The scene that never made it: How Harry Potter films left out Gilderoy Lockhart’s details from the book

Harry Potter is a franchise that has fans across the board. The fantasy film series, which stemmed from J.K. Rowling's namesake books, gave rise to eight movies that ran between 2001 and 2011. One of the important characters in the series is Gilderoy Lockhart, who first appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and then in subsequent entries.

The character, played by Kenneth Branagh, is an author and a professor of defense against the dark arts at Hogwarts. He is one of the antagonists in the film. But the makers cut out one important scene that revealed major details about the character, which are mentioned in the book.

Harry Potter films removed a scene of Gilderoy Lockhart's fate

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart is one of the bad guys. However, the makers cut out an important scene of his in The Order of the Phoenix, which revealed his fate. Throughout the series, he projected himself as a brave professor who had done several heroic deeds. It turns out that he was lying, and he used to erase the memories of actual wizards and would take credit for their work.

In the Chamber of Secrets, he tries to do that to Harry as well as his friend Ron. But his magic backfires when he uses Ron's broken wand, and his memory ends up getting wiped out. The series never mentions what actually happened to him afterwards.

In the book, it's mentioned that Lockhart was admitted to St Mungo's Hospital after he was unfit to return to his normal life. In The Order of the Phoenix, Harry and Ron go to the hospital to see Arthur. Lockhart sees them but is not able to recognize anyone. But there was still a bit of arrogance in him as he recalled being famous and still knew how to sign his name in cursive. Ron felt bad for him, as it was his wand that caused this mess. However, Harry did not empathize with Lockhart's situation, as he wanted to wipe their memories. So he felt whatever happened to him was because of his own actions. The makers did not include this scene, which would have given a sense of closure to this character for the audience.

At the same hospital, Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione also see Neville Longbottom, who was there to see his parents. Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom when Neville was a kid, which affected their mental health.

More about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the directorial work of Chris Columbus, while Steve Kloves wrote the script. It was adapted from Rowling's namesake 1998 book and was a sequel to Philosopher's Stone. The movie ended up grossing $882.5 million at the box office.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) is the second movie in the series, set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite warnings from Dobby, Harry returns to the school, where mysterious attacks occur and a message warns of the Chamber's opening.

Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, investigates the legend of the Chamber, which is said to house a monster controlled by the Heir of Slytherin. Eventually, Harry comes face-to-face with the basilisk, defeats Tom Riddle, and saves Ginny Weasley.

The cast members include,