“Magic is in the air” as the brand-new Harry Potter installment gets its first trailer.

Despite the fact that Harry Potter author/Wizarding World creator JK Rowling has been dividing fans for many years due to her controversial views on transgender rights and gender identity, the Harry Potter brand remains as popular — and for many, as magical — as ever.

But, of course, the franchise has hit some rocky patches in recent years.

The Fantastic Beasts Series

Credit: Warner Bros.
The first signs of trouble arose when Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), left fans “stupefied” with confusion and second-hand embarrassment. It became the first “Squib” of the film series.

Simultaneously, there was all the off-screen drama with Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard (his casting as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald had already garnered controversy).

In a shocking development, Depp was later asked to resign by Warner Bros. following the verdict of the Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd court case, which meant that he would not be reprising his role as Grindelwald in the third film (five films were being planned at the time).

Credit: Warner Bros.
Johnny Depp was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). While it fared better with critics than Crimes, it didn’t perform as well at the box office, grossing only $407.2M against $200M (Crimes grossed $654.9M at the same cost).

The Fantastic Beasts spinoff series got off to a magical start with the well-received 2016 film (which conjured $814M worldwide against a budget of $175–200M), but the once-promising Harry Potter sub-franchise swiftly became the victim of its own rebounding Killing Curse.

Abracadabra? Nope — Avada Kedavra.

“Hogwarts Legacy”

Credit: Avalanche Software / Warner Bros. / Portkey Games
The controversy didn’t end there. In the lead up to the release of the highly-anticipated open-world Harry Potter video game “Hogwarts Legacy” (2023), pockets of fans — those enraged by JK Rowling’s divisive views on transgender — boycotted the installment.

But, unsurprisingly, the game became a huge success, storming the gaming charts and becoming one of the highest-grossing titles of that year. As of May, 2023, sales reached over $1B in revenue, and, as of January, 2024, the game sold a total of 24M copies worldwide.

The Harry Potter TV Series

In 2021, it was revealed that a live-action Harry Potter television series — a more “faithful adaptation” of the books by Rowling — was in development at HBO Max. Set for release in 2026, the series will span seven seasons, each one dedicated in its entirety to each book.

While many actors from the Harry Potter films have expressed an interest in returning to play a different character, the series will see new actors play the likes of Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore, Rubeus Hagrid, and Severus Snape.

Though many oppose the idea of the reboot, it looks like the franchise is finally back on track. Between the success of “Hogwarts Legacy” and the anticipation for the television series, each of which will get their own spinoffs, Warner Bros. has confirmed, the Wizarding World is slowly rebuilding itself.

JK Rowling

With all that said, the drama surrounding the world-famous author continues. JK Rowling’s views on transgender rights have caused huge upset within the Harry Potter fandom, the trans community, and beyond. Yet the author is more involved with the brand than ever.

She’s serving as executive producer for the upcoming HBO television series, and will reportedly have “final say” on casting the new Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and, we imagine, almost every other Wizarding World character you can probably think of).

While it’s difficult for many to accept that Rowling is involved with the reboot, it will be equally tough for fans to accept that Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ronald Weasley), and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) are being replaced by three new actors.

Fortunately, a new Harry Potter trailer that’s just been released online will help prepare us for that permanent Polyjuice transformation in the new series…

“Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions”

Credit: Warner Bros. Games / Portkey Games / Unbroken Studios
We’ve known that “Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions” (2024) has been in development for some time now. The trouble is that it was announced in the shadow of “Hogwarts Legacy,” meaning anticipation for the upcoming title hasn’t exactly been broomstick-high.

Now, with “Hogwarts Legacy” sort of in the rearview (although, unsurprisingly, a sequel looms) and the arrival of a brand-new trailer for the new game centered around the iconic Wizarding World sport, it’s reasonable to start getting very excited for Harry Potter again.

Another reason to get excited is that the trailer features brand-new versions of the iconic Hogwarts trio, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger, seemingly with new actors taking on the roles (although they we don’t know who those actors are just yet).

Check out the trailer for “Quidditch Champions” below, per Warner Bros. Games:

“Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions” has been a long time coming — even before its announcement early last year — as it’s only the second game based around the Wizarding World’s iconic sport, following “Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup” 21 years ago.

It also explains (just as we suspected) why Quidditch is absent from “Hogwarts Legacy” despite the fact you can do pretty much everything else the Wizarding World has to offer in the sprawling open-world video game. Now, we’ll finally be able to chase that Golden Snitch.

It’s also interesting to see new actors take on the roles of beloved Wizarding World characters such as Harry, Ron, and Hermione (as well as Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley, along with many other original characters we’re sure will pop up throughout the game).

Credit: Warner Bros. Games / Portkey Games / Unbroken Studios

While, of course, this is not the reboot, now’s a good a time as any to start parting ways with the idea that the likes of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are the only actors who’ll be associated with their respective characters in the years and decades to come.

The question is, can the upcoming game evade controversy like Quidditch players desperately evade Bludgers while out on the pitch? Well, we’d bet our bottom Galleon that the new Wizarding World entry will experience similar backlash to “Hogwarts Legacy.”

Similarly to the 2023 game, JK Rowling hasn’t been directly involved with the development of “Quidditch Champions,” with the official website’s Frequently Asked Questions page stating that “JK Rowling is hugely supportive of Portkey Games and has entrusted the design and creation of the games to WB Games and the developers involved.”

Per Warner Bros. Games, “Quidditch Champions” features “iconic wizarding world locations” and that the game “highlights the rush of flying across legendary arenas as either a Beater, Chaser, Keeper or Seeker in a variety of modes.”

Players will also have the opportunity to assume control of “iconic characters such as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and many other quintessential characters.”

“Quidditch Champions” will be released on September 3, 2024, for PC Games, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch. For more information about “Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions,” fly over to the official website.