The Wizarding World has always served as a comfortable place for fans to revisit whenever the urge strikes them, and now, the first book is getting the star treatment. Well, star treatment that isn’t a critically acclaimed film! As part of the Harry Potter at Home initiative — developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by Wizarding World Digital and J.K. Rowling’s agency, the Blair Partnership — stars from the Harry Potter franchise and beyond have lent their voices to narrate Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone. And who better to kick things off than the Boy Who Lived himself, Daniel Radcliffe?
Starting on May 5 with Radcliffe’s reading of chapter one, “The Boy Who Lived,” recordings of The Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone will premiere weekly on harrypotterathome.com, Spotify, and Spotify Kids. According to a statement, celebrities such as Eddie Redmayne, Noma Dumezweni, David Beckham, Stephen Fry, Dakota Fanning, and Claudia Kim will read all 17 chapters of the book “with its themes of family, friendship, bravery, and overcoming adversity aiming to surprise and delight fans around the world.” The Wizarding World’s Twitter page revealed a trailer that hinted at some special cameo appearances that we’re hoping means a trio reunion is in the future!
Surprise! We’ve got a treat for you…From today, amazing friends of the Wizarding World are going to take turns reading Harry Potter book one.
And to start us off with Chapter 1, we think you’ll agree we have the perfect narrator…⚡️ #HarryPotterAtHome
https://t.co/w9K77akbou pic.twitter.com/Q03PmjeD5d
— Wizarding World (@wizardingworld) May 5, 2020
The series is the latest initiative from Harry Potter at Home, which provides teachers with an open license to post recordings of themselves reading Harry Potter stories on educational platforms and a hub of information and activities at harrypotterathome.com. Fans can access the first video reading by Radcliffe, streaming now on Wizarding World and an audio-only version on Spotify.