Eight months into production, HBO finally showed the world what its Harry Potter series looks like, and then told everyone to come back tomorrow for more.
The show’s official Instagram account posted a single image on Tuesday with the caption “Tomorrow ⚡️,” a lightning bolt emoji that every Harry Potter fan in the world understood immediately.
The photo is the first official production still from the series itself. It’s a shot of Harry (played by newcomer Dominic McLaughlin) from behind, walking toward the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts in his red and gold Gryffindor Quidditch robes, “POTTER” printed across the back with his player number, 7.
Ahead of him, a crowd of students flows toward the pitch, which is flanked by banners for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
Eagle-eyed fans will spot a third banner in the corner honouring Gryffindor’s Beaters, Fred and George Weasley. A teaser trailer is expected Wednesday, March 25, coinciding with the launch of HBO Max in the United Kingdom.
This is not the first time audiences have glimpsed the production. Cast photos were released last summer when principal photography began.
Unofficial paparazzi shots have circulated since filming got underway in July 2025 at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire, the same studio where all eight of the original Harry Potter films were shot.
Tuesday’s image is the first official look at the show itself, at the world it is building, at what Hogwarts looks like in this version.
Based on the response to a single photograph of a boy walking away from the camera, it is safe to say the internet was ready for it.
Who Is Behind The New Harry Potter Series?
The series is being led by showrunner Francesca Gardiner, who came up through Succession, and director Mark Mylod, who directed some of Succession’s most acclaimed episodes as well as The Menu. Both are executive producers.
J.K. Rowling, David Heyman (who produced all eight original films through his Heyday Films banner), Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV round out the executive producer list.
Hans Zimmer, confirmed in January 2026, is composing an entirely original score through his Bleeding Fingers Music company.
He is the sixth composer to work on a Harry Potter adaptation, following John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper, and Alexandre Desplat on the original films and James Newton Howard on Fantastic Beasts.
Mara LePere-Schloop, whose credits include Interview With the Vampire and Pachinko, is the production designer responsible for the look of Hogwarts seen in Tuesday’s image.
Holly Waddington is the costume designer.
Production began under the working title Dark Train. The crew built a temporary school at Leavesden capable of accommodating up to 600 child actors.
Location filming has ranged from the Île de Sein in Brittany to Ashridge, the same estate used for Quidditch World Cup scenes in Goblet of Fire. Season 1 is expected to wrap filming by mid-2026, with Season 2 beginning shortly after. HBO confirmed back-to-back production in November 2025.
Who Is In The Harry Potter Cast?
The three central roles went to largely unknown actors, a deliberate echo of how the original films were cast.
Dominic McLaughlin, who previously appeared in the Sky comedy Grow alongside Nick Frost, plays Harry. Arabella Stanton, a West End veteran who played the lead in Matilda the Musical, is Hermione.
Alastair Stout, with no prior screen credits, is Ron. Stanton has also been cast as the voice of a younger Hermione in new audiobook adaptations of the first three books.
The adult cast around them is formidable. John Lithgow plays Albus Dumbledore, in what he has described with characteristic directness as a role that “will define me for the last chapter of my life.”
Paapa Essiedu, known for I May Destroy You, is Severus Snape. Janet McTeer, Oscar nominee for Tumbleweeds, is Professor McGonagall.
Nick Frost is Hagrid. Luke Thallon is Quirinus Quirrell. Paul Whitehouse is Argus Filch. Katherine Parkinson is Molly Weasley. Lox Pratt is Draco Malfoy, and Johnny Flynn plays his father Lucius.
Warwick Davis is the only cast member from the original film series confirmed to be returning, reprising his role as Professor Flitwick.
The role of Lord Voldemort has not yet been cast or announced publicly, a deliberate omission that has fueled months of speculation, with names including Cillian Murphy circulating among fans.
Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry across all eight original films, has been warmly supportive of the series without seeking involvement.
He wrote a letter to McLaughlin to wish him well, and has publicly encouraged people not to ask the new cast about his own portrayal.
What Will The Harry Potter Series Be About?
HBO’s plan is straightforward and ambitious in roughly equal measure: each of J.K. Rowling’s seven novels gets its own season, allowing the series to explore material the films had to compress or cut entirely.
Draco actor Lox Pratt described the scope in a February 2026 interview, “You get to see all the teachers in their little rooms. You get to see Draco at home. There are some brilliant scenes at home where you start to get an insight into how he is.”
The books, he noted, are “very much over Harry’s shoulder.”
Season 1, adapting The Philosopher’s Stone, will consist of eight episodes and premiere on HBO in the United States and HBO Max in the United Kingdom in early 2027. It has been in production since July 2025. The teaser trailer lands Wednesday.
