HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ Series Finally Reveals Who Haunts Hogwarts

Hogwarts has always worn its spookiest face around Halloween, and the castle’s permanent residents are a big reason why. Long before any first-year steps into the Great Hall, the ghosts are already drifting through the walls, and a talking hat is waiting to decide where everyone belongs. Nearly Headless Nick, for one, first appears in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ while the first-years wait to be sorted.

That makes the timing of HBO’s latest update feel like a deliberate bit of seasonal magic. The first season of the series, titled ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,’ will air on HBO and debut on HBO Max on Christmas Day 2026. HBO also renewed the show for season 2 on May 6, months before the first season debuts, with Dominic McLaughlin leading the cast as Harry.

Now the network has filled in more of the supernatural side of the castle. HBO revealed the new casting updates just in time for Halloween, and Deadline framed it as the series casting its ghosts, the Sorting Hat and the Fat Lady on Halloween Eve.

The full lineup is now official. Leo Bill will play Nearly Headless Nick, Andrew Brooke is taking on the Bloody Baron, Daniel Fearn has been cast as the Fat Friar, Laura Smyth will play the Fat Lady, and David Threlfall will voice the Sorting Hat. That is five new names for some of the franchise’s most recognizable supporting characters.

The ghosts are split across the houses, as fans would expect. Variety reports that Brooke will play the Slytherin ghost, the Bloody Baron, while Fearn takes on the Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar. Along with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they are all fixtures of life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Smyth’s casting stands out for another reason, since she comes from the comedy world. The British Comedy Guide describes her as a stand-up who has been cast as the sentient portrait. That fits a role built on a grumpy gatekeeper with plenty of personality.

The new actors are stepping into roles with some big shoes to fill. In the 2001 film, John Cleese played Nearly Headless Nick, Terence Bayler was the Bloody Baron, Simon Fisher-Becker played the Fat Friar, and Leslie Phillips voiced the Sorting Hat. Elizabeth Spriggs played the Fat Lady in that version.

Nick may be the most interesting test of that legacy. He is a 15th-century wizard who was beheaded, then stayed on as the Gryffindor ghost and became close to Harry and several other Gryffindor students. That blend of dry humor and sadness gives Bill plenty to work with, especially against Cleese’s famously comic take.

The Sorting Hat could be just as intriguing, because Threlfall is only providing the voice. A hat with no face puts all the pressure on tone and timing, and the sorting scene is one of the first big emotional beats in the story. How the series handles that moment will say a lot about its approach to the book.

HBO is clearly using these smaller roles to build out the castle, not just the core trio. The network has now sorted out much of Hogwarts’ supernatural staff months before the premiere, which suggests the production is paying attention to the details. HBO Max even teased the announcement on Instagram by asking who haunts the halls.

With a Christmas Day premiere on the calendar, the ghosts, the portrait and the hat now have faces and voices to go with them. Whether the new cast can make fans forget the originals is a question only the series can answer, but the casting so far looks like a thoughtful mix of stage, screen and comedy talent.