Harry Potter reunion replaced with new version after fans spot two massive mistakes

4 January 2022, 13:05

Watch the Harry Potter - Return to Hogwarts first look

By Katie Louise Smith

A photo of a young Emma Roberts was mistaken for a photo of a young Emma Watson.

After fans spotted two glaring mistakes in HBO Max's Harry Potter reunion special, the streaming service has now replaced the whole thing with a new version.

HBO Max released the long-awaited Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special on January 1st. The special, which celebrated the making of the film franchise, reunited everyone's fave HP actors including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Tom Felton, and gave fans a front row seat to some special conversations between the stars.

But in between all the reminiscing and the 'I-had-a-crush-on-you' bombshells, fans spotted a couple of huge mistakes – one involving Emma Watson and one involving the Phelps twins...

READ MORE: 21 wild facts about the first Harry Potter movie we bet you didn't know

At one point in the special, Emma Watson opens up about the first time she discovered Harry Potter and a photo of a young girl pops up on the screen... but, as fans swiftly pointed out, that young girl is not Emma Watson.

The image used was actually an image of a young Emma Roberts that the AHS actress shared on her own Instagram account back in 2012. The picture also mistakenly appears as the first result in Google Images if you search for "Emma Watson baby photo".

In response to the mistake, the producers issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly, saying: "Well spotted Harry Potter fans! You brought an editing mistake of a mislabeled photograph to our attention. New version up shortly."

According to Deadline, the image has now been replaced on HBO Max. As of January 4th, the image of Emma Roberts is still included in the version that is streaming on Now TV in the UK.

Emma Watson's baby photo wasn't the only mistake that fans clocked in the reunion special either.

Another error was spotted by viewers, and later by Oliver Phelps himself, who pointed out that he and his brother James, who played George and Fred Weasley respectively, had been credited the wrong way round.

“I guess after all those pranks over the years somebody decided to get their revenge,” Oliver wrote in an Instagram post. “It was fantastic to be part of the HP reunion. Hope you all enjoyed it.”

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A post shared by Oliver Phelps (@oliver_phelps)

Thankfully, everyone saw the funny side of the situation, with Tom Felton joking: “It was my doing.” Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom also commented, writing: “This is legit hilarious. Dude. Wtf? Haha.”

The new version of the reunion on HBO Max has now corrected their names. Honestly, HBO Max, you call yourself their mother?!

Read more about the Harry Potter reunion:

• Daniel Radcliffe reveals he had a crush on Helena Bonham Carter and wrote her a love letter
• Emma Watson reveals moment she "fell in love" with Tom Felton on the Harry Potter set
• Emma Watson and Rupert Grint almost quit the Harry Potter movies halfway through