Original Cast Member Returns To HBO's Harry Potter Series

Well, that did not take long. The new Harry Potter TV series has its first returning face from the original films: Warwick Davis is back at Hogwarts.

Flitwick returns (and Griphook gets a new face)

Davis will once again play Professor Filius Flitwick in HBO's new take on the books, due in 2027. In the films he also played Griphook the goblin, but the show is splitting those duties this time — Leigh Gill is stepping in as Griphook. First original cast member confirmed, box officially ticked.

New and familiar names joining the castle

HBO is rolling out cast updates in waves, and today came with a mix of student troublemakers, beloved staff, and one deep-cut addition the movies never touched.

• Warwick Davis as Professor Filius Flitwick (returning from the original films)
• Leigh Gill as Griphook
• Elijah Oshin as Dean Thomas
• Finn Stephens as Vincent Crabbe
• William Nash as Gregory Goyle
• Richard Durden as Professor Cuthbert Binns (History of Magic) — finally on screen after being left out of the movies
• Sirine Saba as Professor Pomona Sprout
• Brid Brennan as Madam Poppy Pomfrey
• Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter
• Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger
• Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley
• Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch
• Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander
• John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore
• Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall
• Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape
• Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley
• Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy
• Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy

Quick inside baseball: Cuthbert Binns is the ghost who teaches History of Magic in the books. He never showed up in the films, so seeing him float through a chalkboard at long last is a bit of a deep-fan moment.

How this series is structured

HBO is going literal with the adaptation: one season per book. Season 1 tackles The Philosopher's Stone. Francesca Gardiner is writing and executive producing, and Mark Mylod will executive produce and direct multiple episodes. The show is produced for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros Television, and it will stream on HBO Max.

The Rowling conversation, still very much present

As with any new Harry Potter project, J.K. Rowling's public statements on transgender rights loom over the rollout. Her 2020 essay on sex and gender sparked criticism from LGBTQ+ organizations including Stonewall. She has continued to post about the topic, including a 2024 thread on X that included lines like:

"there are no trans kids"

and that a child cannot be "born in the wrong body"

In May 2025, Rowling launched the J.K. Rowling Women's Fund, described as providing legal funding to individuals and groups fighting to retain what it calls women's sex-based rights.

Cast responses have varied: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson have issued statements supporting the trans community and distancing themselves from Rowling's views, while Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, and Jim Broadbent have defended her amid the backlash.

When to expect it

The new series is targeting a 2027 release. Plenty of time for more casting reveals, more debate, and yes, the inevitable Sorting Hat discourse.