8 In-Universe Harry Potter Books To Be Made Into Movies Next

Another round of Fantastic Beasts is shambling into theaters. Which means it’s also time for another deep dive into the Potterverse with one of our favorite games: If Fantastic Beastsis fair game, then which other in-universe books from the Potterverse should get the big screen treatment?

Here are our Potterverse movie adaptation pitches…

Hogwarts, A History

You know your mind jumped right to this oft-read-by-Hermione book. A compendium of everything that has ever happened at Hogwarts (give or take), it is probably chock full of ripe narrative for on-screen adaptation.

We’ve mentioned before how much we want a Hogwarts Founders movie or TV show, but we’ll take pretty much anything from this sure-to-be juicy tome.

Quidditch Through the Ages

Fact: People love sports. Other fact: People also love Harry Potter. I can only imagine what kind of heights you’d reach if you combined the two. Now that visual effects are better than ever, it seems like a perfect opportunity to tell a Harry Potter-verse story set mostly in the sky.

further reading: Harry Potter: How Prisoner of Azkaban Changed Young Adult Cinema Forever

Whether Warner Bros. wants to go the Mighty Ducksroute or the Ballersroute is up to them, I just think the Quidditch locker room would be a great place for drama. It’s Friday Night Lights— but in the sky. 

The Tales of Beetle the Bard

This already got its own short film adapation in the form of the short, beautiful animated sequence seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1,but there’s enough story in this collection of children’s stories to get a whole franchise going. 

Or Netflix could make it an anthology series. You know you want to see an on-screen adaptation of Ron Weasley’s fave: “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump.”

The Adventures of Gilderoy Lockhart 

Before he was hit with an Obliviate, before he was Hogwarts’ most crushed-after professor, Gildeory Lockhart was a full-time golden-haired con artist pretending to go on adventures and save the day. In canon, Lockhart would learn the stories from the people who actually did them, Obliviate them, then claim them as his own in his bestselling books. I say we tweak that a bit to have Lockhart bumble along on these adventures before Obliviating his new friends and stealing their heroics.

further reading: Harry Potter Movie Streaming Guide

The Harry Potter verse could use an anti-hero protagonist. I suggest we start with Year With the Yeti.

The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

Many a (very good) fan film has been made about the life of Albus Dumbledore, especially his early years. Heck, the Fantastic Beastsfranchise is featuring a younger version of the book character in its second outing. Adapting Rita Skeeter’s biography of the all-important wizarding figure would be particularly interesting if you kept the unreliable narrator aspect of Skeeter’s work.

Make it into a mockumentary or go the straight-forward route and tell the pretty tragic tale of Dumbledore’s life. Either way, I would watch the heck out of The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.

The Monster Book of Monsters

I think we all know that The Monster Book of Monstersis the superior creature-focused schoolback in the Potterverse. Unlike Fantastic Beasts,this book can actually be a character in its own adaptation. Hiding under beds. Biting people. Searching the wizarding world for an owner who can appreciate its particular brand of knowledge.

It’ll be like Monsters, Inc., except with more wizards.

From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon-Keeper’s Guide

This one could star Charlie Weasley, a younger Newt Scamander, or some other random. Point is: Here be dragons. Everyone loves a good dragon (just ask Game of Thrones), and Harry Potter has woven them into the very fabric of its storytelling universe without fully commiting to the creature as a character. 

This one would be like How to Train Your Dragon… but live-action. Warner Bros. has probably already started designing the VR experience.

The Story of Minerva McGonagall

This one isn’t technically based on an in-universe book, but McGonagall’s awesome life story has to be mentioned in the pages of both Hogwarts, A History and The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, right? Besides, a film about Minerva McGonagall practically writes itself.

Set the McGonagall biopic during her early years when she was helping her mom keep the messiness of magic from her Muggle father, stumping the Sorting Hat on whether she should be sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, and hanging out with Pomono Sprout (her future Hogwarts colleague). Or, you could jump into Minerva’s post-graduation years, when she fell in love with a Muggle, but had to break both of their hearts because she couldn’t tell him the secret of her magic. Best yet, set it during the First Wizarding World when McGonagall was a spy for the Ministry, suffering the losses of so many of her friends and family, including the Muggle she once fell in love with.

Some of McGonagall’s backstory is fleshed out in Rowling’s recent ebook series Pottermore Presents, but there is always room for more McGonagall story.

Which in-universe Harry Potter book would you like to see made into a movie or TV show? Share your picks in the comments below…

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.