HBO's Harry Potter gave fans a first look at season 2, and it hints at an iconic scene

With HBO’s Harry Potter series in the works, fans are already wondering when we might see season 2 even though season 1 hasn’t come out yet. Thankfully, we already have a little bit of a first look — and book fans are going to love this.

Thanks to a Warner Bros. event in Brazil, a promotional poster showed what looks like the Hogwarts Express and the title, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in Portuguese. You can see a photo of what was shown below:

At first, this sort of seems like a normal picture of the Hogwarts Express, but fans of the series know there’s a pivotal scene in both the Harry Potter novels and the Harry Potter films to watch out for.

Why the train and blue smoke are so important

If you’ve lived under a rock the last couple of decades or so and haven’t read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies, the Hogwarts Express plays an important role in the second novel. Harry and Ron are running late to catch the train to return to school for their second year at Hogwarts. But when they try to run through the wall to reach Platform 9 ¾, they hit a solid wall and crash to the floor.

Shocked and knowing they’ve missed the train, they struggle to figure out how to get to Hogwarts because if they can’t get through, Ron’s mom and family might not be able to get back out. So, Ron, being Ron, decides to steal his father’s flying car, which can turn invisible, to follow the train tracks all the way to Hogwarts.

However, as they fly, Ron loses control of the car at certain points and almost crashes into the train, and things get even worse when they reach the school and the car completely runs out of power. They crash onto the grounds of the school, right into the path of the Whomping Willow, and the car runs off after they are ejected from the seats. There goes that vehicle.

The moment is hilarious in the books and on screen, and it's been memed for years because the facial expressions are killer. So it’s not surprising that one of the first promotional posters for season 2 features the Express, a nod to that scene. And if you look close enough, you might see a sprinkling of blue in the smoke from the train—which could also be a hint of the famous flying car.

Season 2 is currently in production

It makes sense that a promotional poster might come out for season 2, since the show is filming right now in England. While HBO CEO Casey Bloys has cast doubt on that 10-year plan promised when the series was first announced, the hope is that the show comes out at least every 18 months or so — hopefully not every two years most other HBO series.

But season 2 has been slowly trucking along with its casting announcements, including major decisions over the last few months. Gilderoy Lockhart was cast, not once but twice. Nicholas Hoult was going to play the role but backed out, and then Kit Harington took it on. 

A few other key cast members have also been announced, including Colin Creevey, the new Ginny Weasley, and Tom Riddle, along with other parts who play pivotal roles in the second novel.

The new series is claimed to be a more accurate adaptation than the films, as beloved as they are. But maybe that means season 2 should include several moments left out of the movies. A major moment that I hope happens is Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley having it out in the bookstore in Diagon Alley, because we didn’t get to see much of the adults in the movies (as much as I wanted to).

At the end of the day, the adults all went to school together too and never got along. I’d love to see the family dynamics and how those bonds have permanently changed these kids in ways we never would have expected.

In any case, this promotional poster does make me excited for season 2 — even if season 1 hasn’t even hit our screens yet.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone premieres on Dec. 25, 2026, on HBO. You can watch all eight movies on HBO Max. 

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