So Chloe came up with a suggestion for Half-Blood Prince and it’s opening.
The idea was to remove too much of the action in the beginning as the opening promises an action-packed adventure, which HbP is everything but, and crosscut the Death Eaters attacking Diagon Alley with Harry’s cafè visit. This way, the audience will think Harry is the Death Eater’s target rather than Diagon Alley, and first when we see Dumbledore arrive do we realize he’s outside of any danger.
This also sets the proper dark tone for the film, as the Death Eaters are lurking in the shadows during the film, plotting their next move, and Harry and his friends constantly in a sense of unease.
I took and did some hours to arrange something that would work, and I think I now do have something:
Having to re-do large amounts of the opening SFX and ambience this crack at it took me a couple of hours, but I think it does a better set-up for the film than the original opening.