Anyone who has balanced a job with a social life will, at some point, have phoned the boss at 9.05am and croaked through a beery fug: ‘I’m not sure I’ll make it in today. I’ve come down with a cold.’ It’s a game: no one believes it, but both sides must go through the charade of pretending they do.

Actor Nicholas Hoult appears to have taken a similar approach to his work. As soon as he was cast as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of HBO’s Harry Potter, trans activists began hounding him for joining JK Rowling’s franchise. Thirteen days after the announcement, Hoult pulled out. The official explanation given this week was ‘scheduling conflicts’.

Other cast members have found a way to condemn Rowling without suffering the financial inconvenience of leaving her franchise. Bel Powley, who plays Petunia Dursley, has made it clear she ‘strongly disagrees’ with the Harry Potter creator; Nick Frost, cast as Hagrid, says their views ‘don’t align in any way, shape or form’; and Paapa Essiedu, the new Snape, has promised he would sign an open letter supporting trans activists. John Lithgow, who plays Dumbledore, finds Rowling’s position ‘ironic and somewhat inexplicable’. None, however, finds it objectionable enough to hand back the cheque, unlike Hoult.

Hoult perhaps faced additional pressure. His sexually ambiguous turn as Tony Stonem in Skins earned him a clique of obsessive, self-identified ‘queer’ fans, and news of his casting as Lockhart sent the trans press into mourning. Less than a fortnight of wailing later, his diary had mysteriously filled up.

PinkNews blubbed that LGBTQ+ fans had been left ‘disappointed’. Not to be outdone, Them magazine howled that Hoult had burned ‘queer goodwill’, adding: ‘The flags in the film community are flying at half-mast today.’ Meanwhile, the fan account @houltdaily announced that it was suspending posts, admonishing him: ‘Nicholas Hoult, do better; so many of your fans are hurt.’

But attempting to negotiate with trans activists is not only foolish – it is futile. Predictably, Hoult’s retreat has done nothing to appease the obsessive Rowling-haters. An article in today’s Metro observes that ‘unfortunately for Hoult, his willingness to participate has been enough for fans to write him off as someone who does not stand with the LGBTQ+ community’. It then helpfully explains: ‘For many trans people and allies, joining the franchise is seen as an endorsement of, or at least ambivalence towards, Rowling’s views.’ These views, the paper says, include ‘misgendering’ the boxer Imane Khelif by accurately describing him as male and refusing to agree that ‘trans girls are girls’.

In a paragraph that has since been amended, Metro even accused Rowling of having ‘engaged in Holocaust denial’. It has now issued an apology.

That desperate smear was clearly intended to make Rowling untouchable. Whether frothing in comment sections, wailing on social media or writing for mainstream newspapers, trans activists continue to treat a philanthropist and principled women’s rights campaigner as if she were Voldemort. She is apparently so evil that even a passing association with the stories she created can leave an actor bearing the Dark Mark. They may lack proportion, but to be fair, these barmy bullies have staying power.

Rowling has spent years swatting away abuse, threats and attempted professional ostracism without bending to the mob. She has put her reputation and her own money behind her convictions because someone had to. Yet actors profiting from the world she created cannot go without denouncing her, issuing disclaimers or developing a sudden diary clash. These pissants risk nothing beyond looking ridiculous when future historians ask what the hell happened in the 2020s when people pretended men could have babies?

Nicholas Hoult may have surrendered the role of Gilderoy Lockhart, but he has already demonstrated a fine understanding of the character. In fleeing at the first sign of trouble, he proved he was perfectly cast as the vainglorious coward after all.