THANGO NTWASA | Harry Potter and the lynching of Snape

In case you were born yesterday or just so happened to live under a rock for the past 30 years, you may have missed out on one of the biggest cultural phenomena: the Harry Potter franchise.

Its success through JK Rowling’s books and movies under Warner Bros became a global hit, capturing the imagination of different generations.

A key part of the original movie’s success has been its merchandising — but with a failed spin-off and waning interest in Rowling due to her transphobic views, the intellectual property behind the bespectacled teen wizard is resurrected thanks to a new HBO Max series version for Gen Z and Alpha.

The series has long been in production, with initial announcements coming out in 2023. Over that time there has been much ado about casting choices, especially Paapa Essiedu, who will be familiar to many for his role in Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You and this time takes on a lighter role as the series’ antihero, Severus Snape.

Upon the release of the trailer, fan reactions were mixed, ranging from confusion and racism — especially regarding the actions of the character in the books and movies.

Snape lurks in the corners of the series, begrudgingly aiding Harry and his friends in their adventures, something spurred on by his romantic feelings for Harry’s late mother, Lily.

Snape, cast as black, not only feeds into an old problematic trope known as the magical negro (a black character whose sole purpose is to use magical powers to help a white character), it also runs the risk of complicating experiences that Snape would have.

Touted as a more “book accurate” retelling, the series runs a danger of blindly casting a role that was not originally meant to be played or portrayed by a black person. Other than the character’s devotion to Lily, Harry and Dumbledore (the magical school’s enigmatic headmaster), Snape experiences a tragic bullying incident in his younger years.

In a tense scene between the main character and Snape, Harry gets a glimpse into a core memory of Snape, where he is undressed and hung on a tree. For a white character, this is a deeply disturbing form of bullying — but in a black context it is akin to a lynching.

The Harry Potter magical world is not exempt from real-world events. In its magical-realist approach, we see the witches and wizards navigate the stress of planning holidays like Christmas (which they have no business observing) and exist within the periphery of human history. The wizarding world is very aware of historical events, even participating with different governments and world conflicts. The series’ main antagonist, Lord Voldermort, is fashioned after Adolf Hitler, from his origins to political ideology.

While the bullying incident is supposed to help Harry reconcile with the imperfect image of his parents, this makes James (and his cabal, who assist him) deranged racists whose sudden turn against Voldermort’s ideology is baffling — especially since Rowling uses wizarding bloodlines as allegories for racial discrimination and Snape names himself the “half-blood Prince” for this reason.

This issue is rampant in the series. Dumbledore’s sexuality was announced by Rowling after the books were published and was seen as queer-baiting, especially considering how the Fantastic Beasts movies poorly represented queer identity. The only other LGBTQIA+ character, Gellert Grindelwald, sought social change but his methods are seen as villainous. Dumbledore, on the other hand, maintains a status quo and is touted pure of heart for it.

Hermione Granger, a favourite among the fans, is the brains behind the main trio and was announced as black after the movies and books were published — something Rowling claimed she had no control over, even though she strong-armed who could direct and star in her story.

While the racially ambiguous recast with Arabella Stanton was not going to be a surprise, considering the stage production casts a black Hermione, there is also the backlash that studios ignore when it comes to race-swapping roles.

John Boyega got the brunt of racist Star Wars fans when he took centre stage in the franchise. Tom Holland (Spiderman: No Way Home, Uncharted) made an awkward return to the West End when fans berated his black leading lady in the 2024 Romeo and Juliet production, which sparked a furore amongst critics as to why studios and A-list stars did not defend their black co-stars when cast in previously white roles.

While the trailer for the new series has the beautiful charm a magical TV show ought to have, one can only hope this new foray will be astute in how it portrays and punishes racism — especially as we move about a world where young kids are brandishing swastikas and calling for women’s freedoms to be limited.

Let’s hope Rowling and the HBO writing room are open to retelling this tale with its new viewer in mind.

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