Production is well underway on the first season of HBO’s massive Harry Potter reboot, and though the pending merger of Paramount-Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery has many fans worried about the show’s potential future, there are plenty of reasons not to worry. The first major reason is that even with the potential merger lingering over all projects at Warner Bros. (from Harry Potter to the DCU), the new Harry Potter series will almost certainly be a hit as nostalgia for the series remains at an all-time high despite controversies with creator J.K. Rowling. The second is that the series itself is clearly already planning for the long game.

We know that the Harry Potter series is already aiming for its extended run (it was previously said to be planning ten years on television, but it’s unclear if that means a 10-season plan), but the latest casting news for the series further solidifies this. In a new post, HBO’s Harry Potter has confirmed the casting of a slew of supporting characters who appear at Hogwarts in the books, including ones with major roles down the line. Furthermore, the news confirms changes from the films to maintain accuracy with the books.

HBO’s Harry Potter Confirms More Hogwarts Characters, With Changes

HBO’s Harry Potter confirmed the casting of a number of characters for the new series, all broken down by their respective Hogwarts houses. First confirmed were the Gryffindor characters, with Orson Matthews set to play Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, Oliver Wood, who fans will recall being a bit of a mentor to Harry and teaching him the rules of the game. Also confirmed were other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team with Asha Soetan as Angelina Johnson, Eire Farrell as Katie Bell, and Serrana Su-Ling Bliss as Alicia Spinnet. Finally, Ethan Smith has been confirmed to play Lee Jordan, the Quidditch commentator who appears throughout the series.

It’s worth noting that Oliver Wood, plus Johnson, Bell, and Spinnet, all appear throughout the Harry Potter series, including returning to Hogwarts during the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows to take part in the Battle of Hogwarts. As a result, it’s clear that these characters are being cast for the HBO series with the future in mind, and the show is planning for its late-stage narrative right now.

On the Hufflepuff side of Hogwarts, the Harry Potter TV series has confirmed India Moon will play Hannah Abbott (another character with a longstanding place in the Harry Potter world, as she will go on to marry Neville Longbottom). The series has also added James Trevelyan Buckle as Justin Finch-Fletchley, Jazmyn Lewin as Susan Bones, and Cian Eagle-Service as Ernie MacMillan (a character with another change from the films and books, as this character doesn’t appear in the first story at all).

For the Ravenclaw students at Hogwarts, Harry Potter has confirmed Aaron Zhao will play Terry Boot, Eve Walls as Lisa Turpin, and Scarlett Archer as Penelope Clearwater, another character set to appear in the first season, but who doesn’t actually appear in the first book. Finally, the series has confirmed that Anjula Murali will play Padma Patil, the twin sister of Gryffindor, Parvati Patil (played by Alessia Leoni in the series).

Fans of the books will immediately clock this change, as the two Patils were changed to both be in Gryffindor for the feature films, in order to prevent confusion for the audience. Now, though, the Harry Potter series is putting it back, and as a result, giving the characters a chance to have development in live-action that they haven’t had before. Imagine being twins your entire life, only to be separated when they arrive at school by a talking hat. It’s something that will no doubt cause change.

Finally, the Harry Potter series confirmed its additional cast of characters from the Slytherin house, many of whom will have a key place in the first season of the series, as they’re part of the Slytherin Quidditch team. They include: Oliver Croft as Slytherin Quidditch team captain, Marcus Flint, plus D’Angelou Osei-Kissiedu as Graham Montague, Dylan Heath as Adrian Pucey, Cornelius Brandreth as Terence Higgs, Eddison Burch as Miles Bletchley, James Dowell as Lucian Bole, and Henry Medhurst as Peregrine Derrick. Finally, Laila Barwick has been confirmed to play Draco Malfoy’s pal, Pansy Parkinson.

Harry Potter will premiere on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2027