First Look At ‘Return To Hogwarts’ Special
On June 26, 1997, the world changed forever when J.K. Rowling, a nobody author, published a book that signaled in a new era. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released on this date. With each subsequent release, the hype around the “Potterverse” grew. It wasn’t long before a movie production company saw the opportunity and pounced, creating a franchise that can have a movie poster with no movie title on it and everyone still knows what movie it is. On November 14, 2001, the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released. The year 2021 marks 20 years since the film’s release. And with that, there have been celebrations around the world, but none quite so surprising and exciting as the announcement that the cast of Harry Potter had gotten together to film a special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.
The announcement was made in November and the special is slated for release on HBO Max on January 1, 2022. There aren’t a whole lot of details as of yet, but what is exciting is that as of a few days ago, we have been getting teaser trailers and pictures and little hints at what is to come.
Ever since November, several of the cast members have been posting on their Instagrams. Tom Felton, who is probably one of the biggest Harry Potter fans in the world, can regularly be seen posting about Harry Potter. On November 16, he posted a teaser video announcing the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special with this caption:
“is this what school homecoming is like? mark your calendars for New Years Day #returntohogwarts , streaming on @hbomax x”
Then, a few days later, he posted a picture of himself in a Slytherin scarf with the caption
“back to school.”
A few days after that, he posted a picture of the front of Warner Brothers Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter with the caption:
“Goodbye old friend x.”
The Warner Brothers Studio Tour London is where they filmed Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.
A few days ago, Tom Felton posted the teaser trailer that took to the internet and really got people hyped up. He added this caption:
“double tap if this tingled your spine x”
Along with this trailer, we learned more of who we are going to see in this reunion special. MuggleNet.com reported that along with the main trio, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), we will also see Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid), Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), James Phelps (Fred Weasley) Oliver Phelps (George Weasley), Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley), and Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley).
A few days after the official release of the teaser trailer for Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts by HBO Max, the first official photos were released. This had the fans in an absolute uproar of excitement. However, people soon realized that the released photo wasn’t quite what it seemed. The photo of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint laughing and talking in the Gryffindor common was leaked on December 8th and then quickly reposted officially by HBO Max. It was quite the emotional image release.
However, fans quickly noticed that if you look closely enough, Rupert Grint was not actually physically in the photo. He appeared to have been photoshopped in. Dan and Emma looked like they are looking right at him, but the shadows suggested otherwise. According to MuggleNet, “the shadow of his foot on the floor is pointing in the opposite direction of the other shadows, and the light on his face is slightly different than that of the others.”
This revelation had understandably made some fans sad because it showed that in reality, not everyone was there for the reunion special. Fans have speculated as to why, but MuggleNet confirmed that the reason behind Rupert’s absence was because he was actually in Canada during that time shooting the upcoming Netflix series Cabinet of Curiosities. Dan and Emma were physically there. Whether or not everyone else besides Dan and Emma were there in person remains to be seen. Clearly from Tom Felton’s Instagram, he was there. So, perhaps it was just Rupert who could not make it.
Needless to say though. The “Potterhead” fanbase is beside themselves with excitement over the release of the teaser trailer(s) and the image. The release of more Potter content has the fans very much looking forward to the magical experience on January 1, 2022.
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