Coming Soon: Fantastic News For Potterheads!

Production for the new Harry Potter TV series began in the UK this July with the aim to go deeper into the books and capture a new generation of fans. What is it about the hepatology that makes it so bankable, asks Ray Robertson

Potterheads who grew up with Harry Potter (or enjoyed a second childhood with Harry) by reading J.K. Rowling’s seven-book franchise are counting the days until the new Harry Potter TV series starts to air. Production began in July and the series is planned to roll out on HBO over a 10-year period (2027 to 2037) with one season dedicated to each book. That’s a whole lot of Potter coming soon!

While HBO and Warner Bros. are aiming to capitalise on the franchise’s financial potential, there are other factors at play. The TV format will provide a more book-accurate adaptation and allow for an in-depth portrayal of all the plot points, characters and magical details that didn’t make it into the movies. The series aims to capture a new generation of fans with a fresh cast including Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione and Alastair Stout as Ron.

So what is it about the Potter books that makes Warner Bros. so sure they will appeal to a new generation, and Potterheads so excited by the prospect of a lengthy TV adaptation? J.K. Rowling’s ability to take us into a fantasy world where magic is a natural part of everyday life is certainly a key factor. But the greatest books provide more than just a ‘good read,’ they impart goodness and wisdom; they support and carry us through life. The Harry Potter hepatology, like Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, does just that.

A MORAL EDUCATION

It becomes easier to take on a bully at school once you have fought Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange and Dolores Umbridge alongside Dumbledore’s Army. Children learn that it’s wrong to be prejudiced or to seek power over others. Intelligence, loyalty and nerve are important; our choices determine who we are

Anyone who labels J.K. Rowling a transphobe should note that the hepatology also has a fiercely inclusionary message to impart. In the world of Potter, children are taught always to support and be accepting of those who are ‘different’. They learn to empathise with outsiders and to stand up for anyone who is mistreated simply for being themselves – Harry, Luna Lovegood, Remus Lupin and, of course, Dobby, the House-Elf. In Potter, only people like the Malfoys use the word Mudblood. Muggle-born Hermione is the smartest witch of her age, and all the central female characters are warriors – they are not the sort to sit by while others save the day.

What’s more, the Potter books are profoundly spiritual, focusing on the importance of the soul, the consequences of choices and the concept of life after death. The after-life is a particular focus in the last book where we see Harry using the Resurrection Stone to summon the spirits of his parents, Sirius Black and Remus. After being hit with the killing curse, Harry meets Dumbledore (who died in the previous book) at a clean, empty version of King’s Cross Station. At this symbolic crossroads between this world and the next, Harry is given the choice to go on or return to his body.

A THRILLING RIDE

A profound, classic example of beautifully written fiction, the hepatology shows kids what literature – or more specifically, fantasy – is all about. First and foremost, it’s a thrilling adventure story, filled with unexpected plot twists, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and magical surprises. A true page-turner, it keeps readers captivated from start to finish.

Immersed in a mind-blowingly complex fantasy world, children connect powerfully to the characters, they live vicariously through their potentially fatal challenges and, when the last page is turned, they return to their real lives having saved the wizarding world from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. There’s a lot of fun to be had, fear to get through and bravery to be found before the ‘happily ever after’.

Importantly, J.K. Rowling doesn’t talk down to children or pull any punches. There’s not much sugar coating in Potter. When Sirius dies, Harry’s pain is almost too much to take. Children discover, the hard way, that people (even Dumbledore and Sirius) aren’t all good or all bad but a mixture of both. Many of the characters kids care about most die at the Battle of Hogwarts – Nymphadora Tonks and Remus, Colin Creevey and even Fred Weasley. The hepatology may end well but it’s still a tragedy of epic proportions.

J.K. Rowling writes as if she were recounting both history and legend, and draws children into a world that feels every bit as real as their own. Kids reading the books for the first time, literally grow up with Harry. They walk with him on the road to maturity, sharing his setbacks and breakthroughs, choosing between hallows or horcruxes.

PURE ESCAPISM

The other side of it is that Potter gives kids the chance to experience a really potent fantasy and almost live it, without any of the consequences. They get to visit a place where impossible things are suddenly, temporarily, possible. And they get to have all these experiences in the safety of their own homes.

Like all the best children’s fantasy books, Potter is written in such a way as to help kids differentiate between what is real and what is not. The hepatology opens in the real world, one with which young readers are familiar, that is populated by characters not unlike themselves. Then, after a page or two, something happens that announces the transition into a world of make-believe. ‘Magic’ is introduced gradually, first with subtle hints like a vanishing glass at the zoo, then with the conspicuous appearance of Rubeus Hagrid, who arrives, on a flying motorcycle, to deliver Harry’s acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Children know when the bridge between reality and fantasy has been crossed, and they adjust their fear threshold accordingly.

With these parameters in place, kids are free to sit back, suspend disbelief and really have some fun. They can get so caught up in the story that they scream when Aragog attacks Harry, Ron and Fang in the Forbidden Forest, or when Nagini emerges from the corpse of Bathilda Bagshot in Godric’s Hollow. What they are enjoying is the thrill, the hyperarousal of the fight-or-flight response within safe parameters.

It’s true that certain scenes in Potter can cause nightmares (none of us has ever really gotten over our fear of Dementors) but, generally speaking, the fears children experience in a story like this are manageable. By age seven, most kids know the difference between what is real and what is not and, once they are able to do this, most can cope with the scares they experience in the make-believe world of a book. Kids can handle the fears they face in the wizarding world because the wizarding world doesn’t actually exist.

Or does it?

A FORBIDDEN FOREST EXPERIENCE

Wands at the ready! Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience is launching its inaugural China tour

in Shenzhen’s Longhua District in the first week of October. Running through March 2026, the globally

acclaimed outdoor adventure unfolds on an illuminated forest trail, and features magical creatures and

wizarding wonders inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories. Tickets are on sale now at Klook.