HBO’s live-action Harry Potter series is racing ahead on its ambitious “one book per season” plan, and the next batch of casting news zeroes in on three fan-favorite figures from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Rafe Spall, Molly Hewitt-Richards, and Jasper Ambrose have been confirmed for Season 2 as Arthur Weasley, Moaning Myrtle, and Colin Creevey respectively, rounding out a pivotal corner of the Hogwarts ensemble and setting up one young character whose story is famously doomed in the books.
Arthur Weasley, the Muggle-obsessed patriarch of the sprawling Weasley clan and a quietly heroic Ministry of Magic employee, will be played by British actor Rafe Spall. Spall is best known to genre fans for projects like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the Apple TV+ series Trying, bringing a mix of harried everyman charm and warmth that fits the kindly but overworked wizard dad. The role also comes with a meta twist: Spall’s father, Timothy Spall, memorably portrayed Peter “Wormtail” Pettigrew in the original film franchise, making this a legacy casting that ties the HBO remake back to the Warner Bros. movies. Arthur was previously played on screen by Mark Williams, and the character’s journey—from humble office worker in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office to committed member of the Order of the Phoenix—threads in and out of Harry’s fight against Voldemort, giving Spall material that stretches far beyond one season.
Molly Hewitt-Richards will step into the spectral shoes of Moaning Myrtle, the perpetually tearful ghost who haunts the girls’ bathroom at Hogwarts. Myrtle’s backstory—killed by the Basilisk during Tom Riddle’s first opening of the Chamber decades before Harry arrives—moves to center stage in Chamber of Secrets, making her one of the most important clues in unraveling the mystery of the attacks on students. Hewitt-Richards has been steadily building a career with roles in dramas like Code of Silence and long-running medical series Casualty, and Season 2 is positioned as her breakout in genre fandom thanks to Myrtle’s mix of tragic history and unexpectedly flirty interactions with the living. With more runtime than the films ever had, the series can lean harder into Myrtle’s role as both comic relief and a tragic reminder of Hogwarts’ darker past.
Jasper Ambrose joins the cast as Colin Creevey, the wide-eyed first-year Gryffindor who idolizes Harry and trails him around Hogwarts with a camera in hand. Described in early coverage as an “overly eager” student who just can’t stop bothering the newly minted second-year Boy Who Lived, Colin quickly becomes one of the faces of the danger stalking the school when he falls victim to the Basilisk’s petrifying gaze. Ambrose, who has appeared in projects such as The Sheep Detectives, is already generating buzz among book loyalists who have long seen Colin as a quietly heartbreaking figure—particularly given his later fate in the Battle of Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows. ComicBook.com and other outlets have highlighted Colin as the “doomed” element of this casting trio, and the series’ longer format suggests his enthusiasm and vulnerability will land harder on screen than in the films.
These three additions arrive amid a broader wave of Season 2 casting that’s fleshing out every corner of Chamber of Secrets. Lenny Rush, a BAFTA-winning young actor known for Am I Being Unreasonable? and his recent turn in Doctor Who, has been tapped to voice and perform the beloved house-elf Dobby, whose frantic warnings to Harry drive much of the book’s plot. Bonnie Hill will take over as Ginny Weasley beginning in Season 2 after Gracie Cochrane’s exit from the series, giving the future Chosen One’s younger sister—and linchpin victim of Tom Riddle’s diary—a fresh face as her story moves from background to center stage. Billy Barratt, meanwhile, has been cast as the teenage Tom Riddle, the charming yet chilling student whose diary and duplicity reveal the roots of Lord Voldemort’s rise.
Season 2’s casting slate also intersects with one of the show’s most talked-about moves: bringing Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington in as Gilderoy Lockhart, the fame-obsessed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor introduced in Chamber of Secrets. Lockhart, Dobby, Ginny, Tom Riddle, Arthur, Myrtle, and Colin together represent nearly the entire new-character backbone of the second book, signaling that HBO and its creative team intend to give each supporting player enough room to matter rather than simply recreating the films’ greatest hits. With each season dedicated to a single novel, there is far more space to explore the Weasley family dynamic, the emotional weight of Hogwarts’ ghosts, and the terror of being a vulnerable student caught in a magical conspiracy, all of which these casting choices directly support.
HBO is reportedly moving into production on Season 2 even before Season 1 has aired, a clear sign of confidence in the long-term plan for the series. An exact premiere date for the Chamber of Secrets season has not yet been announced, but with major roles now filled and the adaptation strategy laid bare, fans can start imagining how these new faces will reshape some of the franchise’s most formative chapters. For book readers, Arthur, Myrtle, and Colin are more than quirky side characters—they’re emotional touchstones—and the series’ willingness to spotlight them early suggests a Hogwarts story that feels richer, darker, and more character-driven than ever before.
