Emma Watson remembers when she “fell in love” with Tom Felton

With the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary Special right around the corner, folks have been in a nostalgic mood lately, and that includes the cast. In clips from the special, Emma Watson (Hermione) remembered when she struck up a friendship with Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), a friendship that continues to this day.

“I walked into the room where we were having tutoring,” Watson remembered; this is the early days of the movies, so remember that they’re kids. “The assignment that had been given was to draw what you thought god looked like and Tom had drawn a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard. And I just don’t know how to say it – I just fell in love with him.”

Watson clarified that nothing “ever, ever, ever happened romantically” but the pair “just love each other.” Felton also recalled those early days on set. “I think I was in the hair and make-up chair and someone said something along the lines of, ‘Yeah, she had a crush on you.’”

"I became very protective over her. Yeah, I’ve always had a soft spot for her and that continues to the day."

Daw.

When Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint contemplated leaving Harry Potter

In another clip, the Golden Trio from the movies — Watson, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) remembered days on set when they considered leaving the franchise behind. “I think I was scared,” Watson said. “I don’t know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, this is kind of forever now…The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way.”

In turn, Grint said that “all the way through” his time on Harry Potter, he found himself “contemplating what life would be like if I called it a day.” Radcliffe was going through something similar:

"We never really spoke about it. I guess we were just going through it at our own pace, we were kind of in the moment at the time. It just didn’t really occur to us that we were all probably kind of having similar feelings."

Naturally, Tom Felton praised Watson for “how gracefully” she handled things during this period. “Dan and Rupert, they had each other. I had my cronies, whereas Emma was not only younger, she was by herself.”

Obviously, none of the main cast did leave the movies, with Watson saying that “no one had to convince” her to stay. “The fans genuinely wanted you to succeed, and we all genuinely have each other’s backs. How great is that?”

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts airs on HBO Max on January 1.

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h/t Independent, Indiewire