Filming for Harry Potter Season 2 will begin this fall, but Nicholas Hoult will no longer be playing Gilderoy Lockhart. The show's first season, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, will adapt the novel of the same name and will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on December 25, 2026. Season 2 of the show was first confirmed in May, and while Nicholas Hoult was earlier cast as Gilderoy Lockhart, the character had to be recast due to scheduling issues. Since Hoult won't be able to find the time to play the character, Game of Thrones' Kit Harington has been cast as Lockhart. Harry Potter Season 2 will star Game of Thrones star Kit Harington as Gilderoy Lockhart instead of Nicholas Hoult Anyone who has read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets knows how interesting the character of Gilderoy Lockhart is. Both in the novel and the film, Lockhart is a celebrity wizard in the wizarding world and becomes the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher during Harry's second year at Hogwarts. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostHe is known for writing several popular books about his supposed magical victories against dark creatures and evil forces. Moreover, he is also a character who is extremely proud of his good looks and cares deeply about his hair and smile. He also receives fan mail and sends back charming replies.A few days back, news broke that Nicholas Hoult would be playing Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter Season 2. However, Hoult is also filming for CoComelon: The Movie and Man of Tomorrow. As Deadline reports, Hoult couldn't be available for filming when the scenes including Gilderoy Lockhart are scheduled to be filmed. Thus, he had to leave the project.Luckily, when the show reached out to Kit Harington for the role, he accepted happily. Interestingly, this isn't Harington's first time playing the character. He has also voiced Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, which was released in 2025. Back then, in an Audible featurette, Harington spoke about playing Lockhart, saying, “I think there’s a little bit of Gilderoy in all of us,” He also talked about how big of a fan he was of the books and thus knows the story well. We will now get to see him play the character in live-action. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostLockhart is an extremely important character in both the second book and film. In the 2002 film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart was played by Kenneth Branagh. The character is extremely boastful of his supposed achievements, but they soon turn out to be fake. Towards the end of Chamber of Secrets, it is revealed that in reality, he is a fraud and a coward. When Harry and Ron realized what he had done, he tried to wipe Harry's and Ron's memories using the Memory Charm, he used Ron's broken wand. The spell backfired and wiped his own memory completely. Lockhart spent the rest of his life at St. Mungo's, where he still received fan mail. So far, only Lockhart is the only new character that has been cast for Season 2. More casting news is expected to be released soon. Filming for Season 2 will begin this fall. Harry Potter will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on December 25, 2026. For more articles like this, follow Soapcentral.