That means we have a full house for what creator J.K. Rowling referred to as the “Big Seven” younger cast members.
So who else? Confirmed names include Helena Bonham Cater; Robbie Coltraine; Ralph Fiennes; Gary Oldman; Imelda Staunton; James and Oliver Phelps (yup, that’s twins Fred & George!); Mark Williams; Alfred Enoch and Chris Columbus, a line-up so star-studded and varied that it resembles an Oscars guest list.
We couldn’t help but notice some big names were missing, however… but there’s still hope! The trailer credits also include the teasing sign-off message “and many more!”, which implies we could see yet more stars unexpectedly joining last minute.
Could the franchise bosses convince the likes of Dawn French, Jim Broadbent & Maggie Smith – not mentioned in the credits – to join at the last minute? Perhaps… According to The Sun, many of the cast still harbour “fond memories” of filming, while organisers have offered “big money to the cast to reunite” – so there’s potential for yet more big names to come on board.
We’d also be pretty keen to see Robert Pattinson join, after his role as Cedric Diggory in the fourth film – however as he’s currently filming Batman in locations around the UK, we can’t be sure.
One cast member who is, sadly, unlikely to join the line-up is Julie Walters, who played Molly Weasley in the film franchise, yet last year shared that she has retired from acting and would only make an exception if there was a Mamma Mia 3 film.
It would also be great to see a tribute to Alan Rickman, who played Snape, Richard Harris – who played Dumbledore in the first two films, and Helen McCrory, who played Narcissa Malfoy, during the show.
What will be the plot of the Harry Potter reunion?
The first trailer was posted on Instagram by Emma Watson – who rose to fame in her role as bookish Hermione at the age of just eleven – to her bountiful 61.5 million followers on the platform.
‘Had to break out the Time-Turner one last time for this one…”, she captioned it – a reference of course to the time-travelling device her character Hermione uses in the films to navigate her timetable clashes at Hogwarts. In this context, however, it’s a sweet reference to the sheer nostalgia we’ll be feeling as we see the cast all together again, 20 years on!
The trailer didn’t give much away as to the format of the anniversary special – which was based around footage from the original film.
It’s likely the organisers might choose to take inspiration from the format of the Friends reunion, which became Sky One’s most watched show of all time when it aired last June.
The six cast members reunited in front of a live audience on the show’s original soundstage Stage 24, in the Hollywood Warner Bros Studio.
They appeared together with a whole host of special guests – marking the first time they had been on screen together since the 17 years since the much-loved comedy programme finished.
You can watch Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses on 29th December and Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts on New Year’s Day exclusively on Sky and streaming service NOW.
NOW members can watch the TV specials with a NOW Entertainment Membership and enjoy all ten movies with a NOW Cinema Membership.