Numerous magical animals from the books were brought to life in the “Harry Potter” films, including Buckbeak, Fluffy the three-headed dog, and various dragons. Fawkes the Phoenix, Albus Dumbledore’s companion and protector, and the person who saved Harry Potter, stands out as one of the most appealing and enduring characters (one too many times).
In “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” Fawkes is the first person Harry encounters after being summoned to the headmaster’s office because of the eerie “Heir of Slytherin” activities taking place at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, Harry comes across the bird on “Burning Day,” which is the absolute worst day to get to know a phoenix.
A phoenix burns to death and is then reborn from its ashes when the time comes. Chris Columbus, who directed the first two movies, and the cast employed a full-size hatchling animatronic to make the bird look realistic during filming this sequence, which is the first time Fawkes is seen on camera. They were so successful that Richard Harris, who portrayed Dumbledore in the first two movies, mistakenly thought it was a real, expertly trained bird.
Richard Harris Was Impressed
Chris Columbus and Daniel Radcliffe discussed the incident that led to one of their best laughs while filming “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” during the “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” event.
In the sequence, Harry first enters Dumbledore’s office, sees the bird catch fire, and then hears more about the Phoenix from the headmaster of Hogwarts. Richard Harris was so impressed by the animatronic puppet’s thoughtful construction and attention to detail that he mistakenly believed it to be a real bird.
By Columbus:
“You and I had one of our greatest laughs together with Richard Harris … we had an animatronic version of Fawkes the Phoenix, and it was this big red bird that doesn’t exist. Richard came in and looked at the Phoenix and said, ‘Wow, they train these animals marvelously these days.'”
Radcliffe continued:
“They had a camera inside the eyes so they could see Richard looking at it, and then they were like, ‘Well, we don’t want to break the spell, so we’ll just keep the bird reacting and moving.'”
The staff didn’t have the heart to explain him Harris that the bird was a mechanical puppet because he believed it was responding to him.
A few time after the publication of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” Richard Harris passed dead. Michael Gambon took over the part of Dumbledore and continued the series in his place.