Given how stuffed the later books of the Harry Potter series tend to be, you wouldn’t think there’d be any need to add extra scenes to the film versions.

But according to Half-Blood Prince producer David Barron, the new scene isn’t meant to add length – it’s for clarity, and to condense the many snippets of information leaked by Rowling through the characters reading newspapers about Voldemort-related problems in the wider world.

“The book is peppered with those moments, but we couldn't do that quite so easily in the film,” he told Australia’s Herald Sun. “So the extra scene comes in the middle of the film and it just reminds us the world is no longer a safe place. Even in what would normally be considered the safe haven of the Burrow, nobody's safe.” Sounds good to us.

The ever-watchful web eyes of fan site SnitchSeeker.com found the full interview and you can check it out at their page.