The halls of Hogwarts are continuing to fill up as HBO’s new Harry Potter series adds another familiar face to its already impressive cast.
And this time, the new professor arriving at Hogwarts is certainly going to make sure everyone knows exactly who he is.
Kit Harington has officially joined the second season of HBO’s Harry Potter adaptation as Gilderoy Lockhart, replacing previously announced actor Nicholas Hoult, who departed the project due to scheduling conflicts.
For fans, the casting comes with a rather magical bit of familiarity.
Harington has already stepped into Lockhart’s very polished shoes once before, recently voicing the character in Audible’s Harry Potter audiobooks. Now, he is making the jump from simply voicing the famous wizard to bringing him fully to life on screen.
Season two of the new adaptation will follow Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, meaning Lockhart will take his place as Hogwarts’ newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Though, as longtime fans already know, his reputation may be a little larger than his actual magical abilities.
Lockhart enters Hogwarts as a celebrated wizard, best-selling author and supposed hero behind countless incredible adventures. However, it does not take particularly long for Harry, Ron and Hermione to discover that there might be significantly less substance behind all those perfect smiles and impressive stories.
Kenneth Branagh famously played the character in the 2002 film adaptation of Chamber of Secrets, leaving Harington with the task of creating a new version of one of the story’s most memorable personalities.
It is also a role Harington already has plenty of affection for. The Game of Thrones star has previously spoken about growing up as a Harry Potter fan and rereading the books numerous times, while describing Lockhart as an especially entertaining character to play.
And Harington is only the latest name joining what is quickly becoming a massive new ensemble for the Wizarding World.
Dominic McLaughlin leads the series as Harry Potter, alongside Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. The adult Hogwarts cast includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.
With the first season set to arrive on Christmas Day, HBO is already looking well beyond Harry’s initial arrival at Hogwarts.
Season two is expected to begin production this fall, with Jon Brown joining Francesca Gardiner as co-showrunner as the adaptation begins preparing to open the Chamber of Secrets.
There is still an entire first year of magic waiting for audiences before then, but HBO is wasting very little time building out Harry’s years at Hogwarts.
And if Gilderoy Lockhart has anything to say about it, there will certainly be plenty of signed photographs to commemorate the occasion.