I Really Hope The New Harry Potter Series Fixes One Character The Movies Adapted Poorly

Within the world of Harry Potter, there are characters that I love. And then there are characters that I… am not super huge fans of.

That’s not to say they aren’t good characters. As someone who has marathoned the entire Harry Potter film franchise, I can openly say that no character is really a bad character. I’ve loved the books since I was a kid, and everyone has a decent amount of development in terms of what they do in the novels, and the storyline as a whole, even the villains.

But I have to admit that there’s one character from the movies, who was featured heavily in the books, that I really want to see done well in the new Harry Potter TV show on HBO. And in honor of production beginning, I have to express my concerns -- specifically about Ginny Weasley.

I'm Excited For The New Series As A Potterhead

First off, I must admit that, as a Potterhead, I am excited about the new series.

Did we necessarily need an HBO Harry Potter TV show? No, not at all. The movies are great all on their own, with an impressive Harry Potter cast that have all gone on to do great things since their time in one of the best fantasy franchises ever. I could rewatch those movies any day and never grow tired of them.

But there’s still a lot of love for this franchise in me, even if I don’t necessarily agree with things J.K. Rowling has said in the last few years in terms of specific social topics that I will not dive into today. I have a lot of hope that this series will end up becoming a staple for the next generation, and the legacy of Harry Potter will continue.

I think that they’ve been doing a decent job with casting. While Snape’s casting raised some eyebrows, and I’m also a little nervous for John Lithgow’s casting as Dumbledore, I think they really hit the ground running on this show.

But there’s one character that I’m aching to see done right in the new series – and hopefully, so much better than what they did in the movies.

However, I Seriously Hope They Change Up Ginny's Character From The Movies

So I have a confession. While I do love Hermione from the books, as I think any young woman my age did when they were released, because she’s fantastic, I always loved Ginny just as much. The little sister of Ron Weasley, Ginny was a pivotal character in the series as a whole, offering valuable stakes, humorous jokes, and much more.

And in the movies, she’s just sort of… there?

We first meet Ginny technically in the first film, because she travels to King's Cross Station with the Weasley family as they send their boys off to Hogwarts. But she plays a bigger role in the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

At least in that movie, it felt like she was a bigger part of the screenplay as a whole – but for a story that, in the books, revolved a lot around her towards the end, it felt like she wasn’t included nearly as much as she should be.

And then, as the film progresses, her character becomes less and less critical to the story, which is the complete opposite of how she fits into the book.

She Feels Like Such An Important Character In The Books

In the books, Ginny is honestly a fourth part of the trio. Sure, she doesn’t go on as many adventures as the core trio does, but she is such an essential figure to all three. Aside from her being Ron’s little sister (and the youngest Weasley overall), she’s a genuine friend to Hermione.

There were so many sweet moments between them that we didn’t get to see in the movies that actually would have expanded on her character. But we get nothing.

There’s also the fact that Ginny is quite funny. She has some hysterical moments in the novels that could have been brought to the big screen, but they were not. I’m not sure if it was due to time constraints or other factors, but there was a lot that could have been done.

Ginny is also an excellent Quidditch player. While we do see her on the Gryffindor team in the films for a little bit, she’s bloody fantastic in the books, and we see none of that in the film.

The biggest sin of all, though, is her relationship to Harry as it is portrayed in the movies.

Her Relationship With Harry Is So Much More Fleshed Out And Feels Real

This isn’t a dig at Bonnie Wright (who plays Ginny Weasley) or her acting skills, because I have seen her in other movies and shows, and she’s excellent. But when she played Ginny, I didn’t believe her, and it didn’t help that she and Harry's relationship felt so fake.

It was like they were trying to incorporate this “brother's best friend” kind of trope where they should keep their kiss a secret or whatever, but in reality, it felt so stiff. The chemistry just wasn’t there.

There’s a reason why people began to ship Harry and Hermione – because no one believed the idea of him with Ginny in the films. And Ron and Hermione's chemistry was also sort of… eh as well, but that’s a whole other article I could get into.

Their relationship feels so genuine and honest in the books, and built on a friendship that evolved into a relationship, not something that feels spawned out of… what, nowhere really? In the movies, it was kind of like Harry just woke up and realized that Ginny was pretty instead of the slow build of, “Oh, Ron’s sister is actually quite nice.” It didn’t work well for me.

She Could Be A Real Standout Character If Done Right

I think with any upcoming book-to-screen adaptation, we’re always a little worried about how characters are done. It’s hard to bring that nuance and character-driven arcs to life on the small or big screen.

But we might have a winner with HBO. Their episodes tend to be long, lasting an hour. And with most likely several episodes a season to catalogue an entire book, we might actually be able to dig a little deeper into Ginny’s character, more than ever before.

That’s the kind of adaptation I can look forward to. And while it won’t be on any 2025 TV schedule, I can at least anticipate this for a 2027 release and hope that Ginny is done right this time around – when she appears.

What are you excited about with the new Harry Potter series? I’m so eager to see what they do – time is going by so slowly.