Hogwarts has found its new swaggering showman, and he is trading Jon Snow’s brooding stare for Gilderoy Lockhart’s golden smile. Nicholas Hoult was originally set to play the vain Defence Against the Dark Arts professor in Season 2 of HBO’s Harry Potter, but scheduling clashes, including Superman commitments, opened the door for Kit Harington.

While other cast members reportedly approached the much-debated reboot with plenty to consider, Kit Harington found his Hogwarts invitation easy, with no Sorting Hat drama required.

Kit Harington did not need a Marauder’s Map to find his way to Hogwarts; his connection to Harry Potter was already deeply personal. Speaking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Game of Thrones star revealed that Stephen Fry’s audiobooks have become his nightly ritual. After all, when Hogwarts is your bedtime companion, accepting a ticket back to the wizarding world seems rather fitting.

“And then I got called to be in it, and that was just a very simple, ‘Yes, please!’,” he said.

The decision was even more natural because Kit Harington had already stepped into Gilderoy Lockhart’s robes vocally, serving as the character’s voice in Audible’s Harry Potter audiobooks.  The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor had therefore already heard the Jon Snow star’s voice before getting his face. Moving from audio Lockhart to television Lockhart seems less like a leap and more like a particularly well-timed wardrobe change.

On Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Kit Harington also praised HBO’s plan to explore the Harry Potter books more thoroughly than the films could. While the reboot arrives with plenty of expectations attached, the Jon Snow actor apparently spared himself the usual casting angst and even cleared the air about the importance of the show.

Some actors deliberate; Kit Harington simply heard “Hogwarts” and supplied the only sensible answer.

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Season 2 of Harry Potter will have the ever-enthusiastic Kit Harington on board, but Hogwarts is welcoming plenty of other new faces, too.

Kit Harington is hardly the only fresh face heading into Hogwarts. Rafe Spall joins as Arthur Weasley, while Lenny Rush brings his BAFTA-winning talents to Dobby. Intriguingly, Spall is the son of Timothy Spall, who played Peter Pettigrew in the original films. Together, they add some serious acting pedigree to the magical mix.

The younger ranks are getting their own reinforcements, with Billy Barratt playing young Tom Riddle, Bonnie Hill taking over as Ginny Weasley, Molly Hewitt-Richards haunting the girls’ bathroom as Moaning Myrtle, and Jasper Ambrose joining as camera-happy Colin Creevey. With Kit Harington leading the fresh faces with zero hesitance, Harry Potter Season 2 is clearly bringing plenty of new magic to Hogwarts.

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What do you think of Kit Harington's willingness to star as Gilderoy Lockhart? Let us know in the comments!