The quest to sustain the global spell of Harry Potter

Almost 28 years ago, Harry Potter received his invitation to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet, even today, more than a generation later, there is still a remarkable effort to keep the magic alive. Harry Potter books continue to fill bookstores with special editions, while Warner Bros. is grappling with the challenge of recreating the same story, now as a series. At the heart of it all remains the author, J.K. Rowling, who has become the center of countless controversies, due to comments deemed transphobic. Whether in television, literature, film, video games, or exhibitions, the goal remains the same: to preserve the global enchantment of Harry Potter, even in the most unexpected places.

For instance, in a studio just outside London, visited by thousands of tourists every year, cakes are now being baked in front of cameras, inspired by the magical world of the boy wizard. Cooks emerge from chimneys spewing green smoke, a flying broom sits on a lectern, and the show is presented by James and Oliver Phelps, the red-haired twins who played Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter film series. When ready, these confections will be served right on Platform 9¾. This is how Harry Potter is making its debut on television cooking competitions with Harry Potter:The Wizards of Baking, Warner’s latest attempt to exploit the success of the saga and make sure that it’s not forgotten by children.

In an era where intellectual property holds immense value, the magical world created in 1997 is an essential brand for Warner. After its merger with Discovery — renowned for reality shows and house-flipping or cooking programs — Harry Potter has found a new home on the Max platform thanks to the baking show. However, the true challenge for the Hollywood giant lies in the project announced nearly two years ago, in April 2023: a television series that will once again adapt the seven original books. Filming is slated for the summer of 2025 at Leavesden Studios, but the series still does not have a cast.

It’s a titanic task. The plan is to develop seven seasons, but so far, only the screenwriters are in place. A staggering 32,000 children showed up for the casting, and they will inevitably face comparisons to the iconic original cast. Even Hollywood is uncertain whether Warner will survive until the series’ release in 2026 or 2027, and some actors, including Jared Harris — the son of Richard Harris, who portrayed Dumbledore — have criticized the decision to recreate the saga so soon. “The films were fantastic — leave them alone,” he told The Independent. For Penguin Random House, Harry Potter remains one of its top children’s brands, even though the last book was published 18 years ago, as the publisher confirmed to EL PAÍS.

Today, Penguin Random House divides its editions between those aimed at children discovering the series for the first time and those for nostalgic fans. This year, they released four special editions, each featuring the colors of a Hogwarts house, containing all the books for $100 during the summer. They also launched the official Spell & Potion Book of the saga, which came with a magic wand.

“It remains the best-selling brand in Spain for children aged six to 12,” says Laia Zamarrón, editorial director at Penguin Random House. “In all children’s and young adult books, Rowling is still the top-selling author, and we’re continuing to grow. There was a peak during the pandemic, then a drop, and now we’re back to 2020 numbers. It’s quite exceptional, with growth between six and 20% annually.”

A few years ago, the publisher released the only official sales figures: since its launch, over 10 million copies have been sold in Spain. However, Zamarrón believes the actual number is likely higher. In Madrid, the exhibition dedicated to the cinematic universe of Harry Potter has attracted 100,000 visitors. Among them are children in costume and many groups of adults, who tour an interactive experience that mainly offers the chance to take photos with iconic scenes from the films, which are then uploaded to social media.

Publishers have capitalized on the momentum from the films, always Max’s most-watched content, and now the video game Hogwarts Legacy, which, with 30 million copies sold, was one of the best-selling games of 2023 and is preparing a sequel. Video games and theme parks (another one is set to open in Florida in May) are priorities, and all of this helps maintain the appeal of the books, with literary novelties benefiting from each new phase. For example, the winning recipe from Harry Potter:The Wizards of Baking will feature in the next culinary book.

“The big change is where the reader comes from. I’ve spoken to girls who knew about Harry Potter from the time they were four, thanks to Lego. Some of them never even get to read the books,” recalls Sigrid Kraus, the editor who first introduced the saga in Spain and continues to work for Penguin Random House. “I think it’s like The Little Prince, which keeps selling year after year. Young people continue to read it a lot. It will be one of those that endures, like The Famous Five, even with its ups and downs. Today, many of the popular young adult books are much simpler, like Blackwater, in terms of syntax and vocabulary... That worries me. Harry Potter wasn’t that easy.”

Films, due to their high costs, have struggled to break away from the main storyline. The prequel Fantastic Beasts, written by J.K. Rowling, initially performed well at the box office, but its success dwindled with the third installment, which barely made a profit. Warner Bros. was unable to sustain its five-film plan and opted to return to the core story with a series adaptation of the same story.

While other successor sagas, such as The Hunger Games, have managed to evolve beyond their original protagonist, Harry Potter faces difficulty living outside the confines of the seven canonical books about the boy wizard. The franchise’s iconic elements are so strong that the first preview for the series was created using the same typography and John Williams music as the original films.

The elephant in the room: J.K. Rowling

At present, adapting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — a play that is set 19 years after the final book — seems difficult. It was recently scaled down to a single night in London. And actor Daniel Radcliffe, who has taken an experimental career path, has distanced himself from J.K. Rowling’s attacks on the transgender community, saying her statements have made him “really sad.” “Nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person,” he told The Atlantic. “But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”

Rowling, in turn, criticized Radcliffe and Emma Watson, calling them “celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors” in a message on X.

The original cast of Harry Potter has consistently defended trans rights, seeking to distance themselves from the author’s anti-trans discourse.

This very public culture war has alienated some of J.K. Rowling’s most dedicated followers. “I started the saga when I was 15, and when I had the internet, I discovered its community and fanfictions written by followers. Many of us were LGBTQ+, and what we wrote and read included that vision. It was a safe place. It allowed many trans people to relate during their teenage years,” recalls Irene, 38, who has since stopped consuming products related to the saga, despite still maintaining friendships formed during that time.

“Rowling’s creative side was always criticized for its biases, but there was respect for the world she created, the world that allowed us to build a refuge and create our own derivative stories,” continues Irene. “The problem began when she started attacking those of us who inhabited that world, friends I met on HP forums. The tipping point was when her previously lukewarm statements became explicitly transphobic, and it was revealed that she was funding anti-trans groups. Do I still have affection? I still hold on to the time when her work allowed me to live the life I did, the friends I made, the lessons learned through discussion, and the fanfics. I just wish she hadn’t ruined one of the works that marked my life.”

This forum user explains that while the average reader may not notice the shift as much, among the more active followers — those who invested significant time and money — there is a sector that strongly opposes these ideas. Some fanfics today include disclaimers that they are a safe space for trans readers.

Irene’s friend Isabel adds, “It was a meeting point for people who had suffered bullying or discrimination. The saga told us that you could be happy in a hostile world. In the fandom, we made lifelong friends at a time when being called a freak was an insult. We’ve seen Rowling’s drift as a betrayal of what we found in her universe — a universe that, to us, rejected supremacist ideas and discrimination against those who were different. For many, the dissonance between the author’s work and her views is obvious, but for others, it’s been a difficult pill to swallow.”

Warner, for its part, after not inviting J.K. Rowling to the 20th-anniversary reunion with the actors, has defended the writer and their future collaboration. “J.K. Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement,” the studio stated in response to the criticism. However, Warner is rumored to be considering a racially diverse cast for the TV series, which would differ from the one depicted in the books.

Kraus, who has a long personal relationship with Rowling, also shared her perspective on the matter: “As her editor, with sales in mind, I would have preferred her to maintain a lower profile to preserve the brand. But she insists that if she can’t speak her mind, who can? I can understand that. She has paid a very high price, and that is wrong.”

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Trailer for 'Return to Hogwarts,' the reunion of the 'Harry Potter' saga

Could Hollywood’s relentless expansion of the Harry Potter brand eventually lead to its exhaustion? “I was against exploiting it so much. First, when we released the scripts. And it was a huge hit. With the films... it sold even more. The video game too. Maybe it will fade away, but reality has proven me wrong,” laughs Kraus, who also notices its influence in all the projects she reads now: “I always recognize Harry Potter, I see a Voldemort or some Dementors. Young people who write fantasy and romance are clear heirs.”

However, almost none of these successors will remain as relevant after 30 years on the shelves. Some spells, it seems, only work once.

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