Kit Harington Joins HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ as Gilderoy Lockhart, Replacing Nicholas Hoult

Variety reports that Harington has officially taken over the role of Lockhart for Season 2 of HBO's adaptation.

Hoult had been announced for the part earlier in August, but his involvement proved remarkably short-lived. The actor subsequently left because of scheduling conflicts.

TheWrap reports that shifting production schedules caused conflicts with Hoult's other projects, leading HBO to release him from the role.

That leaves Harington stepping into one of the most entertaining adult roles introduced in Chamber of Secrets.

Lockhart arrives at Hogwarts with a mountain of bestselling books, an enormous celebrity reputation and enough confidence to fill the Great Hall.

Unfortunately, his ability to actually teach Defence Against the Dark Arts is another matter entirely.

Here's where the casting becomes much more interesting than simply replacing one famous British actor with another.

Harington recently voiced Gilderoy Lockhart in Audible's full-cast Harry Potter audiobooks, including Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

So HBO isn't handing the character to somebody encountering Lockhart for the first time.

Harington has already spent time figuring him out.

While discussing the audiobook role with Variety last year, the actor described himself as a Harry Potter fan and talked enthusiastically about playing the flamboyant professor. Variety notes that Harington had also expressed interest in appearing in the television adaptation.

Less than a year later, that's exactly what's happened.

The difference, of course, is that this time he'll need considerably more than the voice.

There's another bit of symmetry here.

For millions of viewers, Harington remains inseparable from HBO.

He spent eight seasons playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, becoming one of the central faces of one of the biggest television series of its era.

Now he's returning to the network for another enormous fantasy property — albeit as a character about as far removed from Jon Snow as it's possible to imagine.

Jon spent most of his time reluctantly carrying responsibilities he never particularly wanted.

Lockhart would probably commission a commemorative portrait of himself for successfully making breakfast.

That's exactly why Harington could be such an entertaining choice.

Harington won't be part of the show's adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Gilderoy Lockhart enters the story during Chamber of Secrets, which HBO is adapting for Season 2. The series has already been renewed for that second season.

Lockhart becomes Hogwarts' latest Defence Against the Dark Arts professor after building a celebrity career around books recounting his supposedly extraordinary encounters with dangerous magical creatures.

He's handsome, famous, adored by much of the wizarding world and utterly convinced of his own brilliance.

Harry gradually discovers that the truth behind those heroic stories is considerably less impressive.

Kenneth Branagh played the role with glorious vanity in the 2002 movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Harington now gets the unenviable — but potentially very funny — job of creating his own version.

Recasting characters as familiar as these carries an obvious risk.

The original Harry Potter films have been watched so many times that it's difficult to separate certain characters from the actors who played them.

Lockhart is one of them.

Branagh's performance turned every smile, hair flick and completely undeserved boast into part of the joke.

Trying to reproduce that performance would be pointless.

The encouraging thing about Harington is that his audiobook experience means he's already had an opportunity to develop his own interpretation before stepping onto the HBO set.

And the television format should give him something Branagh never had: time.

An entire season adapting Chamber of Secrets could allow the new series to spend considerably longer with Lockhart's celebrity status, his books, his classes and Harry's growing suspicion that the professor isn't quite the heroic wizard he claims to be.

Harington joins an increasingly substantial ensemble being assembled for HBO's new version of the Wizarding World.

The central trio is led by Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.

The adult cast includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore and Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, among a growing list of familiar names taking over characters audiences have known on screen for decades.

That inevitably means comparisons to the movies will follow every casting announcement.

Harington's Lockhart will be no exception.

There's something wonderfully strange about watching the actors we associate with one generation of fantasy television begin turning up in another.

But Harington as Lockhart isn't interesting simply because HBO has hired the bloke who played Jon Snow.

It's interesting because it's such a dramatic gear change.

Lockhart requires vanity, charm, insecurity and comedy hidden underneath an absurdly polished public persona. Harington's audiobook performance means this isn't simply theoretical casting either — he's already had a crack at the character.

Nicholas Hoult leaving so quickly after his casting announcement could have left HBO scrambling for a replacement.

Instead, they've landed on somebody who already knows Lockhart.

Now we just need to see the hair.

And if HBO gets that magnificent golden mane right, Hogwarts may have found its next five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award.