The biggest news item in Harry Potter literature is the new play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It’s safe to say that all Harry Potter fans are excited about this new addition to the Harry Potter series; after all, many of us have been wishing for another installment of the Harry Potter story ever since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released 8 years ago in 2007. We’re all anxiously awaiting the play’s debut in July 2016. Of course, with our anticipation comes countless questions. Here are 6 questions to consider.

 

  1. Who exactly is the “Cursed Child”?

Writers Jack Thorne, John Tiffany, and J.K. Rowling have revealed that the play focuses on Harry’s life after the seven part series. Rowling has especially stressed that IT IS NOT A PREQUEL. The artwork displays a boy with dark hair: is it Albus Potter? We’ll have to wait to find out exactly who the “Cursed Child” is until the play opens in 2016.

 

  1. What does the official artwork represent?

The official Harry Potter and the Cursed Child artwork shows a small boy in what seems to be a bird’s nest with black wings extending from the top. There are so many questions about this seemingly simple image. As mentioned above, who is the boy in the nest? What kind of wings are protruding from the nest? Since the nest is round and the wings are coming from the top, it almost has the appearance of a snitch. If it really is supposed to look like a snitch why is there a boy inside the snitch, and what does the sinister looking snitch mean?

 

  1. Which characters will appear in the play?

From the brief synopsis released by the writers, we know that the play centers on Harry and his son Albus, so the rest of the Potter family will presumably be in the play. Nonetheless, we wonder who else will make an appearance. Ron and Hermione are Harry’s best friends, and it seems wrong to imagine anything Harry Potter related without them, but we aren’t told explicitly that they will make an appearance. However, we are told that the play has 30 plus characters.

 

  1. Is Voldemort involved?

This obviously connects back to which characters will be included in the play, but Voldemort is more than a character. Since Voldemort is dead it isn’t likely that he will physically return as a character, but will some aspect of him return? A Death Eater perhaps? Or did a fragment of Voldemort’s soul somehow survive?

 

  1. How will Harry overcome the obstacle(s) in this story?

No matter what, Harry always overcame the obstacles in each Harry Potter book. He didn’t always overcome them the way we expected, and many tragic events occurred before he overcame each obstacle, but in the end the conflict was always resolved. However, there’s no telling how he will resolve the conflict in the Cursed Child. For one, we don’t know what the conflict will be other than what we are given in the brief synopsis released by the writers: “Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs” and “Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted.” Will Harry’s ability to love once again be the force that resolves the conflict?

 

  1. Will this be the final installment of the Harry Potter story?

Most fans believed the literature would end after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and we’re pretty ecstatic that we’re getting another episode of Harry’s life. However, many of us are probably wondering what will happen after Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Will this be the end of our beloved series or does J.K. have more up her sleeve? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

It’s difficult to contain our excitement about the idea of learning even more about Harry Potter, and the concept of bringing our beloved book series to the stage opens up new possibilities. Until Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opens, we’ll all probably be spending a lot of time on Pottermore in hopes that more of our questions are answered.

Comment below and include your thoughts and questions about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Also, don’t forget to tune in this Friday night (October 30th) for the second post in my Slytherin series!

 

Featured image credit to pottermore.com