Here’s How Much Everyone is Freaking Out about the New Harry Potter Book

It’s not actually a book. It’s a play. But whatever, it’s Harry Potter.

Fans queue to receive a copy of the book of the play of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child parts One and Two at a bookstore in London, Britain.Neil Hall/Reuters via ZUMA Press

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


When I was a preteen I was so obsessed with Harry Potter novels that I spent New Year’s Eve on a Harry Potter message board. In fact, that’s what I did for most of my winter break: my family wasn’t the vacationing type and I was too young to really go out, so for countless hours I stared at my computer talking to other HP fans. (This was back when message boards were still a thing and avatars mostly consisted of cribbed celebrity photos.)

My obsession eventually died out, but going to see the last Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” in 2011 was still a bittersweet affair for a 20-year-old. It felt like both a farewell to a drawn-out childhood passion and the beginning of accepting the reality that there would no longer be any more Harry Potter books or movies to look forward to. I was, finally, an adult.

But now Harry Potter is back. Kind of.

Earlier this summer, a new play featuring a middle-aged Harry Potter, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” previewed in London to rave reviews. On July 31—coincidentally Harry Potter’s and J.K. Rowling’s birthday—the script was released as a book, just like in the good old days, at midnight with hundreds of fans flocking to bookstores to get their hands on the first copies. The script, written by Jack Thorne and based on a story by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and director John Tiffany, has garnered praise from some critics and mixed reviews from others, but it’s also led to a collective spewing of joy, tears and fervor over the latest Harry Potter adventure.

See some of the best reactions below.

J.K. Rowling saddened a number of fans when she announced at the play’s premiere that Harry Potter is “done now.” But at the very least, a new movie based off a book in the Harry Potter universe, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” opens in November.

And will I be rushing out to get the new script? Not yet. But still knowing there’s a chance to revisit the series has given me a chance to time travel, back to my adolescent days of commiserating with other Harry Potter fans on message boards.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate