Harry Potter and the Unnecessary Rewrite

I love the Harry Potter films. The books I came to later, when we got the audio CDs to play on long car journeys for the kids, but the films are where it’s at for me; visual flair, humour, a great score throughout, marvellous.
Whilst I love that the stories follow the children through their school lives into young adulthood and deal with subjects as wide as fascism, grief, human frailty, authoritarianism, even slavery — I can’t help wishing that Harry and co. got a happier ending. I’m also a staunch advocate of The Trilogy in all its forms which leads nicely to the title of this piece.
Whenever I reach the end of Prisoner of Azkerbahn, I so want for Harry to escape the abusive neglect of the Dursley’s and find peace and happiness in the countryside with his newfound Godfather, Sirius Black. Imagine getting a Godfather and a dog on the same day!
So in the spirit of wish fulfilment, just like a fairy Godmother, I want to wave my ballpoint wand and conjure up a happy ever after for everyone.
When I first had the thought that Prisoner… could be the uplifting last movie in a trilogy — with a few tweaks — I didn’t account for how much of a task it would be. After all, the central villain of the series doesn’t make an appearance. At all.
This presented a major stumbling block; how could I work in Voldermort when the story already had two climaxes (albeit kind of the same one from different points of view)?
This dilemma has dogged me for longer than is healthy. However, when I watched the movie again recently I had a revelation, a vision, a picture in my head…

… Sorry, different movie.
What if — brace yourself — what if… Prisoner of Azkerbahn was the middle movie in the trilogy?
- The Philosopher’s Stone
- The Prisoner of Azkerbahn
- The Chamber of Secrets
Hear me out, don’t errect the gallows just yet. It still requires tweaks. Ginny would need to be introduced sooner, Wormtail would need to feature in Chamber… to maintain continuity, but think about it. Harry begins his life living in a cupboard under the stairs then finds a family of his own, defeats the ultimate evil and rescues Ginny at the end — the love of his life. Best of all… Dobby lives!

I know this is all academic and largely pointless but in this current climate of political and environmental gloom I think casting a spell using the one magical ability we all share — imagination — to make the (Wizarding) world a better place is better than succumbing to despair.
What do you think?
