Eight Great Peeves Moments That Deserved to Be in the Movies

There are not three but four Unforgivable Curses: the Killing Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, the Imperius Curse, and leaving Peeves out of the Harry Potter film series. Are you still upset that our favorite poltergeist didn’t make the final cut – even after being cast and written into the script? Here are eight Peeves moments that would have been great additions to the films:

The Harry Potter films didn’t have much ghost vs. ghost drama. Peeves would have been the perfect outlet to stir up conflict among the others through the many times he provoked and taunted them. From bothering Moaning Myrtle to annoying Nearly Headless Nick, we could always count on Peeves to get the Hogwarts ghosts talking.

Because Harry is such a stubborn wizard, Potter fans are used to seeing him encounter problematic characters and situations – but Peeves is a problem that couldn’t be solved. J.K. Rowling even described him as “an indestructible spirit of chaos." It's hard not to cheer for Harry, but Peeves gave us a dose of reality along the way, showing that even the strongest, bravest heroes have some obstacles they cannot overcome.

Peeves “didn’t dare taunt Dumbledore” (PoA 8). The fact that even an indestructible spirit would not provoke the Headmaster really says a lot about Dumbledore’s character. And in the early films, it wasn’t always clear exactly how powerful and important Dumbledore really was.

There are many songs and chants that didn’t make the cut for the Potter films – Peeves, of course, wrote a nice handful of jingles himself. Just imagine our favorite poltergeist, soaring across the screen, chanting, “When there’s strife and when there’s trouble, call on Peevsie, he’ll make double!” (HBP 19)

Among Harry Potter fans, Dolores Umbridge is often despised more than Bellatrix Lestrange, Lord Voldemort, and Lucius Malfoy combined. Peeves, while usually terrorizing students, took a stand against Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. After she issued the “Order for the Expulsion of Peeves," he "spent hours at a time floating along after Umbridge and blowing loud raspberries every time she spoke" (OotP 30).

All right, technically, they were "water bombs," but nonetheless, this is just one example of Peeves’ harmless mischief. His fun, quirky pranks sometimes went too far, but they also added much-needed humor to intense situations. His water bomb incident sparked a Professor McGonagall outburst, which, I must admit, is usually relatively entertaining.

When Filch asked for the golden trio's whereabouts in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Peeves refused to give him an answer until he used proper manners: “Shan’t say nothing if you don’t say please!” (SS 9). When Filch finally complied, Peeves cackled, “NOTHING! I told you I wouldn’t say nothing if you didn’t say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!”

Quite possibly his greatest moment, Peeves made an appearance after Voldemort’s defeat, chanting, “We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter’s the one,/ And Voldy’s gone moldy, so now let’s have fun!” (DH 37). This reminded fans that Peeves, while harmful to school property, is simply a troublemaker and that even someone who seems villainous at first can turn out all right.