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Here Are Some Of The Biggest Reveals From The 'Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts'

This reunion was emotional since a whole generation of youngsters grew up with the 'Harry Potter' films and books.

Source: IMDb

The much-awaited Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts kickstarted the new year with a trip down memory lane. The documentary saw the cast of the film franchise reunite to mark 20 years since the release of the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001. The lead cast included Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson who played Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger respectively. The following seven films in the series were released over the course of the next decade with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 releasing in July 2011. 



 

This reunion was emotional since a whole generation of youngsters grew up with the films as well as the books that were written by JK Rowling. The author was, however, not very actively involved with the reunion after her transphobic comments on Twitter created quite the backlash. Clips of her from archival footage were used sparingly. Somehow, the art was separated from the creator and the reunion has been received well by fans. Rowling's polarizing comments have had no impact on the celebrations of the 20th Anniversary.



 

In the hour-and-45-minute long film, many previously unknown facts and tidbits from the film series were released. Here are a few:

1. Daniel Radcliffe and Gary Oldman

In the film, Harry learns that Sirius is his godfather who had been wrongly accused. They meet for the first time in Prisoner of Azkaban and after the misconceptions are cleared, develop a close bond. In real life too, the actors shared a similar bond. Radcliffe confessed that he was starstruck when he was first going to meet the veteran actor. In the documentary, as the two actors had a sit-down in the potions classroom, Oldman said, “I had a natural sort of paternal thing.” Producer David Heyman said he noticed how the two developed a close bond. 

Source: IMDb

2. How Chris Columbus decided to direct the films

Columbus directed the first two films in the series. He shared in the reunion special that his daughter Eleanor first introduced him to the series. It was after he read the first three books that he decided to direct the films. He confessed that he could envision how the movie would play out as he read the book and said that had never happened before. He then met with Rowling who told him, "That's exactly the way I see the movie." And the rest is history.



 

3. Jason Isaacs made Tom Felton cry on set

Isaacs played Lucius Malfoy, father to Tom Felton's Draco Malfoy. When in character, Felton recalled how Isaacs become the "most unfriendly, horrible person I’ve ever met" but was a delight otherwise. But one time, in a now-deleted scene, Isaacs hit Felton’s hand with his cane so hard, after his character touches something, that he cut his hand. "He looked up at me and his eyes welled with tears," he recalled and said that he apologized profusely. "I adored Tom from the second I met him. He was always just the biggest sweetheart," he added.

Source: IMDb

4. Emma Watson's crush on Tom Felton

This is not exactly news since Watson has shared on multiple occasions that she had a huge crush on Felton. In the special, Watson shared how she remembered the exact moment she fell for Felton when they were still teenagers. "I walked into the room where we were having tutoring," she recalled. "The assignment that had been given was to draw what you thought God looked like, and Tom had drawn a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard. And I just don’t know how to say it—I just fell in love with him." They have not been involved romantically but have remained good friends.



 

5. Daniel Radcliffe's crush on Helena Bonham Carter

A lesser-known crush was Radcliffe's crush on Helena Bonham Carter. Radcliffe had written a note to Carter who played Bellatrix Lestrange. The note read: "Dear HBC, it was a pleasure being your co-star and coaster, in the sense that I always ended up holding your coffee. I do love you. And I just wish I'd been born 10 years earlier. I might've been in with a chance." The flirtatious turn in the note left Radcliffe slightly embarrassed but Carter joked that she had the note in her toilet.

Source: IMDb

6. The Goblet of Fire and the age of hormones

Not just Watson and Radcliffe, there was love in the air as the cast grew older. On the sets of Goblet of Fire, there were just as many love interests as there were onscreen. Radcliffe and Watson shared how they would ask each other for relationship advice. Grint called this a time when there were "a lot of hormones flying around." Matthew Lewis who played Neville Longbottom recalled, "There was crushes and people went out with each other and broke up."

Source: IMDb

7. Getting homework on set

The director of the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Alfonso Cuarón had a special assignment for the cast. He asked them to write an essay in character. Watson, in her full Hermoine form, submitted a 12-page essay. "Rupert didn’t deliver anything," Cuarón recalled. "He said, ‘Well I thought that Ron wouldn’t do it.'" Grint quipped, "Luckily Alfonso saw that it was very in character for me not to have done it."

Source: IMDb

8. How Ralph Fiennes became Voldemort

Fiennes plays the antagonist in the series. Much like Columbus' introduction to the series, Fiennes was introduced to the magical world thanks to his sister Martha's children. It was when they overheard him confide in their mom that he may not take the role, that they convinced their uncle that he just had to do it. He did end up taking the role and made it his own. He said with the character, he wanted to be "evil and otherworldly."

Source: IMDb

9. Emma Watson almost quit

At what seemed to be the peak of success, Watson almost quit the franchise. "I think I was scared," she recalled. "I don't know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, 'This is kind of forever now.' It was around the time of Order of the Phoenix when things started getting spicy for all of us. The fame thing had finally hit home–in a big way. No one had to convince me to see it through. The fans genuinely wanted me to succeed, and they all genuinely have each other's backs. How great is that?"

Source: IMDb