r/HarryPotteronHBO

Originally posted on r/Bertie_Carvel

Full transcript:

**So what have you seen in him?**

Um. If you can say it. What I haven't seen is any scripts beyond the ones that we've shot. And in fact, when I accepted the role, I hadn't seen any scripts at all.

**Is that true?**

Maybe I'd seen— I think I'd seen 2 episodes, but they didn't feature that character. So, you know, I'm flying blind. **Obviously I have the novels to draw on, so I— and I have, you know, certain expectations about the role based on who he is in the books, but that doesn't really mean anything. You know, they could write in any direction, and that's quite exciting. I know what story I would like to tell about a man who, in a world, in a darkening world, with a— an incomprehensible evil looming, a man in a position of power who has to kind of confront his own deep well of terror and fear and— for reasons that, you know, I'll invent and maybe get to put on the screen. It's like he's somebody who has been traumatized.**

Like, so— how much of this am I allowed to say, by the way? Look, it's just— it's a fact, isn't it?

**Okay, these are— look, this is me doing detective work on the script.**

I don't know what the script is yet, so. If you read Harry Potter, you think about the story, the kind of prehistory. Harry Potter fans in the audience will put me right here, **but like, as far as I read it, there's been this great war in the past, the First Wizarding War. We can think of it a bit like the World Wars in our version of the world, right? This awful, awful war, which was really awful. And then cut to 1991, when the story starts. I think it's a kind of return to normal, and that darkness has apparently gone away. My character's basically the Prime Minister of the Wizarding World. And what happens in the course of the stories is that that dark force, it turns out, hasn't gone away at all. And it's a question of, do you dare confront that? Do you dare believe that? And are you going to— are you going to do something about it? It was to John's point he made, you know, what are you going to do with that information? Do you dare actually respond to that threat and do something? Are you going to stand up and do something?

And my character is somebody who basically doesn't. He doesn't dare. That to me is political. It's urgent. It's relevant.**

**Will that be the strand of the story that's interesting to HBO?**

I don't know. Please, if you're in the audience, guys, that's the story you should tell.

I got these markers in 2001 at the scholastic book fair. There not worth a lot, but they're also very rare (I believe). I'd love to see what you have!

I just wonder. In the 'Finding Harry' documentary we see a lot of how they make the visuals and we see a lot of sneak peeks of how the show will look overall.

What I noticed is that for example the chocolate frogs really look like frogs. (As in the second picture below)

Now Harry's birthday cake in the movies is pink with green icing. But in the books it's described as followed: "From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing."

So I always pictured this as a brown cake with green icing.

Now I don't mind both but I hope the show won't lose it's magical feeling by making everything to realistic.

I don't really know if I prefer it or not. I just wondered if this was a trend that will be set for the entire show and if it will impact it's magical feeling or enhance it?

One thing I really hope the HBO series does better than the movies is fully explore just how tragic Harry’s relationships with his parental figures really are. Harry’s entire life is basically a cycle of finding family and then losing it.

He loses Lily and James before he can even remember them. Then he grows up with the Dursleys, who never give him the love or security that every child deserves. So when he gets to Hogwarts, every adult who shows him kindness ends up meaning so much more because he’s been starved of that kind of love his entire life.
I don’t really put Hagrid in the “father figure” category, though. To me, Hagrid is something even more unique. He’s like an older brother, an uncle, and a best friend all rolled into one. He’s the first person to tell Harry that he’s a wizard, the first person to give him a birthday cake, and the first person to truly make him feel wanted. I hope the show gives us more quiet moments between them because that relationship is so special.

Then there’s Sirius. I know we can’t save Sirius because his death changes too much of the story, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. What makes his death so devastating is the timing. Harry is finally starting to believe he could have a real home someday. A real parent. Someone who knew James and Lily and loved him because he was Harry. Sirius gives Harry something nobody else ever really could: the possibility of a family. And then it’s ripped away.

I really hope the show gives us more letters, more fireplace conversations, more moments in Hogsmeade, and more scenes where Harry slowly starts to trust that maybe things are finally getting better. Because when Sirius dies, it isn’t just the loss of a godfather. It’s the death of the future Harry imagined for himself.

Then we lose Dumbledore, another mentor and another person Harry leaned on.

And then Lupin. Lupin’s death honestly breaks my heart in a different way. By the end, he finally found happiness. He had Tonks, a son, and a family after spending most of his life feeling like an outcast. Then he’s gone too. It feels almost cruel that Harry loses one more connection to his parents. Lupin was one of the last people who could tell Harry stories about James and Lily.

And then there’s Snape. I know he wasn’t exactly a parental figure, but his relationship with Harry is one of the most tragic in the entire series. Harry spends years hating him, fearing him, and never understanding him. Then he learns that this man had been protecting him for years. Snape carried his love for Lily and his guilt over her death for almost two decades. He watched over Harry, saved him multiple times, and died without ever knowing if Harry would understand why.

That’s what gets me. By the end of the story, Harry finally learns the truth about Snape… and then Snape is gone too. There is no chance for a real conversation. No chance for forgiveness. No chance for Harry to tell him that he finally understands.

And I didn’t even mention Molly Weasley. She may not have been Harry’s mother by blood, but she absolutely loved him like one of her own. She worried about him, defended him, sent him Christmas presents when he had almost nobody else, and gave him a place where he felt wanted. The Weasleys became the family Harry never had, and that’s why moments like Molly saying Harry is “as good as a son” hit so hard. I want to see the depth into that relationship.

Sometimes I sit back and think, “How did they all die?” James. Lily. Sirius. Dumbledore. Lupin. Snape. It’s honestly kind of incredible that Harry keeps going after losing so many people. Every time he finds another piece of family or another person to guide him, they’re taken away.

And don’t even get me started on Fred. Fred dying was completely uncalled for in my opinion. Out of every death in the series, that’s one of the ones that still sticks with me. We spent seven books seeing Fred and George as a pair. They were never just Fred or just George…they were the twins.

I can’t even imagine how heartbreaking that chapter must have been for real-life twins reading it for the first time. To suddenly picture one half of a pair being gone forever is devastating. In a weird way, I wonder if that makes the story hit even harder because it reminds you that war doesn’t just take heroes or mentors. Sometimes it takes brothers, best friends, and half of someone’s world.

I think the HBO series has a chance to make all of these losses hurt even more if it gives these relationships the time they deserve. I don’t want to just watch these moments again, I want to feel like I’m there with Harry. I want to celebrate these relationships, get attached to these characters all over again, and then have my heart completely shattered when they’re gone.

I also really hope everyone involved in this project truly holds Harry Potter in their heart. The writers, producers, directors, editors, composers, and actors. This isn’t me saying anything bad about the movies because I absolutely love the films and always will. I just hope everyone making this series approaches it with genuine passion and pride for these characters and this story.

Because for a lot of us, Harry Potter wasn’t just a book series or a movie franchise. It felt like home.

Sorry this ended up being so long. I’m only halfway through HBP on my first reread since 2020, and revisiting these books is reminding me why I fell in love with this story in the first place.

Dobby will be a separate post when I get there… 🧦

That's all! Just wanted to point it out!

Just another graphic design practice that I'd like to share to this sub. What do you think?

Please tell me whether I am missing anyone or if there are any inaccuracies in the infographic, and I'd be glad to fix them.

(Might update it in the future, when more content from the show comes out.)

Lucy Bevan, one of the casting directors for HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series, has shared a new open casting call on her official Instagram account for the role of Ginny Weasley. The search is open to UK-based children aged 10–12, with applications to be submitted by a parent or legal guardian through the Cast It website

Various advertisements have been appearing in magazines and newspapers promoting celebrations for Harry Potter's birthday on July 31.

Such celebrations have traditionally included first looks at upcoming media releases and merchandise.

It is therefore possible that HBO will also mark the occasion by releasing a new trailer or exclusive footage from the upcoming series.