this battle sequence was cut entirely from the movie in favor of Harry pursuing Snape, Bellatrix, and the Death Eaters out of the castle before having a very brief confrontation with Snape (AKA The Half-Blood Prince).
In short, it wasn't nearly as thrilling or action-packed as the finale of the novel.
However, the producers of the film stated that they wanted to cut this sequence out of the movie as they didn't want it to take away from the much larger fight to come, The Battle of Hogwarts from The Deathly Hallows Part 2. This battle, in both the movie and the book, is ultimately the most important in the entirety of the Harry Potter saga. It also features almost all of the same characters fighting in the exact same location.
It was a little repetitive in the books and would've been much more so in the movies... At least, that's what producer David Heyman thought.
Many fans believe that the deletion of this sequence made the film feel slightly anti-climatic. It also took away much of the explanation of Severus Snape's status as The Half-Blood Prince. And, more importantly, what exactly that meant and why it was crucial to the story.
Where Did Dumbledore's Funeral Go?
According to an interview with MTV, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince director, David Yates, explained why he deleted the beloved Dumbledore's Funeral chapter from the movie. The chapter saw many fan-favorite characters come to pay their respect to the former Headmaster and iconic wizard. It was beautifully written and set up the sorrow of the final book to come.
"We had [the funeral] in the script at one point and it was a really strange experience," David said to MTV’s Josh Horowitz recently. "But after the courtyard scene and Dumbledore’s died, it felt like going to the funeral just felt like we were suffering from ending-itis. It felt like another end."
David went on to say, "In a book, you can enjoy that journey but in the rhythm of a darkened cinema, it felt like the right place to end."
Perhaps it was this deletion that angered fans the most but David maintains that he made the right decision. He clearly didn't want the ending of his movie to feel as drawn-out as the one in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which followed the book's ending more closely.
"The fans get frustrated with some of the decisions we take sometimes, but we’re trying to serve not just them obviously—because we adore them and we’re grateful for their support—we’re trying to serve an audience beyond the fan base who haven’t read some of the books."