As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, HBO has revealed another look at key Wizarding World elements for its upcoming Harry Potter TV series, highlighting familiar pieces of Hogwarts history, each given a fresh design.
The latest images offer another glimpse of what's to come in this December's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, showcasing the Hogwarts House crests alongside the House Point hourglasses and school founders.
The four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, remain instantly recognisable, but their visual identities have been reworked for the new series. Earlier looks at the redesigned crests revealed that HBO is taking some intriguing liberties with the familiar imagery, including incorporating more naturalistic elements and intricate vine motifs into the designs.
That attention to detail is particularly apparent in the latest look at the House Point hourglasses. While the elaborate artefact retains the basic concept fans will remember from Hogwarts, each house is represented by its own small hourglass containing the coloured gemstones used to track students' points throughout the school year.
However, the surrounding architecture—with the crests below—immediately makes this design feel unique. The intricate detailing surrounding the hourglasses (which show the faces of the founders of each house) is more ornate, and we know from other images that it sits above the entrance to the Great Hall.
It's another example of HBO finding ways to honour the iconography fans already know while establishing a visual identity of its own. That's going to be particularly important for the new Harry Potter, which isn't simply attempting to recreate the movies scene-for-scene. Instead, the goal is to bring Rowling's original descriptions to the screen in greater detail, with each season expected to focus on one of the seven books.
You can take a closer look at Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone's take on the Hogwarts house crest in the Instagram gallery below.
"There is nothing special about Harry Potter - at least that's what his Aunt Petunia always says," reads the synopsis. "On his 11th birthday, a letter of admittance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opens up a hidden world for Harry: one of fun, friendship and magic. But with this new adventure comes great risk as Harry is forced to face a dangerous enemy from his past."
The main cast of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, and Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy.
Rounding out the supporting cast are Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley, Leigh Gill as Griphook, and Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander.
The series, based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved books, is written and executive-produced by Francesca Gardiner. Mark Mylod will executive-produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive-produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone premieres on HBO Max this Christmas.