Harry Potter (film)/Tear Jerker

Philospher's Stone

• The Mirror of Erised scene in the first movie.

Goblet of Fire

• I'm kind of surprised nobody's mentioned the moment in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Harry returns from Voldemort's revival party with Cedric's body. The book's version of this scene is relatively straightforward; the movie plays it very differently, dropping a grieving Harry into a triumphant celebration and letting everything fall to pieces accordingly. This was the first (and only) time one of the movies was better than its book, but what an improvement.
  • The thing about that scene was that it was just so absolutely horrifying. Listening to the trumpet-band begin playing and the whole crowd cheering - contrasted with Harry in the centre just screaming in agony.
  • What really makes this scene work isn't the contrast which was still good, or even the father shouting, but rather Fleur's horrified reaction.
    • And what finally shatters the triumphant façade is Cedric's father shouting "That's my son! That's my boy!" when he sees Cedric's body, right before he just falls to pieces in grief.
    • I will watch the whole movie just for this scene, it's that good.
    • That was the first time this troper shed a tear in a Harry Potter film. It was the ugly cry.
    • For this troper, the worst part is Harry sobbing that he couldn't leave Cedric's body behind and Dumbledore gently telling him "He's home. He's home. You both are." Utterly heartbreaking while also showing just how much Dumbledore cares about Harry.

Order of the Phoenix

• The scene in Order Of The Phoenix where Dolores Umbridge fires Professor Trelawney. "Hogwarts is my home!" (cue this Troper crying)
• In The Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is possessed by Voldemort and fights back by remembering everything which makes them different. "You're the weak one. And you'll never know love. Or friendship. And I feel sorry for you."
• One of the most memorable parts of Order of The Phoenix is Harry and Luna in the forest with the Thestrals. If you've ever been ousted from peer groups for being odd or different, this scene hits very close to home.

Luna: They're called Thestrals. They're quite gentle, really, but people avoid them, because they're a bit...
Harry: Different.

• • Made even sadder when the only reason that Harry and Luna can see the Thestrals, because Harry couldn't at first, is because they've seen death. Insert flashback of the previous film's climactic scene and aftermath.
• In the Order of the Phoenix film:
  • Whenever Harry and Sirius hug. Every single time.
  • When Sirius tells Harry that when the war is over, they can finally be a proper family. A Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, yes, but also a tear jerker because Sirius dies before they can. The next time they meet, in fact.
  • This troper cried only once during the course of all the films and that once was Sirius's death.
  • Three words:

Sirius: Nice one, James!

• • Lupin's face as he is trying to hold back Harry from chasing after Lestrange; never has total despair ever been more present on a man's face.
• Also from Order of the Phoenix, Hagrid's plea to Harry's trio to look after Grawp for him. Hagrid is such a big softy.

Half-Blood Prince

• From Half-Blood Prince: the addition made after Dumbledore's death, when first McGonagall, then Luna and Neville, and eventually everyone raises their wands lit by Lumos in silent honor of their fallen headmaster.
  • Dear lord, the scene in Half-Blood Prince where Dumbledore leads Harry to get the Horcrux, and Harry must feed him the potion, even after he cannot tolerate it, and he gets all frail and pale. Completely lost it there.
• In place of Dumbledore's funeral, the wand-lit memorial by teachers and students that disintegrates the Dark Mark is pretty moving.
  • The look of utter devastation on McGonagall's face... and the scene afterwards.

McGonagall: You meant a great deal to him.

• Sixth movie, when Malfoy was in the Room of Requirement, trying to get the Vanishing Cabinet to work, and the finch appears to have died. You can hear him crying and you can really feel how stressed and scared he is. Pushed even further when he's in the bathroom later, breaking down.
• This troper actually bawled like a baby in the cinema when Draco Malfoy was confronting Dumbledore in Half Blood Prince. Draco has few lines, but the ones he does are filled with so much emotion it hurts.

Draco: I have to do this. I have to kill you. Or he's gonna kill me.

• • Moreso in the book than the movie, but that scene really foreshadows a fact that looms large in the seventh book - for all the Malfoys' pontificating about blood purity and parroting of the Death Eaters' ideals, their first loyalty is to each other, not Voldemort. And it really goes to show how far Draco is willing to go in order to try to save his parents.
• In Half-Blood Prince Slughorn's story about the magical fish that Lily Evans gave him, and how, when he came downstairs and looked at it one day, it had vanished - and so he knew that she was dead, because a wizard's magic only stops when they do.
• The scene in the movie of Half Blood Prince where Hermione is crying in the abandoned room and Harry tries to comfort her, only to have the lovebirds interrupt and be driven off by the real lovebirds.

Hermione: (tearfully) How does it feel, Harry? When you see Dean with Ginny? I know. I see the way you look at her. You're my best friend.
(she drives off Ron and Lavender and collapses in tears)
Harry: It feels like this.

Deathly Hallows Part 1

• In Deathly Hallows when Dobby dies. Also, when Harry goes to visit his parents' grave with Hermione.
  • Oh God, it's so much worse in the film. Originally, he just said "Harry...Potter...", but they gave him a few more lines while Harry was holding him. And how he weakly whispered that the Shell Cottage was a wonderful place to be with friends, which is basically his way of saying "I'm with the ones I love, so I'm OK with dying"... *SNIFF*
    • And don't miss that Harry kinda gives him a little cuddle. He's holding him in arms and he kind of bends his head down as if to hold him closer. Just kill me now.
  • The opening itself. Hermione wiping her parents' minds, watching her disappear from every photograph from every stage in her life is extremely sad. Special mention should also be given to the death of Hedwig, since the film version depicts it as being closer to a Heroic Sacrifice. The owl had a chance to fly away and be free (possibly tricking some viewers whom had read the book into thinking she'd be Spared by the Adaptation), but chose to remain by Harry's side and help him, only to be hit by the curse... suddenly go limp... and drop from the sky...
  • Perhaps it was the timing (right next to Hermione's scene), but seeing Harry go back into his closet for one final time as he prepares to leave it and his childhood home behind forever, was a bit hard to watch in the film. Especially if you have read the books and know that, for all the bad memories associated with it, it was the one place where he was completely safe from Voldemort's grasp to that point. The fact that, the last time the films visited that closet, Harry was an innocent, ten-year-old boy with no clue of his origins and is now a young man who has seen acquaintances, close friends, and mentors die in front of him several times and is now poised for a showdown with the cause of most, if not all, of his suffering, only starting with his parents dying, being shipped off to the Dursleys', and forced to sleep in the closet in the first place... GAH.
  • When Hermione is being tortured by Bellatrix. Doubles as Nightmare Fuel due to how the whole scene is set up to look like a rape.
    • And then you see that actually was carving the word "mudblood" into her arm with a knife. Holocaust parallel, anyone? And though that only happened in the movies, in the book Hermione said she was proud to be a "Mudblood." This troper put the two together together and bawled.
  • Fred first seeing his injured twin George.
• Also in Deathly Hallows, a scene that made me absolutely lose it was when Harry gets Hermione to dance with him in the tent after Ron has left and things are looking pretty bleak. The abruptness of the scene really struck a cord; they start to dance, Harry goofs around a bit, Hermione starts to smile and, for a minute, everything seems like it's going to be okay.... and then she puts her head on his shoulder and they just stand there and you realize it's hopeless. Add to that the fact that they set the scene to the song "O Children" by Nick Cave (the first time they've used any bit of modern music in the films) and you've got yourself some pretty heavy material there. And while I'm pretty supportive of all the canon pairings, that was just such a sublime scene that encompassed all the fear and tension and complete tragedy of their situation only to contrast it with the fact that they're just teenagers and they don't know what to do. Gahh... it still makes me sad.
  • The song just made the whole thing that much more tragic. The song itself is about the loss of innocence and death, and really, that's what Part 1 was about for the most part.
  • This scene just came off as a them way to keep the Harmony ship afloat and actually pissed me off, and came off as a Big Lipped Allitor Moment, since its an OOC moment for them both. The moment in the books was much more powerful (to me), since Harry gave Hermione Ron's blankets, which contained her third Amourtentia scent, and essentially let Ron comfort her, because Harry could not, as he is NOT Ron. This scene just came off as trying to keep Harry/Hermione going as long as possible.
    • By the end of the scene though, it's clear that she still misses Ron. Harry made her forget for a little while, but when they were dancing closely together it seemed that she suddenly remembered Ron and wished she was holding him instead.
• During Dobby's death scene, the part where Harry asks Hermione to help him gets this Troper every time. Hermione has always been able to help him in the past, and the look on his face when he realizes she can't is heart wrenching.
  • Even moreso the look on her face. She's never failed to find an answer before to help the team, and the one time that she can't, she has to watch an ally die right in front of her.
  • But Harry as well. Most of the people close to or associated with Harry had died in a quick although shocking manner (usually by way of Avada Kedavra) - or outside of Harry's presence (like Moody). But not this time; this is the first and (as far as the book canon goes) only time a friend of his literally bleeds out in his arms and his only option is to watch it happen - where he sees Death coming slowly but can do nothing to stop it.
• As mentioned above, Hermione, at the beginning of the film. We see her in her room, being called down to tea. Then she enters the living room, and obliviates her parents. Her expression alone is enough to tear your heart out, and the slow fading of her from the photos... The more you think about what she'd need to do to make her parents not know they had a daughter, the more heart-wrenching it gets. And, yes, the more disturbing it gets.
• In a deleted scene for DH part 1, Aunt Petunia shows that she may not have been as cold of a bitch as she let on.

Petunia: You didn't just lose a mother that night in Godric's Hollow, you know. I lost a sister.

• • Which is most likely what she was going to say at the end of the chapter in the book.
• I cannot believe that no one has mentioned the scene after the trio escape from the Ministry. Ron gets splinched, nearly severing his arm. Harry is in some sort of shock while Hermione is in tears barking orders at him. Ron, on the other hand, is portraying the pain he is in in the most gut-wrenching way possible. Already knowing the outcome of said situation didn't help this troper from bursting into tears for the THIRD time already in the movie.

Deathly Hallows Part 2

• The trailer for Deathly Hallows Part 2 shows Lupin and Tonks reaching out for each other as spells flash around them.
  • Several forums have agreed that there is at least a 50/50 chance that they'll die before they actually touch.
• The scene in the Great Hall during the pause in the final battle. As if seeing the reaction to Fred's death wasn't soul-crushing enough, the additional deaths of Tonks and Lupin and even less beloved characters like Colin/Nigel and possibly Lavender Brown (if she didn't survive Greyback's attack) are hard to swallow. The whole scene is akin to the aftermath of a major school shooting.
  • Even worse, before the battle, Fred and George are shown together for the last time, still maintaining their jovial, light-hearted natures. Of course, anyone who's read the books knows what's about to happen, which makes it incredibly sad.
  • Guess what, it still gets worse. During the scene where Harry reveals he's still alive, watch George during the reaction shot where everyone begins smiling and cheering. He turns to look over one shoulder, and you can see him say "Fred," as if he was looking for his brother's reaction.
• The Prince's Tale part of the last movie. Snape collapsing to the floor upon seeing Lily, crying, howling hysterically in grief in the added scene of him cradling Lily's dead body while a baby Harry looks on. Damn you and your leather pants Alan Rickman.
  • Baby Harry isn't just sitting there. He's crying too.
  • Oh God, Snape's memories had me in shreds. Especially when he goes to Lily's house and holds her dead body while howling in grief. What makes it even sadder is the moment when Snape summons his patronus in front of Dumbledore, showing that even after 17 years, he still loves her. "Lily? After all these years?" "Always." Just that silent, broken whisper... *sniff* excuse me...
  • Also, there's the Fridge Horror that at some point, Snape would have to force himself to break away from the body that once held his only past genuine human connection to conceal any dark involvement (and ultimately join to Dumbledore's side for her sake) he had. Imagine that pain that could only be understated by inference.
  • And the soundtrack for the whole of that part? Does not help. It starts out so sweet and optimistic, and by the end it's absolutely heartbreaking.
  • Snape was a prime cause of tears in pretty much the entire movie. His death was even more horrifically violent than in the book, and the way he just sits there against the glass, bleeding to death, until Harry goes up to him...(and, it should be pointed out, vainly tries to save him by stopping the bleeding, even though he doesn't yet know the truth about his allegiance)
  • This line they added to his death scene:

You have your mother's eyes.

• • God, not just the line, but the way he says it: no malice, no anger, not even any bitterness, just calm and accepting and a little sad.
    • This troper was stunned by how almost loving it sounded, almost as if he was talking to Lily herself. (Not...not like that...shut up, you know what I mean.) Both Jim Dale and Stephen Fry read the lines as sort of a strangled whisper, but Rickman's version is possibly even better.
    • Not to mention, this is the moment when Snape finally comes to respect Harry. In the very last moments of his life he gets over his shallow prejudices against James Potter's son and comes to terms with the fact that, although he resembles his father, Harry sees the world through the eyes of his mother. He accepts that Harry really is a good person.
  • Anyone notice that, books and movies combined, it's chronologically the last time any character notes that fact? Not to mention that, after years of comparing Harry to his father, it's the first and last time Snape compares him to Lily.
  • For this troper, it was how utterly gutted Snape sounded when he realised that Dumbledore had been grooming the child of the woman he loved, the child he had protected to honour her memory and put himself through hell for, to death, like a lamb for slaughter, in order to orchestrate Voldemort's final destruction. And that this was the only way to finally avenge her death. Scrapes you out hollow.
  • This troper's proverbial dams broke when he saw Snape's tears coursing down his face. They seemed to me like tears of a sort of melancholy joy, that he was finally going to join the woman he loved at last. And his final act was to give perhaps his most treasured possessions, his own memories of Lily, to her son.
• Harry actually saying his goodbyes to Ron and Hermione in person, unlike the novel. Part 2 is a clinic in how to take heartwrenching material from a novel and make it more staggering in terms of emotion.
  • From that same scene: "I'll go with you." Hermione has to know that going into the Forest with Harry is suicide... but she offers to go with him anyway, so her best friend doesn't have to die alone.
  • Emma's acting was flawless. You can just tell her heart is shattered. Her face is crumpling, and she's desperate to comfort Harry, and she can hardly speak because her throat's closed up. She starts crying, and then she's hugging Harry, and it's just horrible, watching Harry walk alone to his death, his two best friends watching him go.
  • To me, this scene resembles what happens when someone who is going to die of cancer or another terminal illness reveals the news. "I think I've known for a while and I think you have too."
• The resurrection stone scene. Brilliantly done.
  • This troper remained absolutely dry-eyed until that scene. "Does it hurt?" Excuse me, there's something in my eye...
  • Harry reaches his hand to Lily for the first time of all the times he's seen her ghost... and he goes right through her.
    • Made worse, because, in that moment, you realize Harry needs a hug from his mother more than anyone in the series ever as. He's walking to his death. Voldemort will probably torture him, or worse, set Nagini on him. Just some sort of reassurance, some sort of touch, you can see on his face as he starts forward, stumbling, towards his mom. And, of course, he's denied that little comfort as he walks to his death, sacrificing all.
  • In the same scene, after Harry quietly asks the ghosts of his parents, Sirius, and Remus to stay with him, Lily replies with "Always". Never mind the fact that the mere idea of our loved ones never leaving us is already heartwarming and tear-jerking at once; it's the same reply Snape gave when he talked about his love for her. Damn it...
  • "We never left." And then seeing Sirius straight after that just made it worse.
  • When Harry says "I never wanted any of you to die for me," and then reminds us that Remus's death left his son Teddy an orphan.
• To make everything full-circle, it closes with John Williams' "Leaving Hogwarts" and then his closing credits medley from the first two films. Yep, the movie is a Tear Jerker to the literal end.
  • Any other song, and I would not have cried like I did. But hearing that? I just sobbed unashamedly. It says.... "everything's okay now, all is right. Things came full circle, and they always will. Hogwarts is here, and it always will be, it will never have truly left us, so long as there are loyal to it."
• Hagrid wasn't shown at all until the end of the film. The part that got this troper was her realizing that the adventure began and seemingly ended with Hagrid carrying Harry in. The look on Hagrid's face made it worse. Then the part where Hagrid and Harry hug at the end was extremely poignant as well as warm...
  • And, y'know... Harry still looked pretty much as small in Hagrid's arms as he did the first time they were shown hugging.
• The last we see of Remus and Tonks before they are killed is them reaching out to each other as the battle begins, without quite touching. Later, their bodies are lying next to each other with their hands almost, but still not quite touching.
• And what of the last moments of Lily Potter? Harry . . . Harry, you are loved. You are so loved. Harry, Daddy loves you. Mummy loves you. Harry, be safe. Be strong.
  • That was so beautiful and so sweet. It's especially poignant when you consider all of the crap that Harry goes through.
• The final fade to black after the epilogue. The final few seconds of music and then that brief second of silence when you, and everyone around you realises that it's over, after 10 years.
• The scene where Harry, Ron and Hermione make their way through the devastating battle that's raging all across Hogwarts, accompanied by this music.
• The dragon scene in the Deathly Hallows. They really played it up in the movie. First the dragon's expression as it looks up longingly at the far-off light in the ceiling, then when it finally gets there, it just sits and breathes that fresh air that it probably hadn't had in a long time.
• In the final film, when it appears to everyone that Harry is dead, Ginny lets out a Big No, tries to rush forward, and has to be physically held back by her father and brothers. Heartbreaking enough in itself, especially with Bonnie Wright's voice sounding absolutely tortured in that scene, but there's the implication that Ginny was so wracked with rage and grief at losing Harry that she was willing to charge straight at Voldemort, even though this would have almost certainly resulted in her death.
• Speaking of Lavender, her death in the film. Yes, she's annoying and silly in HBP- but she's still fighting right along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. And it's Hermione who kills Greyback, who is happily eating Lavender. It really drives home the common theme of Anyone Can Die. This troper loved to hate Lavender throughout the series, but bawled when she died.Ofo
  • TT managed to stay straight-faced when it actually happened. The worst part is probably in the aftermath. It's almost blink-and-you-miss-it, but there's a two- or three-second scene of Parvati and Professor Trelawney sitting in shocked grief over Lavender's dead body. Trelawney covers Lavender's body and simply says, "She's gone." Of course, not only were Parvati and Lavender hardly ever seen apart in the books, but the two were possibly the only students portrayed as holding Trelawney in high esteem. Many were indifferent to her, and most (even among the professors) regarded her as something of a joke.
• Fred and George were together for everything, and after the battle is over, and everyone is cheering, George glances over at where Fred would be, seeking to share in the joy with him. It had become automatic. It doesn't immediately dawn on George that Fred is not with him and never will be again. It kind of makes you feel bad for everyone who's lost a twin.
• Voldemort's death in the film adaptation of Deathly Hallows. Yes, he is an irredeemably evil, mass murdering, Muggle hating monster, but, just to see him falling to disintegrating, and that his greatest fear has been realized, just seems sad.