It finally happened. The 20th Year Reunion of Harry Potter and the Hogwarts folks took place to celebrate the epic creation a score ago. Potterheads are all over social media, sharing snippets of their favourite moments online and celebrating the Wizarding World.
Return to Hogwarts brought together much of the main cast, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Mark Williams, Helena Bonham Carter, Gary Oldman, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Isaacs, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Bonnie Wright, Alfred Enoch, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch and Ralph Fiennes. Notwithstanding, the fact that the franchise has faced a couple of significant setbacks in the last few years, the special meet was a huge success.
Producer David Heyman and directors Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates also appeared in the episode.
The hugely engrossing conversation among the lead cast centred around the struggle faced with finding the perfect actor to play Harry Potter. A UK-wide hunt for the perfect child actor to fit into the titular role turned out to be an arduous hunt. “We couldn’t find Harry. We just couldn’t find Harry and it was getting kind of weird and panicky,” series author JK Rowling said in the archival footage included in Return to Hogwarts.
Also, touched upon in the show was Emma’s hint at leaving the franchise. “The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way. Id di toy with the idea,” she shared in a candid chat with co-stars. And while on Emma, a lot has been said and left unsaid about her “liking” for Tom Felton.
In the books and films, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy may have a hostile relationship, but in real life, Watson was smitten with Felton. In the very first scene of the reunion, we see her enter the Great Hall set and hug Felton, a moment that is making waves on social media. Felton, however, saw her only as a younger sister since she was a couple of years younger than him. Watson said with Felton, she could be vulnerable, which was not true for everybody else on the set. Both reiterated that they still love each other very much. “Nothing has ever, ever, ever happened romantically with us. We just love each other. That’s all I can say about that,” she said cryptically.
Alongside, even though rumour is afoot that the creator and her creation share an estranged relationship, JK Rowling’s was very much there in the special episode. We saw her speaking about Daniel, Rupert and Emma through old footage and many of the cast members even honoured her for creating this world.
Lastly, Emma and Rupert’s kiss brought back childhood memories. The “kiss” was nothing short of a nightmare for the tender actors. They had grown up together and saw each other almost like siblings. The kiss felt very, very wrong. “Kissing Rupert is one of the hardest things I ever had to do. It just felt wrong, so wrong on every level because Dan, Rupert, and I are so many siblings. All three of us felt so matched in how much it meant to us,” said Watson. But it was director David Yates’s decree and had to be done.
