Netflix's Next Book Adaptation Is Facing A Big Challenge That HBO's Harry Potter Will Avoid

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Dominic McLaughlin smiling as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Published May 31, 2026, 6:01 PM EDT

Laura Hurley has been writing about the entertainment industry for more than twelve years, after a decade as a content producer and editor at CinemaBlend after writing for WhatCulture and Examiner. Attending events like SCAD TVfest and San Diego Comic-Con over the course of her career, she has been immersed in the world of network, streaming, and cable TV.

The rest of the 2026 TV schedule has some big classic book adaptations on the way, and Netflix will soon take viewers back to the 19th century with Little House on the Prairie. Not all adaptations are created equal, however, and the upcoming series is facing a challenge that HBO's Harry Potter show is likely to avoid.

Little House on the Prairie's source material isn't so straightforward when it comes to the ages of the characters, and Stranger Things famously faced the opposite kind of problem. The smash sci-fi hit took nearly a full decade to release five seasons. That meant actors like Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard in Stranger Things' season 5 cast were visibly older than their characters should have been.

Netflix's Little House on the Prairie reboot has plenty of source material from author Laura Ingalls Wilder to adapt, but the young cast for the first season makes it difficult to imagine Little House advancing to some of Wilder's best books later in the series. For Little House on the Prairie, actors looking too young rather than too old could be the issue for a full adaptation.

How Harry Potter Is Avoiding Book Adaptation Issue With Its Young Actors

The HBO adaptation of J.K. Rowling's series followed the example of the successful film franchise in one key way: the Harry Potter show's main cast are young kids who will grow up with their characters. Each book of the novel saga follows one year of young Harry's life. The timeline of seven seasons for seven successive books should be straightforward.

HBO's Harry Potter release schedule should allow the TV show more leeway than Little House as an adaptation. Fans of the movies saw Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint grow up with their characters over the years without huge time jumps. The situation seems to be similar for the TV show, if there aren't too many production complications.

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What spell is used to disarm an opponent, famously becoming Harry Potter’s signature move throughout the series?

AStupefy BExpelliarmus CProtego DPetrificus Totalus

✓ Correct! Expelliarmus is the Disarming Charm. Harry used it so often that it became his trademark spell — even using it in his final duel against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Expelliarmus. Stupefy is a Stunning Spell, Protego is a Shield Charm, and Petrificus Totalus is the Full Body-Bind Curse. Expelliarmus forces an opponent’s wand out of their hand.

In “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” Hagrid introduces his Care of Magical Creatures class to a proud hippogriff. What is the creature’s name?

AFang BNorbert CBuckbeak DAragog

✓ Correct! Buckbeak the hippogriff became a key part of the story when Draco Malfoy insulted him and got injured. Harry and Hermione later saved Buckbeak from execution using the Time-Turner.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Buckbeak. Fang is Hagrid’s boarhound, Norbert is his baby dragon from the first book, and Aragog is the giant Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest.

What potion allows the drinker to assume the physical appearance of another person, and plays a major role in “The Chamber of Secrets” and “The Goblet of Fire”?

APolyjuice Potion BFelix Felicis CVeritaserum DAmortentia

✓ Correct! Polyjuice Potion transforms the drinker into someone else for about an hour. Hermione brewed it in their second year to infiltrate the Slytherin common room, and Barty Crouch Jr. used it to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Polyjuice Potion. Felix Felicis is liquid luck, Veritaserum is a truth serum, and Amortentia is a powerful love potion. Polyjuice Potion is the one that changes your appearance.

How many Horcruxes did Lord Voldemort intentionally create to split his soul and achieve immortality?

AFive BSeven CFour DSix

✓ Correct! Voldemort intentionally created six Horcruxes: the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and Nagini. Harry became an accidental seventh Horcrux, making the total number of soul fragments seven — the most magically powerful number.

✗ Not quite! The answer is six. Voldemort deliberately created six Horcruxes: Tom Riddle’s diary, Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, and Nagini. Harry was an unintentional seventh piece.

How many points is the Golden Snitch worth when caught by a Seeker during a Quidditch match?

A50 points B150 points C100 points D200 points

✓ Correct! Catching the Golden Snitch awards 150 points and ends the match. This is why the Seeker position is so crucial — catching the Snitch almost always wins the game, though famously at the Quidditch World Cup, Viktor Krum caught it but Bulgaria still lost.

✗ Not quite! The answer is 150 points. The Golden Snitch is worth 150 points and also ends the match. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Krum caught the Snitch for Bulgaria but Ireland still won because they were more than 150 points ahead.

What form does Severus Snape’s Patronus take — revealing his lifelong love for Harry’s mother, Lily?

AA phoenix BA wolf CA doe DA stag

✓ Correct! Snape’s Patronus is a doe — the same as Lily Potter’s. When Dumbledore asked “After all this time?” Snape famously replied, “Always.” It’s one of the most emotional reveals in the entire series.

✗ Not quite! The answer is a doe. Snape’s Patronus matches Lily Potter’s because of his deep, enduring love for her. James Potter’s Patronus was a stag — the male counterpart. The doe is what led Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor in the frozen lake.

What magical object must you look into to see the Mirror of Erised’s true purpose — and what does it show the viewer?

ATheir deepest, most desperate desire BTheir future self at their most powerful CTheir greatest fear DTheir happiest memory

✓ Correct! The Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward) shows the deepest desire of whoever looks into it. Harry saw his parents, Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claimed he saw himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.

✗ Not quite! The answer is their deepest, most desperate desire. “Erised” is “desire” spelled backward. The inscription reads: “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” Dumbledore warned Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth, and men have wasted away before it.

The three Deathly Hallows are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and which third object that Harry himself possessed?

AThe Marauder’s Map BThe Sorting Hat CThe Pensieve DThe Cloak of Invisibility

✓ Correct! The Cloak of Invisibility was passed down through Harry’s family — he inherited it from his father, James. Unlike ordinary invisibility cloaks, this Hallow never fades or weakens, making it a true relic of Death from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”

✗ Not quite! The answer is the Cloak of Invisibility. Harry inherited it from his father on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. Together with the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, these three objects make up the Deathly Hallows from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”

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Admittedly, one HBO executive's comments about how long the Harry Potter series will take to produce do mean that viewers won't be getting one season each year. The kids who start the show around the same ages as their characters will be older than them by the time book 7, The Deathly Hallows, is adapted.

Other HBO shows haven't taken that approach, to their detriment. The otherwise excellent His Dark Materials adaptation of Philip Pullman's novels took long enough to complete that stars Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson were visibly older in the last season. The Last of Us side-stepped the issue by casting Bella Ramsey as Ellie. The star looked young enough to play 14-year-old Ellie in season 1, as well as post-time jump Ellie for season 2.

So, the lack of time jumps any longer than a few months in Harry Potter's source material means that viewers won't have to suspend their disbelief about characters suddenly looking much older, like what happened with Stranger Things, or not looking old enough, like what may happen for Little House on the Prairie.

Why Changes To Little House On The Prairie's Source Material Are Likely

Netflix's Little House on the Prairie (2026) main cast

Little House on the Prairie's cast seems pretty perfect for the first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's semi-autobiographical series. The actors don't all look like the characters as described on the page, but the trailer indicates that the cast for the Ingalls family will be a great unit. Alice Halsey, who delivered a standout performance opposite Brie Larson in Apple TV's Lessons in Chemistry, stars as young Laura, alongside Skywalker Hughes as Mary Ingalls.

Luke Bracey certainly has the aura of Charles Ingalls in ScreenRant's summer TV premiere, but Bracey isn't one of the actors whose age could present a problem moving forward. The same is true for Crosby Fitzgerald as Caroline Ingalls. The young actors, whose ages are perfect for Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie novel, aren't quite perfect for future books in the nine-part series. There are time jumps between books, which means that the show will either have to make big changes from the source material, or viewers will have to suspend their disbelief.

The original Little House TV show had no qualms about making big changes to the source material, so perhaps the Netflix project will also go in its own direction. The potential problem is that The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and arguably These Happy Golden Years are some of Wilder's best books, with some time jumps. Laura needs to be significantly older than Alice Halsey might look for those later books in the series.

It's hard to imagine that the show wouldn't tweak the ages of Laura and/or Almanzo, if he makes it into the show, from their real-life age difference. That could mean the show needing Laura on screen to be even older than the book version when those events play out in the show.

Still, previous Netflix adaptations of classic series do give reasons to be optimistic about Little House on the Prairie, no matter what changes have to be made. Anne with an E, starring Amybeth McNulty, was a great telling of the Anne of Green Gables books despite time jumps and changes to the source material. Since Little House on the Prairie is far more similar to Anne of Green Gables than Harry Potter, perhaps what worked for Anne with an E will work for Little House.

It's worth noting that Netflix has already renewed Little House on the Prairie for season 2, and even cast Laura's iconic nemesis from the books for the next chapter of the show. The future seems bright at this point, despite challenges ahead. The Netflix take on Laura Ingalls Wilder's most famous novel will premiere on July 9.