HBO's Recast For Harry Potter Hogwarts Professor Is Secretly Better Than Their First Choice
Liz Hersey is an Editor and Critic for ScreenRant's TV team, editing, reviewing, writing, and creating content about the iconic shows you love to watch. She began her editing career at ScreenRant in 2019, shortly after joining the site as a Writer that same year.
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HBO's Harry Potter series hasn't even premiered yet, and there's already been a major casting change. The highly anticipated TV show is set to run for seven seasons, with each installment adapting one book in the children's novel series. Season 1, which is based on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, will debut on December 25, 2026, while the second season, which adapts The Chamber of Secrets, is scheduled to premiere in 2027.
Thus, casting for the Chamber of Secrets season has already begun. On August 11, it was announced that Nosferatu and Superman star Nicholas Hoult would take on the role of the charming yet fraudulent new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart. However, reports earlier this week confirmed that Hoult had officially dropped out of Harry Potter.
This led to immediate speculation that Hoult's departure was related to the controversy surrounding the Harry Potter show due to book author J.K. Rowling's unapologetic and prolific transphobia. However, the official reasoning, as reported by Deadline, was "scheduling issues," possibly with Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to 2025's Superman, in which Hoult is reprising his role as the iconic villain, Lex Luthor.
It didn't take long for HBO to find a Gilderoy Lockhart replacement in Game of Thrones star Kit Harington. Harington is a known die-hard fan of the Harry Potter series, but that's far from the only reason why he's perfect for the role.
Nicholas Hoult Felt Like An Odd Choice To Play Gilderoy Lockhart
As fantastic an actor as he is, Hoult simply seemed too young to take on the role of Gilderoy Lockhart. He's not actually, as at 36 years old, Hoult is only five years younger than Kenneth Branagh was when he filmed the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie at 41. (For comparison, Harington is currently 39.) However, with his boyish facial features, Hoult's youthful appearance doesn't seem like the right fit for a wizard with a lifetime of tales to share — albeit tall ones.
Ministry of Magic · O.W.L. Examinations Test Your Wizarding Knowledge “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
🦁GryffindorBravery
🐍SlytherinAmbition
🦅RavenclawWisdom
🦡HufflepuffLoyalty
🏰HogwartsMagic
01
What spell is used to disarm an opponent, famously becoming Harry Potter’s signature move throughout the series?
✓ Correct! Expelliarmus is the Disarming Charm. Harry used it so often that it became his trademark spell — even using it in his final duel against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Expelliarmus. Stupefy is a Stunning Spell, Protego is a Shield Charm, and Petrificus Totalus is the Full Body-Bind Curse. Expelliarmus forces an opponent’s wand out of their hand.
02
In “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” Hagrid introduces his Care of Magical Creatures class to a proud hippogriff. What is the creature’s name?
✓ Correct! Buckbeak the hippogriff became a key part of the story when Draco Malfoy insulted him and got injured. Harry and Hermione later saved Buckbeak from execution using the Time-Turner.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Buckbeak. Fang is Hagrid’s boarhound, Norbert is his baby dragon from the first book, and Aragog is the giant Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest.
03
What potion allows the drinker to assume the physical appearance of another person, and plays a major role in “The Chamber of Secrets” and “The Goblet of Fire”?
✓ Correct! Polyjuice Potion transforms the drinker into someone else for about an hour. Hermione brewed it in their second year to infiltrate the Slytherin common room, and Barty Crouch Jr. used it to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Polyjuice Potion. Felix Felicis is liquid luck, Veritaserum is a truth serum, and Amortentia is a powerful love potion. Polyjuice Potion is the one that changes your appearance.
04
How many Horcruxes did Lord Voldemort intentionally create to split his soul and achieve immortality?
✓ Correct! Voldemort intentionally created six Horcruxes: the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and Nagini. Harry became an accidental seventh Horcrux, making the total number of soul fragments seven — the most magically powerful number.
✗ Not quite! The answer is six. Voldemort deliberately created six Horcruxes: Tom Riddle’s diary, Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, and Nagini. Harry was an unintentional seventh piece.
05
How many points is the Golden Snitch worth when caught by a Seeker during a Quidditch match?
✓ Correct! Catching the Golden Snitch awards 150 points and ends the match. This is why the Seeker position is so crucial — catching the Snitch almost always wins the game, though famously at the Quidditch World Cup, Viktor Krum caught it but Bulgaria still lost.
✗ Not quite! The answer is 150 points. The Golden Snitch is worth 150 points and also ends the match. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Krum caught the Snitch for Bulgaria but Ireland still won because they were more than 150 points ahead.
06
What form does Severus Snape’s Patronus take — revealing his lifelong love for Harry’s mother, Lily?
✓ Correct! Snape’s Patronus is a doe — the same as Lily Potter’s. When Dumbledore asked “After all this time?” Snape famously replied, “Always.” It’s one of the most emotional reveals in the entire series.
✗ Not quite! The answer is a doe. Snape’s Patronus matches Lily Potter’s because of his deep, enduring love for her. James Potter’s Patronus was a stag — the male counterpart. The doe is what led Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor in the frozen lake.
07
What magical object must you look into to see the Mirror of Erised’s true purpose — and what does it show the viewer?
✓ Correct! The Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward) shows the deepest desire of whoever looks into it. Harry saw his parents, Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claimed he saw himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.
✗ Not quite! The answer is their deepest, most desperate desire. “Erised” is “desire” spelled backward. The inscription reads: “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” Dumbledore warned Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth, and men have wasted away before it.
08
The three Deathly Hallows are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and which third object that Harry himself possessed?
✓ Correct! The Cloak of Invisibility was passed down through Harry’s family — he inherited it from his father, James. Unlike ordinary invisibility cloaks, this Hallow never fades or weakens, making it a true relic of Death from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
✗ Not quite! The answer is the Cloak of Invisibility. Harry inherited it from his father on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. Together with the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, these three objects make up the Deathly Hallows from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
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Furthermore, with Hoult's filmography largely populated by brooding antiheroes or out-and-out villain characters, the pompous and preening Lockhart is perhaps almost too radical a departure. That's not to say that Hoult can't do comedy, as we've seen in The Great and The Menu. However, these are more darkly funny roles as opposed to the lighthearted buffoon that is Gilderoy Lockhart.
Kit Harington Makes Far More Sense As Gilderoy Lockhart
It may sound hypocritical to question Hoult as Lockhart based on his previous roles when Harington is best known for playing one of TV's most iconic brooders, the bastard Jon Snow, in Game of Thrones. However, Harington has already proven himself the better fit, and it's not just because he's a tiny bit older.
The fact is, Harington has already played Gilderoy Lockhart before, as he voiced the character in Audible's Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions in 2025. Speaking with Collider about his role in the upcoming Harry Potter show, Harington said,
I’m thrilled. I’ve said a million times, for anyone who cares, that I’m a huge Potter fan. I’ve got to be honest, he’s one of my favorite characters. So, to be offered to play him is a real dream. I think he’s going to be so fun. You said, I got to play him in the audiobooks. That’s not the exact way I’ll play him in the show because it’s an audiobook, but I’ve had a taste of him and felt my way around him. He’s just a wonderful creation.”
It's a relief to hear that Harington is planning on changing up his performance in the show from his voiceover work in the audiobook, given how important appearance, presentation, and theatricality are to Lockhart. However, with Harington having already gotten to try the character on for size, he'll have a leg up when it comes time to film his scenes for Harry Potter season 2. We'll see how he does playing the five-time winner of Witch's Weekly's most charming smile award come 2027.
- Release Date
- 2026 - 2026
- Showrunner
- Francisca Gardiner
- Directors
- Mark Mylod
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Dominic McLaughlin
Harry Potter
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Janet McTeer
Minerva McGonagall
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Albus Dumbledore
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Nick Frost
Hagrid
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.