Harry Potter Almost Killed Hedwig In Chamber of Secrets—and People Are Just Noticing

Though she never had any lines, Hedwig the owl managed to become one the most beloved characters of the Harry Potter franchise. Despite her popularity, one of her most dramatic scenes had gone unnoticed until recently. Thanks to a viral tweet, Harry Potter fans now realize that the boy wizard came close to killing his pet in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Newsweek reports.

The beginning of the second Harry Potter movie shows Harry and Ron at King's Cross Station in London preparing to board the Hogwarts Express. They have to pass into Platform 9 and 3/4 to get to the magical train, but by the time they've arrived the portal is closed. The two characters discover this by running at it at full speed and crashing into solid brick.

While Ron and Harry were behind their luggage carts, Hedwig took the brunt of the collision, as the viral clip tweeted by user @MuskTillDawn shows. For a split second, you can see the helpless bird getting knocked around in its cage. Luckily, the scene cuts to a shot of a slightly ruffled, but uninjured, Hedwig before young viewers have the chance to panic. You can watch the moment play out in the video below.

Hedwig was brought to life on screen by seven different snowy owls throughout the series's production. Though stunt owls were used for some of the action-packed sequences, the real-life animals received much better treatment than Hedwig the character. For scenes where Harry's pet is in danger, like the one in the viral tweet, the live birds were replaced with puppets or CGI.

J.K. Rowling chalks up Hedwig's unusual behaviors to her magical abilities. Perhaps that also explains her resilience to the trauma Harry puts her through. Here are more interesting facts about the world of Harry Potter.

[h/t Newsweek]