Who Is Playing Dobby, Tom Riddle, Ginny, and Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets?

Who is playing Dobby, Tom Riddle, and Ginny in HBO’s Harry Potter series is the question burning up social media as fans eagerly debate the latest casting rumors and top fan choices for the second season. With Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets set to introduce some of the franchise’s most crucial story arcs, fan casting discussions have blown up online.

Among the top contenders making waves across social media are Bonnie Hill as Ginny Weasley, Billy Barratt as the dark, charismatic Tom Riddle, and Lenny Rush bringing everyone’s favorite house-elf, Dobby, to life. But who are these rising actors, and do they have what it takes to bring these beloved roles to the screen?

Who Is Playing Dobby, Tom Riddle, and Ginny in HBO’s Harry Potter Series?

Three new characters will be introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Dobby, Tom Riddle, and Ginny. The schedule of the Harry Potter episodes is out, and you can check it out from here: Harry Potter Series Episode Airing Schedule.

1. Kit Harington as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart

• About the Actor: Globally renowned for playing Jon Snow in HBO’s Game of Thrones, Kit Harington is an Emmy-nominated star whose credits include Marvel’s Eternals, Modern Love, Gunpowder, and Industry. Taking over the role of Lockhart after stepping in for Nicholas Hoult, Harington brings massive star power to the Hogwarts faculty. Notably, Harington already showcased his comedic flair for the wizarding world when he voiced Lockhart for the Audible full-cast audiobooks.
• How Lockhart is Described in the Books: In The Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart is described as famously handsome with wavy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and flashing, perfectly white teeth. He is deeply vain, obsessed with his own fame, and wears robes in vivid shades of peacock blue and forget-me-not. Beneath his charming celebrity persona and endless claims of heroic exploits lies a self-absorbed fraud who relies on Memory Charms to steal other wizards’ accomplishments.
• Why He Is a Great Fit: After years of playing stoic, brooding heroes like Jon Snow, seeing Harington lean into pure, unadulterated comedic vanity is a brilliant casting stroke. He possesses the heartthrob looks required to believably make Hogwarts students and witches swoon, combined with the sharp acting chops to play Lockhart’s hilariously fragile ego and eventual unmasking as a coward.

2. Bonnie Hill as Ginny Weasley

• About the Actress: Bonnie Hill is a promising young British talent who has been building her resume with appearances in high-profile projects, including Tyler Perry’s historical drama The Six Triple Eight on Netflix and the TV series Film Club.
• How Ginny is Described in the Books: J.K. Rowling describes Ginny as a petite, fierce girl with bright brown eyes and the signature fiery red Weasley hair. In The Chamber of Secrets, she is only 11 years old, shy, overwhelmed by starting Hogwarts, and secretly harboring a massive crush on Harry. Crucially, as the story progresses, she grows pale, drawn, and intensely anxious as Tom Riddle’s diary slowly consumes her mind and forces her to open the Chamber.
• Why She Is a Great Fit: Playing Ginny in Season 2 requires immense emotional versatility. A younger actor needs to balance initial childhood innocence with a heavy, haunting vulnerability as the diary manipulates her. Hill has the soft-spoken charm required for early Ginny, as well as the screen presence to capture the tragic isolation of a young girl haunted by Voldemort’s lingering memory.

3. Billy Barratt as Tom Marvolo Riddle (Tom Riddle)

• About the Actor: Born in London, Billy Barratt made television history at just 13 years old when he became the youngest-ever winner of an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his harrowing performance in the BBC film Responsible Child. Since then, he has built a massive filmography starring in sci-fi series like Apple TV’s Invasion, major features like Kraven the Hunter, Crater, and Bring Her Back.
• How Tom Riddle is Described in the Books: In the novels, the 16-year-old Tom Riddle is described as exceptionally handsome and tall, with dark hair and jet-black eyes. He is polished, highly articulate, polite, and effortlessly charming, a star pupil who manipulated teachers and students alike while secretly masking a cold, calculating psychopath beneath his aristocratic exterior.
• Why He Is a Great Fit: Tom Riddle is arguably one of the most difficult roles to cast because the actor must pull off magnetic charm and chilling malice in the exact same breath. Barratt has proven in intense psychological dramas that he can handle deeply complex, dark material with mature poise. He possesses both the handsome “star student” look and the quiet intensity needed to pull off Riddle’s villain monologues in the Chamber of Secrets.

4. Lenny Rush as Dobby the House-Elf

• About the Actor: Lenny Rush is a BAFTA-winning British actor celebrated for his brilliant comedic timing and heartfelt screen presence. He won the BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance for his role in Am I Being Unreasonable? and has starred as Morris Gibbons in Doctor Who, as well as featured roles in BBC’s Dodger and Apple TV’s Slow Horses.
• How Dobby is Described in the Books: Dobby is depicted as a tiny creature, standing around three feet tall, with giant, bat-like ears and tennis-ball-sized green eyes. He speaks in a high-pitched, desperate voice, wears a filthy, discarded pillowcase, and constantly punishes himself (banging his head against walls or ironing his hands) out of ingrained house-elf guilt whenever he speaks ill of his masters, the Malfoys.
• Why He Is a Great Fit: Dobby cannot just be a CGI effect; he requires an actor who can provide deep emotional grounding, warmth, and physical comedy. Rush is a master of blending tragicomedy, making audiences laugh one second and feel heartbroken the next. Whether providing voice-over or full physical performance, Rush’s natural ability to bring sincerity, chaos, and endearment to his roles makes him the ideal choice to help viewers fall in love with Dobby all over again.

Character & Performance Breakdown

Character	Book Description	Key Actor Trait Needed	Why This Choice Works
Gilderoy Lockhart	Handsome, blonde, vain, obsessed with fame, secretly a fraud.	Charm, self-absorbed comedic timing	Kit Harington flips his heroic image to deliver a brilliantly pompous performance.
Ginny Weasley	Small, fiery-haired, quiet, visibly haunted by the diary.	Emotional vulnerability & dramatic range	Bonnie Hill can convey both first-year innocence and intense distress.
Tom Riddle	Handsome, polite, highly intelligent, secretly sociopathic.	Intense presence & dark charisma	Billy Barratt is an Emmy-winning dramatic powerhouse built for complex roles.
Dobby	3-foot-tall elf, bat ears, chaotic, fiercely loyal to Harry.	Physical comedy & emotional warmth	Lenny Rush excels at blending laugh-out-loud humor with genuine heart.

Conclusion

This powerhouse trio of Bonnie Hill, Billy Barratt, and Lenny Rush brings an exceptional blend of award-winning talent, dramatic depth, and comedic timing to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

From Barratt’s proven skill in handling complex, intense character roles to Rush’s masterclass in heartfelt physical performances, this casting lineup sets the stage for a darker, more emotionally grounded adaptation of the second book that both lifelong Potterheads and new viewers would eagerly tune in to. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone teaser was recently released, and we saw 9 things that are new and also different in the new movie.