HBO Max's much-anticipated Harry Potter reunion special at last dropped over the holiday weekend, and fans of the iconic series of books and films have been awash in nostalgia ever since.
But when it comes to the character of Hermione Granger, played by actress Emma Watson, some of that nostalgia was inadvertently misplaced.
If you watched Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts and found yourself staring at the TV wondering if you'd blacked out during the part of the Harry Potter series where Emma Roberts was involved, not to worry, you're not losing your marbles.
HBO Max just used a photo of the wrong Emma, popping in a childhood photo of Roberts instead of Watson.
Oops.
GUYS HELP ME THATS LITERALLY EMMA ROBERTS NOT EMMA WATSON #ReturnToHogwarts #HarryPotter20thAnniversarypic.twitter.com/bLbXcCUpnh— \ud835\udd5e\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd5f\ud835\udd5a\ud835\udd52 (@\ud835\udd5e\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd5f\ud835\udd5a\ud835\udd52) 1641040757
The reunion is an exciting new chapter to the Harry Potter catalog for its legion of fans, especially as it reunited core stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson for the first time since the final film in the series premiered in 2011.
The reunion was full of cute throwbacks as well, like a segment in which each of the films' stars recount their beginning with the celebrated children's stories, accompanied by photos of them as children. As Watson recounted her childhood affinity for the character she would go on to play, Hermione, a photo of an adorable little girl in Minnie Mouse ears came onscreen.
Aww!
Eagle-eyed viewers recognized the photo immediately—not from Watson's life but rather from a 2012 Instagram post by fellow actress Emma Roberts who, while iconic in her own right, has never appeared in anything even tangentially related to the Harry Potter series.
The special's producers quickly owned up to the error and got right to work on uploading a new version to HBO Max, as they told Entertainment Weekly on Sunday in a message to fans which read:
“Well spotted Harry Potter fans!"
"You brought an editing mistake of a mislabeled photograph to our attention."
"New version up shortly.”
But of course, that did not quell fans' reactions to the gaffe on social media, which were plentiful.
Emma Watson, Emma Roberts; Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Craig. Same difference.— The Novel Discourse Podcast (@The Novel Discourse Podcast) 1641244934
@RobertsEmma SUE THEM !!!!!— \ud835\udd5e\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd5f\ud835\udd5a\ud835\udd52 (@\ud835\udd5e\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd5f\ud835\udd5a\ud835\udd52) 1641040916
pic.twitter.com/meO8jU04WH— nes (@nes) 1641263105
Sigh -all these Emmas look alike. Seriously, I can see making the mistake because this does look like it could be Emma W. What I don't get is not catching the mistake in quality control - say letting the actors or some family look at the kid pictures?— Auntie is Vaxxed and Boosted. (@Auntie is Vaxxed and Boosted.) 1641165176
I\u2019m sorry but this is hilarious. How do you mess up that badly?— Patrick Nestor III (@Patrick Nestor III) 1641240418
Emma Watson and Roberts been getting confused for decades now. It's camp! Also Roberts is the original bad girl!!!— ValleyWitch\u2729 (@ValleyWitch\u2729) 1641247694
This plus the throwback 90s Great Depression photo sent mepic.twitter.com/BVdQP4F8ZK— Ches \ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\udfa7 (@Ches \ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\udfa7) 1641223966
give emma roberts her checkpic.twitter.com/oLZH8ybOmN— m \ud83c\udf43 (@m \ud83c\udf43) 1641241929
Wow. The editors / producers of #HarryPotter #ReturnToHogwarts seriously used a picture of a young Emma Roberts instead of Emma Watson.\n\nHOW did this get past everyone?!?! pic.twitter.com/kNm0ZkWOh5— Tyler (@Tyler) 1641088002
All I wanted to know was who edited it because they also got James and Oliver mixed up.— You're Favorite Train Wreck (@You're Favorite Train Wreck) 1641307645
As several viewers also pointed out, the editing team got Oliver and James Phelps—the twin brothers who played Fred and George Weasley—mixed up as well.
And you think you mess up at your job a lot!
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
