Looking for the secret to “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”? (No spoilers here!)

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Nisha Shankar

All the Harry Potter books since the beginning are all lined up at the Barnes and Nobles in San Jose. Harry Potter themed board games and other toys are also underneath the display.

by Nisha Shankar, Reporter

Harry Potter fans impatiently waited for the release of the sequel to the series that supposedly ended on July 21, 2007.

The play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” by Jack Thorne, was released worldwide on July 31 and is based on a story by Thorne, John Tiffany and J.K. Rowling, the author of the previous seven Harry Potter books.

The Palace Theatre in London now plays the eighth Harry Potter story making it the first official story of the series played on stage. Also, Rowling did not write the book, another first.

“I’d love people to see it, it’s better seen than read- plays are like sheet music, meant to be sung and we’ve a cast and crew of pure Beyonce,” Jack Thorne, the author of the play, wrote on Twitter. “But I recognize not everyone will get that chance, so hope the script provides some substitute.”

Michael Auld (12), a Harry Potter fan, plans on reading the new book when he has the time. He grew up reading the series and cannot wait to jump back into Harry’s world.

“I think it is going to be kind of harder to adapt it as a play because [of] all the magicky stuff,” Michael said. “It works for movies because they have Computer-generated imagery (CGI) and stuff; with the play it starts to be harder. It will be sort of harder to read as a play as opposed to reading it as a book.”

Tia Barth, an Upper School English teacher and a big fan of the Harry Potter series, is eager to read the book and find out the difference between the new author, Thorne, and Rowling’s writing.

“Not only has [Rowling] created this magical world, but her language is just fun and she is clever, so we will have to see how the language matches up.”

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" is displayed here at Barnes and Nobles with other objects from the Harry Potter universe.
Nisha Shankar
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is displayed here at Barnes and Nobles with other objects from the Harry Potter universe.

Sana Aladin (12), another huge fan of the Harry Potter series, thought it would be easier to see the play than to read the script.

“[It is] definitely not like the typical Harry Potter writing,” Sana said. “I enjoyed it as a stand-alone experience, but as part of the rest of the series, it was OK. I think maybe it would be better to see the in play in person rather than just reading the script.”

Many fans still read the “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” book albeit different from the other Harry Potter books. The play sold two million copies worldwide in the first two days after release.

“However you engage with it, know that it was written by someone who loves and has always loved Harry Potter,” Thorne wrote on Twitter.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Aug 26, 2016.