David Yates, who directed the Order of the Phoenix and all subsequent Harry Potter films, as well as the Fantastic Beasts spinoffs, had both good and bad decisions. It was a good move to split J.K. Rowling’s final book, The Deathly Hallows, into two parts, but it was bad that he altered Voldemort's death in the finale. However, Yates wasn’t only interested in changing how Voldemort died, he also wanted to end Severus Snape's life differently from how it was described in the book. Instead of being bitten by Nagini, Snape would have been killed by a curse.
Alan Rickman, who portrayed the Potions Master, revealed this in his diary, which he wrote during the filming and later published as a book in 2022. Fortunately, the actor (and his wife, Rima Horton) cared deeply about the character and the films’ fate, and since he was familiar with the novel, he voiced his disagreement. "It’s cold, wet, and drafty, but the crew is still miles away, so Ralph and I are slowly moving towards the scene," Rickman wrote on November 25, 2009, about a scene with Ralph Fiennes (who played Voldemort). He continued:
"David Yates is as stubborn as ever, and insists that Voldemort kills me with the Killing Curse. (I don't understand why, plus this would anger the readers.) But Ralph and I work very well together. He’s direct, honest, creative, and free. I get home, and Rima (a genius at reading the script) says: 'He can’t kill you with the Killing Curse. The only effective spell would be the Avada Kedavra, but it kills instantly, and you wouldn’t be able to finish the scene.'"
Snape’s potential death by Avada Kedavra would have been problematic for several reasons: Voldemort killed his loyal servant because he mistakenly believed that Snape was the rightful master of the Elder Wand, and the wand’s power would pass to Snape’s conqueror upon his death. However, if Snape truly had been the wand’s master, according to legend, he could not have been defeated by magic in a duel, meaning the Killing Curse might have backfired. Not wanting to take such a risk again, Voldemort entrusted the dirty work to Nagini.
Additionally, as Rickman’s late wife pointed out, the curse would have killed Snape instantly, leaving him no chance to pass on the crucial memories to Harry. However, as he lay dying from the snake bite, he was still able to do this, and he could speak his final, dramatic line—the one that deepened the tragedy of Snape’s life—when he looked into Harry’s eyes and told him that his eyes were his mother Lily's.
In Rickman’s diary, the entry for the next filming day (November 26, 2009) was more positive: "All day this scene goes on. Different setups and lenses. Snape’s death. Nearly ten years later. At least there are only two actors present... David is vulnerable and gracious when excited. And it’s because of the scene. A perfect example of what can happen when a couple of actors take the scene, start working with the story, the space, and each other," wrote the actor.
The diary excerpts recently gained more attention on the Harry Potter subreddit, where most fans agree that Yates' idea was a bad one. However, someone made an important point: "There are other curses that can kill someone, which don’t take effect immediately. In fact, Voldemort actually did just that in the movie: he slashed Snape’s throat with a cutting curse. Then Nagini just finished the job."
In the end, it’s also possible that Yates wasn’t originally planning to use the Killing Curse, but Rickman and the others misunderstood the director’s intentions. Regardless, this little story highlights how conscientious Rickman was in playing his roles.
Unfortunately, no one resisted the change made to the other major death scene in The Deathly Hallows 2: In the book, Voldemort dies in front of everyone, collapsing like a mere mortal on the battlefield, which, in its simplicity, was a much more brutal end for the Dark Lord, who had chased immortality, than the epic scene in the film, where Voldemort disintegrates as if Thanos had snapped his fingers.
