Alexandre Desplat

The Harry Potter series has been pretty consistent, in terms of score: overall spooky, but with soaring, fast-paced moments when Harry and his friends are involved in some kind of chase or other exciting happenings.

What hasn't been so consistent? The guys responsible for these scores. Prior to this film, we had Nicholas Hooper, John Williams, and Patrick Doyle running the strings and horns behind Harry's adventures, and now it's Alexandre Desplat.

With so many cooks in the kitchen, you'd kind of expect there to be a lot of variation in the soundtracks, right? Well, surprisingly, not really: the score always amps up the mood of the movie's happenings, whether they are exciting, frightening, spooky—you name it. And even though the different composers definitely have their own styles, they all are on the same page in using the music to impose or heighten a mood.

This is it, though, guys—no more changes. Desplat finishes out the series in the next installment.