If you’re a die-hard Harry Potter fan, you may have noticed an uncanny coincidence in last night’s Game of Thrones premiere.
Jim Broadbent, the actor who plays archmaester Ebrose in GoT, also plays Professor Slughorn in the Harry Potter movies.
And in both series he seems to be the overlord of secret and restricted books.
In the first episode of the seventh season of GoT, Samwell Tarly (the former steward of the Night’s Watch who’s now slumming it at The Citadel) is training to become a Maester, so he can learn about the White Walkers.
However, the only information about them is hidden in a restricted area in the library and Samwell Tarly has to ask archmaester Ebrose (played by Jim Broadbent) for permission to see it.
Funnily enough, Broadbent acted out pretty much in the same scene in Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. In a flashback scene, Tom Riddle (young Voldemort, played by Frank Dillane) asks Professor Slughorn permission to look in a restricted section of the library to learn about horcruxes.
Yep, they're both called the 'restricted section' and in both scenes Broadbent's characters are a little hesitant about giving Tarly and Riddle access to them.
And if you truly know your Hogwarts from your Westeros, you'll know this isn't the first time there's been a GoT/Potter crossover - there's a whole bunch of Harry Potter alums who have since starred in GoT.
What happened on Game Of Thrones last season? Post continues...
Natalia Tena played Tonks on Harry Potter and Osha on GoT, David Bradley played Argus Filch and Walder Frey, and Michelle Fairley played both Hermione's mum and Catelyn Stark.
Hopefully we'll see even more of this Harry Potter/GoT mash up.
Top Comments
The links outlined in this article are a clever pick up.
I really don't want to be a downer, but if you are going to report on series with such dedicated fandoms, it's imperative to do the proper research.
Tom Riddle sought answers from Slughorn because the books that explained horcruxes had been removed entirely from the library by Albus Dumbledore. The fact that Slughorn was the one to divulge the information left him with such overwhelming guilt. Slughorn went as far as altering his own memories to conceal that conversation with Riddle. This is one of the key plot points of the Half Blood Prince book and movie.
Once again, research is so important, because members of the fandom have such a strong connection with these storylines.
I'm a long time reader of Mama Mia, and for the most part love the content. Thank you :)