New HBO Harry Potter trailer immerses us back into the magical world of Hogwarts

Attention Potter-heads! HBO have recently released a second (and fuller) trailer for the new Harry Potter series which will make its debut on 25 December 2026. How fitting! A magical new series for a magical time of year! But as director Mark Mylod and executive producer Francesa Gardiner catapult us back into the wizarding world of Hogwarts, it is clear that this series aims to make a marked distinction from the films that we have come to cherish.  

An initial uproar from long-time fans followed the first public announcement of the series on April 12 2023, whose deep emotional attachment to the original eight films and the ‘golden trio’, left them feeling sceptical about a new cast replacing the actors that they had come to know and love. Upon seeing the new trailer, one person commented: “It’s like seeing strangers in your old house”, and there still remains much controversy and divided opinion about what to expect from the new series.

It was hard not to agree with all the scepticism at first. And I too, was one of the many, who questioned why a new series was necessary 20 years later, when the films were already so highly esteemed and widely loved. After all, no-one can replace our beloved and famed stars! But alas! Following the trailer, myself and many others, have become more hopeful and open-minded about what the series might actually have to offer us.

The trailer begins with a clip of the famous steam train that takes us to Hogwarts, followed by the students bustling in through the big golden doors of the Great Hall, as Janet McTeer’s McGonagall reads out names for the sorting ceremony. The layout of the Great Hall and the setting of Hogwarts, along with the Weasley house, remains the same as in the films and is equally magical, allowing us to be transported back to the world that many of us have called home. But despite these similarities, HBO themselves have emphasised that this series will make itself markedly distinct from the movies, using the books, and not the movies as inspiration. Composer Hans Zimmer has stated he will create a new soundtrack for the series, independent of John William’s famous tune, to enforce this distinction and his own creative freedoms as a composer. In order to fully appreciate this series, then, we are going to have to see the new series not as a replacement of the movies, but as a fully fleshed out adaptation of the books.  

The Harry Potter television series promises to be a more “faithful adaptation” of J.K. Rowling’s widely beloved book series, and its expanded format should have more time to explore the Wizarding World. Each season will be dedicated to a book, which lets Gardiner and Mylod explore details and characters the movies could not fully include. This makes the series an exciting opportunity to look more in depth into Peeves, the troublesome and playful ghost who plagued Harry in the books, and a more accurate presentation of ‘book Ginny.’ Gary Oldman, beloved for his portrayal of Sirius Black, has stated in an interview with EW, that the HBO Harry Potter series will be “more satisfying” than the films” as they will be “pretty much word-for-word” to the books. And Chris Columbus, who directed the first two films in the franchise has said the television reboot is a “spectacular idea,” stating that only so much could be fit into a single movie, so lots had to be cut out. “Giving Philosopher’s stone this much room to breathe is massive,” he says. 

These promised book details in the new Harry Potter can be found in the trailer, which features a more in-depth look on Arabella Stanton’s Hermione, struggling to fit in with her peers as she speaks to them on the train, as well as a more accurate presentation of Neville, who is now shown being present when the trio find fluffy, satisfying readers.  

In addition to these new features, much of the magical world of Hogwarts remains the same, as the new trailer displays piles of food springing from thin air onto tables, students crowded in robes in the corridors and on the quidditch pitch, and the infamous mandrakes uncovered in Herbology. Viewers get glimpses of Janet McTeer’s Professor Minerva McGonagall, Jon Lithgow’s Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu’s Snape, and Nick Frost’s Hagrid. The Cloak of Invisibility, the life-size game of Wizard’s Chess, and the mysterious mirror of Erised also feature, showing that this series will be packed with nearly every detail from the books.  

The trailer ends with the famous line from Hermione to Ron and Harry, “Honestly, don’t you two read!?”, clearly showing these new actors’ capability to satisfyingly bring these characters back into our lives. So, after all things considered, I think we can be hopeful for what this new series has to offer. Yes, it will be different from the movies, but that is precisely the point, and what HBO aim to achieve, adding something new and fresh to a story we already love.