Harry Potter cast and Wizarding World pays tribute to Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith, who starred as Minerva McGonagall in seven of the eight Harry Potter movies, died on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, according to a statement from Smith's family, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens. She was 89 years old.

With an acting career spanning seven decades, Smith is beloved by Harry Potter, film, and TV fans. Smith played one of the first characters fans meet in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and she, along with the late Richard Harris, who played Albus Dumbledore, and late Robbie Coltrane, who played Rubeus Hagrid, set the tone for the film series.

It's also been pointed out that Smith died one year to the day after Michael Gambon, who played Albus Dumbledore final six Harry Potter movies.

Those who worked on the Harry Potter movies, including Daniel Radcliffe, with Smith paid tribute to the actress on Friday.

Daniel Radcliffe shared a short story about the first time he met Smith in his statement to the press, according to Variety.

"The first time I met Maggie Smith I was 9 years old and we were reading through scenes for ‘David Copperfield,’ which was my first job. I knew virtually nothing about her other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her. The other thing I knew about her was that she was a Dame, so the first thing I asked her when we met was ‘would you like me to call you Dame?’ at which she laughed and said something to the effect of ‘don’t be ridiculous!’ I remember feeling nervous to meet her and then her putting me immediately at ease. "

Radcliffe shared the screen with Smith throughout seven of the Harry Potter movies. Smith didn't star in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, in which Radcliffe's Harry Potter was out hunting horcruxes around the English countryside with Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) while Smith's character, Minerva McGonagall, was trying to hold down the fort at Hogwarts following the death of Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Bonnie Wright, who starred as Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, shared a tribute to Smith on Instagram. She mentioned her favorite scene with Smith was "when we were all learning to dance for the Yule Ball."

Speaking of Grint, he hadn't released a statement by the time of publishing, but Grint's Instagram profile changed to a picture of Smith kissing him on the cheek.

Devon Murray, who played fellow Gryffindor Seamus Finnigan, who was the roommate of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, called Smith "the most intimidating person" he'd ever met in his statement on Instagram.

Chris Rankin, who played Percy Weasley in the movies, said he was "truly lucky to share a film set" with Smith.

More Gryffindors chimed in on their Instagram stories, including Afshan Azad and Anna Shaffer.

J.K. Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books, also paid tribute to Smith on Twitter.

The official Harry Potter Instagram account also shared a message after Smith's passing.

We'll continue to update this story as more of the Harry Potter cast and creative team pay tribute to Smith.

As always, you can watch all eight Harry Potter movies on MAX right now.