!!!!

JANET McTEER AS McGONAGALL!!!!

Yes, yes, yes.

Here's the official HBO casting news for the new HP series.

I was initially skeptical about the black Snape, since so much is made in canon of the chracter's pasty, pale skin. But I'm seeing the value of this casting now: canon Snape is very much the outsider, persecuted (in his school days) by boys who are very much in the dominant group, popular and in control. I don't excuse Snape's choice to support an authoritarian Nazi, but I can understand why a kid marginalized and oppressed would find that sort of power attractive. Making Snape a member of a minority that is still persecuted and disdained in the UK does make sense.

The other cast members all seem fine, too. No word yet, it seems, on who will play the Trio.