When watching the Creating the World of Harry Potter series, I noticed some of the behind the scenes clips used in the documentaries were scenes that were not present in the films. I was intrigued and started researching the deleted scenes from the first movie.
As in any movie, a lot of scenes end up on the cutting-room floor, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is no exception. Most commonly known are the deleted scenes that are available to watch on the DVD and Blu-ray Special Features disc. Extended Editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets have been released with these scenes cut back into the film. The extended versions can be found on the Wizard's Collection, Hogwarts Collection and the Ultimate Editions.
As mentioned previously, I found some small deleted clips from the Creating the World of Harry Potter series. I also watched other behind the scenes documentaries created in 2001 to recover additional clips not included in the movie.
While researching this topic, I came across the script for the film. I believe this is the official script as the small clips from the documentaries were all included in it.
In this post, I am going to go through every deleted and unreleased scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that I was able to find.
Privet Drive
The first cut scene is in Privet Drive, where we meet Harry living under the stairs. In the script, we find that on Dudley's birthday, the conversation between uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia and Dudley was a bit longer than in the movie.
The scene takes place when Dudley realises that he only got 36 present, which was less than he got the year before. Dudley starts opening his presents after being reassured that he will get more gifts. He breaks his toys at once, showing no care for them. Petunia receives a phone call telling her that Mrs Figg is unable to watch over Harry as she has broken her leg. The Dursleys reluctantly decide that Harry could come with them to the zoo.
On the Blu-ray, there is an In-Movie-Experience version of the film. This is an interactive version of the film where the director, Chris Columbus, talks about behind the scenes secrets, you get storyboard comparisons and still galleries.
In the scene where Harry gets the warning from Uncle Vernon before they go to the zoo, we get to compare the storyboards with the film. The storyboard shows us that the conversation originally was going to take place inside the car. The script confirms this.
On a Behind the Scenes B Roll video, we can see that they filmed an alternate line in the scene after the zoo. From the clip, we can hear uncle Vernon say “What are you gonna say for yourself?”, while in the movie he says “What happened?”
The next scene is a deleted scene found on the home media release. This scene shows Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia proudly taking pictures of Dudley in his new Smeltings School Uniform. Harry wonder's if he has to wear a uniform like that when he goes to Smeltings, but then gets laughed at for even thinking he would be allowed to go there. Aunt Petunia says he will go to the State School and that he is going to wear Dudley's old uniform. At the end of this scene, he is told to get the post, which leads to the iconic scene when Harry receives his first letter.
From a Behind the Scenes clip, we can see director Chris Columbus film a scene where Vernon and Petunia burn a letter with a gas jet while Harry watches and screams to make them stop. This scene was supposed to be the start of the montage we see in the movie of Vernon destroying the letters in different ways.
The montage was supposed to end with the deleted scene of Petunia cracking eggs, only to find Harry’s letters inside them. This scene comes from the Special Features disc on DVD and Blu-ray.
Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express
On their way to Diagon Alley Hagrid and Harry rides the tube, as seen on this deleted scene. Here they discuss Hagrid’s love for dragons.
Harry was supposed to shake hands with Dedalus Diggle in the Leaky Cauldron. In the first book, Dedalus Diggle bowed to Harry while he was out shopping with the Dursleys. The clip below is from a scene rehearsal because we see that Daniel Radcliffe is not wearing glasses.
After getting his wand from Ollivanders, Harry and Hagrid sit down in the Leaky Cauldron. Here they talk about Voldemort killing Harry's parents and why he is The Boy Who Lived. In Behind the Scenes clips, we hear some cut dialogue from this conversation about Hagrid explaining to Harry that he was the one who rescued him after Voldemort tried to kill him.
In the same scene, we get a flashback of Voldemort killing Harry's parents. Originally the flashback of James and Lily's death was supposed to be extended and be very similar to the flashback in the Deathly Hallows book. This early version of the script comes from the Harry Potter Page to Screen book. In this version, we get Voldemort (the Hooded Man) walking into Godric's Hollow where he encounters a Vampire named Brian on the way to Harry's house. We also get a glimpse at Harry and Lily having fun on Halloween. The scene ends with Voldemort standing in their garden, ready to attack them.
In the picture below, we see Harry staring nervously at a Gringotts Goblin. This scene is not included in the movie. However, if you look very closely, you can see the Gringotts Goblin when Harry and Hagrid steps inside Gringotts Bank. From the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Trading Card, we learn that the goblin in the scarlet and gold uniform is a Gringotts Guard, whose job is to watch over the comings and goings of the people entering Gringotts.
When Harry is looking for Platform 9 & 3/4 at King's Cross Station, the Weasley's help him get through the secret barrier between platform 9 and 10. In the movie, we get a shot of Harry looking in awe at the Hogwarts Express before it cuts to him sitting in a compartment alone. However, in the script, there are more dialogue and scenes on the platform and the train. We get to meet Neville before they board the train, and he has already lost his pet toad Trevor. Lee Jordan, Fred and George's friend, shows off his tarantula to other students. Fred and George help Harry getting his trunk stoved away for the journey and gives him a helping hand. After realising that he is the famous Harry Potter, they tell Mrs Weasley and Ginny who they helped get onto the platform. After hearing this Ginny want to see him again, but Mrs Weasley says that Harry isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Right before the train is about to leave, Mrs Weasley tells the twins to look after Ron and to behave. When the train is leaving the platform, Ginny runs after it to wave to her brothers.
Some dialogue between Harry and Ron are not present in the film. In the script, Harry asks about Ron's family and we get to know that his mother's second cousin was an accountant (probably meaning that he was a squib or a muggle) and that he is the sixth in his family to go to Hogwarts.
Hermione enters the carriage when Ron is about to do magic on Scabbers. In the script, she recognises Harry before she mends his glasses and talks about everything she has read about Harry in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century. She also mentions that she hopes to be put in Gryffindor because that's Dumbledore's house and that she does not want to be sorted in Slytherin because of its ties to You-Know-Who.
Hermione’s line “He’s rather disagreeable, isn’t he?” was on a TV Spot as well as a Harry Potter Look Back trailer for Deathly Hallows Part 2. The line is a comment to Ron after Draco offers his friendship to Harry and disrespects Ron’s family.
Start-of-Term Feast
The Start-of-Term Feast begins with the first years being lead into the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall. They filmed an additional shot of her walking towards the camera. When we get to see the Great Hall for the first time in the movie, it is shot from behind, and Professor McGonagall and the students walk away from the camera.
In this clip, we can see that Dumbledore was supposed to deliver his famous speech: “Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”. The Sorting Hat was also supposed to talk to the first years about the sorting process.
Thanks to PeterHP and vegas395 for sharing this clip with me.
The students then get sorted, take their places alongside their new housemates and the feast begins. Harry, Ron and Hermione get introduced to Nearly Headless Nick and the other Hogwarts Ghosts. Dumbledore then stands up and gives his speech about the third-floor corridor being out of bounds.
This speech has a few lines cut from the movie. The cut lines "No magic is to be used between the classes in the corridors" and "And most importantly of all" can be heard in the Theatrical Trailer and the Lessons TV Spot.
If you have watched the movie countless times, you probably recognise that this is not how it occurs in the film. That is because some of the scenes were moved around in post-production. In the movie, Dumbledore's speech about the third-floor corridor takes place before the students get sorted. It is to be believed that they shot the scene as it is in the script, because in the theatrical trailer when Dumbledore says "The third-floor corridor is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death" we see Harry and Ron looking at each other in surprise. This little clip is described in the script. However, as they moved this scene around, they had to use another reaction shot of Harry and Ron looking confused.
Scene from the movie
Scene from the Theatrical Trailer
In the script we can read that all the teachers and students sing the Hogwarts School Song after Dumbledore’s speech. This picture shows the teachers standing up to sing the school song.
Peeves the Poltergeist
After the feast, Percy leads the first years to the Gryffindor Tower. In the Theatrical Trailer, we get to see a deleted shot of them walking in a corridor.
The script includes a scene where Percy and the first years meet Peeves the Poltergeist and he trows walking sticks at them.
Rik Mayall was cast to play Peeves the Poltergeist in the movie. In an interview he explained that he filmed his scenes, but got a phone call three weeks later telling him that he was cut from the film. According to Rik, he couldn’t be on set with the kids because they would break out laughing when he did his voice for Peeves. Chris Rankin has also said in his interview with Vegard (video is found later in this article) that they filmed the students’ side of the interaction, meaning that this scene was filmed in its entirety.
In an interview with EW, Chris Columbus said this about Peeves: “We needed to cut something because the film was close to three hours. He was going to be a completely CGI character and that saved us a considerable amount of money, but also created a considerable amount of heartbreak. The footage exists so there’s the potential that someday we could put it back together if people really were that interested.” In another article from EW, Columbus is quoted having said: “Compared to a complex character like Dobby - he’s funny, but he’s also a tragic figure - Peeves is more of a one-note guy, and comedy doesn’t translate so well through CGI. Peeves was really Rik’s creation. He managed to tap into that character on the page, so we didn’t feel comfortable just recreating Rik as a CGI character. It felt like we were taking the soul away from Peeves.”
It seems like they cut Peeves from the film due to money and time constraints, however as Chris Columbus stated that the footage of Peeves still exists it would be great if Warner Bros. could release this scene to the public.
Consept Art of Peeves the Poltergeist
Photo of Rik Mayall as Peeves (fan-made)
In an interview with Vegard where they talk about behind the scenes secrets from the Harry Potter movies, Chris Rankin revealed that they filmed an extended Trevor scene with Percy. After telling the first years that their belongings have been moved to their dormitories, he asks if they have any questions. Neville then raises his hand, asking if anyone has seen his toad, at which point Percy pulls out Trevor from his pocket.
Classes, Halloween and Quidditch
The scene where Harry sits by the window with Hedwig the first night at Hogwarts is quiet and beautiful. Harry is smiling to himself, full of emotions, happy to find himself far away from the life he had previously. However, in the script, this scene is quite different. Harry was supposed to be twitching and turning while sleeping because he is dreaming about the night his parents died.
Before the Transfiguration class, Harry and Ron get lost and discuss how many staircases there are at Hogwarts. Hermione passes and tells them that according to A History of Magic, there are one hundred forty-two staircases and Ron shows his dislike for the know-it-all after she is out of earshot.
A deleted scene on the home media release shows us the extended version of Snape’s potions class. In this scene, Professor Snape provides the answers to the questions he asks Harry. Gryffindor also looses five house points because of Harry’s remarks to Snape.
A picture of Harry and Ron looking at the House Point Hourglasses was featured in a magazine to advertise the DVD release of the movie. When looking at the hourglasses, Gryffindor gain points while Slytherin loses points. This shot was supposed to come before the scene where Seamus tries to turn his water into rum.
The Charms Class, where the students learn Wingardium Levoisa, had some more dialogue for Professor Flitwick. He mentions Wizard Baruffio, who ended up with a buffalo on his chest, as an example of how bad it can go if they don’t remember to enunciate.
During the Halloween Feast, professor McGonagall approaches Harry to ask if he is feeling alright. She is concerned that it could be a difficult night for him because of what happened on Halloween ten years earlier. This little scene would be great to have in the movie as it shows McGonagall caring for Harry.
On the Behind the Scenes B-Roll, we can hear a line of dialogue that does not appear in the film when Ron tell Harry how the Troll smells like Fred’s socks, only worse.
In the Theatrical Trailer, we see Hermione hiding from the Troll in a broken toilet stall. This exact shot is not in the movie.
This deleted scene shows Harry, Ron and Hermione talking about how Hermione got them out of trouble by lying to the teachers. This is a great little scene showing them become friends.
An extended version of the Quidditch match is found in the script. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Seamus has made a banner that reads POTTER FOR PRESIDENT. Angelina Johnson tells Harry that Marcus Flint is part Troll before the match begins and Lee Jordan’s commentary is more like the books where he commentates how good looking the Gryffindor girls are. When Harry’s broom is jinxed, Fred and George circle under Harry in case he is going to falls of his broom. After catching the Snitch, Marcus Flint is fuming because Harry caught it with his mouth. Hermione tells him that according to the Quidditch rulebook, there is nothing wrong with catching it that way.
In 2001 Warwick Davis was interviewed by The Commercial Appeal and he said that they filmed a whole section of Professor Flitwick watching the Quidditch match. Read the full interview here.
Although Davis isn’t onscreen much in Harry Potter, he said he worked for 28 days in makeup on the set. “They always shoot way much more than is in the movie. There’s a whole section of me watching the Quidditch match that’s gone. I’m sure you’ll see some of it in some sort of director’s cut on DVD.”
Found in the Teaser Trailer is a deleted shot of Hagrid walking with Harry, Ron and Hermione after the Quidditch match. In this scene, they find out that the three-headed dog is named Fluffy.
Mirror of Erised and Nicolas Flamel
The scene on Christmas Day when Harry and Ron wake up to presents was supposed to be a bit different. In the script, Harry and Ron wake up with packages at their beds, while in the movie, they are placed in the Gryffindor Common Room. Not seen in the film is Harry getting a wooden flute from Hagrid. It is to be believed that they filmed him getting the flute, as there is a picture of him holding it (you will find it later in this post).
This deleted scene shows Harry sitting by the fire in the Great Hall at Christmas, lost in thought about the Mirror of Erised. Ron comes over to Harry to try to get his mind of the mirror, but he is not interested in doing any of the activities Ron suggests.
Harry and Dumbledore’s conversation about the Mirror of Erised was extended, as seen in the Behind the Scenes B-Roll and script. In the clip, we hear Dumbledore telling Harry “I do not need a cloak to be invisible” and Harry asking him what he sees in the mirror. However, the clip ends before Dumbledore answer. But if we look in the script, we find that he replies “I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks. One can never have enough socks, Harry. You’ll do well to remember that as well”.
This deleted scene shows Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting in the Great Hall. Harry and Hermione study for the exams while Ron plays with his Chocolate Frog Cards. Ron gets angry when he gets Dumbledore again. Harry picks up the card and finds out that Dumbledore is known for his work with the famous alchemist Nicolas Flamel. At the same time, Neville comes jumping into the Great Hall after being hit by a leg-locker curse.
The next scene has the trio sitting in the library researching Nicolas Flamel. In the Behind the Scenes B-Roll, we get to hear additional dialogue not included in the movie. Harry says this before the clip ends: “So Flamel knows someone’s after the Stone, gives it to Dumbledore to keep safe at Hogwarts…”. Reading the script, we find the full conversation. The trio discusses that the one that’s after the Stone, Professor Snape, is at the school, something Flamel and Dumbledore did not expect. Hermione is troubled that Professor Snape tried to kill Harry during the Quidditch match, meaning he is not only after the Stone but has other intentions as well.
There is some additional dialogue in the scene where Professor McGonagall punishes the Golden Trio and Malfoy for being out of bed at night. McGonagall talks about how everybody knows that dragon-breeding is against the law and that it will be a big problem if they have a thirty-foot Ukrainian Ironbelly running around. Ron intervenes to say that Hagrid hasn’t got a Ukrainian Ironbelly but a Norwegian Ridgeback. Professor McGonagall then fires back that whatever dragon Hagrid has adopted and its consequences are between him and Professor Dumbledore. The rest of the scene is in the movie.
Through the Trapdoor
On the Third Floor Corridor, right before the entrance to Fluffy, the trio meets Peeves. He is floating around mumbling and juggling apples. Harry, Ron and Hermione are under the Invisibility Cloak, but Peeves knows that someone is there and calls to them. He throws an apple and Harry catches it in mid-air and hides it under the cloak. Peeves do not like this and fly away. Right before they go through the door where Fluffy is, Ron takes a bite out of the apple that makes Harry and Hermione jump in fright.
This picture shows Harry holding the flute he got from Hagrid as a Christmas present. He brought it with him in his pocket in case he needed to play music to make Fluffy fall asleep.
In this Behind the Scenes clip, we see the director, Chris Columbus, going through the Chess Scene with Dan, Emma and Rupert. We hear a cut line from Ron: “Now don’t be offended or anything, but neither of you are particularly good at chess.”.
In the script, Quirrel talks to Harry about Snape and James rivalry and how they hated each other. He also mentions that Snape tried to protect Harry because James saved Snape’s life once.
At the End-of-Term feast, Harry, Ron and Hermione discuss them finding the Stone. They wonder if Dumbledore planned for them to get the Stone. Harry talk to Professor McGonagall about Snape and Harry’s father and why Snape saved Harry that year. Ron comments that now Snape finally can go back to hate Harry in peace, but McGonagall reminds him that no Hogwarts teacher hates their students.
That was every deleted and unreleased scene I was able to find from the Philosopher’s Stone movie. I hope you found this post helpful as it took a long time to research and write. If I have missed some scenes, please share it in the comment section. I am planning to do this for every movie, so stay tuned!