Harry Potter HBO Series Cast 2026: All 34 Names, Who Plays Who & When It Airs
- HBO’s own press release of 2 September 2026 names 34 actors for season one of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
- The three leads are Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione and Alastair Stout as Ron.
- Warwick Davis is the only name on the list who played the same character in the Warner Bros. films — he returns as Filius Flitwick.
- No casting has been announced for Lord Voldemort, even though Quirrell has been cast.
- Peter Serafinowicz was announced as Peeves by Warner Bros.’ own official site in June, but does not appear on the September press release. The two official sources do not agree.
- Eight episodes, debuting Christmas 2026 on HBO and HBO Max. No specific date has been given.
- Season two is already renewed and films from autumn 2026. Exactly one role has been cast for it, and it has already changed hands.
HBO’s own press release names 34 actors for the first season of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Eight episodes, arriving Christmas 2026.
Every name below comes from that release, dated 2 September 2026. Where something has not been announced — and one significant thing has not — this page says so instead of filling the gap.
The three leads
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Dominic McLaughlin | Harry Potter |
| Arabella Stanton | Hermione Granger |
| Alastair Stout | Ron Weasley |
All three came out of an open casting call that drew more than 30,000 applicants, according to BBC reporting — a process of months, several rounds of auditions and workshops, with an NDA required of anyone who got past the second round.
They are the only names in this article whose faces most readers will not recognise from something else. Given the parts, that is roughly how it worked the first time.
The Hogwarts staff
This is where the recognisable names are, and it is a notably heavyweight list for a children’s-book adaptation.
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| John Lithgow | Albus Dumbledore |
| Janet McTeer | Minerva McGonagall |
| Paapa Essiedu | Severus Snape |
| Nick Frost | Rubeus Hagrid |
| Warwick Davis | Filius Flitwick |
| Sirine Saba | Pomona Sprout |
| Luke Thallon | Quirinus Quirrell |
| Paul Whitehouse | Argus Filch |
| Richard Durden | Cuthbert Binns |
| Louise Brealey | Rolanda Hooch |
| Bríd Brennan | Poppy Pomfrey |
Eleven staff members for a single school year, and the deeper cuts are the interesting part of that number: Professor Binns, the ghost who teaches History of Magic, and Madam Hooch, who takes the first flying lesson. Neither is a part you cast if you are compressing the book.
Harry’s classmates
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Rory Wilmot | Neville Longbottom |
| Lox Pratt | Draco Malfoy |
| Leo Earley | Seamus Finnigan |
| Elijah Oshin | Dean Thomas |
| Alessia Leoni | Parvati Patil |
| Sienna Moosah | Lavender Brown |
| Finn Stephens | Vincent Crabbe |
| William Nash | Gregory Goyle |
| Tristan Harland | Fred Weasley |
| Gabriel Harland | George Weasley |
| Ruari Spooner | Percy Weasley |
Eleven classmates, named individually — including Crabbe and Goyle, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, who are background presences in the first book. A cast list that names them is a cast list expecting them to speak.
The Dursleys and the wizarding world
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Daniel Rigby | Vernon Dursley |
| Bel Powley | Petunia Dursley |
| Amos Kitson | Dudley Dursley |
| Katherine Parkinson | Molly Weasley |
| Gracie Cochrane | Ginny Weasley |
| Johnny Flynn | Lucius Malfoy |
| Bertie Carvel | Cornelius Fudge |
| Leigh Gill | Griphook |
| Anton Lesser | Garrick Ollivander |
Lucius Malfoy is not a character in Philosopher’s Stone. He first appears in the second book. Casting Johnny Flynn in season one — alongside Bertie Carvel as the Minister for Magic, and Gracie Cochrane as a Ginny Weasley who is a year too young for Hogwarts — is a set of decisions about the whole series rather than about this book.
The one name from the films
Warwick Davis returns as Filius Flitwick — the only actor on the studio’s list playing a character he already played in the Warner Bros. film series.
Everyone else is new to the part. That includes every role that has an iconic film performance attached to it: Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, the Dursleys.
Who has NOT been cast
No actor has been announced for Lord Voldemort.
That is worth stating plainly because Quirrell has been cast — Luke Thallon — and in Philosopher’s Stone the two characters share a body. So the role exists in season one and no name is attached to it publicly.
Also absent from the list: Oliver Wood, Nearly Headless Nick, the Sorting Hat, Madam Malkin, and the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest.
“Not announced” is not the same as “not cast.” A production has every reason to keep Voldemort’s credit back, and voice roles are often not listed at all. This section is a list of announcements that have not happened, not a list of empty chairs.
And then there is Peeves. Warner Bros.’ own official site announced Peter Serafinowicz as Peeves the Poltergeist on 14 June 2026. He does not appear on the 2 September press release.
Two official sources from the same company, three months apart, do not agree on whether that is part of the cast list. We do not know which is the more complete picture, and are not going to guess by quietly making it 35 names.
Season 2 so far
It is already renewed. BBC News reported the second-season order in May 2026, with filming from autumn 2026 — overlapping with the end of season one production, which Gardiner, who writes and executive produces, described as part of a plan for “overlapping production schedules”.
HBO has not announced a title. It is believed to adapt The Chamber of Secrets, which is reporting rather than confirmation.
Exactly one role has been cast, and it has already changed hands. Nicholas Hoult was announced as Gilderoy Lockhart in early August 2026 and left the part around two weeks later; HBO said it was scheduling. Kit Harington was announced in the role on 24 August.
Harington has form with it: he has voiced Lockhart in an audio version of the book. In the films the part was Kenneth Branagh’s.
Context worth stating once: the BBC reports that Hoult, along with other cast members, faced criticism for joining the show from people opposed to J.K. Rowling’s views on gender identity and trans rights. Rowling is an executive producer on the series.
When it airs
Christmas 2026, on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. Eight episodes.
There is no exact date. “Christmas 2026” is as specific as the studio has been, in a release issued on 2 September 2026 alongside the second teaser. Anyone quoting you a day and a month is quoting something HBO has not said.
Behind it: written and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner; Mark Mylod executive produces and directs multiple episodes; executive producers J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films — Heyman produced all eight films. Hans Zimmer, per the official Harry Potter site, is writing the score.
Season one has been filming since July 2025.
The bottom line
34 announced names, eight episodes, Christmas 2026, no exact date.
One actor comes back from the films. One major role has no announced actor at all. And one name that Warner Bros. announced itself in June is missing from Warner Bros.’ own list in September — which is a useful reminder that a “full cast” is only ever as full as the last press release.
Season one cast transcribed from Warner Bros. Discovery’s media release of 2 September 2026. Season two facts from BBC News. Peeves casting from harrypotter.com, 14 June 2026.