Today is a day for rest and relaxation now that the Christmas and New Year festivities are finally over, with HBO Max providing the ideal combination of nostalgia and comfort foot for the soul via Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which premiered on the platform today.
Reuniting almost the entire core cast for the first time in a long time, the lengthy special is a trip down memory lane, a glowing tribute to the impact and importance of the franchise, a retrospective on how the epic eight-film saga came together and much more all at once, so it’s no surprise that fans have been lapping it up.
There’s plenty of emotion on display onscreen, and fans have been sharing in that sentiment as they find themselves regularly getting choked up watching Return to Hogwarts, as you can see from the reactions below.
Harry Potter has become such an all-encompassing part of pop culture that it’s easy to forget Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson endured an experience that nobody else can relate to.
Plucked from obscurity and turned into megastars overnight, the trio grew up right in front of our very eyes knowing full well the shadow of the Wizarding World would hang over them for the rest of their lives, so it’s little wonder they got emotional when reflecting on their past.