As “Harry Potter” fans eagerly await the Christmas Day debut of the upcoming TV series, HBO has dropped a surprise sneak peek.
Sunday, November 15 brought the unexpected arrival of a new clip featuring a scene from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”
A Hogwarts Banquet
The 90-second clip features a scene set in the grand Hogwarts dining room during a banquet after the new students have met with the Sorting Hat to be assigned to their respective houses.
In the scene, Harry (Dominic McLaughlin) asks Ron Weasley (Alastair Stout) whether headmaster Albus Dumbledore (John Lithgow) is “a bit mad.” Ron replies: “Yep, totally off his rocker.”
Dumbledore is then seen snapping his fingers, which magically ushers in the banquet’s food. He then turns to Professor Minerva McGonagall (Janet McTeer) to ask whether she is happy that Harry has been assigned to her house, Gryffindor.
“The cat that got the cream?” he asks her. “Admit it, you’re pleased that he’s in your house.” McGonagall responds: “Well, he is the spit of James [Potter]. I can’t believe it. It’s uncanny.”
“Looks can be deceiving, Minerva,” Dumbledore responds cryptically. “His nature is entirely his own.”
The Saga Begins
This latest clip follows the release of an earlier teaser, a scene featuring the Sorting Hat, which dropped back in early September.
“There is nothing special about Harry Potter — or so his Aunt Petunia tells him,” reads the series’ official logline. “But when a mysterious letter of admission to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry arrives, it opens the door to a hidden world of magic, friendship and adventure. Yet behind Hogwarts’ enchanted walls lie dark secrets. Harry must find the courage to prove himself against the darkest wizard of all.”
In addition to the aforementioned actors, the new HBO series also stars Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Elijah Oshin as Dean Thomas, Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Gabriel Harland as George Weasley, Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown, Finn Stephens as Vincent Crabbe, William Nash as Gregory Goyle, Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick and Sirine Saba as Pomona Sprout.
“The scope of the production, the detail, meticulousness of what they’re going through and what they’ve built takes theatrical to just a whole different level,” said Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO of global streaming, JB Perrette, of the upcoming series (via Variety).
“And so when you think of the love of that franchise and what you can do in a series — can go deeper, and tell more of the story, can tell more of the pieces that you didn’t get to capture in a two-hour movie … I really think this is the streaming event of the decade,” he declared.
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” will make its debut December 25 on HBO Max.
HBO Drops Surprise Sneak Peek At ‘Harry Potter’ Series: Watch