If you’ve been keeping tabs on HBO’s massive Harry Potter reboot, you already know the casting announcements have been coming fast this year. The show, which is tackling all seven books across seven planned seasons, wrapped up its first year with a cast that fans generally praised for looking and feeling right for the roles. Now attention has shifted fully to Season 2, which will adapt Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the casting choices keep rolling in.This week brought three new names to the growing cast list, along with fresh details about a production delay that has some fans worried about how long they’ll actually have to wait for the next chapter.Credit: HBOThree New Additions Round Out the Hogwarts RosterRafe Spall, known for Trying and Life of Pi, has joined the series as Arthur Weasley, the good natured patriarch of the Weasley family and father to Harry’s best friend Ron. Molly Hewitt-Richards, whose credits include Code of Silence and Casualty, will play Moaning Myrtle, the melancholy ghost who haunts one of Hogwarts’ girls’ bathrooms. Rounding out the trio is Jasper Ambrose, from Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and The Sheep Detectives, who has been cast as Colin Creevey, the camera obsessed first year who idolizes Harry from the moment they meet.Each of these characters played a memorable part in the original film franchise. Arthur was portrayed by Mark Williams, Myrtle by Shirley Henderson, and Creevey by Hugh Mitchell. Fitting new actors into roles audiences already associate so strongly with specific performances is never simple, and it’s a challenge this production keeps taking on with nearly every announcement.These three join a cast that already includes Kit Harington stepping in as Gilderoy Lockhart, Bonnie Hill taking over as Ginny Weasley, Lenny Rush voicing Dobby, and Billy Barratt playing a teenage Tom Riddle. Season 1 stars Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout are all expected to return as Harry, Hermione, and Ron.For a first look at all 3 characters, Variety has shared their headshots on X.Jasper Ambrose has been cast as Colin Creevey in HBO’s “Harry Potter” Season 2 (“Chamber of Secrets”).Jasper Ambrose has been cast as Colin Creevey in HBO’s “Harry Potter” Season 2 (“Chamber of Secrets”).https://t.co/Ow0jgEC6zr pic.twitter.com/RUOGp2BY6Y— Variety (@Variety) September 15, 2026Molly Hewitt-Richards has been cast as Moaning Myrtle in HBO’s “Harry Potter” Season 2 (“Chamber of Secrets”).Molly Hewitt-Richards has been cast as Moaning Myrtle in HBO’s “Harry Potter” Season 2 (“Chamber of Secrets”).https://t.co/Ow0jgEC6zr pic.twitter.com/FCZ2qB3NYv— Variety (@Variety) September 15, 2026Rafe Spall has been cast as Arthur Weasley in HBO’s “Harry Potter” Season 2 (“Chamber of Secrets”).Rafe Spall has been cast as Arthur Weasley in HBO’s “Harry Potter” Season 2 (“Chamber of Secrets”).https://t.co/Ow0jgEC6zr pic.twitter.com/0c1EwWE6Z2— Variety (@Variety) September 15, 2026A Villain Getting Reworked From the Ground UpCredit: HBOOne of the more talked about changes involves Lucius Malfoy, played in the films by Jason Isaacs and now taken on by Johnny Flynn. The show is introducing Lucius a full book earlier than either the movies or the novels did, giving the character more room to build his relationship with Draco before Chamber of Secrets puts him front and center.Flynn recently opened up to Radio Times about how he’s approaching the role, and it’s a noticeably different read on the character than fans are used to.“He was one of those kids bullied in his school, and he’s now turned into the bully, so he doesn’t know another way,” Flynn said. “That’s how I want to play him, because I know those people quite well. On the one hand, they were the people who bullied me, they were the abusers, but at some point, they were the abused. So, nobody’s outright good or bad in the world.”Not everyone is convinced this take fits the source material. Screen Rant pushed back on the reasoning, pointing out that Lucius’s cruelty in the books stems from something else entirely.“Canonically, Lucius was never bullied, and his coldness and cruelty came from his family and upbringing, not how he was treated at school. Lucius came from a respectable family of wizards who believed in pure-blood values and wizards’ superiority, thus looking down on Muggle-born witches and wizards and Muggles in general.”It’s the kind of debate that tends to follow any adaptation willing to add backstory that wasn’t in the original text, and it’s likely to keep coming up as more of Flynn’s performance becomes public.Behind the Script Delays Holding Up FilmingCredit: HBOBeyond casting, Season 2 is dealing with a scheduling problem. Filming was supposed to begin in August, but that date has slipped to October after Warner Bros. executives sent early scripts back over concerns with plot and character work.“Filming for series two was meant to start in August. We had dates to start filming, but the scripts have not been finished,” a source told The Sun. “The cost implications are huge.” The same insider added that a number of staff have been stood down in the meantime, leaving crew members without pay while rewrites continue.HBO and Max’s content chairman Casey Bloys had already suggested a yearly release schedule wasn’t realistic for a production this size. “For some of the bigger shows like Harry Potter or House of the Dragon, or The Last of Us, huge world-building shows, it would be nice to have those on an annual basis,” he told The Hollywood Reporter, “but from a production point of view, it’s just not possible.” Even with that expectation already set, 2028 was looking like the earliest realistic window for Season 2, and this new delay makes an even longer wait feel likely.Patience Seems to Be the Real Theme of Season 2Between the new casting, the reworked take on Lucius, and now a production delay, Season 2 is shaping up to be a much bigger undertaking than anyone initially expected. Adapting Chamber of Secrets clearly isn’t as simple as filming the next set of scripts and moving on, and Warner Bros. seems willing to push the timeline back rather than release something that doesn’t hold up. For fans who have already sat through a full year of casting reveals and set photos, an even longer wait might be frustrating, but it also suggests the people behind the scenes are treating this book with the same level of care that made Season 1 land so well.Harry Potter premieres on HBO and HBO Max on December 25.Got thoughts on the new casting or the delay? Drop a comment below, we read every one of them and love hearing what fans think before Season 2 gets closer to filming.The post NEW CAST: 3 Lead Characters Immediately Join HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ appeared first on Inside the Magic.