Emma Watson and Mark Williams Emotionally Reflect on Reuniting for 20th-Anniversary Special

It’s been about two weeks since Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts aired, and we’re still recovering from the mass dehydration after crying so much. For Potter fans, it was an incredibly emotional hour and 45 minutes to see these actors reunite and reminisce on the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. However, as emotional as it was for us as viewers, it must have been much more so for the cast and crew members, many of whom probably haven’t seen each other since they wrapped the last film. While the Internet has been a great place for us to share our own thoughts on the special, it’d be nice to hear from the cast. Thankfully, both Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) recently sat down for interviews in which their feelings on the reunion were eagerly extracted by journalists.

On January 4, Williams appeared on BBC Morning Live to discuss his return for the ninth season of Father Brown. The hosts asked about how he felt reuniting with his costars, to which he expressed his joy:

It was great! [Of] course, they’ve all grown up now, so you’ve got this amazing thing of meeting grown-up children with no responsibility. They’re all fantastic, and there was lots of catching up, and so it really was lovely to have a reunion. It’s a great luxury in our business. It doesn’t happen very often or if at all.

Just like his role as the patriarch of the Weasley family, it feels like Williams has a fatherly pride in reuniting with his former on-screen children. It was wonderful to see the former Weasleys meet on the Burrow set again and feel the familial affection they had toward each other.

And finally, earlier this week, we got to hear from a member of the golden trio. Vogue managed an interview with Emma, wherein they discussed the reunion in-depth and the various revelations we learned from it.

Emma described returning to the set as “heaven.” She went on to praise the production designer for the Wizarding World films, Stuart Craig, calling him a genius and describing his work on the Harry Potter films as “perfect.”

For the most part, it was pretty easy to tell that the reunion was emotional for Daniel, Emma, and Rupert. At one point, the trio sat together in the Gryffindor common room to share tears and laughter, reminiscing about their time growing up on the set. For Emma, it was an “emotional” and “intimate” meeting, and she was grateful someone was there to mediate it.

It was emotional and also intense to have such an intimate moment so closely watched. Mostly, I was just so happy to have a mediator who could ask us these questions and get to be part of seeing how differently – and similarly – we had processed things. I love that we remembered different things.

Eventually, the interview landed on a beautiful one-on-one between Emma and Rupert, in which Rupert expressed his admiration for her, reaffirming that the two were family.

Emma confirmed that that moment was the most emotional of the reunion mostly due to Rupert’s unexpected vulnerability.

That was the most emotional moment for me. When Rupert says things, he really means them. I was taken aback by how vulnerable and kind he was deciding to be so publicly. Similarly for Dan, it really touched me how reflective he had been over the years about how different it had been for me as a girl.

Finally, the interview verified if the three still are in contact. Emma confirmed that, although they are not in a group chat, they text individually. Rupert sends photos of his daughter, Wednesday, while Daniel and Emma “try and calm each other’s nerves.” Though they don’t converse all the time, it’s nice to know that they act and communicate like siblings.

What was your favorite moment of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts? Were you happy with the special? Let us know in the comments.