LONDON — Gracie Cochrane will not return as Ginny Weasley for Season 2 of HBO's 'Harry Potter' series, and the role will be recast ahead of production this fall. The recasting comes as Season 1 has wrapped production and the inaugural season prepares to premiere at Christmas 2026.

Cochrane and her family said in a joint statement: "Due to unforeseen circumstances Gracie has made the challenging decision to step away from her role as Ginny Weasley in the HBO 'Harry Potter' series after Season 1." An HBO spokesperson addressed the departure in a separate statement. "We support Gracie Cochrane and her family's decision not to return for the next season of HBO's Harry Potter series, and we are grateful for her work on season one of the show. We wish Gracie and her family the best," the spokesperson said.

No replacement actor for the role has been announced. Season 2 is in pre-production at Leavesden Studios outside London and will be based on the novel The Chamber of Secrets, in which Ginny Weasley opens a secret chamber in Hogwarts castle, releasing a basilisk that attacks students while under the influence of Tom Riddle's enchanted diary.

The character appears only briefly in the first J.K. Rowling novel because she is not yet old enough to attend Hogwarts. Ginny Weasley becomes a central figure in the second book and later serves as Harry Potter's primary love interest. Bonnie Wright played the role in all eight films of the original movie franchise.

The HBO series selected its child actors from tens of thousands of submissions. Dominic McLaughlin plays Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton has been cast as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout has been cast as Ron Weasley. The wider cast includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall.