Recasting Harry Potter Characters Feels Like Bidding Adieu to a Childhood Classic We Grew Up With

I remember opening Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for the first time when I was a child, and something magical happened- not just in the book but also inside me. Like millions around the world, I too grew up with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. I stood with them during every Quidditch match (especially the ones against Slytherins), each run frightening run with Voldemort, and each giggle in Hagrid’s Hut over a mug of butterbeer and rock cakes. So, when HBO broke the news of its brand-new cast for the new Harry Potter TV show, my initial emotion wasn't thrill. It was a gush of so many memories- a roller coaster ride of emotions that I have lived through every season of the Harry Potter series that I watched on screen and hardcovers I read curled up in my bed. 

Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout are perhaps gifted young actors. But to all of us who've grown up with these stories for more than two decades, it is hard to imagine them as Harry, Hermione, or Ron. They are Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. That trio didn't just play the parts, they became the characters in our imagination, soaked in the colours of our childhood. Watching someone else wear those robes will feel like seeing a stranger inhabit your old home and use your most personal belongings. 

It's not whether this new cast is good or bad. Some of them already stand well-respected in their respective rights- Arabella as Matilda on the West End, Paapa Essiedu widely acknowledged for his versatility and ability to live through every part that he plays in true sense, and John John Lithgow- a pass out from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art with decades of well-respected performances. But that is not the point here. The argument is emotional and nostalgic- Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, Alan Rickman as Snape- they are not mere characters. It’s how they have lived in our memories, etching a better picture of every word that we read in Rowling’s bestseller, and helping us connect with the storyline.

In simple words, they are the voices in our head when reading their character names. They are our childhood memories. They are the thrill of midnight book releases. They are Halloween costumes, inside jokes, and the sense that perhaps magic does exist. The Hogwarts Express is waiting at platform number 9 ¾, and all we need is to run through the pillar with tickets in our hands and board the train. Hagrid will be there in Hogsmeade to receive us. That is how close these characters have made us feel to the book. 

Paapa Essiedu as Snape- definitely a great actor, no two thoughts there. But Snape for us was Alan Rickman. He instilled the character with so much emotional depth, darkness, and melancholy that it's difficult to see anyone else fill those shoes without it feeling wrong. Even another voice reciting "Turn to page 394" feels like a break in the spell.

Yes, I get it that new generations need their own Harry Potter. I get that stories can and occasionally should be retold. But it does not make it easier to do. For some of us, the reboot is hard. It's like rewriting our emotional past. 

To HBO, I say this: tread lightly. You're not merely remaking a favourite show. You are entering millions of hearts that still beat to the beat of "Hedwig's Theme." Nostalgia is a bittersweet mix of pleasure and melancholy. And sometimes, change does not feel like progress- it feels like a change that may be never wanted in first place. 

So here I am, without my wand and enveloped with nostalgia, attempting to ready myself for a world in which "Harry Potter" is something different. But part of me will remain forever ten years old, awaiting the Hogwarts letter that never arrived, and never really ready to let go of the kind of magic that I knew growing up.

Read more: 'Feels Forced': New Hogwarts Trio in HBO’s Harry Potter Reboot Revealed - But Snape Misses the Mark, Say Potterhead