SNL Turns Heated Rivalry into 'Heated Wizardry' at Hogwarts

Nbc reports Saturday Night Live returned for its first episode of 2026 on January 17 with host Finn Wolfhard and opened with "Heated Wizardry," a sketch that transposes the hockey romance Heated Rivalry into the Harry Potter universe.

The parody frames Harry and Ron as 18-year-olds in a passionate affair — asking "what if a million fan fictions came true" — and begins with a meet-cute in which Ron says, "You dropped your wand," and Harry replies, "I'd love to see yours sometime." The sketch includes hockey-like stretches before a Quidditch match, Harry taunting "Catch me if you can, Weasley," a moment in which his cape lifts to reveal a blurred behind, Severus Snape (James Austin Johnson) admiring the play and Minerva McGonagall (Ashley Padilla) saying she’s saving the image for later, with a trailer note that "they're all 18-plus in this. Hogwarts is like college now, just to make that clear."

Chloe Fineman plays Hermione, Tommy Brennan is Draco Malfoy, Kenan Thompson plays Mad-Eye Moody (whose whizzing orb keeps drifting into the locker-room action), Jason Momoa appears as Hagrid, and Jeremy Culhane turns up as a turned-on Dobby. SNL has parodied the Potterverse before — notably 2013's "Harry Potter Epilogue" with Daniel Radcliffe, Rachel Dratch's "Press Junket," and "Hermione Growth Spurt" with Lindsay Lohan — and airs Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c and next day on Peacock.

Key Topics

Culture, Saturday Night Live, Heated Wizardry, Heated Rivalry, Finn Wolfhard, Harry Potter