Reader eagerly awaits for new Harry Potter novel, hopes for new magic

Nine years after author J.K. Rowling released the final Harry Potter book, the wizarding world is set to return this summer. To be published on Rowling’s birthday, July 31, the “new book” is not exactly a book at all. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will be a two part play set 19 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The play was written by Jack Thorne and based on a story by Rowling, Thorne and director John Tiffany. The play will hit the stage on July 30 and has sold out shows already. The two acts are to be transcribed and printed in the form of a book.

The play will follow both Potter and his struggle to overcome his past as well as his youngest son, Albus, as he attempts to uphold his family’s legacy.

In an age of mini books like “The Tales of Beedle and Bard” and Harry related titles hitting the big screen like “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” so-called “Potterheads” are feeling euphoric in the face of another summer of Potter. It has been almost ten years without a new book release, but Potter fans have embraced the slew of new concepts that have been thrown at them. Things like Pottermore, and Rowling’s interactive website full of wizarding world lore and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a theme park built around the franchise, have kept the fan base growing. This growth is predicted to translate into record sales when “Cursed Child” finally hits the shelves this summer.

Some fans, however, are wary of the play. After years away from the world, will this new plot prove disappointing? Rowling’s work after the series, including “The Casual Vacancy” and works under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, have been a far cry from her roots in children’s literature and some speculate the “magic” behind Harry Potter might be spent.

As for me, I just hope this story does not pit father against son, much like another rebooted popular franchise … looking at you Star Wars. The book’s synopsis advertises that “darkness comes from unexpected places,” leaving me desperately hoping that this does not become some twisted story about a “has been” and his deluded son. That is exactly what I DO NOT want to read. Like every other fan, what I’m hoping to get instead is a another piece of the magic that captivated me in my youth. Only time will tell which story we will get.

The book will be published by Little, Brown in the United Kingdom and Scholastic in the United States, after midnight on July 31.