Minus ten points to Gryffindor for editing: fans mocked the new “Harry Potter” posters and are trying to unravel their meaning

HBO has unveiled new promotional materials whose unusual design raised quite a few questions among fans.

HBO Max Brasil has released three posters for the “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” series featuring Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton. In all three, the characters are standing in the Hogwarts library holding magic wands in front of them, visually dividing their faces in half. At the same time, one half of the face is shrouded in shadow, and the expressions on opposite sides of the wand differ slightly. Users noticed that Ron even has different lip colors, as if each portrait was spliced together from two photographs.

The unusual effect reminded fans of the “uncanny valley.” Some compare the posters to CGI and suspect that artificial intelligence may have been used to create them. Others are trying to understand what exactly the creators intended to convey.

According to one theory, the two halves of the face reflect the changes that will happen to the characters during their first year at Hogwarts. According to another, the creators are hinting at the moral ambiguity of the upcoming story in this way. The latter assumption even alarmed some fans, who fear that the writers might deviate from the original story and invent their own plotlines. 

However, for now, all of this is merely speculation. Previously, the creators of the series repeatedly stated that they intend to adapt each novel as comprehensively as possible, not only preserving the events of the original, but also adding new scenes that were not in the books. What will come of this, we will find out very soon — the first season of “Harry Potter” launches on December 25, 2026, on HBO and HBO Max.