Chapter 5 is what to know before HBO’s Harry Potter series. It premieres on 25 December 2026, on HBO in the United States and on HBO Max around the world. The first season adapts Philosopher’s Stone in eight episodes, and the plan is one book per season over about ten years; a second season, Chamber of Secrets, was confirmed in May 2026. Filming began on 14 July 2025 at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire, under the working title Dark Train. The cast is almost entirely new: Dominic McLaughlin plays Harry, Arabella Stanton plays Hermione and Alastair Stout plays Ron, with John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Snape, Janet McTeer as McGonagall and Nick Frost as Hagrid. Warwick Davis is the only actor from the films who returns, again as Professor Flitwick. The official teaser from the Harry Potter channel is on the last slide of the chapter, and it loads from YouTube only when you press play. For more detail, read our article on what we know so far about the series.
30 Harry Potter Facts Even Potterheads Don’t Know is a set of unofficial fan stories in seven short chapters, each on its own page. Tap the right side of the screen for the next slide and the left side to go back, hold to pause, and use the button at the end of a chapter for the next one. Three parts are written live by AI and labelled: a read of your answers, the Restricted Section and a what-if scene. The AI is told not to invent facts and can still make mistakes; if it is busy, a hand-written text appears instead and says so.
Every fact was checked on 14 October 2026 against pages we opened, all listed on the first page: Wikipedia’s articles on the books, the characters, the film locations and the HBO series, the official Harry Potter website’s feature on sentences that turned out to matter, and the Harry Potter Lexicon. The pictures are open-licence photos from Wikimedia Commons and our own drawings; no film stills or official art are used. Your answers stay in this browser tab and are cleared when you close it. Spotted a mistake? Use the Contact page.
Part of Stars & Spells, an Ink Horses site. Unofficial fan commentary. Harry Potter characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter publishing rights © J.K. Rowling. Stars & Spells is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
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