Attention Harry Potter
fans. This is not a drill. A new Harry Potter book will be published this
summer. The book, called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II
picks up the story of Harry, Ron and Hermione where the epilogue left off,
according to author J.K. Rowling's website Pottermore. As you no doubt vividly remember,
the series' final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, closes on a scene
that takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts and Voldemort's
downfall. The postscript brings the epic story full-circle, depicting the
beloved characters standing on Platform Nine and Three Quarters with their
families. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione wave nostalgic goodbyes as their
children board the Hogwarts Express and head to wizarding school.
The book ends with a
reference to the series' most famous symbol: "The scar had not pained
Harry for nineteen years. All was well." "It was always difficult being
Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of
the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
"While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs,
his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he
never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the
uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places."
The book will comprise
the script of a play by the same name that's opening in London this summer. The
play, which Pottermore bills as "officially the eighth story in Harry
Potter canon," is a new tale by Rowling, playwright Jack Thorne and
theater director John Tiffany. The publisher Little Brown says the book will
be released on July 31, after the play's official premiere, which is set for
July 30. For a generation of readers, Wednesday's book announcement recalls
feverish anticipation, endless speculation and early-morning campouts in
bookstore parking lots, waiting to snag a copy of the newest Harry Potter
installment. This time around, digital editions of the Cursed Child will be
published simultaneously with print copies, so parking lot stakeouts will be
unnecessary. For avid fans, who — like Harry and Co. — are now adults, that's
probably just fine. It means more energy for the anticipation and speculation.
