OG Harry Potter Stars Officially React to Replacement Cast as Hit Spin-Off Series Returns

Published Nov 9, 2026, 4:40 AM EST

Chris is a Senior News Writer for Collider. He can be found in an IMAX screen, with his eyes watering and his ears bleeding for his own pleasure. He joined the news team in 2022 and accidentally fell upwards into a senior position despite his best efforts.

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Imagine you've spent your formative years playing the most recognizable characters in one of the biggest franchises of all time. The kind of roles where everyone knows who you are and you'll probably find it difficult to be seen as anything else for the rest of your life. Except, now you have to watch someone else try and do the same thing. That's the weird life that several original Harry Potter stars have found themselves in as HBO prepares to launch its television adaptation of J.K. Rowling's bestselling books. How do you react?

James Phelps and Oliver Phelps, who played Fred and George Weasley throughout all eight Harry Potter movies, have revealed that they've written personal letters to their successors, Tristan Harland and Gabriel Harland. Speaking with TV Insider, the brothers explained that they wanted to share a little of what they'd learned from growing up inside the Wizarding World, while wishing the newcomers luck with what is undoubtedly going to be a pretty extraordinary experience. Oliver explained:

We dropped them each an individual letter, just saying some experiences we’ve had over the years, and wishing them all the best with it. And it was a very, very, very private message or note, but it was more a case of wishing them all the best with what they’re doing, which I know that a few of the other cast members from the films have done as well. We just wish the best for those guys on their journey, because we were very lucky to have been able to play the characters for when we did.

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The Hat awaits

Movies/Wizarding World/The Sorting

Collider · The Sorting Hat Awaits Which Hogwarts House
Are You? Eight questions · four houses · one sorting

Four houses, one destiny. The Sorting Hat has weighed thousands of students and now it is your turn. Answer honestly and find out where you belong at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The four houses

Gryffindor

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw

Place the hat

The Hat considers1 of 8

Question 1 of 8VALUES

01 What quality do you value most in yourself? Answer as honestly as you can. The Hat always knows.

ACourage. I act even when I am afraid, because what is right matters more than what is safe. BAmbition. I know what I want and I have the drive and the cunning to reach it. CLoyalty. I show up for the people I love, whatever it costs me. DWisdom. I think before I act and I am always hungry to understand more.

← Back Keys 1 to 4 or A to D · Enter to advance

Next question

The Hat considers2 of 8

Question 2 of 8CONFLICT

02 A friend is being treated unfairly. What do you do? How you protect other people says everything about you.

AStep in at once and confront whoever is responsible. I will not stand by. BWork out the best strategy to deal with it. A smart move beats a rash one. CStay at their side, support them, and help them through it however they need. DWork out what is really going on and find the most reasoned, fair solution.

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Next question

The Hat considers3 of 8

Question 3 of 8AMBITION

03 What does success look like to you? What you are working toward is what you are becoming.

ABeing remembered as someone who fought for what was right, whatever the odds. BReaching the goals I set for myself: influence, standing, and respect I earned. CA life where the people I care about know I was there for them, always. DMastering my field, contributing something that lasts, and never stopping learning.

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Next question

The Hat considers4 of 8

Question 4 of 8FEAR

04 What is your greatest fear? Fear is the most honest thing about a person.

ABeing a coward when it counted, and looking back knowing I did nothing. BMediocrity. Fading into obscurity without leaving a mark on the world. CLosing the people I love, or letting them down when they needed me most. DIgnorance. Being wrong and not knowing it, or never reaching what I could be.

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Next question

The Hat considers5 of 8

Question 5 of 8MORALITY

05 The rules say no. Your gut says go. What do you do? Every institution has rules. What you do with them is a choice.

ABreak them. If it is the right thing to do, no rule should stop me. BFind a way to get what I want without being caught. Rules are guidelines. CProbably follow them, though I would find a way to help inside them if I could. DThink it through carefully. Is the rule unjust, or is my gut just impatient?

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Next question

The Hat considers6 of 8

Question 6 of 8FRIENDSHIP

06 What kind of friend are you? Who you are to the people you love is who you really are.

AThe protector. I will go to the ends of the earth for the people I care about. BThe strategist. I give sharp advice and I am the one who works out how to fix it. CThe constant. I am always there, always reliable, and I never make it about me. DThe guide. I help people think it through and see what they have missed.

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The Hat considers7 of 8

Question 7 of 8THE MIRROR

07 You look into the Mirror of Erised. What do you see? The mirror shows the deepest desire of your heart.

AYourself standing victorious, having faced the greatest challenge and won. BYourself at the height of your power: respected, successful and in control. CYourself surrounded by everyone you love, whole and happy and together. DYourself with every answer: every book read, every mystery solved.

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The Hat considers8 of 8

Question 8 of 8THE SORTING

08 The Hat pauses. It whispers: you could do well in any house. But what matters most to you, truly? This is the tiebreaker. The Hat always listens.

ABravery. I want to be the kind of person who acts when others will not. BGreatness. I want to leave my mark and be more than ordinary. CBelonging. I want to be part of something good and never let my people down. DUnderstanding. I want to know the truth of things and keep growing forever.

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Reveal my house

The Sorting Hat speaksYour house has been chosen

Gryffindor Gryffindor Tower · Scarlet and Gold Gryffindors do not act because they are fearless. They act because some things are worth being afraid for.

You have nerve. Not the reckless kind, but the deep and quiet sort that turns up even when you are terrified, and especially then. You stand up for people when looking away would be easier, and you go at what is right even when the odds are poor. That instinct has cost you before and you have never once decided it was not worth it. Why the Hat chose this

• You speak up in the room where it costs you something.
• You would rather be wrong and brave than right and silent.
• People come to you when something needs facing.

From the Collider file

• Dominic McLaughlin takes over as Harry in HBO's series, which arrives in 2027 after filming through 2025 and 2026.
• Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were all cast in 2000, aged eleven, ten and ten.
• The Sorting Hat on screen was a practical puppet before any digital work went near it.

Nerve Acts first Stands up

Slytherin Slytherin Dungeon · Emerald and Silver At its best this is the house of people who refuse the limits other people set for them.

You are driven, sharp, and entirely clear-eyed about what you want and how to reach it. Slytherin has been misread for a long time, painted as the house of villains when what it really rewards is resourcefulness and the patience to play a long game. You know your own worth, you protect your own fiercely, and you have never needed anyone else's permission to aim high. Why the Hat chose this

• You think three moves ahead and say one of them out loud.
• You are loyal to a small circle and ruthless about the rest.
• Being underestimated has always suited you.

From the Collider file

• Alan Rickman knew Snape's ending from Rowling years before the films got there, and played it accordingly.
• Tom Felton read for Harry and for Ron before landing Draco.
• Paapa Essiedu takes the role of Snape in HBO's series.

Plays the long game Knows his worth Resourceful

Hufflepuff Hufflepuff Basement · Yellow and Black Not the safe house and not the leftover house. The house with the most heart.

You are the sort of person who makes a place better just by being in it. You turn up, you do the work, and you do not need glory or credit for any of it, because you do what is right on the grounds that it is right. Your loyalty does not waver when it is tested, which is the only time loyalty means anything at all. Hufflepuff has never been the consolation prize. Why the Hat chose this

• You are the one who remembers, and who follows through.
• You do the unglamorous part nobody volunteers for.
• Your word has never needed a backup.

From the Collider file

• Robert Pattinson played Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire a year before he was cast in Twilight.
• Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander put a Hufflepuff at the center of five Fantastic Beasts films.
• The common room sits beside the kitchens, which is the most Hufflepuff detail in the books.

Shows up Unwavering No credit needed

Ravenclaw Ravenclaw Tower · Blue and Bronze Not merely intelligence. The love of learning, and the rare nerve to say you do not know yet.

Your mind is your best thing and you have always known it. Ravenclaws are the questioners, the ones who cannot leave a puzzle alone and who find a good book better company than most rooms full of people. What marks the house out is not being clever, it is wanting to understand, and being willing to admit the gap. You see things with a clarity that other people find unsettling. Why the Hat chose this

• You would rather be corrected than comfortable.
• You notice the thing nobody else in the room noticed.
• You have never been able to leave a question alone.

From the Collider file

• Evanna Lynch was cast as Luna from an open call of roughly fifteen thousand girls, having written to Rowling as a fan.
• The tower door asks a riddle rather than a password, so a Ravenclaw can be locked out by thinking too slowly.
• Luna, Flitwick and Rowena Ravenclaw are all originals, which is rather the point of the house.

Asks the question Loves learning Sees clearly

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Who Stars in HBO's Harry Potter?

The new adaptation stars Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, alongside John Lithgow (The Crown) as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer (Ozark) as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) as Rubeus Hagrid, Warwick Davis (Willow) as Filius Flitwick, Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You) as Severus Snape, Lox Pratt (Lord of the Flies) as Draco Malfoy and Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) as Molly Weasley.

Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking Season 3 is currently airing on Food Network, while HBO's new Harry Potter series premieres December 25, 2026, on HBO and HBO Max. Stay tuned to Collider for all the latest news and updates on the biggest and best movies and shows heading to your favorite streaming platforms soon.

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  Dominic McLaughlin

  Harry Potter

• Arabella Stanton

  Hermione Granger

• Alastair Stout

  Ron Weasley

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  Minerva McGonagall