Ginny Weasley is a total hero in Harry Potter, but the movies sold her short. J.K. Rowling started the global phenomenon that is Harry Potter with her Harry Potter book series, launching in 1997 with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Ginny was always a key member of the Weasley family in this series and in this regard, she was pivotal to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (book two) and Harry’s eventual love interest. For all this, the movies didn’t quite make her seem as brilliant as she was in the books.

The Harry Potter movies aptly cast Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley, playing into the English actress’ demure mannerisms to build Ginny as the shy but growing witch of the books. Wright’s redheaded determination and strength shone through from the first ever movie, released in 2001. Yet, there were some Ginny moments that the movies failed to capture, while Ginny’s full range of abilities as a witch wasn’t completely communicated by the Warner Bros. pictures either. But proof of Ginny’s superior ability can be traced throughout the novels.

Harry Potter’s Ginny Was Exceptionally Skilled At Magic

Ginny Weasley Was One Of Gryffindor’s Better Witches

Ginny was a far more skilled witch than the movies gave her credit for, pioneering spells that she showed a unique apтιтude for. By the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny seemed like a damsel in distress, and this was in line with the book, to a certain extent. Ginny was painfully shy in book two and movie two, but she had more lines in the books and demonstrated much more of a feisty fighting nature. While Ginny may have still been developing her skills at 11 years old, she came to use hard spells as signatures.

These included the Bat-Bogey Hex and Reducto Curse. Pioneered by Miranda Goshawk, the Bat-Bogey Hex turned the contents of its victims’ noses into flying bats, temporarily disabling them. Although Ginny wasn’t a match for the basilisk in Harry Potter, she managed to secure her escape from Umbridge’s Inquisitorial Squad with the Bat-Bogey Hex, also enabling the escape of Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom. This wasn’t shown on screen, while the movies could have also chosen to focus more on Ginny’s use of this hex on Zachariah Smith, who deserved it fully.

Smith’s pestering of Ginny on the Hogwarts Express about what happened in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries led to him getting hexed by Ginny. This alone showed considerable skill, but it also led to Ginny getting noticed by Horace Slughorn, whose role in the movies didn’t reflect the book fully, much the same way as Ginny’s didn’t. Ginny actually joined the Slug Club, Slughorn’s exclusive club for elite witches and wizards. Similarly, the movies neglected to depict the full growth of Ginny’s Reducto usage, although they showed Ginny using it in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

Ginny Was Also Shown To Be A Strong Leader

Ginny Was An Important Part Of Dumbledore’s Army

Ginny Weasley wasn’t just a strong witch, but was a great leader too. The movies didn’t show Ginny stepping into her role as a leader as much as they could have done. Perhaps the Harry Potter TV show can bring this out more. Indeed, showrunner Francisca Gardener wants the series to be even more faithful than the movies, presenting what they didn’t have the time to show with its extended format of seven seasons. Ginny’s role in Dumbledore’s Army wasn’t totally portrayed in the movies, and the show should highlight this important part of her character development.

As one of Hogwarts’ most famous professors, Albus Dumbledore led the opposition to Voldemort through Dumbledore’s Army, and Ginny co-led this group at times. Ginny’s importance in this group, and therefore in the Second Wizarding War, can’t be underestimated. Also, Ginny became the Captain of the Quidditch team, which shows her leadership ability alongside her sporting skill. Playing in the Holyhead Harpies, the all-female Quidditch team, built her talent. She is certainly one character who is more than a match for Harry Potter, although she didn’t always seem it in the movies.

How The Harry Potter Movies Undersell Ginny’s Strength As A Witch

Ginny was Better As A Witch And Character In The Book

Ginny Weasley was well-written by J.K. Rowling, but suffered from lackluster writing in the movies, to a certain extent. Although Ginny was indeed the shy little girl seen in the movies, she started showing some major personality. Especially from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire onward, Ginny was strong, brave, and kind – a classic Gryffindor, and one of the fiercest. The first time she spoke in front of Harry – her crush – was to say “Leave him alone, he didn’t want all that,” defending him from Draco Malfoy. This version of Ginny wasn’t present throughout the movies.

There were many things about Ginny Weasley that made no sense in Harry Potter, leading to one of fans’ main pain points about the movies being the writing of her character. Not only did she appear as a stronger witch in the books, often owing to her strong use of hexes and curses, but she appeared to have a wilder sense of humor. It was sometimes hard to see Harry’s chemistry with Ginny in the movies compared to his chemistry with Hermione, Luna, or even Malfoy, who seemed to incite stronger emotions than Ginny sometimes did.

Ginny had a sᴀssy comeback for a lot of characters’ silly lines in the books, which didn’t come through in Warner Bros.’ script, unfortunately. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ginny had a fiery exchange with Harry about Voldemort’s harmful effect on them both. Harry shut everyone out while he was overwhelmed by visions from Voldemort, which Ginny said was stupid, as she was the one person who knew how it felt. He said “I forget,” to which she retorted “Lucky you.” This is just one of many moments where Ginny was better in the Harry Potter books.