When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows premiered in theaters across the country, fans were thrilled to see the last installment of J.K. Rowling’s magical saga on the big screen. The final installment saw Harry as a veteran as he returned to Hogwarts to face a new generation of magical foes. The film ended with the iconic image of Harry Potter waving goodbye to his friends as the camera slowly panned out, revealing the bustling London street behind him.
Although the film was a culmination of 13 years of waiting, the audience knew there was more to come. The magical Harry Potter world has continued to evolve, thanks to the fan fiction and imagination of Potterheads around the world. While much of the magic that captivated audiences in the early 2000s has been kept under wraps, there have been a few small revelations about the making of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Robert Pattinson’s Vision
It was soon after filming wrapped on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that Robert Pattinson was named the new James Bond film. The Scottish actor was excited to be back in front of the camera, but there was one part he wasn’t looking forward to: filming the famous 007 shower scene. According to Pattinson, he felt that he wasn’t physically prepared for the intense stunt, which involved him having to remain fully submerged in a freezing shower for several minutes. To make matters worse, the water was actually freezing. The experience scared the actor so much that he suffered from anxiety for months afterward.
Luckily, the actor’s fears were unfounded. James Bond has continued to enjoy a steady film career, and the shower scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was rated the fourth sexiest in film history by Entertainment Weekly. Now, nearly a decade later, Pattinson reflects on the experience as a triumph. “I feel like I came out of that completely changed,” he said. “I was petrified to do that scene, but I did it, and I survived.”
A Whole New World Of Costumes
Another surprising bit of information about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came from its costume designer, Michael Curry. While designing the outfits for the famous kids, the adult patrons at the Leaky Cauldron, and other characters in-between, Curry revealed that he designed some of the costumes with the assistance of a teenage girl named Genevieve [wonderfulguy1]:
“I had a really good relationship with the director,” Curry said. “I think that because we were such good friends, it allowed us to have a really good collaboration and bounce off ideas and bounce ideas and bounce ideas. And I think that in the end, it made the costumes that little bit more special.”
The designers worked on the costumes for two years, traveling between London, Dublin, and other European cities to shoot various scenes. While the collaboration was a lot of fun, it also posed some challenges. One of the most time-consuming parts of the process was getting all the kids’ costumes dry-cleaned before and after each shooting day, as they started to smell a little bit like fish after a few hours. It took the crew a whole day to get all the costumes cleaned after a particularly long day of filming. And then there was the problem with the food stands. After several weeks of heavy filming, the popcorn and hot dogs that the crew brought from the set still hadn’t dried out, meaning they were literally wetting Curry’s costumes on the day of the shoot. He finally had to ask the production staff to let him borrow a t-shirt to cover up the offending outfits.
The Inspiration For Hagrid’s Scaly Costume
When it came time to design Hagrid’s costume for the film, Michael Curry drew inspiration from a variety of sources. One of the most notable items was a giant squid that he saw while diving in the Bahamas in early 2011. The designer flew back to London with the dead animal stuffed beneath his arm, intending to make it the centerpiece of his design. But when he got to his hotel, he found that his flight had been delayed by several hours, and the squid had spoiled.
Curry was still determined to make the costume, so he sketched out a design that placed a green felt hat on top of the squid’s head. While the squid served as inspiration for much of his design, most notably the hat and the tentacles, Curry drew further inspiration from a certain magical creature: the basilisk. This is a type of snake that is lethal in the sight of its glare, and so is Hagrid. Luckily for Curry, his friend and collaborator, Tracy Fisher, was traveling with him and helped to finish the design. As a bonus, Curry was able to use some of the leftover materials from the squid costume to create a headdress for Fisher’s character, Queenie. They both wore them at the same time in the season three premiere of “Dancing With the Stars.”
A Special Thanksgiving
One of the most touching scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows takes place in the orphanage, where Harry meets the children who will become his friends. While most of the kids are in their beds, the lights in the nursery are on, and the residents are watching a video of Harry’s parents speaking about them. During the video, the camera lingers on an angelic Madam Rosmerta, who cradles a small Harry in her arms and says gently, “You are a very special little boy.”
The video then cuts to Harry’s father, James, addressing the camera and speaking about their lost son. “You see,” James says, “They grow up so fast.”
After viewing the video, Rosmerta pulls Harry into her lap and gives him a warm hug. “Happy Thanksgiving, you little monster,” she says, and then plants a kiss on each cheek.
The scene is so intimate and sweet that many viewers might shed a tear or two. But the video wasn’t just showing us a sweet moment between two wonderful women and a young boy. It was also a special gift to the fans. This was a scene that the orphanage children had practiced for days, and it meant a lot to them, especially since it might be their last chance to connect with their old friends.
The Meaning Of “Hogwarts Is Magic”
After Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling’s signature phrase, “Hogwarts Is Magic,” took on a whole new significance. Up until then, the phrase had always been associated with the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the magic that existed within its walls. But in the wake of the film’s premiere, the phrase took on a whole new connotation: the magic that existed beyond the walls of Hogwarts itself—magic that fans created and continues to this day.
Hogwarts Is Magic became a hashtag on Twitter, with fans sharing their own magic creations and showing off their Hogwarts pride. And it wasn’t just a one-time thing. In the years since, the phrase has continued to have a special place in the hearts of Harry Potter fans around the world.