Harry Potter Best & Worst Flashback Scenes Ranked

The Harry Potter movies include a variety of flashbacks, so check out this ranked list of which work best and which don't work at all.

The Harry Potter movies do a brilliant job of telling audiences the story of the orphaned boy who grows up to be a figurehead for the whole wizarding world. But, while they focus on the Boy Who Lived and others around him at the time, Warner Brothers also relies on flashbacks to keep audiences intrigued and flesh out the tale of the Chosen One.

The look-backs into the past give us extra information on characters other than Harry, from filling in the blanks of Lord Voldemort’s past to delving as far back to the days of Gellert Grindelwald, the antagonist of the Fantastic Beasts series. We now rank every flashback from the movies, from worst to best.

10 Gellert Grindelwald: The Deathly Hallows Part 1

For kids and teenagers today, Gellert Grindelwald is the evil face of the magical world. The two Fantastic Beasts films have done a good job of charting how the wizard, formerly friends with Hogwarts master Albus Dumbledore, is able to rise to power and spread such fear and terror across the planet.

However, we are actually first introduced to the character on-screen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One. We learn through the eyes of wandmaker Gregorovitch that it was a young Grindelwald who stole the Elder Wand from him during the wizard’s time as a youngster. The scene comes bottom of our list, though, because it adds very little to the story. And it’s over in a blink of an eye.

9 The Marauders Bully Snape: The Order Of The Phoenix

If a Marauders spin-off movie or TV series was to be announced, Harry Potter fans would no doubt be receptive. The books paint a story of three troublemakers (and one tag-along) who go on epic adventures at Hogwarts, much like the franchise’s poster boy himself. All four members - James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew - succeed in becoming Animagus’ and would later go on to become members of the Order of the Phoenix.

The only sight of the four boys on screens failed to live up to expectations, though. While in the book we learn how they bully Severus Snape after a Defence Against The Dark Arts exam, the Order of the Phoenix blockbuster cuts the scene short. We see them dangling Snape upside down, true, but the boys barely say a word. The added context from the novel would have made the scene much better but as it were, it felt a bit too rushed and thin on information.

8 Slughorn’s Memory: The Half-Blood Prince

While the flashback sequence involving a young Tom Riddle and Professor Slughorn serves as significant for the story and for plot purposes, it also ranks among the most disappointing of the series. We see Tom ask Slughorn about Horcruxes, only for the Hogwarts teacher to turn him away. And then, when Harry eventually gets the all-important memory, we get the full version of events.

However, like the Marauders scene, it appears thin on detail compared to the book. Movie audiences who hadn’t read the Half-Blood Prince novel missed out on key elements of Riddle’s character. JK Rowling makes it clear that he uses his charm and unusual hold over both his peers and teachers to coax the memory from Slughorn. But we see evidence of neither on the big screen.

7 Visiting Voldemort In The Orphanage: The Half-Blood Prince

The Half Blood Prince also skims over elements of Voldemort’s past - but succeeds with a good version of the dark wizard as a boy. We all watch with Harry as we witness Albus Dumbledore meet Tom Riddle for the first time, informing him that he was special and would be attending Hogwarts after years of being isolated and away from the rest of the magical community.

Young Riddle is snide and obnoxious and also seems to have little remorse when Dumbledore, after setting his wardrobe on fire, lectures him not to steal. It is easy to believe the child would grow up to be evil and viewers are left with a feeling that, even at such a tender age, he was destined to grow up and do bad things.

6 Voldemort, Wormtail, and Barty Crouch Jr: The Goblet Of Fire

The Goblet of Fire movie alters things slightly from the core material, with Barty Crouch Jr being alongside Voldemort and Wormtail at the Riddles’ old manor in Little Hangleton. This is different to the book, where Crouch is actually still imprisoned by his father, Barty Crouch Sr. The movie opens with the three of them plotting and scheming, while also murdering an old muggle man by the name of Frank Bryce.

We see them again in a flashback sequence when Harry is relaying to Dumbledore the ‘dreams’ he is having. It makes for an enthralling scene with Michael Gambon’s character clearly shook by the development, but ultimately choosing to say nothing. It also hints that all three would appear again by the time the credits roll up and indeed they do, with Voldemort rising to power with Wormtail’s help and Barty failing to keep his cover as the unhinged, albeit good-hearted, Alastair ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody.

5 Tom Riddle Stitches Up Hagrid: The Chamber Of Secrets

Out of all the glimpses we get of a teenage Voldemort, it is the scene starring Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that succeeds best in staying true to the books. With Hogwarts on high alert, an innocuous Riddle turns in Hagrid as the one responsible for the murder of Moaning Myrtle, accusing the half-giant’s pet spider, Aragog, to be the one that delivered the blow.

It is here we are able to plainly see that Riddle, with his good looks and seemingly good intentions, has power within the school. And it does a brilliant job of explaining why Hagrid was unable to complete his education, while also setting the scene for the twist at the end of the movie.

4 Voldemort Kills The Potters: The Sorcerer's Stone

When the first Harry Potter movie came out in 2001, it was immediately charged with the task of convincing viewers that Voldemort was the darkest wizard around. And, through a flashback sequence, viewers immediately get a glimpse of the Dark Lord when he was operating at the peak of his powers.

Hagrid tells a young Harry the story about his parents, and how Voldemort slaughtered them before turning the wand on the boy, aged one at the time. We see Lily Potter desperately attempt to slam the door shut and, later, protecting her boy as the door behind her is blasted off its hinges. Audiences also see him murdering Lily and, consequently, we know right from the start what Harry is up against.

3 Saving Friends: The Order Of The Phoenix

Movies can bring things to life in a way that books can’t at certain times. The Order of the Phoenix is a prime example of this, where it shows Harry’s internal struggle after witnessing Bellatrix Lestrange kill his godfather, Sirius Black, right in front of his eyes. On the brink of letting Voldemort take over his mind, director David Yates then opts to bring in older footage to show just how much Potter has to live for.

In a touching sequence we are treated to throwbacks of epic scenes from over the years. We see Harry leaving the Hospital Wing after defeating Voldemort in the first movie, grinning at the sight of Ron and Hermione waiting for him. There’s his emotional goodbye with Sirius in the Prisoner of Azkaban, as well as the moment he and his Godfather embrace at Grimmauld Place. A perfect piece of a brilliant blockbuster, showing how much the teenager has to live for.

2 Snape’s Story: The Deathly Hallows Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two does a beautiful job at telling the story of Severus Snape and how, despite slaughtering Dumbledore, he stayed loyal to the Order of the Phoenix and the former Hogwarts headmaster.

There’s a touching scene of him falling in love with Lily Potter as a child, followed by a clip of him looking on enviously as his childhood crush gets sorted into Gryffindor House, sitting alongside James Potter and Sirius Black. We then see his pain as he recalls to Dumbledore how Voldemort would kill her, and then his anguish as he discovers her body among the wreckage of Godric’s Hollow. The entire sequence sheds new light on the character and succeeds in making audiences sympathise - despite how nasty he has been throughout the series.

1 The Trial Of Igor Karkaroff: The Goblet Of Fire

Taking pole position on our list of the best Harry Potter flashback scenes is the sequence where Harry looks into Dumbledore’s Pensieve to witness the trial of Durmstrang headmaster Igor Karkaroff. Karkaroff, who is at the time under suspicion of planting the wizard’s name in the goblet of fire, is seen reeling off a whole list of names of people who were loyal to Lord Voldemort at the time of his downfall.

Karkaroff dobs in Severus Snape, with Dumbledore vouching that the Hogwarts professor had turned prior to the Dark Lord’s defeat. But he then leaves everybody stunned by telling Barty Crouch Sr that his son, Barty Crouch Jr, had also been involved in the tortures of aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom. Here we learn three things. That Karkaroff and Snape were once loyal to the Dark Lord, Crouch Jr is the one helping Voldemort now and that Neville’s parents tragically lost their minds due to their actions. An excellent moment in a brilliant film.