The Harry Potter movies gave us gorgeous scenery, amazing character designs, diverse magical creatures, and terrifying villains. The artists and filmmakers brought the Wizarding World to life with an unceasing dedication to creating a fantasy world unlike anything the audience knew.
Everything from the Hogwarts Castle to the werewolves and Dementors had to take fans away to an unfamiliar world.
However, the designs and visuals that made it into the final cut of the movies were not necessarily the best concepts out there. Many incredible designs were changed or cut because of reasons such as differing creative visions, technological challenges in the effects, and the time constraints of feature films.
Sometimes they left behind concept art that would have created poignant and beautiful scenes, different character depictions and roles, and stunning costume design and cinematography.
While many of the unused concept art designs are top-tier, there are also some that fall flat and were better off left behind and altered for the movies.
The art is often still amazing, but it does not quite match the effect the filmmakers needed to create. They took character, creature, and scene designs in the wrong direction for the tone and meaning that they were aiming for, and the final movie versions were a vast improvement.
By looking at both good and bad designs, fans can get a sense of how much tireless work went into creating these movies and making Hogwarts real for everyone.
Here are the 20 Best (And 10 Worst) Unused Harry Potter Concept Art Designs.
Best: Voldemort and Dumbledore’s Duel
There are few more dramatic sequences in the Harry Potter series than the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore at the Ministry of Magic.
The version of this duel in the movie was changed from the book, focusing on Voldemort throwing glass at Dumbledore and Harry.
Artist Adam Brockbank drew up some more book-accurate concepts that included the sequence where Dumbledore cast a rope of fire around Voldemort, which Voldemort then turned into a giant snake of fire.
This version of the scene would have been more dramatic with absolutely stunning visuals.
Best: Tonks
In addition to having her part cut for the movies, Tonks also did not get to show off much of her power as a Metamorphmagus, with most of the display of her ability confined to a single throwaway scene.
In this earlier design, Adam Brockbank created a version of Tonks that was closer to the image described in the books.
Her hair matches the short, spiky violet hair described from her first meeting with Harry, and her clothes are more eccentric and offbeat to match her unique personal style.
She also has two different-colored eyes to show off her metamorph abilities further.
Worst: House Elves
The house elves went through an extensive trial-and-error process as concept artists tried to figure out the look of the tragic servants of the Wizarding World.
Much of our initial sympathy and liking for Dobby in the movies stems from his childlike features, like his large, prominent eyes and rounded face, combined with dog-like features, like his droopy ears.
Many of these other designs for the house elves resemble either the features of an elderly man or an alien creature.
The final design for Dobby struck just the right balance to create an instinctive love for him.
Best: St. Mungo’s
Although it served an important role in the wizarding community, St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was never actually seen in the movies, but Adam Brockbank did create concept art for the magical hospital.
St. Mungo’s was supposed to be seen in Order of the Phoenix, likely in a scene following Nagini’s attack on Arthur Weasley.
The art shows not only the bustling hospital, but also house elves doing the grunt work around the building.
This could have also been a rare chance to see Neville’s parents, who were permanent residents of the hospital.
Best: Hogwart Giant Squid
Many stranger residents of Hogwarts were cut from the movies, among them the Hogwarts Giant Squid.
Adam Brockbank did include the unusual creature from the Black Lake in the concept art. The squid would have been a fun addition to add more color to Hogwarts in the films, as it was known to play with students and accept food from them.
The creature was supposed to appear in either Prisoner of Azkaban or Goblet of Fire, but it was cut from the final version.
Unfortunately, the squid joins the ranks of Peeves and several other well-known Hogwarts inhabitants in movie obscurity.
Worst: Mad-Eye Moody
Mad-Eye Moody went through several conceptual versions based on his description in the book. He was described as heavily scarred with a chunk of his nose missing and dark grey, grizzled hair.
The final version they landed on maintained some heavy scarring and a healed-over missing part of his nose.
This version of Mad-Eye takes his scarring a bit too far and also gives him a fresh wound on his nose, which would not make sense within the story.
His age was never revealed exactly in the books, but this version appears quite elderly. His character’s slight aging-down for movies makes more sense for the active role he takes in the story.
Best: Fenrir Greyback
Although the effects were usually outstanding in Harry Potter, there were some cases were the practical effects fell flat.
In the movies, Fenrir Greyback has a certain inhuman quality about him, but mostly is just much hairier than the average person.
The audience never gets to see him take his true monstrous werewolf form. This version of Greyback by Rob Bliss shows a truly animal version of the character, closer to beast than man.
He seems almost entirely wolf in his features with little of his human form still evident. This Greyback would have been a fearsome antagonist.
Best: Dementors
The terrifying Dementors are often the worst nightmare of the characters and the audience. Their wraith-like, faceless appearance creates a primal fear that is hard to resist.
This concept design, however, kicks that fear up a notch. Instead of a mysterious cloaked figure, this artists let us peer through the clock to reveal a skeletal figure.
The skeleton appearance sets the stage for their fatal powers.
The mysterious element of the cloak is still there, but cast aside more to show the intricate details of their bodies, which is somehow even more terrifying than the shrouded mystery.
Worst: Goblins
The filmmakers for the Harry Potter series had to decide on the final design for a host of species and creatures in the Wizarding World, and most of the important ones went through a few conceptual changes in the early stages.
This concept art shows an early attempt at goblins. It retains the same haughty air of the Gringotts goblins, but it is smaller, thinner, and mousier.
It resembles the final design for house elves a little too closely, as well.
Goblins need to appear formidable enough to set the other characters ill at ease about crossing them, and this early version does not have the same imposing appearance as the final version did.
Best: Death Eaters
The Death Eater costumes were always rather plain, consisting of standard black cloaks and simple bone masks or engraved metal masks.
One of Adam Brockbank’s early designs for the Death Eaters shows an entirely different picture.
Their cloaks are embellished and regal, reflecting the wealthy, pureblood wizards that are usually among the Death Eater ranks.
They are also individualized to the style of each member of Voldemort’s inner circle. The bone masks are far more intricate and cover more of the face and head.
In some of the designs, they even seem to have a more armored design that would better protect them in battle.
These Death Eaters are both threatening and gorgeous.
Best: Tonks Rescues Harry
Tonks never got her deserved place in the movies. She was shoved aside and barely present for most of the series, her role in the story either cut or replaced with other characters.
In one instance, Draco attacked Harry and left him incapacitated on the Hogwarts Express.
It was supposed to be Tonks who rescued him from being sent back to London on the train, but this role was given to Luna Lovegood in the movies.
However, a video game was already in development based on the movie using the original book version, as shown in this art by Ross Dearsley.
The game was changed to match the movie, but the concept remains.
Worst: Troll Tapestry
Technically, this tapestry is book accurate. It still does not stop this tapestry from being insanely, disturbingly strange, though.
This concept design shows a moving tapestry that hung across the Room of Requirement, depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to train eight trolls to dance ballet.
Although the book did paint a mental picture of the tapestry, there’s nothing quite like seeing the concept art actually bring it to life, even if it’s a sight you could have gone your entire life without seeing.
This is one thing that may have been better off cut from the movie.
Best: Grawp
Grawp was a difficult challenge for the filmmakers, as they had to contend with bringing a full giant to life on the screen.
The final version of Grawp resembled an energetic child in both behavior and appearance.
Adam Brockbank created an alternate design for Grawp in which he appeared older and larger, more fitting for the form of a giant the filmmakers used through the rest of the series.
In this piece, he depicts a particularly sweet moment with Grawp offering Hermione flowers, showing a more friendly relationship developing between the two of them.
Best: Black Lake Ruins
In this concept art design by Adam Brockbank, the Black Lake challenge in Goblet of Fire contained a much more mystical element, featuring the mysterious Black Lake ruins.
Along with the grindylows and merpeople, the Blake Lake also housed ancient-looking remnants of past construction. The ruins in the final movie were towering and algae covered.
Brockbank’s design is more intricate and inviting, giving us a further glimpse at the complex society of the merpeople in the Black Lake.
A closer look at these strange ruins would have been a highlight of the Black Lake sequence.
Worst: Cloaked Dementor
Dementors often seem to resemble the Grim Reaper, but this concept design takes the Reaper look a step further.
Instead of the light, torn wraith cloak, the Dementors are shrouded in a heavy fabric that they carry folded closely around them. Their long hoods completely obscure their faces, and their arms folded into the sleeves hide their skeletal hands.
It leaves their appearance a total mystery.
In the process of completely shrouding them, though, it betrays the terror created by their inhuman features. They also seem to walk along the ground, again betraying their supernatural quality.
These Dementors look too solid, grounded, and human to create the same fear.
Best: Harry Blocks The Dementor Boggart
The introduction of the Dementors in Prisoner of Azkaban gave concept artists a lot to play with as they decided exactly what the formidable creatures would look like.
This concept by Dermot Power shows a Dementor in between the final version and the earlier skeletal concepts, with the skeletal form only visible when lit by the Patronus charm.
The Patronus also looks different in this image, resembling a bolt of lightning that only turns into a shield right in front of the Dementor.
It’s a beautiful image that evokes so much of the terror of the Dementors and the determination of Harry Potter.
Best: Giants
With the exceptions of half-giant Hagrid and small-sized giant Grawp, giants are not clearly shown in the series until the Battle of Hogwarts, where they showed up to fight for Voldemort’s army.
When the giants were finally revealed, they looked more like ogres or orcs than the giants one might expect.
Early concept art by Adam Brockbank shows a variety of alternate designs for the giants that are leaner with more toned muscle, looking more like extremely large humans than a radically different species.
The giants also have more unique detail, such as the necklace of skulls and tattoos on their skin.
Worst: Hungarian Horntail
The Hungarian Horntail is considered one of the most dangerous dragon breeds in the world, but this concept art falls a little short of the expectation of a formidable dragon.
The Hungarian Horntail is also supposed to have a lizard-like appearance, which the artist strayed from.
The head of this design doesn’t look close to the dragon we see in the movie, as its bulkiness makes the dragon too adorable.
It could easily be a huggable stuffed animal. Fortunately, this artist kept changing up the design until they ended up creating one of the scariest dragons in existence.
Best: Aragog
Aragog continued the fantasy genre tradition of giant, man-eating spiders that will haunt everyone’s nightmares for years to come.
Unfortunately, the audience’s one look at Aragog in Chamber of Secrets was shrouded in darkness. Aragog also crawled out of a pit, barely showing off his massive size.
This concept by Dermot Power shows Aragog at his full might, towering over Harry, lit to show his horrifying features in intricate detail.
If the filmmakers were looking to give generations of children a terrible case of arachnophobia, this would have been the scene to do it.
Best: Tonks and Lupin at Christmas
Harry Potter and his friends never got many happy memories through the course of the series. Sweeter times were usually skipped over in the movies in favor of more serious and dramatic advances in the story.
Christmas was one of the few exceptions, and this concept by Adam Brockbank gives us a sweet moment at Christmas involving Remus Lupin and Tonks.
Not only does it lighten the mood of a dark movie, but it also gives us a little bit more time with Lupin and Tonks, who were present in the series so little leading up to their untimely ends.
This would have been a rare chance to see the two of them together.
