The only real magic left in this world is intellectual property and its nigh supernatural ability to print money. With media conglomerates prioritizing their streaming services, beloved IPs have never been more valuable in garnering interest, sign-ups, and subscriptions for streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max. WarnerMedia, the owner of the lattermost streaming service, also holds the rights to the Harry Potter IP, and of course they want to conjure up ideas to bring the world of The Boy Who Lived to television.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Harry Potter live-action TV series is in early development at HBO Max, with the streaming service having “early-stage exploratory meetings” with writers for potential ideas. “There are no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform,” HBO Max and Warner Bros said in a statement, but once again, you’d have to be as thick as Cornelius Fudge to believe they aren’t doing their darndest to extend that Galleons-filled universe.
There are loads of avenues a potential Harry Potter TV series could go down. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has proven that Harry Potter fans will embrace different characters and time-periods and there’s plenty of in-universe history to explore. With that in mind, here’s some ideas we’d love to see tackled by a Harry Potter television series.
Harry Potter: The Complete Story
This is probably the most controversial idea. To some, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are the definitive Harry, Ron, and Hermione and recasting their parts is considered sacrilege. However, Radcliffe seems to know that it’s an inevitability, telling IGN: “It will be interesting to see how long those films stay… it feels like there’s a sacredness around them at the moment, but that’ll go, the shine will wear off at some point. It’ll be interesting if they reboot them and just do the films again or do a series; I’m fascinated to watch.”
A series seems to be the only thing that could really capture all of the details found in the original seven book series. With 10 hour-long episodes a season, a TV series could be the most faithful adaptation of the books, covering everything that the films left out like S.P.E.W., Peeves, and lots and lots of Quidditch. Some may think it’s too soon to rehash the entire saga, while others would love to see nitty-gritty details get their shine.
The Marauders
A TV series following the exploits of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew during their mischievous years at Hogwarts during the First Wizarding War seems like the idea most ripe for exploration. While the third book in the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, featured a lot of exposition about the old gang and their relationships with each other, the films left a lot of the Marauders story to be implied. There would be plenty of time to feature younger versions of fan-favorite characters like Severus Snape and under-explored heroes like the Longbottoms, and the series could roll right into their graduation, the Order of the Phoenix, and that fateful Halloween night in 1981.
Riddle (or the First Wizarding War)
Speaking of the First Wizarding War, a fully-fleshed out origin story for the most notorious wizard of all-time could be a gripping miniseries. While most of Tom Marvolo Riddle’s transformation into Voldemort was explored in the Harry Potter book series and subsequent films, a TV series could dive deeper, showing his time at Hogwarts and his use of the Chamber of Secrets, the murder of Hepzibah Smith, the gathering of the Death Eaters, and his recruitment of the outcasted creatures like Giants. The series could also give POV to characters important to Voldemort’s story, like Regulus Black, Severus Snape, and Lucious Malfoy.
House of Black
An anthology series could explore one of the Wizarding World’s most notable families, the Blacks. As one of the largest, oldest, and wealthiest pure-blooded wizarding families in Great Britain, there are countless stories that could be told about all of the powerful wizards, both good and bad, from the Black family. The potential to play in different time periods and countries is definitely a draw, and writers would have the ability to create their own stories. Each episode could feature a different story about a different Black family member, but why stop with just the Black family? Maybe there could be a series about the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the twenty-eight British families that were still “truly pure-blood” by the 1930s, and all of the ways that the families overlapped, fought, and loved.
Aurors
There’s a reason that Harry becomes an Auror when he’s older, and that’s because the idea of an Auror is extremely badass. In the Wizarding World, Aurors are highly trained law enforcement officials responsible for policing the magical and keeping the peace in the Wizarding World. In Britain, Aurors are trained to investigate crimes related to the Dark Art and are often called “Dark Wizard catchers.” A crime procedural set in the Harry Potter universe? Sign us up!
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We know there have to be baddies other than Voldemort and Death Eaters up to no good, so a series could explore all of the nefarious things that people are using magic for and the folks tasked with stopping them. Training is supposedly rigorous, so maybe our story begins with a new recruit. Hell, maybe this series is just a magical version of Training Day. Wait, isn’t that what that horrible Netflix movie Bright was supposed to be about? Damn, well there’s still plenty of potential here for an action-packed TV series.
Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Let’s do an American coming-of-age high school series set in the Harry Potter universe! After spending so much time at Hogwarts, I’m sure fans would love to see what wizarding school is really like across the pond. Known for being the least elitist of all of the Wizarding Schools, an Ilvermorny-set series could expand on some of the class issues that the new Saved by the Bell reboot on Peacock is tackling.
Ilvermorny also has a rich history and a series could highlight the story of founder Isolt Sayre, her “No-Maj” husband James Steward and their struggle against Isolt’s evil aunt Gormlaith Gaunt. With so much known about the Wizarding World in the U.K., perhaps a new Harry Potter property could flesh out the Wizarding World in North America.
With so much lore and so many expanded-universe stories still left to tell on screen, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is ripe for further expansion. Have an idea for a Wizarding series? Let us know in the comments!