The “Harry Potter” films mark one of the most enduring and beloved franchises of all time, so it perhaps shouldn’t be surprising that a TV adaptation is on the way. But there are definitely some fixes the “Harry Potter” TV series should make to course correct a few missteps from the movies.
Granted, adapting seven books into eight movies is hard. There’s simply no feasible way to include every single plot point from hundreds of pages without making the film several hours long. Decisions have to be made and cuts are inevitable, which is why starting with “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” the film franchise’s producers decided their guiding light would be anything not from Harry’s POV would be cut.
With the “Harry Potter” TV series, HBO plans to devote one entire season of television for each book, meaning they can pack in much more story. Francesca Gardiner is serving as showrunner for the series with Mark Mylod (“Succession”) directing and executive producing. HBO hopes to have it ready to premiere in 2026.
Here are some fixes we’re hoping to see when the “Harry Potter” TV series hits the small screen.
Book Ginny
Bonnie Wright is amazing, and made for a great screen Ginny Weasley. However, the movie version of Ginny was so watered down from the book version of Ginny — and so minimized in screentime — it was almost painful. Ginny Weasley is an outspoken, brave Quidditch badass, and she deserves to exist in her full glory in the TV series.
Peeves
Of all the characters to get cut in the book-to-film journey, Peeves the poltergeist was one that hit fans extra hard. He’s an agent of chaos, but he is beloved, and a key participant in both the Order of the Phoenix and the Battle of Hogwarts. He’s a must-have in the TV series, especially if it plans to cover each book.
S.P.E.W.
Anna Kendrick once proved herself a true “Harry Potter” fan by boasting “We know about S.P.E.W.” and honestly, that’s a fair barometer. S.P.E.W. is the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and it was founded by Hermione Granger, after witnessing how poorly house elves were treated.
This is a core piece of her development, and directly leads to Kreacher the house elf eventually helping Harry in his horcrux hunt (speaking of Kreacher, he generally deserves justice too, as he’s glossed over in the movies, but also important).
Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes
Yes, Fred and George open their shop in the movies, and it’s delightful to see it come to life on screen. But what the movies don’t tell you is that Harry Potter is actually directly responsible for them being able to do so. He gave them his Triwizard Tournament winnings as the seed money to get it off the ground.
He insists they not tell anyone, which they don’t, but we do know, and it’s one of those core pieces of the friendship between the boys that deserves to be seen on screen in the series.
Death Day Party
Nearly Headless Nick is another Hogwarts ghost, and while he at least made it to the movies, his role was also severely cut (but, like his head, not quite severed). A major event for Sir Nicholas in the books is his Death Day Party, and his continual quest to join the headless hunt. It’s certainly worth seeing on screen.
The Pensieve and Tom Riddle’s backstory
It’s hard to spend too much time on any one thing in movies, but with a TV series, you have the time and space to stretch in those things, and in the case of Harry Potter, that time needs to be spent with the pensieve.
In the books (particularly in “The Half-Blood Prince”), we spend a whole lot of time learning what the pensieve is and how it works. In doing that, we also get a lot of background on Tom Riddle and his journey to making horcruxes. That information is vital, and with time to actually spread it out, it should work far better in the TV adaptation.
Aunt Petunia
Aunt Petunia was largely just a cranky woman in the movies, and that was true to her character. But what the movies didn’t dive into at all was her past, specifically her relationships with Dumbledore and her sister Lily.
As a child, Petunia wrote to Dumbledore, begging to be let into Hogwarts. She took Harry in because of a letter Dumbledore specifically wrote to her. And on top of all of that, she actually did try to mend things with her sister at one point. This is a very surface level description of the depth of Aunt Petunia, and that’s why we want to see it expounded upon in the TV series.
Certainly there are more details to be added to this adaptation, but these are the seven that immediately spring to mind for us.
