Wizarding World Woes: Potterheads Revisit the Scariest Harry Potter Scenes in an Amusing Thread

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
May 10, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

Imagine the year is 2001.

Your eyes twinkle in anticipation as you look up at the big glowing screen in wonder. The opening scene of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is rolling, and even with the popcorn dust coating your glasses, you can't tear your eyes away. It's everything you've ever imagined… Hogwarts, the owls, the robes… it's all real, and you're actually watching it in real life! Excitement bubbles in your tummy like Fizzing Whizzbees.

Each scene is better than the last. The forbidden forest is a maze of dark shadows and rustling leaves. Professor Snape looms over Harry, his greasy hair and hooked nose like something out of a nightmare. And then, of course, there was Voldemort, emerging from behind Quirrel's turban. You are terrified, and your hand shoots out to hold your mother, who is sitting right next to you. She also looks scared.

What was the scene that kept you up at night? Was it the dementors in the Prisoner of Azkaban? The mermaids in the Goblet of Fire? Or Voldemort himself, in every movie? Scroll down for a magically amusing discussion and then check out these hilarious Dungeons and Dragons memes for roleplaying dice rollers.

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  • 01
    What are some scenes that used to scare you as a kid? For me it was always this one
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    Cheezburger Image 9920626944
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    MunkeyFish . 20 hr. ago That fing book in the Restricted Section A 865 V Reply Share skiddles1337 - 15 hr. ago "AAAAWWWGHGHGHGHH!!!" slam "WHO'S THERE!" zzzzzzzz buzzy string instrument rustle rustle--- POW crash of lantern "I know you're in there." you can't hide
    via u/MunkeyFish, u/skiddles1337
  • 04
    tosi1887 18 hr. ago The scene in Half-Blood Prince when Harry tried to get water for Dumbledore and the Inferi suddenly appear and grab Harry to drag him under water. I didn't see that coming and I was totally scared :D A 414 Reply Share Reverend Palpatine . 14 hr. ago Ⓡ Ravenclaw I was trying to figure out how to answer OP's question as nothing in the series has scared me, but now mentioning this, I realized I jumped when this scene played in theaters. So, yeah it was probably this scene. I was
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  • 05
    StudioMarvin · 19 hr. ago When Trelawney pops up in trance and predicts the return of Voldemort when Harry goes back to return the crystall ball Hermione had dropped. I dreaded that moment coming in several rewatches. A 388 Reply Share Fireblu6969 18 hr. ago Oh definitely! After the first watch, it was like, "oh god, here it comes!" 52 Reply Share
    via u/StudioMarvin, u/Fireblu6969
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    Artistic_Change7566 · 16 hr. ago Quirrel/Voldemort raising his head and snarling at Harry while unicorn bld dripped from his mouth made me want to run away screaming like Malfoy. A 128 V Reply Share
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    Chemist-3074 · 18 hr. ago The mermaids. Did they had to be THAT horrifying? They haunted my dreams for days and I hadn't even watched the full movie back then. A 100 Reply Share OpeningSuspect7296 14 hr. ago Slytherin Came here to say this, I was SO scared as a child AV Reply Share ..
    via u/Chemist-3074, u/OpeningSuspect7296
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    jojurmom 19 hr. ago edited 19 hr. ago that one scene in the chamber of secrets with the bi dy message on the wall "her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever" A 185 V Reply Share Fireblu6969 18 hr. ago I was freaked out when I first started reading the book (albeit, I still read it in two days bc I couldn't put it down). And the movie was just as creepy. When things start to come together with Voldemort being Tom Riddle. And he starts telling Harry that Ginny opened the chamber of secrets. Goo
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    nitro1542 18 hr. ago Huffleclaw I didn't find anything from the films that scary. When I read the graveyard scene in GoF though? Hoooo boy. A 72 172 ☑ Reply Share Expensive-Sky4068 · 12 hr. ago This scene always freaked me the F out A 10 ☐ Reply Share
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    henrik2053 20 hr. ago Harry facing a basilisk all alone. A 40 Reply Share Skea_and_Tittles . 17 hr. ago McGonnagal scares me When he runs into that dead end and is cornered by the basilisk.. nope! Watching IT (2017) when Patrick hockstetter flees through the sewers and runs into the sewer grate dead end- brought back CoS fears. Except he doesn't fare as well as Harry. A 11 Reply Share
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    Pretend-Programmer94 18 hr. ago Not a scene but just dobby, I remember my sister wanted to watch chamber of secrets but my mom wouldnt let her cause he freaked me out so much 37 Reply Share nottheking001. 15 hr. ago Dobby is my favorite (in the books mainly) Доту Reply Share Pretend-Programmer94 9 hr. ago I was around 4 and hadnt read the books yet i never liked him much even after reading the books cause his ed me as a little kid movie portrayal tr
    via u/Pretend-Programmer94, u/nottheking001, u/Pretend-Programmer94
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    Asleep_Tap9019 · 18 hr. ago shoelace... then, now, forever A 59 V Reply Share MinusGoji OP 17 hr. ago Lmao very valid A-V 7 Reply Share mlgfintheunbannable 12 hr. ago I'm confused (1) A5V Reply Share Sheeesssh59 9 hr. ago Harry and Ginny cringe scenes
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    pinkpanda376. 18 hr. ago Ravenclaw I am 28 and still can't watch the spider scene in 2. I also used to be scared of the unicorn scene in 1, and the werewolf scenes in 3, specifically the second scene with just Harry and Hermione. A 28 Reply Share harryceo . 14 hr. ago Gryffindor Same with the spider scene. I literally cannot watch it. A 4 Reply Share
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    TiredFrenchPotatoe 17 hr. ago 3rd movie, rhe transformation of Lupin in the forest, the 2nd round with Harry and Hermione in the forest. I went to the theatre to watch it, I was 10, and the speaker howling behind my back made me question if there was a loose wolf in the theatre, terrifying 24 Reply Share Training_Counter5124. 8 hr. ago I'm not gonna lie, that transformation was so cool. It terrified me the first time I saw it! Доту Reply Share
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    Kingpin1002. 13 hr. ago When bathilda bagshot turned into nagini A22 Reply Share head22 12 hr. ago I can't believe more people haven't mentioned this. When her head folds back and Nagini comes out of it. Holy c p! Reply Share A5V
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    Big-Research7546 - 17 hr. ago 2 Slytherin When the acromantulas jumped on the car in COS. 7 year old me screamed in the theater A 20 Reply Share themedievalsnowman 14 hr. ago I still look away during this scene. I'm as scared as Ron is of spiders, but seeing those big hairy things jumping towards the camera, it's a huge hell no for me. Дот Reply Share
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    avenueofpleasure. 17 hr. ago Honestly the whole graveyard section from GOF lol. I remember closing my eyes in the theater. A 17 V Reply Share dan_936 10 hr. ago Had to scroll too far down to find GoF mentioned! The opening scene, the maze.. as a kid it was scary and today it still doesn't sit right! A5V Reply Share
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    MathsIsAPain · 16 hr. ago The dementor coming into Harry and his friends' compartment in Prisoner of Azakaban... imo the entrance of the dementor was very well done, and they built up the suspense pretty well. I especially love the way the train ground to a halt and ice started forming on the windows. A 15' Reply Share Ellery_Fontaine22. 4 hr. ago Literally same A 2 Reply Share
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    Only Windmills. 18 hr. ago Master of forgetting the plot The entire second task in the movies was horrifying what the hell. I might not remember correctly but were the mermen in the movie actually attacking the contestants too? I dkn't know but the scene where Harry tries to resurface after the gillyweed stops working will always be scary to me, I couldn't watch Доту Reply Share
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    Saar-ia 15 hr. ago edited 14 hr. ago Just the Dementors in general Their first appearance for me was the worst. That's why The Prisoner of Askaban was not my favorite And that old hag i forgot her name on the last movie I think. The one that was actually Nagini disguised. When she was just staring at Harry and Hermione at the cemetery. Why they made her so scary? ☺ ☺ AV Reply Share
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    persiika 14 hr. ago When the girl that Draco cursed flies into the air in a silent scream with her hair floating all around her head... and then her body starts jerking side to side. I HATE unnatural movements in human bodies so this scene still freaks me out as an adult A 7 Reply Share
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  • 22
    yatagarasu 18609 17 hr. ago edited 16 hr. ago Hermione being crucio-ed by Bella. Ngl I never liked much the acting of Emma Watson, but her pained screams are bone chilling. Even though I know Hermione is not gonna here you can't help but imagine the pain that she is going through. A14 V Reply Share
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    pleuntje208.15 hr. ago In Prisoner of Azkaban when they are learning Riddikulus that clown from Lavender or Parvati scared me, I also have seen that prop irl and its big. A Reply Share AV Vulpes_macrotis . 15 hr. ago Gryffindor There is only one scene that has ever scared me, but given that I was like 12 watching it, I'm not surprised. When Quirrel untied his turban and Voldemort's face has showed up. Later movies were not as scary when I was older, especially that I think I didn't watch all the
    via u/pleuntje208, u/Vulpes_macrotis

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humor scary harry potter books geeky amusing Harry Potter voldemort nerdy harry potter movies prisoner of azkaban sorcerers stone dementors entertaining potterhead Hagrid Hogwarts
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