With a post shared on Instagram that in a few hours has racked up nearly a million likes, HBO has unveiled the first official poster for Harry Potter, its highly anticipated TV series based on J.K. Rowling’s famous fantasy novels. In addition to confirming the already announced release date, namely the upcoming December 25, the image shows a portion of the protagonist’s face portrayed by Dominic McLaughlin, with the lightning scar clearly visible and, reflected in the round lens of his glasses, the Hogwarts Castle. Although somewhat blurred, for the series this marks the first time the building of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry frequented by Harry and the other kids is shown in its full complexity.
Harry Potter: In the TV Series, a New Hogwarts Castle
HBO had previously stated its intent to give Hogwarts a new architectural identity, while preserving some of the iconic elements we know from the films. The director Mark Mylod explained that the aim is to depict the school as a place that truly exists, with architecture developed over centuries. The trailers released so far have offered glimpses of the interior rooms and the Quidditch pitch, while the poster shows how the castle will appear from afar at night: a silhouette that remains recognizably familiar, with an intricate composition of Gothic towers and spires.
The image also carries the tagline “The Boy Who Lived“, which is also the title of the first chapter of the first book in J.K. Rowling’s series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It refers to Harry Potter, who as a baby survived Lord Voldemort’s attack, while his parents, James and Lily (the newly announced Jasper Talbot and Hannah Chinn), were killed. The phrase becomes the nickname with which the magical world identifies Harry, because no one can explain how he managed to survive the Killing Curse.
This preview follows the heraldry of the four Hogwarts Houses, completely redesigned and currently on prominent display inside HBO Max’s pavilion dedicated to the series for Lucca Comics & Games. The new versions represent a clear shift in direction from the graphical identity established by the films. The colors and the symbolic animals remain the familiar ones – the lion for Gryffindor, the serpent for Slytherin, the badger for Hufflepuff, and the eagle for Ravenclaw – but their presentation is very different, as we discussed in a previous in-depth feature.
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