2024 – Year in Review

January 9 – The Elephant House café, where Harry Potter’s author spent time penning the novels, was set to reopen after being closed for three years due to a fire.

January 20 – It was reported that several Hollywood writers had begun pitching their Harry Potter television show ideas.

January 21 – For the final week of 2023, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway once again broke its own record for weekly ticket sales for a nonmusical Broadway play, as well as the house record for the stage it called home, the Lyric Theatre.

January 30 – Universal Orlando Resort released the first official look at Epic Universe, which would be home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, the third Harry Potter land in Florida.

February 3 – Scientists discovered a new species of mite and named it the Paraschizogynium hedwig after Harry’s famous snowy owl.

February 6 – Dawn French, renowned in the Harry Potter community for her portrayal of the Fat Lady, revealed a unique connection with a hippo during her work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

February 16 – Twenty-nine US high schools were announced as the first in their respective states to perform the high school version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, with performances in the coming fall.

February 16 – After backlash from Australian fans regarding the location of Australia’s Forbidden Forest Experience, the event was relocated to elsewhere in the Briars park – from the fenced wildlife sanctuary to a community forest area.

February 21 – Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter was set to offer a brand-new feature for summer 2024: “Return to Azkaban,” celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Prisoner of Azkaban film.

February 24 – Warner Bros.’s CEO stated the Harry Potter TV series was aiming for a 2026 release date.

February 26 – The North American tour of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced its second stop would be Los Angeles from February to June 2025.

March 1 – Three finalists were reported to be in the running to write the Harry Potter TV series.

March 2 – Bloomsbury and Scholastic announced Christmas at Hogwarts, an illustrated gift book depicting Harry’s first Christmas at the castle, which would hit shelves on October 15.

March 21 – Dame Imelda Staunton confirmed there were indeed plans for a third and final Downton Abbey film. 

March 24 – Helena Bonham Carter reflected on her role as Bellatrix and said she didn’t agree with Miriam Margolyes’s comments that adult Harry Potter fans need to “grow up.” 

April 2 – Harry Potter: Visions of Magic announced it would head to Singapore for its Asian premiere in the fall. 

April 24 – Part 1 of our roundup of original Harry Potter cast and crew members reacting to the new TV series included Daniel Radcliffe, David Yates, Matthew Lewis, David Bradley, and Toby Jones. 

April 25 – Pottermore Publishing announced that the Harry Potter series would be released as a set of full-cast audiobooks with an original score and sound design in late 2025. 

April 30 – Daniel Radcliffe and Eddie Redmayne were both nominated for Tony Awards, Radcliffe for Merrily We Roll Along and Redmayne for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. 

May 8 – Harry Potter: The Exhibition was set to open in São Paulo in August and Boston in September. 

May 10 – Part 2 of our roundup of original Harry Potter cast members reacting to the new TV series included James and Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, Helena Bonham Carter, and Natalia Tena. 

May 18 – A new baking competition called Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking was announced, to be hosted by James and Oliver Phelps and filmed at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. 

May 22 – Thomas Taylor’s watercolor painting that became the original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was set to go up for auction. It eventually sold for $1.9 million, making it the most valuable Potter item ever auctioned. 

May 27 – A newly discovered exoplanet was named “Percival” after Percival Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore’s father. 

June 8 – The release date for the latest Wizarding World game, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, was announced as September 3, alongside an official gameplay trailer. 

June 11 – The cast for the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child North American tour was announced, which included a mixture of new names and faces recognizable from other Cursed Child productions. 

June 16 – Daniel Radcliffe finally won a major award: a Tony for his role in Merrily We Roll Along.

June 26 – Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod were announced as the writer and director, respectively, of the Harry Potter TV show. It was also revealed that the show would be released under HBO rather than Max branding.

June 28 – A second volume of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery’s award-winning Beyond Hogwarts update was announced, which became part of the game on July 3.

July 9 – David Holmes announced his memoir, The Boy Who Lived, which details his experiences on set as a stunt double for Daniel Radcliffe on Harry Potter.

July 10 – Pottermore Publishing announced From the Wizarding Archive, an e-book and audiobook collection featuring Pottermore content, “fresh editorial observations,” and a foreword by Evanna Lynch, to be released on August 29.

July 26 – Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience was set to return to Leesburg, Virginia, on October 26. 

July 28 – A whole bundle of celebrations was planned for Back to Hogwarts 2024, from physical events in Rome, Macau, New York City, London, and elsewhere to multiple online events accessible worldwide.

July 31 – The name of the wizarding park in Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe was officially announced as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. Concept artwork was released, along with official details on the attractions, which confirmed previously leaked information.

August 1 – Eddie Redmayne was reported to have filmed scenes as Newt Scamander for the upcoming Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic at Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe. 

August 8 – MinaLima announced they were not commissioned to work on further illustrated editions of the Harry Potter novels beyond the three already released. 

August 23 – Austin, Texas, was revealed as another location for Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience, beginning November 9.

August 26 – The author revealed that the first line she ever wrote of the Harry Potter series was “The Potter family lived in Darke’s Hollow.”

August 31 – The mobile game Harry Potter: Magic Awakened was set to shut down in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania on October 29.

September 1 – It was announced that Dame Imelda Staunton would reprise her role as Dolores Umbridge for the upcoming Ministry of Magic ride at Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe.

September 5 – Following the Imelda Staunton news, we compiled a list of all the other Wizarding World announcements from Back to Hogwarts Day, including a tease about Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Express Adventure, more locations for the various interactive exhibitions, and the news that certain Potter alumni would appear as special guests on Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking alongside James and Oliver Phelps.

September 6 – Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief financial officer discussed in an interview that the success of the video game Hogwarts Legacy had led to talks of a sequel, saying it was one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s “biggest priorities.”

September 9 – An open casting call was posted for the Harry Potter TV show – open to children in the United Kingdom and Ireland who would be between the ages of nine and eleven in April 2025.

September 17 – HBO's CEO gave an update on the Harry Potter TV show, stating it wouldn’t air until late 2026 or 2027 and that the show’s writers were only just getting started.

September 23 – New photos and a release date (November 14) were revealed for Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, including pictures of some of the bakes, the hosts, the judges, and the special guests.

September 23 – It was revealed that the touring production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was even shorter than the one-part version showing on Broadway, at two hours and 50 minutes instead of three and a half hours.

September 27 – Dame Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall) passed away at age 89.

October 2 – The official Harry Potter Fan Club app quietly shut down on October 1, with no announcement or advanced warning posted anywhere besides the app itself.

October 15 – WizardingWorld.com, which was formerly known as Pottermore, rebranded again as HarryPotter.com.

October 17 – Universal Orlando Resort officially announced the opening date of Epic Universe as May 22, 2025.

October 23 – The Broadway version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced it would adopt the shortened, touring version of the play, replacing the one-part version that began after the COVID-19 pandemic.

October 23 – Part 3 of our roundup of original Harry Potter cast members reacting to the new TV series included Bonnie Wright, Gary Oldman, and Matthew Lewis again. 

October 27 – An official Harry Potter Shop, similar to Harry Potter New York, was set to open in Chicago in spring 2025.

October 31 – Eddie Redmayne spoke in an interview about the future of the Fantastic Beasts films, saying he thought fans had seen the last of Newt Scamander, apart from Newt’s appearance at Epic Universe’s Ministry of Magic.

October 31 – A limited-edition, 16-LP boxed set of the Harry Potter film soundtracks was available for preorder, coming in four variants, one for each Hogwarts House.

November 6 – Jude Law reflected on his time as Albus Dumbledore and confirmed that he was not aware of plans to continue the Fantastic Beasts series. 

November 7 – The president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment described that the sequel to Hogwarts Legacy would somehow coordinate storytelling elements with the Harry Potter TV show. 

November 9 – Following his Tony Award win earlier in the year, Daniel Radcliffe was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Music Theater Album category as a principal artist on the cast recording of the revival of Merrily We Roll Along. 

November 12 – Mark Rylance was rumored to be a contender for the role of Albus Dumbledore in the HBO Harry Potter series, whose expected premiere was pushed to early 2027. 

November 18 – MinaLima opened a new location in Edinburgh and launched a new Yule Ball collection. 

November 21 – Universal Orlando Resort shared images of the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry attraction that would open at Epic Universe in 2025, including the Atrium and Umbridge’s office.

November 30 – After releasing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in paperback with trendy stenciled edges, Scholastic was set to publish the rest of the series with stenciled edges on July 1, 2025.

December 5 – Fandom Forward (formerly known as the Harry Potter Alliance) announced it was closing its operations after 19 years. 

December 5 – An official update about the Harry Potter TV show revealed it would begin shooting in summer 2025 at Leavesden Studios. Executive producers Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod explained they had watched 32,000 auditions for the trio’s roles and that the first season would be eight hours.

December 7 – The Harry Potter TV show’s costume designer was confirmed as Holly Waddington. Meanwhile, rumors flew about actors being considered for the cast, including Paapa Essiedu as Snape, Janet McTeer as McGonagall, and Brett Goldstein as Hagrid.

December 8 – The Nicolas Flamel Chocolate Frog card was added to the collection at Universal Orlando Resort. 

December 16 – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced it would launch in Brazil in 2025 and the Netherlands in 2026.