Cues No. 7 & 8

A slow, distant memory of Harry’s first time in Ollivander’s crosses the mind of the orchestra in the form of a lonely few notes on the celesta. Flute takes over, then moves to english horn before the music becomes uneasy. A shot of Malfoy outside is accented by trombones and muted horns as he walks away.

The zoom out shot of the trio looking down Knockturn Alley has aleatoric elements introduced in the percussion section, then abruptly changes texture after cutting to Harry speeding cautiously down the dark street. Strings wind around with low, quiet thumps creating momentum. The music pauses and shivers on the reveal of Borgin and Burke’s as Malfoy’s destination.

The low strings, with flute harmonies on top, accompany a shot that moves up the building and to a window where a gong helps illuminate the room inside. The Death Eater theme sneaks its way in while Voldemort’s followers enter the room. The second statement of the Malfoy theme in this score is placed here, this time with him in the scene itself rather than just being discussed by his mother and Snape. It almost gets a full statement before a Death Eater suddenly appears at the window. The trio hides quickly, and the music freezes. Low strings fade out underneath, transitioning straight into the next cue.

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The Chamber of Secrets variation of Hedwig’s Theme gets its first statement since the second film over the shot of the Hogwarts Express making its way across the countryside. This scene re-introduces many old characters and feelings, so it needed to contain music from a time before the second war and the more somber tone took over the series. This also provides a good counterbalance, making the darker material seem even more so when it appears.

Luna enters for the first time in the film, and her theme comes back as carefree as she is. The motoric elements underneath keep the cue moving forward, but make room for dialogue and re-introduction into the story. Outside the train, the camera moves from one car to another, and a traditional statement of Hedwig’s Theme sweeps through the orchestra. After it settles down, Harry begins postulating Malfoy’s potential allegiance to Voldemort. The Death Eater theme gets a full, quiet statement under his discussion with Ron and Hermione.

Unable to maintain patience, Harry leaves Ron and Hermione to go find Malfoy. Strings begin pulsing with excitement, unsure of what will happen next. The invisibility cloak is shown hidden behind Harry’s back, and the musical material that accompanied this object reappears over the insistent strings. Harry pauses at the doorway where he sees Malfoy. A low brass chorale plays quietly, then a shot of the outside of the car shows all of the windows blackening because of Harry's instant darkness powder. An orchestral flourish flies over the train with the camera while this happens.

After the smoke clears, Malfoy is given his first full scene in this film. With his first lines of dialogue, the original music that accompanied his introduction in Sorcerer’s Stone plays underneath. This is to show that he is the same as he was then, just a little older and a little more afraid. His conversation with Pansy and Blaise ends, and he notices something on the shelf above him, and seemingly writes it off as nothing.

The famous shot of Hagrid holding a lantern while standing on the Hogsmeade platform is reprised here, and the music that originally accompanied it is brought back briefly as well. This bookends the very first arrival at Hogwarts with the last arrival at Hogwarts (though the trio doesn’t know it yet).

Back inside the train, Malfoy is alone, and the strings come to a halt. Tremolos and high harmonics suddenly shift the texture to something more ominous and hostile. Malfoy knows Harry is also in the train car. He quickly throws a spell at where he thinks Harry is, and a big orchestral gesture falls to the floor with Harry. Some small musical nods accent Malfoy’s removal of Harry’s invisibility cloak and the moment he steps on his face, breaking his nose. Malfoy leaves Harry on the train under the cloak, exits on to the platform, and walks away. The low strings fade into silence.