Wands at the ready Potterheads — here's a bit of Friday evening news that's sure to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. Following hot on the heels of John Lithgow's casting as Professor Albus Dumbledore in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series, it looks like the network giant may have just found two more acting heavyweights prepared to board the Hogwarts Express and take up post at fiction's most famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. According to Deadline, Oscar nominee and Kaos star Janet McTeer is in talks to play Professor Minerva McGonagall in HBO's ambitious new show, while The Lazarus Project's Paapa Essiedu — long rumoured to be on the Wizarding World casting wishlist — is reportedly close to closing a deal to play Potions Master and actual Half-Blood Prince Professor Severus Snape.

Originally portrayed by the late, great Dame Maggie Smith and the also sorely missed Alan Rickman respectively,...