As the famous Hedwig's Theme plays on the big screen, millions of Harry Potter fans all over the world gathered to watch their beloved actors and actresses who brought the magical universe to life reunite.
July 15th, 2011. The release date of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Mixed feelings were shared from sadness due to the ending of the movies and the excitement of seeing Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) battle it out on the silver screen. Although the cast seemed remorseful about the ending of the films, some were understandably quite relieved. Emma Watson specifically talked about the time commitment the Harry Potter movies required; she never specifically mentioned that she was thankful for the ending of the movies, but she implied that she was relieved and excited to work on other projects. Most actors on set agreed that they were not too interested in ever coming back to it.
Over the years following the Harry Potter series, the cast all moved on to do great things, but most of them avoided the topic of Harry Potter as much as they could. Daniel Radcliffe talked about how he was known his whole life as Harry Potter, and as thankful as he was for that experience, he wanted to be known for something more. Rupert Grint also mentioned similar mixed feelings. Emma Watson is probably the most successful actor from the Harry Potter series. After the ending of the movies, she made her Disney princess debut as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, which did wonders for distancing herself from Hermione. But other actors who had taken on more minor roles-- Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Oliver and James Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) --- have used the Hogwarts experience as a launching ground for other work. Making and starring in podcasts, cameos, social media work, and more. So when the Golden Trio (Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson) came back for the reunion, most of the Harry Potter fans were shocked.
January 1st, 2022. The reunion premiered on HBO Max. The opening scenes were all of the cast reuniting with each other in the dining hall. One of the first themes introduced was the rumored relationship between Tom Felton and Emma Watson. Both of them constantly repeated that they love each other (as friends), which, if you know Emma Watson and her reputation for privacy, came out of nowhere. Many suggested that this was a marketing strategy, and as much as I would want to shut this rumor down, I think that part of this is true.
It is no secret that over the Fall of 2020, “Dracotok” (Draco Malfoy side of Tiktok) brought in a whole new audience for the Harry Potter films, with many teens and fanswas geeking out over young Tom Felton. Tom was quick to use this new wave of fans to his advantage. He came back to constant posting on social media, coming out with merchandise, podcasts, and even online meetings with fans. Any Harry Potter fan can vouch about the numerous characters Hermione Granger is shipped with, and one that makes the top of the list is Draco Malfoy. Dramione (Draco and Hermione’s ship name) was something that Tom brought up on multiple occasions. He is perhaps the only cast member to so actively speak on fan shipped couples. Other than this, Tom Felton and Emma Watson were rumored to have been dating multiple times: in 2005, 2008, 2014, 2017 and the latest in 2019. Emma went on to tell a very interesting story: “I remember in the schoolrooms one of the first assignments we were asked to do was to draw what we thought God looked like. I remember looking over at Tom’s paper and he had drawn a girl with a backwards baseball cap riding a skateboard.” What’s funny about this is in 2019, Tom Felton posted him and Emma Watson riding a skateboard with a backwards baseball cap. The coincidences seem extremely planned out, and with knowing about the rumors, could this have been a strategy to attract more people to the screen?
A moment that touched us all was Robbie Caltrone’s ––Hagrid’s actor–– speech about how the movies will be here for years and years to come. I think that this is one of the main things that attracts so many people to the films. No matter what life turns on us, these characters, this school, will always be there. Robbie said: “These films will be here for 50 years, 100 years, I mean I might not be here by then, but Hagrid will.''
I wish that people could have said the same thing for the reunion of the Golden Trio, but this is where the negative speculations begin. There were rumors saying that the three actors (Radcliffe, Grint, Watson) did not actually meet in person but the clips were filmed separately and then edited together. Fans described the meeting as “awkward” and “unnatural.” here really will be no way to know for sure, but if it was filmed separately, why?
Seeing all of these actors we love so dearly all together again was so nostalgic; many said that they cried throughout the whole reunion. After the comfort that all the movies have brought so many during the hard years, this reunion was so nice to see. These actors have, in a way, been frozen in time and this meetup brought a sense of closure to everyone, including the cast.
The question is, is this really the last time we will be seeing the original cast in a Harry Potter environment? Or will they eventually come back to the screen? Next time, as Harry, Ron and Hermione.