Harry Potter fans only just realising sad connection between three actors in the films

For many people around the globe, the beloved Harry Potter film franchise has long-since been their go-to when it comes to some proper comfort telly.

And one of the best parts about the Wizarding World of Hogwarts are the characters who made it the absolutely iconic film franchise it is today.

However, there's a pretty sad connection between three actors in the movies and it's leaving Harry Potter fans totally torn up after only just clocking it.

Now, die-hard HP fans will no doubt be able to list off the entire cast in their sleep.

And while viewers probably know a whole pub trivia quiz worth of facts about each character - some don't know as much about the celebs who played them, especially the relationships they had with one another.

We were all introduced to the extremely eccentric Divination teacher, Sybill Trelawney, back in 2004 in the third Harry Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban.

Played by Nanny McPhee star, Emma Thompson, her character was described as a 'hippy chick professor who teaches fortune-telling'.

Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney. (Warner Bros.)

A few years prior to that, we met the villainous famous author and temporary Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, Gilderoy Lockhart, played by Kenneth Branagh in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).

And years later in 2011, Bellatrix Lestrange, played by Helena Bonham Carter, made her first appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

Now, there is actually a link between all three stars and it's not very nice.

Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart. (Warner Bros.)

Emma was married to Kenneth in real life between 1989 and 1995, but the actor embarked on an affair with fellow actress Helena after she played his love interest in the 1994 horror-romance, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

The pair remained together for five more years after that but eventually parted ways in 1999.

A Harry Potter Instagram fan account recently posted about the love triangle, prompting many fellow fans to share their reaction to the news of Kenneth's infidelity.

Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. (Warner Bros.)

One Instagram user penned: "This is so heartbreaking."

"Wait, whhhaaaatttt??!!" hit out a second while a third piped up: "What? in real life tooooo?"

A fourth chimed in: "No way….for real?"

"I am shoooook...WHAT," quipped a fifth.

Another echoed: "Awh I just researched that and it turns out to be true. I didn't know..."

And a final Instagram user added: "This makes the scene in Love Actually hit even harder."