The Harry Potter series is one of the most visually stunning film series always made. The films brought J.K. Rowling'south intricate fantasy earth to life on screen. The Harry Potter films are designed in a way to take fans abroad from reality to the wizarding world that lives in secret alongside the muggle world.

From the lavish medieval design of Hogwarts to the dark iconography of Voldemort and his followers, the wizarding world of the films painted a movie of something both nostalgic and unfamiliar. The films introduced fans to the faces of beloved graphic symbol and the now-familiar appearances of creatures like business firm elves, Dementors, and hippogriffs.

However, the magical world did not always look like the finished designs from the movies. Concept artists worked with a range of ideas for the look of various facets of the movies, from Decease Eaters to Dementors. They drew upwards unused designs for familiar film characters and characters that never made it into the movies. These artists even worked on designs for entire scenes that viewers never saw in the films.

These concept art designs reveal a much darker and more terrifying picture of the Harry Potter movies and prove the potential for emotionally heavy moments that never made it on screen.

Here are the 20 Harry Potter Concept Art Designs Meliorate Than What We Got.

20 The Death Eaters

The Expiry Eaters, Voldemort's ring of fanatic followers, fabricated terrifying antagonists in the various visually menacing designs used in the films. Death Eaters adorned several costumes, from a Ku Klux Klan blazon of pointed hood to dark cloaks with bone masks to full-face skull-inspired masks. Their uniform pattern, marching in numbers with disguised faces, e'er presented an adrenaline-raising threat when they appeared.

This unused design for the Expiry Eaters made for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Burn adds something actress to Voldemort's nighttime regular army. This design features ornate, detailed, armor-like cloaks combined with strange skull masks that do appear quite human, a look that seems more at home in Star Wars than in Harry Potter's world. The otherworldly, ghoulish feel of this blueprint makes the Expiry Eaters an even more frightening ground forces to dorsum upward Voldemort.

19 The Hogwarts Giant Squid

The wizarding earth contains many creatures that never appeared on screen. One such fauna is the Hogwarts Giant Squid, an enormous, semi-domesticated squid that lived in Hogwarts' Black Lake. The squid made a few appearances in the books, interacting with students by helping them, playing with them, and even taking food from Hermione and other students.

The giant squid never appeared in whatsoever Harry Potter movie, only an early draft had the squid brand a brief appearance in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as Harry flew Buckbeak over the Black Lake.

This concept design from the movie shows the squid's appearance that never made information technology to filming. Although it would have merely been a brief moment, the squid'southward appearance here with Hogwarts in the background would take made a stunning scene.

18 Riding an Occamy

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander's adventures introduced fans to a variety of gorgeous new creatures, from the ambrosial Bowtruckle to the cute just dangerous Swooping Evil. Several of these creatures acquired trouble in Fantastic Beasts, including an Occamy that escaped Scamander's suitcase.

The occamy design was interesting enough in the movie, which showcased its ability to grow and shrink to fit available space. Scamander and company's attempts to trap the enormous escaped occamy in a teapot was one of the best uses of the new creatures in the movie.

Although the pattern of the occamy is like to the final result in this artwork, this concept design takes the creature's office a step further past showing someone riding a flying occamy, which would accept been an interesting addition to Scamander'southward adventures with his New York friends.

17 Christmas with Remus and Tonks

All of the movies have shown Harry's Christmas celebrations, normally at Hogwarts, simply occasionally with the Weasley family and his friends from the Order of the Phoenix. In Harry Potter and the One-half-Claret Prince, Harry spent Christmas at the Burrow with the Weasley family unit.

Remus and Tonks are too shown to exist there in a curt scene where they discuss the ongoing plot Draco and Snape are involved in to assassinate Dumbledore. The Christmas scene has a serious tone in line with the dark events transpiring at Hogwarts.

This concept art portrays the holiday celebration slightly differently, showing a more light-hearted scene with the Weasleys, Remus, and Tonks gathered around the Christmas tree in a more celebratory atmosphere. Although information technology may not have matched the tone of the remainder of the motion-picture show, a scene like this would have shown a few more happy moments for Harry and his friends and provided a little more screen time for Remus and Tonks.

16 The Giants

The giants had a complicated office in Harry Potter lore. They were feared creatures who allied with Voldemort in both the Offset and Second Wizarding Wars. The epic Battle of Hogwarts included many giants on the side of the Decease Eaters attacking Hogwarts forces, merely the series also showed beloved half-giant Hagrid and his half-blood brother Grawp who sided with Hogwarts during the terminal battle.

The concluding design of giants was burly and ogre-like, but that was not the but design in consideration. Other concept art designs reveal how the giants could have looked.

This design shows a giant that more closely resembles a human and seems to article of clothing trophies of past victories. This lean, muscular, tattooed pattern with a necklace of human skulls would have been a compelling visual in the Battle of Hogwarts.

fifteen The Black Lake Crypt

In the 2nd challenge of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry had to dive into the Black Lake for an 60 minutes to rescue his friend captured for the purpose of the claiming.

Over the course of the challenge, Harry had to face the grindylows and merpeople that reside in the lake while trying not to drown. The Black Lake seen in the film appears to be by and large open space with some of the merpeople's structures in the background.

This concept art for the second challenge shows Harry exploring an area of the Black Lake not seen in the motion picture. He swims through a low, enclosed crypt, nigh likely abode to merpeople, as the looming shadow of a mermaid with glowing eyes would show.

This setting would have added a certain intensity past giving a more claustrophobic feeling to Harry's journey into the mysterious Black Lake.

14 Sleigh Ride

With so much material from the books to work with, the creators of the Harry Potter films had difficult decisions well-nigh what would brand information technology into the films and would would exist cut. Concept artists worked upwardly designs for scenes that never even made it to filming, such as this cut sleigh ride scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

This scene would accept been a festive add-on to the pic'southward Christmas holiday scenes that were otherwise devoted to Hermione finishing the polyjuice potion so the trio could question Draco Malfoy about whether he was the heir of Slytherin.

Unfortunately, the scene was cut earlier it fifty-fifty began filming, so the concept pattern is the only version of the winter holiday scene that fans will become to see.

13 Dementors

Dementors are arguably the most bone-chilling creatures in the entire Harry Potter series, both literally and figuratively. Dementors are soul-sucking creatures that feed on happy memories.

Wizards are frequently alerted to their presence past a feeling of despair and the common cold and ice forming in the Dementor's vicinity. The Dementors' picture design resembled a wraith, with long, ragged cloaks that usually obscured their faces except for their soul-feeding mouths.

Artists worked on diverse designs for the best way to strike terror into the hearts of the characters and the fans. One design shows a skeletal effigy only barely obscured past the cloak, making the Dementor's association with death and despair even more credible.

Another early on pattern shows a more covered and less wraith-like figure, more than resembling the Grim Reaper. Either of these renderings of the Dementors would have fabricated a horrifying spectre in the film.

12 Business firm Elves

Dobby, Kreacher, and the other house elves are now familiar sights in the wizarding earth equally the overworked, underappreciated, and surprisingly powerful servants of wizards.

House elves are enslaved and often mistreated by their masters who can only costless them past presenting them with clothes. These driveling creatures are made more sympathetic by the presence of Dobby, whose ambrosial appearance and unwavering loyalty is hard not to love.

Several other concept designs were considered for the business firm elves, working with the shape of the head and body for the best results. Some of the designs even change the house elves' colour, making them blue or light-green.

These early on house elves are perhaps more than believable every bit the mistreated and ignored servants of wizards, as they are less kid-like and more than reptilian than Dobby's final design.

11 Nagini'southward Transformation

Nagini's surprise assault on Harry while disguised every bit Bathilda Bagshot is one of the most agonizing scenes in the series. Nagini was put into Bathilda's body to lure Harry into a trap where he could be held for Voldemort.

In the picture version, later Nagini had lured Harry abroad from his friends, the visage of Bathilda disappeared under her cloak and Nagini slithered out of the empty cloak.

However, the concept fine art for this scene shows an even more horrifying version of the transformation inspired past the volume. Nagini emerged from the still-intact trunk of Bathilda in what would take been a scene to actually brand viewers' pare crawl.

In the stop, the filmmakers went with a less graphic version that explained less and left more than to the imagination, just there's little doubt this version of the scene would have been a horrific sight to behold.

x The Obscurus

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them focused heavily on the Obscurus, a highly destructive manifestation of repressed magic that appears when young magical children are forced to repress their magic through corruption.

An Obscurus volition attack those who crusade the magical kid distress. Newt Scamander had an Obscurus in his suitcase that he managed to keep alive and contain afterwards the Obscurial girl died.

This Obscurus in the film was a mysterious floating, black brawl of ether. Nevertheless, the creators considered another design for the Obscurus. This Obscurus is a different shape, probably independent in a more rigid box-shaped field.

The Obscurus seems to have a screaming face inside of it, presumably the face of the host still expressing its distress even afterward the expiry of the Obscurial. It is a haunting pattern for an entity created through someone'due south pain.

9 Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore

Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore was one of many ghosts to inhabit the Hogwarts castle, much to the entertainment of the Hogwarts students. Delaney-Podmore was beheaded in circumstances that are not revealed.

As a ghost, he was in charge of the Headless Chase and strictly demanded participants must exist completely headless to join. This rule fix him against Nigh Headless Nick, who could not participate and called him Sir Properly-Decapitated Podmore.

Delaney-Podmore appears in a few scenes in the books, merely he never makes an appearance in the movies. The films innovate only a small quantity of the Hogwarts ghosts, merely concept art from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets reveals that Sir Patrick was almost included in the films along with his frequently recurring rival Nearly Headless Nick.

8 The Lestrange Vault

The Lestrange family vault at Gringotts contains all manner of mysterious objects. In the motion picture, the vault notably independent a Horcrux in the grade of the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, a copy of the sword of Godric Gryffindor (though information technology one time contained the 18-carat item), and various gold objects enchanted to multiply whenever a would-be thief tried to impact them.

In the volume, the vault contained a variety of odd items, such as the skins of giant creatures, armor, potions, and a skull wearing a crown. This concept for the Lestrange vault draws inspiration from the book for an even stranger detail -- an unabridged gilt and jewel-crusted skeleton wearing a crown and other lavish jewelry.

This particular'due south inclusion in the vault would take created even more questions virtually its origin, though such an odd item would feel correct at home in the Lestrange vault.

seven Inferi

Harry Potter has had to face many magical creatures throughout his adventures, but few as terrifying or overwhelming as the Inferi that guard the Horcrux in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This regular army of reanimated corpses was said to have killed Regulus Blackness.

When Harry and Dumbledore attempted to have the Horcrux, an regular army of Inferi came upwards out of the water to assault them. Harry was dragged underwater and well-nigh killed by one of them before existence saved by Dumbledore'southward powerful magic.

The Inferi shown in the film are plentiful, but sparsely dispersed in the lake. This concept art shows a more spooky scene of Harry being overtaken by a literal swarm of Inferi, posing a clear dire threat to Harry. In this scene, it is unsurprising that Harry required Dumbledore'due south assistance to get free of the army of the expressionless.

vi Mermen

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry encounters the pilus-raising colony of mermaids on second task in the Triwizard Tournament. The mermaids in the Blackness Lake threatened and attacked Harry when he tried to take more than one of the people imprisoned underwater for the champions to save.

The mermaids are scary plenty, scarcely resembling anything human, just the concept design for the male person of the species is even more than so.

The mermen were designed to have the aforementioned wild hair as the mermaids, just they seem to accept a more animalistic face up and trunk design. Mermaids already draw heavily on the await of a fish or an eel, but the mermen resemble the sea creatures almost entirely. They would take added significantly to the terror of the mermaid attack in the Black Lake had they been included.

five Dumbledore Duels Voldemort

The duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort is the perfect dramatic climax to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the film version of the duel, Voldemort cast a serpent made of burn down at Dumbledore, which Dumbledore defeated. Dumbledore the trapped Voldemort inside an orb of h2o.

Voldemort then broke the glass effectually him and threw it at Dumbledore and Harry before possessing Harry.

This concept art shows a slightly different version of the duel, where Dumbledore casts a rope of burn down effectually Voldemort. This is an adaption of the book version of the duel, where Dumbledore bandage this rope and Voldemort turned information technology into the fiery snake.

The concept of the duel may have been closer to the book in early versions of the script, including this interesting visual and perhaps extending Dumbledore's role in the boxing.

4 Fenrir Greyback

Fenrir Greyback'south malevolent appearance as a werewolf working for Voldemort made for a few horrifying scenes in the films, though Greyback's interest in the films was very small compared to the books. The films did not delve into his attacks on Remus Lupin and Neb Weasley, and only a wanted affiche explained that Greyback is a werewolf.

Dave Legeno did go through a lot to play Fenrir Greyback for the movies, including having animate being hair fastened to him to create Greyback's hairy appearance. However, the film version pales in comparison to this spooky concept art showing a more wolf-like Greyback.

The Greyback of the movies is conspicuously hairier and possesses sharper teeth than a normal human, but this concept design would take hardly resembled a homo, showing more than of Greyback's vicious brute side.

3 Tonks

Nymphadora Tonks was shown very footling in the Harry Potter films, but she was ever a noticeable presence. In her last design, she commonly had shoulder-length purple hair and night eyes. Every bit she was a Metamorphmagus, able to alter her advent at volition, she had a few different looks in the movies and a wider range of appearances in the books.

In this early concept blueprint for Tonks, she makes a striking effigy with short, spiky, deep royal hair and unmatched green and purple eyes. Her clothes are more distinctive from the designs of other characters than they are in the films.

She would take been fifty-fifty harder to miss in her scenes with this character blueprint, though it probably would not have changed her underutilized presence in the films.

2 Dumbledore's Funeral

In the film version of Harry Potter and the One-half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore'south funeral is never seen. The film's manager fabricated the decision to cutting the scene because it did not piece of work with the other scenes revolving around Dumbledore's death. He felt the funeral fabricated the catastrophe less about the man Dumbledore was and more about the ceremony.

The emotional scene was never filmed for the moving picture, simply concept fine art shows what the funeral would have looked like if the scene had ever made information technology to the screen. Most of the remaining beloved characters are in omnipresence, including Hagrid, Remus, Tonks, and Moody.

Maybe cut this scene made for a better cinematic catastrophe, but at that place is picayune doubt this would accept been a tear-jerking scene for fans to see after Dumbledore's decease.

one Toy Hippogriff

For a schoolhouse full of students equally young as eleven years sometime, Hogwarts is strangely free of the usual markers of babyhood. The but playthings given any real mention in the films are the Weasley creations.

That absenteeism of childhood items makes this concept fine art from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows all the more haunting. The artwork shows a blimp toy hippogriff that seems to be lying on the basis.

In their rigorous training to go wizards and witches, it is easy to forget the students at Hogwarts are withal kids. Voldemort'southward frequent attacks on Hogwarts put many young children in danger, and some of the Hogwarts students who took role in the Boxing of Hogwarts never actually fabricated it to adulthood.

The presence of a stuffed animal in the nighttime, violent events of the finals films would have served as a sad reminder of that fact.

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What exercise you recall? Do yous wish we'd received this Harry Potter concept art in the movies? Let us know in the comments!

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About The Author

Christy Box (54 Articles Published)

Christy Box is a list writer for Screen Rant. She graduated summa cum laude from the Academy of Central Florida with a BA in Anthropology, and she has a great honey for media anthropology. Her experience working in picture show and tv set production as a director, producer, and photographic camera operator has made her passionate nigh the work that goes into bringing a story to the screen. She is a major science fiction fan, equally her family raised her on Star Trek from birth. She is fascinated by boring-burn suspense, strong female leads, and book adaptations that don't go out out all the good parts. In her gratuitous fourth dimension, she writes fiction, binge-watches many shows, volunteers to back up the arts, and fawns over other people'south dogs. She besides writes for Ranker and Factinate on pop civilisation and history topics.

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