The Best Redemption Arc in ‘Harry Potter’ Was Cut From the Movies

The Big Picture

• Kreacher, the Black family’s House Elf, undergoes the best redemption arc in the Harry Potter series, though it is cut from the films.
• Kreacher starts as a prejudiced individual and a loyal servant to Voldemort’s Death Eaters, but changes sides to support Harry, even fighting against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.
• The films do not fully explore Kreacher’s character development, missing out on a compelling and well-rounded redemption story.

The Harry Potter franchise deals with a lot of good versus evil, presenting clearly defined sides as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) fights Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Yet throughout the series, several characters change sides, redeeming themselves by turning from a villain into a hero. The most memorable example is Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), who goes from being one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters to Dumbledor’s (Michael Gambon) most trusted ally. Yet, he is far from the only redemption arc in the series. Though dead before Harry faces Voldemort, the films briefly mention Regulus Black. Regulus was a Death Eater when he discovered and tried to destroy one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, proving that he changed courses before his death. It could be argued that even Harry’s father, James, underwent some redemption as he reformed from his bullying ways and stood against Voldemort. Yet none of these are the series’ best example of a redemption arc.

That distinction belongs to Kreacher (Simon McBurney), the Black family’s House Elf, though his plot is largely cut from the films. Kreacher is introduced as a prejudiced individual, but by the end of the book, he is a firm supporter of Harry’s. Upon his first appearance, Kreacher complains about the blood status of the witches and wizards he encounters, showing him to be less than pleasant. Though this doesn’t make him inherently evil, he does work with the villains, actively betraying the Order of the Phoenix to the Death Eaters at the earliest opportunity. However, he later has a change of heart, and his attitude is completely altered, at least in the books. Ultimately, Kreacher proves how much he’s changed by leading the House Elves into the Battle of Hogwarts, using Harry’s name in his battle cry. Though Kreacher appears in several films, his character development is one of the many things cut for time. The films portray this complex character as a grumpy and prejudiced servant when he is so much more.

‘Harry Potter’ First Shows Kreacher as a Death Eater Sympathizer

Kreacher is not evil in the same way as Voldemort or Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), but upon his introduction, he is still an obstacle for Harry and his allies. In many ways, Kreacher is a victim of his circumstances, but he also makes a conscious choice of where his allegiance lies. As a House Elf, Kreacher is forced to follow orders, which accounts for some of his actions. For his entire life, he has been forced to serve the Black family, who are notoriously particular about blood status. As one of the most fervently pureblood families, it’s no surprise that he is accustomed to prejudice. Yet unlike Dobby (Toby Jones), who has a similar situation when working for the Malfoys, Kreacher accepts what he hears as right. While the heroes use Grimmauld Place as their headquarters in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Kreacher is a constant and unwelcome presence. Part of this has to do with Sirius Black’s (Gary Oldman) dislike of anything that reminds him of his family, but more importantly, Kreacher is not pleasant to be around. He insults everyone in the Order constantly, calling them mudbloods or blood traitors and complaining about their presence in the house.

Perhaps this behavior could be ignored if it were all he did, but Kreacher not only shares prejudices with the Death Eaters, he works with them. Kreacher reveals that, years before the series, he was lent to Voldemort to hide a Horcrux, though the situation was a mystery until after Kreacher’s participation. This event speaks more to Kreacher’s masters than himself. The orders he was forced to follow should not be held against him, yet it proves that he has experience with Voldemort and supports him knowing his cruelty. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Kreacher not only complains about the Order but betrays them at his first opportunity. When Sirius orders Kreacher out of the kitchen, the House Elf uses the command’s vagueness to leave the house and meet with Narcissa Malfoy (Helen McCrory) and Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter), who were once Blacks themselves and, therefore, hold Kreacher’s loyalty. Because of Kreacher’s information, Voldemort is able to use Sirius against Harry, faking his capture and luring Harry to the Ministry of Magic. For this betrayal, Kreacher bears responsibility. He chose the Death Eaters over the Order of the Phoenix, knowing what Voldemort was capable of, putting him firmly on the wrong side of the conflict.

Kreacher Changes His Ways by the End of ‘Harry Potter’

Though, at first, he supports Voldemort, Kreacher changes his allegiance by the end of the series. When Sirius dies, Harry inherits his house and, by extension, the House Elf. Yet Kreacher still dislikes Harry, and it isn’t until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 that Kreacher reappears. Though the film includes the House elf, it gives far fewer details of his story than the book. As they hunt for Horcruxes, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) return to Grimmauld Place, where Kreacher is. During their stay, the trio discovers that R.A.B., who took the locket Horcrux intending to destroy it, was Regulus Black, Sirius’ brother whom Kreacher much preferred. They demand details from Kreacher, who tells them how he was sent with Voldemort to hide the thing. When Regulus learned what Voldemort forced Kreacher to endure, he renounced his loyalty to the Dark Lord and stole the Horcrux. Though Kreacher was instructed to destroy the locket, he could not, but he does help Harry find it.

Learning that Harry wants the same thing as his beloved master Regulus, Kreacher’s opinion changes. With the small gesture of kindness of gifting Kreacher the decoy locket, Harry wins Kreacher’s loyalty. Kreacher begins to happily work for Harry, even accepting Ron and Hermione, whom he used to call a blood traitor and filthy mudblood. But Kreacher not only becomes more accepting, he actively redeems himself by changing his ways and opposing Voldemort. In the book, Kreacher appears again as one of the House Elves at Hogwarts during the final battle. Though it is not in their nature to stand up, several House Elves stay and defend their home rather than escaping or hiding. Kreacher is among those who choose to fight and even leads the charge. This shows how much he changed in a relatively short time. Kreacher went from helping Voldemort to willingly and vocally defying him in a span of just a few years. Kreacher completely changes after realizing Harry and his friends are in the right. Despite the little focus his character gets, he grows more than most.

‘Harry Potter’ Never Should Have Ignored Kreacher’s Arc

Kreacher changes sides, changing from working against Harry to supporting him, but the films do not show his development. Kreacher’s redemption gets a minor role in the books, with a few mentions of how he changed, but the film cuts it completely. Kreacher is present, but only as an obstacle. After helping Harry find Mundungus Fletcher (Andy Linden), who stole the true Horcrux, Kreacher disappears, and his heroism is forgotten. This isn’t surprising, considering that the films were pressed for time, and though a compelling story, Kreacher’s role after the trio obtains that Horcrux is minor. It also goes along with the film’s trend of cutting House Elf plots. While the creatures appear in the films, their roles are far less prevalent. Dobby only appears in his most significant parts, like Kreacher. Though Dobby is there to save Harry on a few occasions, his part in the films is far smaller than in the books, and Winky never appears on the screen. Yet the removal of Kreacher’s character development is a shame. He is never shown as anything more than bitter and hateful when, in truth, he is so much more.

Though Kreacher doesn’t get much time, even in the books, his redemption is more complete than any other character’s. In part, this is because he is still alive during the series and, therefore, can demonstrate his change. This is the downfall of Regulus, who, despite being a Death Eater, died trying to make Voldemort mortal. Though Regulus’ final act was heroic, he gets minimal focus as it all happened almost twenty years before the story. Other more current redemption arcs have selfish motivations, like Narcissa Malfoy, who lies to Voldemort and flees the battle. Everything Narcissa does is for her son, Draco (Tom Felton). Though there is some good in her priorities, she never admits the faults of her previous choices. Meanwhile, the most well-known redemption arc in the series belongs to Severus Snape, who defied Voldemort and sacrificed his life for the heroes. However, Snape’s change was not motivated by goodness but by anger at Lilly Potter’s death. And only Snape’s alignment changed, not who he was as a person. He still mistreated students even while working for Dumbledore. Kreacher’s complete change and unselfish defiance of Voldemort make his redemption arc the best the series has to offer and prove that the House Elf deserved a more well-rounded portrayal in the films.

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