Summary
If the makers of the newHarry PotterTV series for HBO could take a pen and paper and listen, that would be great. Because fans of J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series have lots of notes on everything they couldn’t get with the Warner Bros. movies, but now expect from the reboot. And it begins with more book-accurate characterizations, particularly regarding the trio of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.
Having already castseveral major characters, like Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Rubeus Hagrid, the HBOHarry Potterseries has now found the three actors to play their lead and his two best friends. Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age, will be played byArabella Stanton. Wizard’s chess wiz and Harry’s ginger-haired best bud, Ronald Weasley, will be played by Alastair Stout. As for the Chosen One, Dominic McLaughlin will be donning the round glasses and lightning bolt on his forehead to play Harry Potter. These young actors have some big shoes to fill, since Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are going to be tough acts to follow. As for the makers, while they’ve managed to assemble a promising trio, it’s going to be a long road to creating characters that generations of book and movie fans can fall in love with again.
There’s one element of Harry’s personality from the books that didn’t quite come through in the films. And if highlighted in the new series, it could win the book fans over. In the books, Harry Potter had a knack for dropping sass at the most opportune moments. In fact, not just with his friends and nemeses like Draco Malfoy, Book Harry got sassy with some of his sterner professors too! It’s an important part of his personality that didn’t quite get highlighted in the movies, butthe HBO serieshas the opportunity to do something fun here.
HBO’sHarry PotterNeeds To Give Fans “Sassy Harry” From the Books
The way Harry Potter had to grow up—orphaned, raised by bullies, and constantly being told he was worthless and not good at anything—he had to develop quite a sense of humor to get through life. Even when he began using magic, he couldn’t use spells outside Hogwarts. So every time his aunt and uncle or Dudley and his friends picked on him, Harry would always have a sharp comeback ready to serve. The readers loved it, and Sassy Harry became a canon favorite.
“Wow, I wonder what it’d be like to have a difficult life.”
Harry’s sass does make the occasional cameo in the movies. For instance, the scene fromThe Half-Blood Prince,when Hermione tells Harrythat Romilda Vane is only interested in him because he is the Chosen One. Harry replies, “But I am the Chosen One,” and gets smacked on the head. Or inOrder of the Phoenix, when Umbridge asked in class who Harry thought would be attacking children like him, and he replied, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe Lord Voldemort?” It got him detention, which eventually led to another sassy moment at the end of the book. When Umbridge is being trampled by centaurs, she asks Harry to tell them she’s harmless. Instead, he tells her, “Sorry, Professor, but I must not tell lies,” a callback to the message Umbridge’s quill carved on his hand repeatedly during detention.
But Harry’s sassiness is a much bigger part of his personality in the books, and everyone from Uncle Vernon to Rita Skeeter to Narcissa Malfoy has been victims of Sassy Harry’s quips. When Vernon caught Harry hiding in the bushes to catch the news and asked him if he was watching the news again, Harry retorted, “Well, it changes every day, you see.”
InThe Chamber of Secrets, during the Duelling Club, when Harry has to go up against Malfoy, Lockhart tells him to just do as he did in the previous demo. And Harry claps back, “What? Drop my wand?” InThe Half-Blood Prince, during a Defence Against the Dark Arts class for non-verbal spells, Harry’s verbal Shield Charm knocksthe new DADA professor, Snape, off-balance. The ensuing conversation is Sassy Harry at his finest!
Snape: “Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?”
Snape: “Yes, ‘sir’.”
Harry: “There’s no need to call me ‘sir’, Professor.”
With the HBO series tackling one book per season (which means seven seasons at least), it will get the chance to showcase some of the more fluffier moments from the books, like Fred and George Weasley and Peeves the Poltergeist’s pranks, the Headless Hunt with the Hogwarts ghosts, and a bit more of Harry sassing anyone who crosses him. TheHarry PotterTV series, which hasSuccessionandThe Last of Usdirector Mark Mylod attached to direct and produce, is slated to arrive in 2027. It’s going to be a long wait until fans can say, “Mischief Managed.”
