All Aboard: Hogwarts Express Roars Back in New Video and Photos from HBO’s Harry Potter Series
All aboard: fresh set footage reveals the Hogwarts Express steaming back to life for HBO’s new Harry Potter series, now filming at Leavesden Studios in the UK and eyeing an early 2027 premiere.
HBO's Harry Potter reboot is officially on the tracks — literally. A new set video just popped up, and yes, it shows the Hogwarts Express in action. Production is rolling at Leavesden Studios in the UK, and the plan is still to launch Season 1 in early 2027. Long runway, but we finally have something tangible to stare at.
The set video: all aboard
Clips shared on X on September 29, 2025 are making the rounds, showing the Hogwarts Express up close. If you know the books and films, you know the drill: this is the train that takes students from London King's Cross Platform 9¾ to Hogsmeade Station.
Why that matters: the first big 'we meet our heroes' moment happens on that train. So seeing it now strongly suggests they are gearing up to shoot Harry, Ron, and Hermione's first scene together. Inside baseball, sure, but it's a pretty clear breadcrumb.
Where things stand
Production is underway at Leavesden Studios, the franchise's old home turf. HBO is pitching this as a faithful, book-first adaptation stretched across an ambitious ten-season plan. Translation: expect the Hogwarts Express to get a lot of mileage over the years.
Who is on board
- Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter
- Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley
- Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger
- John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore
- Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall
- Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape
- Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid
- Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy
- Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom
- Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley
- Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley
- Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy
- Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley
- Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley
- Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley
- Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley
- Gabriel Harland as George Weasley
- Showrunner/writer: Francesca Gardiner (Killing Eve, Succession)
- Director: Mark Mylod (Succession)
- Executive producers: Mark Mylod, J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts, and longtime Potter producer David Heyman
- Produced by HBO with Bronte Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television
The takeaway
It is one short on-set glimpse, but it's a meaningful one: the show is moving into the early-days Hogwarts material, the place where the entire story clicks together. If they are already staging the train, the sorting and Great Hall are probably not far behind. Early 2027 still feels distant, but the pieces are lining up.