The upcoming Harry Potter TV show reboot is still several months away from premiering, but HBO Max is about to release a new project related to the wizarding world franchise.

HBO Max just announced its featured programming for May 2026, and included on the schedule is the debut of Harry Potter: The Official Film Podcast season 1. Not much is currently known about the podcast, but based on the title, it seems the project will revisit and reflect on the eight movies that were released from 2001 to 2011.

The Harry Potter film podcast continues a popular trend in recent years in which networks and streaming services release official podcasts connected to their most popular content.

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01

What spell is used to disarm an opponent, famously becoming Harry Potter’s signature move throughout the series?

AStupefy
BExpelliarmus
CProtego
DPetrificus Totalus

✓ Correct! Expelliarmus is the Disarming Charm. Harry used it so often that it became his trademark spell — even using it in his final duel against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Expelliarmus. Stupefy is a Stunning Spell, Protego is a Shield Charm, and Petrificus Totalus is the Full Body-Bind Curse. Expelliarmus forces an opponent’s wand out of their hand.

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02

In “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” Hagrid introduces his Care of Magical Creatures class to a proud hippogriff. What is the creature’s name?

AFang
BNorbert
CBuckbeak
DAragog

✓ Correct! Buckbeak the hippogriff became a key part of the story when Draco Malfoy insulted him and got injured. Harry and Hermione later saved Buckbeak from execution using the Time-Turner.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Buckbeak. Fang is Hagrid’s boarhound, Norbert is his baby dragon from the first book, and Aragog is the giant Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest.

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03

What potion allows the drinker to assume the physical appearance of another person, and plays a major role in “The Chamber of Secrets” and “The Goblet of Fire”?

APolyjuice Potion
BFelix Felicis
CVeritaserum
DAmortentia

✓ Correct! Polyjuice Potion transforms the drinker into someone else for about an hour. Hermione brewed it in their second year to infiltrate the Slytherin common room, and Barty Crouch Jr. used it to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Polyjuice Potion. Felix Felicis is liquid luck, Veritaserum is a truth serum, and Amortentia is a powerful love potion. Polyjuice Potion is the one that changes your appearance.

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04

How many Horcruxes did Lord Voldemort intentionally create to split his soul and achieve immortality?

AFive
BSeven
CFour
DSix

✓ Correct! Voldemort intentionally created six Horcruxes: the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and Nagini. Harry became an accidental seventh Horcrux, making the total number of soul fragments seven — the most magically powerful number.

✗ Not quite! The answer is six. Voldemort deliberately created six Horcruxes: Tom Riddle’s diary, Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, and Nagini. Harry was an unintentional seventh piece.

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05

How many points is the Golden Snitch worth when caught by a Seeker during a Quidditch match?

A50 points
B150 points
C100 points
D200 points

✓ Correct! Catching the Golden Snitch awards 150 points and ends the match. This is why the Seeker position is so crucial — catching the Snitch almost always wins the game, though famously at the Quidditch World Cup, Viktor Krum caught it but Bulgaria still lost.

✗ Not quite! The answer is 150 points. The Golden Snitch is worth 150 points and also ends the match. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Krum caught the Snitch for Bulgaria but Ireland still won because they were more than 150 points ahead.

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06

What form does Severus Snape’s Patronus take — revealing his lifelong love for Harry’s mother, Lily?

AA phoenix
BA wolf
CA doe
DA stag

✓ Correct! Snape’s Patronus is a doe — the same as Lily Potter’s. When Dumbledore asked “After all this time?” Snape famously replied, “Always.” It’s one of the most emotional reveals in the entire series.

✗ Not quite! The answer is a doe. Snape’s Patronus matches Lily Potter’s because of his deep, enduring love for her. James Potter’s Patronus was a stag — the male counterpart. The doe is what led Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor in the frozen lake.

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07

What magical object must you look into to see the Mirror of Erised’s true purpose — and what does it show the viewer?

ATheir deepest, most desperate desire
BTheir future self at their most powerful
CTheir greatest fear
DTheir happiest memory

✓ Correct! The Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward) shows the deepest desire of whoever looks into it. Harry saw his parents, Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claimed he saw himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.

✗ Not quite! The answer is their deepest, most desperate desire. “Erised” is “desire” spelled backward. The inscription reads: “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” Dumbledore warned Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth, and men have wasted away before it.

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08

The three Deathly Hallows are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and which third object that Harry himself possessed?

AThe Marauder’s Map
BThe Sorting Hat
CThe Pensieve
DThe Cloak of Invisibility

✓ Correct! The Cloak of Invisibility was passed down through Harry’s family — he inherited it from his father, James. Unlike ordinary invisibility cloaks, this Hallow never fades or weakens, making it a true relic of Death from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”

✗ Not quite! The answer is the Cloak of Invisibility. Harry inherited it from his father on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. Together with the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, these three objects make up the Deathly Hallows from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”

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HBO has done the same for Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, The White Lotus, Succession, And Just Like That…, True Detective, Watchmen, The Gilded Age, Chornobyl, The Jinx and several others. Insecuritea: An Insecure Podcast seasons 4 & 5 will arrive on HBO Max beginning May 1.

Based on the releases of other HBO podcasts, the Harry Potter film podcast will most likely be available on all major podcasting platforms, not just on HBO Max.

The Harry Potter movie series is still one of the most beloved and successful franchises ever, despite controversies in recent years relating to the failed Fantastic Beasts films and author J.K. Rowling’s transphobic views.

Five years after the final Harry Potter film was released in 2011, Warner Bros. launched a new wizarding world series based on the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them companion book, written by fictional author and magizoologist Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne on the big screen).

While Fantastic Beasts started strong, reviews for the second and third installments were largely negative, and the box office returns suffered. Even though Rowling had planned on writing five films, Warner Bros. halted the spinoff series after just three.

The studio then decided to revisit the most beloved part of the franchise—the Harry Potter books—by adapting them as a TV show, with each season focusing on a different novel.

The first season of the Harry Potter series, which stars Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively, will premiere in December 2026 on HBO and HBO Max.

These three young actors are following in the footsteps of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who originated the roles in the film adaptations beginning in 2001.

While the movies never won any Oscars, they did garner mostly positive reviews from critics (with Rotten Tomatoes scores ranging from 76% to 96%) and collectively earned $7.7 billion at the box office, making Harry Potter one of the highest-grossing franchises ever.

HBO has already released a teaser trailer and a behind-the-scenes special for the upcoming TV reboot, and now the entertainment company is revisiting the Harry Potter films with an official podcast on HBO Max.

Harry Potter: The Official Film Podcast season 1 debuts Tuesday, May 19 on HBO Max.