The Wizarding World has so many scenes bursting with gorgeous food, but the depiction of those snacks and treats helps to tell this darkening story.
The Wizarding World is a vibrant and wonderful place steeped in history and legend. The Harry Potter saga has been a worldwide phenomenon, ranging from the books and spinoffs to the movies, games, audio dramas, and even graphic novel retellings. There are plenty of recurring themes throughout the series, as the novels discuss aging, friendship, family, love, and community. So many of those key qualities are framed through food. It might not be the first thing fans think of when they ponder on Harry Potter and the titular character’s journey, but food often plays a huge part in the biggest moments of the saga. Not only is what the characters eat so fundamental in understanding who they are as they grow and mature, but it’s also a valuable way of measuring the changing tone of the movies themselves.
Compare the very first Harry Potter film to the very last, and it’s easy to see just how contrasting they truly are. There are, of course, some components that remain consistent throughout, like the style of magic and the core trio of heroes. But there are other elements that change with the times, reflecting the need for the series to mature as the cast and characters do. Yet, the food of the Wizarding World has the strange distinction of both staying the same and shifting to match the mood of the film it’s contained within. It’s thus important to therefore look at how this detailed portrayal of food links to the storytelling in the first place, what role it plays in the Wizarding World as a whole, and how this technique could be used again when the Harry Potter narrative is retold from a new lens. Food is just as crucial to the Wizarding World as it is to the audience that enjoys it, and the film saga helped to boost media literacy in its nuanced use of the culinary realm.
Food Is Such a Critical Part of the Wizarding World
The Food Represents the Magic of the Harry Potter Landscape
Time and again, the Wizarding World presents spectacular food to the audience, with an eye to its value and importance. Harry Potter is set within the United Kingdom and so the food of Harry’s world is framed by British cuisine. Pasties, roast dinners, pies, mash, treacle tart; there’s an endless array of classics from across the pond that are on display in some form within the Harry Potter saga. While some may see these types of food as mundane, there’s a homeliness and comfort to them that gives Harry a sense of familiarity after growing up so entrenched in the Muggle world. Food is thus one of the major ways that Harry is introduced into a more vibrant and exciting landscape. The trolley sequence, for example, where Harry buys a bit of everything, is such a fantastical display of childhood happiness. Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans line the carriage, and audiences get that same insight into an impossible world, just as Harry does. That grandiose presentation is enhanced by the feasts of the first few films, where students pack into the Great Hall and are delighted by all manner of bizarre delicacies. These scenes are absolutely iconic, but they also inform the audience about the characters, their tastes, how they present themselves, and what food means to that community. Eating, for Harry and his friends, is a communal experience, and those meals help define who they hold close in their lives.
Food continues to reappear throughout the Wizarding World timeline as a vital part of life for the Witches and Wizards within the UK community. Stalwarts such as Honeydukes, The Three Broomsticks, and The Leaky Cauldron reappear as vital spots that provide sustenance to all around, with colorful candy, Butterbeer, and robust pea soups showing the sheer variety of food on offer. In each of these instances, there’s a sense of love attached to the cuisine, whether it’s because of whom these meals are shared with or the familial aspect in which they are presented. Just like at Hogwarts, these locations are presented as safe spaces, providing Harry with a haven away from the bleak Muggle reality he has come from. Of course, food is important in the Muggle world, too. Who could forget the famous floating cake scene that gave Harry such anxiety as he attempted to stop Dobby the House Elf from crashing the sweet treat down on his family’s guests? Each time, in the early films especially, that food shows up, it says something more about the Wizarding World’s people and about Harry’s close circle of friends. But, this portrayal of food doesn’t just lend itself to strong character moments and world-building.
The Harry Potter Series Got Darker as the Movies Progressed
Increased Threats Lead to a Grittier Tone
Progress past those early Harry Potter movies, or indeed the books, and it’s evident that times are changing. A darker tone seeps into the material as Death Eaters rise and Voldemort returns. Each book or movie boasts further moments of danger, with Sirius Black’s arrival, the Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort’s first attack, and the death of Dumbledore all playing into the notion that Harry’s havens won’t be safe for much longer. The Wizarding World itself changes during the play of films, with Diagon Alley becoming a shell of its former self and characters isolating away from their communities. Throughout the fifth and sixth films, it seems that there’s a conflict brewing, with Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of The Phoenix assembling as if they are war cabinets, rallying the troops. Those moments of humor are still present, but the lighter tone fades with each entry as the characters come of age and are forced to navigate a tenser time.
The Food Choices Reflect Upon That Changing Tone
The Feasts Just Keep Getting Smaller!
The first time food was used to demonstrate the aging of the characters was during Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry and the other Gryffindor boys each take turns trying a candy that has an adverse effect on them. They roar like lions and steam like trains. It’s a funny moment and one that allows them to grip hold of their childhoods despite the fact that they are clearly becoming young adults. As the movies progress, the feasts grow smaller. Depicting harder times, there’s less reason to celebrate, and although there are standout exceptions like the Yule Ball, which attempts to build that sense of community again, it’s clear that magical meals are becoming less important to Hogwarts. It is almost as if the magic is being pulled out of the world, with the Hogwarts Express Trolley barely getting a look-in in subsequent movies and the treats of Honeydukes feeling more like an indulgence for younger wizards and witches. Harry and his friends frequent pubs or sophisticated dinner parties, full of their own complicated political maneuverings. When once, eating was a joyous moment, suddenly, there’s diplomacy attached to a meal.
The only true comfort that Harry seems to find in food is once he is with his family, the Weasleys, at the Burrow. There’s a particularly memorable scene involving Mince Pies in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that promotes a warmer tone, a far cry from how cold some of those other food experiences had become. Harry still feels a connection with his loved ones, but these moments are more isolated as the films progress. By the time Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows rolls around, food is an afterthought. The characters eat for practicality while on the run from the Death Eaters, and as the core trio takes bites out of one another, those shared meals become less familial. But of course, there’s always hope in Harry Potter. And when the shadows are gone, and the darkness rises, the joyousness of food returns. The very final scene in Harry Potter depicts a Chocolate Frog on the Hogwarts Express, a callback to Harry’s first time on the train. The magic and wonder is returning again, and the food is just so important in that storytelling.
The Harry Potter Series Could Tap Into More Unseen Food Themes
There Are More Book Moments That Could Play Into the Show
Harry Potter and, to a wider extent, the Wizarding World use food very effectively in many areas. It provides characters with iconic moments and speaks to the imagination of this landscape. While the films do such a wonderful job of depicting the importance of cuisine, the books go even further in showcasing food and its appeal. There are so many moments from the source material that haven’t made it to screen yet, that could only bolster this thematic storytelling. The bizarre ice cream flavors of Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour, for instance, is another wonderful callback to childhood. And there’s a whole campaign concerning the Hogwarts Kitchens and the staff that work there, which was never depicted on screen, that could have helped to frame Hermione Granger with even more compassion. These are surely foodie moments that can be explored down the line, though.
The Harry Potter reboot series is just around the corner and there are going to be plenty of influences taken from the film series and repurposed for another medium. But the amazing work that the film series did concerning its exploration of food has to be protected. The reboot show can take these lessons and run with them, expanding on those themes and bringing in further elements from the page. From Pumpkin Juice to Fudge Flies, Fizzing Whizbees to Shepard Pie, a great deal of love and care has gone into crafting the flavors that make up this fictional space, and to truly bring the Wizarding World and its emotional arcs to life, the reboot will need to honor those flavors.
