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Julie Walters cancer battle: Fans miss Molly Weasley at Harry Potter reunion

Julie Walters had revealed in 2020 that she wanted to give up acting as she believed the stress of it 'caused her cancer'

Fans waited impatiently until the Harry Potter reunion special 'Return to Hogwarts' finally started streaming on HBO Max. However, while we got a sneak peek into our favorite Wizarding World after all these years, plenty of familiar faces were absent.

Some of the cast members who have died are Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy), and John Hurt (Mr Ollivander), among others; but there were some who simply did not take part. One such member that fans greatly missed is Julie Walters, who played the role of Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter saga. 

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While it is unclear why Walters did not return, what we do know so far is that the Golden Globe-winning star, 71, had revealed in 2020 that she wanted to give up acting as she believed the stress of it 'caused her cancer'. Walters was diagnosed with stage-three bowel cancer while filming 'The Secret Garden' in Yorkshire in 2018.

Back in 2020, the actress had revealed that finding out she was unwell came as a 'huge relief' because it meant she could finally stop working. Speaking to The Times' Saturday Review, Birmingham-born Walters had said, "Part of me was going, "Oh my God! I've got cancer! Oh my God!" And I'm dealing with the shock of that, and it's all systems go to have it treated. But there was also an element of going, "I don't have to do any more work. I can actually get off this treadmill." Because I had been working really hard and it seemed like a big excuse not to do anything. Cancer trumps everything. So there was a huge relief in it, which is strange. But I needed something to stop me."

Fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment at the Weasley family matriarch being missing from the reunion. "Where the f** is Maggie Smith? Emma Thompson? Julie Walters? WHERE ARE THE DAMES?!" one user wrote. "As I am very excited for the Harry Potter reunion, it also saddens me that Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall) and Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) won't be part of it," wrote another.

"The Weasleys aka the best family in Harry Potter! Sad Julie walters aka Molly Weasley wasn’t in the reunion. She was the heart of the Weasley family!" one user commented, while another said, "If I had one bad things to say about it: I would've loved to have Julie Walters and Maggie Smith talk about their experiences. And I would've also loved to hear from the legendary Imelda Staunton on how she felt portraying the most hated character." "I was really sad that Julie Walters wasn't in this special. She was kinda of the "glue" that held the Weasley family together," one user said.

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