The magic of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series was kept alive this summer with the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The Cursed Child is a play that takes place 19 years after the title character, Harry Potter, and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry defeated the antagonist Lord Voldemort.
The play is currently being shown in London, England, at the Palace Theatre and premiered June 7. Those wanting to venture to London’s West End to see the play will have to wait until May 2017 because all of the tickets sold out in record time.
But as of July 30, Harry Potter fans could purchase the rehearsal script for the play written by Jack Thorne.
In the first 48 hours, The Cursed Child sold two million print copies in the United States and Canada.
The play follows Harry Potter’s son Albus and his best friend Scorpius, son of Draco Malfoy, on their quest to right a wrong that happened while their fathers attended Hogwarts. In order to do so, they have to obtain a magical device that allows them to travel back in time, but the characters stumble upon some road-blocks that interfere with their overall plan.
Alexis Bennett, a sophomore studying English, said she liked the fact The Cursed Child was released, but “as an English major,” she found the plot to be mundane.
“I didn’t like that it involved time travel because it is very cliché,” Bennett said. “It is an over-used trope.”
Bennett said she enjoyed the book as a fan of Harry Potter and that it brought readers “back into the immersion of Harry Potter.”
Even though tickets are sold out until 2017, Bennett said she would much rather see the play than read it.
Rowling, who came up with the new, original story for the play, started a movement to “keep the secrets” for those reading the script and watching the play. That is to prevent people from talking about the details of the stage-play and script.
Bennett said the movement is not going to stop people from spilling the specifics of the play.
“Once you publish something, it’s all out there,” Bennett said.
Bennett said she does not believe the Harry Potter Alliance will see a surge in membership due to The Cursed Child, but rather from an upcoming Harry Potter spin-off film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Fantastic Beasts was originally a fictional textbook from the Harry Potter universe that Harry Potter and his friends read at Hogwarts. Rowling compiled a real version of the book containing all the beasts in the wizarding world, which is now being adapted for film. Rowling also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming film that follows Newt Scamander, author of the Fantastic Beasts textbook Harry Potter read.
Megan Sweeney, a freshman studying wildlife and conservation biology, said the play “is very cliché.”
“By the time I finished, I was glad I read it,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said she signed up for the Harry Potter Alliance, but her interest in the club was not piqued by The Cursed Child and that she “really just likes Harry Potter.”
Meredith Charles, a freshman studying journalism, said the script went along with the other Harry Potter books “really well.”
“I had to get past the part that it was a play, but once I got past that, I thought it was good,” Charles said.
Charles said she would be more interested in joining Harry Potter Alliance because The Cursed Child “is a new, interesting thing to talk about.”
“I wouldn’t expect (new members) from the Cursed Child — I would expect it from Fantastic Beasts in November,” Bennett said.
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