Like Cuarón before him, Newell was offered a chance to direct the next Potter flick — in his case, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — but he declined; wrapping one film while prepping another, he says, ''isn't possible.'' Up-and-coming British helmer David Yates and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg have been tapped to adapt, and over the summer, Radcliffe, Watson, and Rupert Grint decided to return. ''I'm out of school now. Got nothing else better to do,'' quips Grint, 17. Watson — known for being the one who deliberates the most carefully about returning — says working with the performance-driven Newell (he put all the kids through weeks of improv boot camp with an acting coach) recharged her batteries. ''[He] really made me remember why I love acting in the first place,'' she says. ''Leaving this all behind would be very difficult.''