HBO’s new Harry Potter series does not arrive until Christmas Day, but Hogwarts is already filling up. The show is a season-by-season retelling of J.K. Rowling’s seven books, with newcomer Dominic McLaughlin in the title role, and on Friday it added five more names, with timing that was no accident: the castle’s ghosts, its best-known portrait and the voice of the Sorting Hat, all announced on Halloween Eve.
TheWrap reports David Threlfall will voice the Sorting Hat, the battered old hat that sizes up every first-year and calls out which house they belong in. Threlfall is a BAFTA winner best known as Frank Gallagher in the original British Shameless. Joining him among the spirits, Leo Bill plays Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost, a friendly soul who remains a little touchy about the fact that his head never quite came off.
Andrew Brooke plays the Bloody Baron, the gaunt, chain-draped ghost of Slytherin, who mostly keeps his silence. Daniel Fearn plays the Fat Friar, the jolly Hufflepuff ghost and easily the most welcoming spirit in the castle.
Rounding out the five, Laura Smyth plays the Fat Lady, the portrait standing guard over the way into Gryffindor Tower, who lets students pass only when they give her the password.
The five join a cast that has been building all year, with Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley alongside McLaughlin, and John Lithgow as Dumbledore. McLaughlin first stepped into the role in the trailer HBO released in September. The series is written by Francesca Gardiner, with Mark Mylod directing multiple episodes, and work is already under way on a second season based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Harry Potter premieres Christmas Day on HBO.