Harry Potter fans rejoice — we are returning to Hogwarts!
J.K. Rowling recently announced that another Harry Potter book — entitled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — is in the works, set for release on July 31, 2016. This new romp through the halls of Hogwarts will unfold in two parts, taking place shortly after the ending of the Deathly Hollows. The story will take place with both couplings of Harry and Ginny, along with Ron and Hermoine, married with children of their own, preparing to send their kids off to their magical alma mater for the school semester.
Of course, Harry Potter fans all over the world lost their minds on Twitter when hearing the news.
It’s official. Harry Potter is coming back to your lives, #Potterheads! 8th book this July! https://t.co/fZxuW1sfCK pic.twitter.com/3OokLbhww5
— MTV Asia (@mtvasia) February 11, 2016
Another reason to be excited for July. Released on Harry Potter’s birthday too! Eek #harrypotternerd #Potterhead pic.twitter.com/ymnKlJicOx
— Emma Bottomley (@SmemzIt) February 11, 2016
After the initial shock and jubilation, questions surrounding the plot of the book started to arise.
Ms. Rawlings killed off the ultimate bad guy Lord Voldemort; and most of his Deatheaters at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Also, many fan favorites sacrificed their lives at the end of the book in order to insure that the side of good prevailed over evil. How can she make a new series work when she ended the previous one so succinctly?
With little knowledge about the book, fans took to social media calling it a prequel to the original Potter series. Ms. Rawlings rebutted by enlighten them on her Twitter page. She empathically and irrevocably stated time and time again – that it is not a prequel and is staged after the deathly hollows book and involves the children of our heroes.
The eighth Harry Potter Story. Nineteen years later. Read it on July 31st! #CursedChild #HPScriptBook pic.twitter.com/4FNi2tltfI
— Scholastic (@Scholastic) February 10, 2016
The script will be in book form, true, but it’s still #NotAPrequel because it’s set #19YearsLater https://t.co/befLyX4Mp2
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 11, 2016
After spending what felt like eons moaning the death of the Harry Potter series; it’s like getting a second chance with love. Harry is back, and this time I am not going to rush through the romance — but will savor every last second of it. I have already started by preordering the book like so many others.
I have preordered my copy of #HarryPotterandtheCursedChild… I have never been more excited!!! @chaptersindigo @jk_rowling
— Emily (@Shadowfly_) February 11, 2016
After pressing the submit order button, it finally dawned on me: she only announced one new book, albeit a two-parter. It’s still not a series of new adventures or even a standard trilogy. I can feel the withdrawal symptoms come on already.