The Harry Potter Films Skip Over Harry And Cho Chang's Disastrous Breakup
The Harry Potter films covered a lot of ground during their run — over 4,000 pages worth, to be exact. That's a lot of material from the "Harry Potter" books to fit into just eight films and 20 hours. Naturally, that also means that a lot of storylines fell by the wayside during the characters' journeys from script to screen. Throughout the "Harry Potter" movies, characters like Madam Hooch only appeared in one film, whereas mainstays of the novels like Professor Binns never appeared at all. At one point, Harry himself appeared to stop attending class altogether.
Notably, there were also some romances that became abridged in the films. Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Viktor Krum's (Stanislav Ianevski) relationship, for example, never came up again after the two parted ways in "Goblet of Fire," whereas the two remained pen pals in the book series. However, it was the abbreviation of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Cho Chang's (Katie Leung) romance that seemed like the movie's most glaring change to a book relationship.
Harry and Cho's relationship ended rather quietly in the films
Harry Potter's relationship with Cho Chang doesn't seem to get discussed with the same frequency or verve as the series' Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger romance or cringey epilogue scene. It's not quite a low point or a high point. It's more of a meh-dium point. Even Cho's actress Katie Leung has expressed regret over her on-screen romance's depiction (via People). Additionally, her kiss with Daniel Radcliffe is listed as No. 2 on Buzzfeed's list of the most cringey scenes in the "Harry Potter" movies.
However, Cho's storyline received a major overhaul in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Though the two briefly date in the film, their relationship fizzles out after Cho tells the evil Professor Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) about Dumbledore's Army while under the influence of truth serum. Upon finding out this information, Harry immediately gives Cho the cold shoulder and essentially ices her out of his life. It's a harsh move, considering Cho hasn't revealed the information willingly. More importantly, it's a far less bombastic turn of events than what occurred in the novels.
The Harry-Cho breakup was way more dramatic in the books
In the book version of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Cho and Harry's relationship turns sour almost immediately after their first kiss. During their first official date, in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade, Harry becomes angry when Cho begins reminiscing about her ex-boyfriend Cedric Diggory, who died not too long ago. Conversely, Cho becomes furiously jealous after Harry starts talking about Hermione, one of his best friends. Finally, the couple's fate is sealed when Cho's best friend, Marietta Edgecombe, willingly rats out Dumbledore's Army to Professor Umbridge, thus ending the group's meetings. It's a far more explosive breakdown of Harry and Cho's relationship, and it makes much more sense as a reason for the two to stop seeing each other.
Of course, as fans are already aware, none of this really matters. In the movies, as in the books, Harry and Cho's relationship is just a distraction from Harry's far more significant (and longer-brewing) romance with Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright), who eventually becomes Harry's wife. That's one relationship that thankfully made it into the movies in one piece.