Among the many differences we expect to find in HBO’s new iteration of Harry Potter, there’s one scene which was an invention of the franchise’s first movie but, ironically, didn’t make the final cut. The new sequences set to appear in the TV show are typically taken straight from the Harry Potter books, or original creations specifically for this production.
We’ve already seen several scenes featured in HBO’s Harry Potter trailer which aren’t in the Sorcerer’s Stone movie, almost all of which fall into one of the two categories above. For example, the snowball fights described in J. K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel are set to appear in its small-screen adaptation, too.
There’s one exception, though, where a scene actually originating from the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is being included in a screen release for the first time. In this scene, Nick Frost, who’s been cast as Rubeus Hagrid in HBO’s Harry Potter series, is standing in the carriage of a London Underground train.
HBO’s Harry Potter Features A Scene With Harry And Hagrid On The London Underground
Nick Frost as Hagrid on the London Underground in HBO’s Harry Potter (2026)
Hagrid apparently goes with Harry on the London Underground so that HBO’s TV series can show us the pair’s journey to The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. Frost’s Hagrid is seen telling the orphaned Harry about his parents, although what stands out most in the scene is unquestionably the Hogwarts groundskeeper’s unusual appearance amid Muggle surroundings.
In HBO’s new behind-the-scenes documentary Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic, costume designers explain that they have tried to make the magical people in the TV show look as though they could exist in the real world. It seems like the series writers and showrunners had the same idea when they decided to include this scene.
Harry and Hagrid taking an Underground train across London gives us a glimpse of how they got from the remote rocky island where the Dursleys were hiding from Hogwarts letters all the way to Diagon Alley. The two of them inevitably had to take Muggle transport somewhere along the way, as this scene illustrates.
This Scene Was Cut From The Movie Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry and Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid on the London Underground in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
It’s worth noting that a near-identical scene was filmed for the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, but didn’t make the final cut. The Harry Potter TV show is effectively resurrecting this deleted scene, partly to pay homage to the film version, and partly to give us a visual sense of how Hagrid navigates the world of Muggles.
In its original movie form, the scene features Harry asking Hagrid about the list of school supplies he needs to buy for Hogwarts. Hagrid then fantasizes about owning a dragon, telling his young companion that the magical animals are “vastly misunderstood beasts”, which later becomes one of his catchphrases in the franchise.
Luckily for the enormous Hogwarts groundskeeper, the Underground carriage around him is nearly empty, so he has plenty of room to sit comfortably. However, he still manages to catch the attention of one woman sitting on the opposite row of seats, who scowls at him before returning to her newspaper.
Harry’s Underground Scene With Hagrid Isn’t In The Book
Much like Harry wearing the number 7 in quidditch matches, his scene with Hagrid in the London Underground isn’t actually in J. K. Rowling’s original novels. While it’s mentioned briefly in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that they take the Underground, and that Hagrid gets stuck in the ticket barriers, we don’t get an account of the journey itself.
Instead, Harry takes out his Hogwarts letter to check the list of supplies on a national express train into London. Meanwhile, Hagrid tells him about his dream of owning a dragon even earlier as they’re walking to the train station.
What’s more, whereas the Underground scene cut from the movie takes dialogue straight from the book and recontextualizes it, Hagrid’s description of Harry’s parents in the TV version of the scene is entirely non-canon. He recalls James and Lily Potter as “funny and clever” people who “stood up for what they believed was right.”
Although this description is undoubtedly accurate, given what we know about the rest of Harry’s story, HBO’s show is the first time these words have come out of Hagrid’s mouth. Harry Potter is finding a new lease of life in the TV series, and this example demonstrates that the showrunners are going to do things their way.
Release Date
2026 – 2026
Showrunner
Francisca Gardiner
Directors
Mark Mylod
Dominic McLaughlin
Harry Potter
Janet McTeer
Minerva McGonagall
