Emma Watson will be off the road for now, but her return is already on the calendar. The 35-year-old actress, best known for playing Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” franchise, was handed a six-month driving ban. The ban followed after a speeding violation in Oxford, England.
According to NBC News, Watson was caught driving her blue Audi at 38 mph in a 30 mph zone at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on July 31, 2023.
Court Orders Fine & Ban, But Watson Remains Focused on Studies
(Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)BBC News reported that Watson did not attend the court hearing on Wednesday, July 16. Still, her solicitor, Mark Haslam, told the court that she is currently a student at the University of Oxford, where she’s pursuing a degree in creative writing. “She is in a position to pay the fine,” Haslam said.
According to The Daily Mail, Wanamaker’s attorney, Duncan Jones, told the court that she wasn’t seeking “special treatment” and fully accepted the penalty. During sentencing, District Judge Arvind Sharma added three more points to each of their records, which triggered automatic six-month driving disqualifications for both actors.
The court ordered Watson to pay a total of £1,044 (roughly $1,400) in fines and fees. She had already accumulated nine penalty points on her license before this latest violation.
Zoe Wanamaker, Another “Harry Potter” Alum, Faced A Similar Ban
(Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)In a separate but coincidental case, Watson’s “Harry Potter” co-star Zoe Wanamaker, who played Madam Hooch in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. According to a Daily Mail report published on 16th July, she was also recently issued a six-month driving ban. The 76-year-old actress was caught driving her blue Volvo at 46 mph in a 40 mph zone on the M4 near Newbury, Berkshire, on August 7, 2024. She, too, was fined £1,044 and did not attend her court hearing.
What’s Next For Emma Watson?
While Hermione Granger may have never played Quidditch, the Harry Potter star is proving she’s no stranger to athleticism. Now 35, Watson is fully leaning into her Oxford University experience.
Watson, who began pursuing a graduate degree at Oxford in 2023, was photographed competing in the university’s Summer Eights rowing regatta on the River Thames, according to photos published by The Daily Mail on May 31.
Wearing a white baseball cap, sunglasses, and a sleeveless collared tank, Watson took on the role of coxswain, steering the boat and leading her crew through the course.
Though she’s kept a lower profile in recent years, Watson made a rare public appearance just weeks earlier at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, her first time at the event since promoting “The Bling Ring” in 2013.
After wrapping eight “Harry Potter films over a decade, Watson shifted her focus away from acting. She enrolled at Brown University for a degree in English literature, and after a brief return to film in 2019’s “Little Women”, stepped back from the screen once again — this time, to return to student life at Oxford.
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Emma Watson Will Be Driving Again Before You Know It