Rogue Hippo wrote:

OK, I came out of this movie with some questions (SPOILERS BELOW). -How did Nigel get the sword? All I remember is the goblin takes it... then he dies and it dissolves... then Nigel pulls it out of a bag and kills the snake. Did I miss something?

It's Neville, and they've said a couple times in the movies that the sword of Gryffindor appears to a true Gryffindor in time of need. Gryffindors are known for their bravery, and Neville proved himself by leading the student "rebellion" at Hogwart's while the three main kids wandered around aimlessly. They don't really go into that in the movie much, but it is implied. So, in the second one (Chamber of Secrets), remember when the sword shows up in the Sorting Hat? The Sorting Hat use to belong to Gryffindor (if I recall correctly) so that's why it appears there in time of need. In the movie they show Neville picking up the Sorting Hat after the first part of the battle; everything's blown to shit and it's just sitting there among the damage. They show Neville looking in the Sorting Hat for a second, and something shiny reflects off his face--the sword of Gryffindor.

Rogue Hippo wrote:

-Somehow I got it in my head that only Harry could destroy the Horcruxes but that's obviously wrong. So if anyone can destroy a horcrux and they make Voldemort incrementally weaker... then why didn't the powerful, good wizards just destroy them? Harry Potter should've been more of a secondary character.

This is yet another reason why the books are better. It's impossible to explain every little technical detail effectively.

The fact that Voldemort used Horcruxes was not common knowledge. Remember in part 6 (Half-Blood Prince) where Dumbledore needs to find out what Voldemort was asking that professor about? It was about how to create a horcrux, and he even mentions a number Voldemort is going for--seven. Now, also remember that Dumbledore was getting the FOX News treatment ever since he backed up Harry's claim that Voldemore was back. The entire 5th part (Order of the Phoenix) is about how the wizarding world falls into fear and loses faith in Dumbledore--the only person actually telling the truth.

In Part 6, Harry finally gets that memory that shows that Voldemort is interested in horcruxes. That confirms Dumbledore's fears. So he immediately sets out to get that necklace that he believes is a horcrux. He and Harry recover it, but what happens when he gets back--he gets killed. He's unable to fill anyone else in on the horcruxes. Only Harry knows about them, but he doesn't even fully understand what they are or how to destroy them.

Few can be trusted, most "good" wizards are on the run, and Harry doesn't want to put anyone else's life in danger (Mad-Eye had just been killed, Sirius was also killed previously protecting Harry...oh, and his parents) so he treks off alone (well, with Hermione and Ron who refuse to be left behind).

Harry can't just sense where they are from anywhere on the planet, either. The whole "sensing the Horcruxes thing" is an invention of the movies, I believe (I haven't read the books in a while, but I don't recall that at all). In the books they are able to better explain how Harry figures out what the horcruxes are; for the movie, they kind of went with a half-assed "if he's near one he can feel it" thing. But the diadem, for example, was seen by Harry in previous books so when he realized that Voldemort was using artifacts from all the major wizarding houses to create horcruxes, he gambled that the diadem was one.

I've rambled on too much so I'm going to shut up now. But basically the reason some stuff doesn't seem to completely make sense in the movie is because they're cramming a lot in and there's no way you're going to catch it all in one viewing; the book has the ability to thoroughly explain things so it doesn't seem all contrived.

Drew Linky wrote:

Klimbatize wrote: Harry can't just sense where they are from anywhere on the planet, either. The whole "sensing the Horcruxes thing" is an invention of the movies, I believe (I haven't read the books in a while, but I don't recall that at all). In the books they are able to better explain how Harry figures out what the horcruxes are; for the movie, they kind of went with a half-assed "if he's near one he can feel it" thing. But the diadem, for example, was seen by Harry in previous books so when he realized that Voldemort was using artifacts from all the major wizarding houses to create horcruxes, he gambled that the diadem was one. Actually, Harry figured out about the diadem because of the connection between him and Voldemort. When Voldemort discovered Harry had been destroying horcruxes, he experienced a moment of fear and anger so powerful that Harry saw into his mind again as Voldemort mentally counted off where the remaining horcruxes would be. Not to stub toes or anything. But I know practically everything about it, and little stuff like that bugs me. What you were saying is essentially correct though.

Heh, it's not stubbing toes if you're correcting misinformation. I wasn't sure about that point, and I didn't recall it from the books at all. I'd rather someone correct me then be wrong.