HBO's Harry Potter Reveals Its 11 Major Hogwarts Wizards & Witches — Including Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Madame Pomfrey

Fans are finally under two months away from returning to J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World with HBO's Harry Potter, which will feature a blend of recast witches and wizards from the movies, as well as those who didn't make the cut the first time. While Harry Potter centers its narrative around the youth of Hogwarts, HBO has already announced 11 adult wizards and witches who will appear in major roles at Hogwarts in Harry Potter...

Hogwarts is home to one of the greatest wizards ever to live, John Lithgow's Albus Dumbledore, who is known not just for his kind heart, good morals, and academic prowess, but also for his immense powers. Long before Harry's story begins, the now-Hogwarts headmaster famously defeated the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, winning the allegiance of the Elder Wand (one of the Deathly Hallows).

Dumbledore is well regarded as the only wizard whom Voldemort ever feared, leading him to lead the charge against evil throughout the First Wizarding War. That all-important position continues into Round 2 against He Who Shall Not Be Named, as Dumbledore guides Harry into the quest to defeat Voldemort.

Next up on the roster of Hogwarts professors appearing in the HBO show is Minerva McGonagall, played by Ozark star Janet McTeer. She holds several major titles at Hogwarts as Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor, and Transfiguration Professor, acting as a somewhat maternal figure to students at the school.

McGonagall is notably an animagous, frequently transforming into a silver tabby cat to disguise herself, allowing her to blend in, even in the Muggle world. She is known to step in during the most trying times, resisting Dolores Umbridge in The Order of the Phoenix and helping lead the heroic front in the Battle of Hogwarts, even using her talents to animate statues into an army to guard the castle.

In what may be Harry Potter's most controversial casting, I May Destroy You actor Paapa Essiedu will succeed Alan Rickman as Severus Snape. The Potions teacher is proven to be one of the most skilled and talented wizards, showcasing great technical ability and even the genius to invent new spells as the Half-Blood Prince.

Those familiar with the Harry Potter story (spoilers ahead) know that Snape has among the most vital storylines in the saga, acting as a double agent within Voldemort's Death Eaters, whose true heroism isn't revealed until the end. In the meantime, HBO viewers will meet Snape as the head of Slytherin house and a borderline bully to most of his students, who some suspect is a dark wizard.

Warwick Davis is the only Harry Potter actor reprising his role from the movies, as he will once again give life to Filius Flitwick, Hogwarts' Charms professor, Head of Ravenclaw, and the conductor of the school's Frog Choir. Many are hopeful to see Flitwick take on a much larger role on HBO than his limited part in the movies.

Flitwick's small stature comes from being distantly descended from goblins, but not being entirely wizard in blood has never tamed his gifts. Few will be aware that the Charms professor was a dueling champion in his youth, a talent that he will one day put to great use to defeat the likes of Death Eater Antonin Dolohov.

One of the most integral characters in The Philosopher's Stone is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirinus Quirrell, who just so happens to be hiding a dark secret behind his turban. The stuttering teacher has the surviving piece of Voldemort glued to the back of his head, making Quirrell Season 1's ultimate villain and the would-be thief of the Philosopher's Stone, whom Harry must foil.

Quirrell was once a smart, gifted Ravenclaw who taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts and was only mocked for it. That led him to take a year-long sabbatical abroad, where he found Voldemort's remains in Albania, who easily manipulated and possessed him to aid his first resurrection attempt.

The gentle giant of Hogwarts, who happens to be half-giant, half-wizard, is Nick Frost's Rubeus Hagrid, the school's Keeper of Keys and Grounds. As the one who delivers baby Harry to the Dursleys and collects him from them 10 years later, he becomes something of an older brother or friendly uncle figure to the Golden Trio.

Hagrid's wizarding status comes with something of an asterisk, as he was expelled from Hogwarts and banned from using magic in his third year due to a false accusation from Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort. But that didn't stop him from getting another chance from Dumbledore and even becoming the school's Care of Magical Creatures professor in The Prisoner of Azkaban.

British acting and comedy icon Miriam Margolyes played Professor Pomona Sprout in two of Warner Bros.' original Harry Potter movies, serving as the Herbology (study of plants) teacher and Head of Hufflepuff. That role has been elevated as Sirine Saba takes over for the HBO show, as fans have already seen a Herbology class in Season 1's trailer, which wasn't shown until the second OG movie.

Throughout the saga, Sprout proves herself as one of Hogwarts' most underrated witches, including by using mandrakes to synthesize a cure for the Basilisk's petrified victims in The Chamber of Secrets. And during the Battle of Hogwarts, she weaponized mandrakes, devil's snare, and more plants against the Death Eaters.

Sherlock actress Louise Brealey is preparing for her first trip to Hogwarts as Madame Hooch, the school's flying instructor and Quidditch referee. Hooch's most prominent part will land (or take off) in Season 1, as she teaches Harry and his fellow first-years the basics of flying, leading to his Quidditch stardom.

The part was originally played by Zoë Wanamaker, who is otherwise known for Doctor Who, Shadow and Bone, and Bergerac. Hooch's involvement in Harry Potter is minor beyond the first book, only appearing to referee various Quidditch matches, although she is believed to have taken part in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Brid Brennan, the actress best known for playing Audrey Changretta in Peaky Blinders, is replacing Gemma Jones as the next Madame Poppy Pomfrey. The Hogwarts school matron is a talented witch who is highly regarded for her healing skills, including repairing broken bones and even growing them back altogether.

Pomfrey appears in minor roles throughout the franchise, healing students from petrification, broken bones, and wartime injuries in the Battle of Hogwarts with a stern, no-nonsense authority over the Hospital Wing, albeit with kind compassion.

Ukrainian model and actress Svitlana Karabut is entering the Wizarding World as Professor Septima Vector, Hogwarts' arithmancy (magical maths) teacher, who had a brief non-speaking role in 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Vector is known to be a very strict and old-fashioned professor who kept her students busy with an excess of homework, which is undoubtedly why Hermione Granger declared it to be one of her favorite subjects at Hogwarts.

Just recently, HBO announced its 12th all-important Hogwarts staffer for Season 2 in Gilderoy Lockhart, a defining character in The Chamber of Secrets. The role had originally gone to Superman star Nicholas Hoult, but due to scheduling conflicts, Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington will instead reprise the part. 

Up until Harry Potter's sophomore story, the Wizarding World viewed Lockhart as a heroic wizard, a great adventurer, and a celebrity author. However, The Chamber of Secrets and his short-lived tenure as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor confirm that he was merely a fraud who utilized memory charms to steal other, greater wizards' stories and prevent them from ever claiming credit.

The Other Witches & Wizards Confirmed for HBO's Harry Potter

Beyond the 12 major witches and wizards making up the staff in Harry Potter, HBO also announced five more Hogwarts alums entering the fray. Those include Katherine Parkinson and Rafe Spall's Molly and Arthur Weasley, Johnny Flynn's Lucius Malfoy, Bertie Carvel's Minister Cornelius Fudge, and Anton Lesser's Garrick Ollivander, who are bound to play more minor roles in the early seasons.

Furthermore, the series will feature Lambert Wilson as Nicholas Flamel, the creator of the Philosopher's Stone, and Marthe Keller as his wife, Pernelle Flamel, both of whom attended the French school, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, not Hogwarts. The Flamels are expected to feature in additional scenes with Dumbledore that weren't in the books or movies, expanding the Wizarding World in new ways.

Harry Potter's roster of fully grown witches and wizards is paired with the Hogwarts students in training, as well as several major ghosts who were undoubtedly talented spellcasters in their time, but now haunt the castle from beyond.