In a new clip from Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection, author J.K. Rowling and screenwriter Steve Kloves discuss one-on-one an opening scene in the Sorcerer’s Stone film and how Harry went mad.
The Huffington Post UK had the exclusive reveal. You can watch the clip below or read the transcript provided by Snitch Seeker:
Steve Kloves: There was this part in the script, when he was in the cupboard, I invented him a spider named Alastor, who he talked to. And he used to nick broken soldiers out of the rubbish bin, and he lined them up on the shelf. This broken army that Dudley had thrown out.
J.K. Rowling: It was such a great image, the broken army.
Kloves: And he used to talk to them, and the point was that he seemed slightly mad when I wrote the first draft. When Hagrid appeared, you thought he was out of his imagination for a minute. He had summoned this guy –
Rowling: I think that’s a fabulous point, and that speaks so perfectly to the truth to the books, because I had it suggested that to me more than once that Harry actually did go mad in the cupboard, and that everything that happened subsequently was some sort of fantasy life he developed to save himself.
Kloves: No and that’s where it came from. It came from the book. When you read the book, you make it pretty clear that he’s an abused boy.
Rowling: Totally. Of course he is.
Kloves: And so, there’s darkness there, and I would go with that.
We had first learned about this fascinating one-on-one conversation in July when we saw a clip of the pair discussing the trio.
Wizard’s Collection will be released on September 7. Pre-order on Amazon for $349.99.