Harry Potter stars then and now

Oh, look how he's grown! Daniel Radcliffe made every Harry Potter fan jealous when he won the part of the boy wizard in 2000 (left). Now (right), he's 19, a West End and Broadway star, and the world's highest-earning tween, but he still takes his washing round to his mum's Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA and Gareth Davies/Getty Images

My, how she's grown! Emma Watson made her acting debut in the first Harry Potter film in 2001 (left), playing the class swot Hermione Granger. In real life, her string of As and A* grades at GCSEs and A Levels has won her a place at the Ivy League Brown University Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA and Gareth Davies/Getty Images

And look how he's grown! Rupert Grint came up with a little rap about Potter sidekick Ron Weasley to clinch the part. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ron gets the girl and the mead Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA and Gareth Davies/Getty Images

He's really grown – Tom Felton was a chubby-cheeked imp as Harry's rival Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but in the new film, he's put on a growth spurt and even more angst than everybody else, and glowers at Potter (the 5' 5" Daniel Radcliffe) from his 6' 1" height Photograph: PR and Gareth Davies/Getty Images

My, how Dumbledore's … oh, never mind. When Richard Harris (left) died in 2002, the search was on for a new Hogwarts headmaster. Perhaps in honour of Harris, Michael Gambon (right) essays the part with a faint Irish accent, but with a tidier beard Photograph: PR

Dame Maggie Smith may have come to the Harry Potter films with two Oscars (for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite) in hand and fistfuls of other awards and plaudits, but to millions of children around the world, she will forever be Professor Minerva McGonagall. Here she is looking suitably timeless in 2000 (left) and 2009 (right), though someone has tidied up her hat Photograph: PR

Is he with Harry, or against him? Six films in and we're still none the wiser as to Severus Snape's true intentions. But one thing you can rely on is for Alan Rickman to look good in black, as evidenced in 2000 (left) and now (right) Photograph: PR