Calling me a Harry Potter fan would be an understatement. I know the trivia, hold strong opinions about the characters, have written fanfiction and made graphics. I wrote one of my college essays on how Harry Potter has impacted me, and even spent a decent portion of my MIT college interview talking about the series. I’m obsessed. So I must be ecstatic now that there is a so-called eighth book out, right?

Wrong.

I was never one of those fans that wanted a continuation of the series. I thought the series ended well where it was, and I accepted it when JK Rowling said that she was done writing about the Harry Potter universe for good after the seventh book. All was well. Then, two years later, she launched Pottermore. Seven years later, she suggested out of the blue that Ron and Hermione shouldn’t have been together after all and that Hermione should have married Harry. And nine years later, she is now debuting both a play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," and a movie, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." She just can’t let go.

I love JK Rowling and the amazing things she does. The world will forever be in her debt for introducing Harry to us. Some releases of new tidbits from the Harry Potter world are powerful and poignant, and I applaud those. But others seem pointless, drawing to mind an author trying to capitalize on a legacy that has run its course and should now be left to the fans' imaginations. For example, the Ron/Hermione revelation seems a bit off color coming from someone whom I usually respect. Romione is a ship that has been canon for years, and seven years after the last book she decided to bring the controversy up again. What was the point? The only thing that established was to get people to argue over relationship dynamics in Harry Potter, which brought in a flood of media attention.

(Side note: this is also disappointing universe-wise because Harry and Hermione were an example of a strong male character and strong female character being friends without things turning romantic. The series showed that a female main character can be smart and powerful without being branded as The Hero’s Love Interest, and the new revelation takes that poignant message away.)

Pottermore, which gave context to the canon, made the nerd in me ecstatic. I am excited about the "Fantastic Beasts" movie: it’s a different era, and it brought with it insight on the North American equivalent of Hogwarts. The Marauders hold a special place in my heart, so if there’s a prequel, sign me up. But an ‘eighth book’? No, thank you. I liked the fact that the next generation was open-ended. In the nine years since the epilogue, most fans have established their own sort of ‘fanon’. Accepting of the fact that it was now up to them to decide what would happen with Harry, they constructed their own ideas of the post-war world. To come years later and say, "No, this is supposed to happen and you have to accept that as canon" is too little, too late.

When I first heard of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," I was in denial about this so-called JKR-approved ‘eighth book’ and wasn’t planning on reading it. It didn’t help that I read the spoilers beforehand and was less than impressed with the plot. But I read it anyway, because how can a Potterhead turn down Harry Potter?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m glad that I read it. But as I’ve told some of my friends, some parts of it read like bad fanfiction.

The plot is shaky at best and unbelievable (even for a magical premise) at worst. There are quite a few plotholes and inconsistencies. To avoid major spoilers, I won’t comment on some of the glaring problems with the overall plot. (Let’s just say we now know the answer to this tweet.) But I’ll talk about a relatively minor detail: Albus’s inability to get his broomstick to obey him. Isn’t it odd that he’s never used a broomstick before, given how much his parents like Quidditch and how accessible broomsticks are to wizarding children? Maybe, one could argue, Albus doesn’t like flying — but if that were the case, he still would have had enough experience to get a broom to jump up upon command. The only way the broomstick wouldn’t obey him is if he was refusing to do the lesson on purpose, but that doesn’t seem to be the case since he desperately says ‘Up!’ multiple times when instructed.

As for characterization? At times, Harry is completely out of character — the kind of out of character reminiscent of Dumbledore in the fourth movie. Hermione sometimes seems off, too. (This article details some, but not all, of the problems with her portrayal.) And don’t get me started on Ron: he was just the comic relief scapegoat, with no substance given to his character; I cringed. Some parts of the play are so far off from established canon that it is hard, or sometimes impossible, to accept all of it as canon.

Now, you might say: who are you to say what’s canon? You’re just a fan. The author is the creator, and s/he has the sole right to declare what’s canon.

I disagree.

Author John Green likes to say that “books belong to the reader.” In his essay "The Death of the Author," critic Roland Barthes’s writes, “It is language which speaks, not the writer.” These are true, to an extent. While writers obviously own the works that they create, books do belong to the reader as well. Readers give writing power. Writers may put words on paper, but they come to life in the minds of the readers, sometimes even take a life of their own. For example, the Harry Potter series has spawned a dedicated fandom that takes inspiration from the books to create new things and make a difference in the world. In some ways, it has now grown even past JKR’s jurisdiction.

This is a strange fact to reconcile since I am a writer myself. It seems to contradict writers’ ideals. Freedom of speech! Ownership! Lack of censorship! Writers should not have to write just to cater to a specific audience. They should not have to feel obligated to write something, or not write something, depending on the reactions of their readers.

That is true. But my complaint isn’t about something that Rowling has written. It is not me disagreeing with something written in her book and refusing to accept it as canon. This is extracurricular, written nine years after the fact: a retraction, almost. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t even written by JK Rowling herself. Two others (Jack Thorne and John Tiffany) had collaborated with her on the story; Thorne wrote the script and Rowling merely approved it. And at this point, I am more inclined to treat it as glorified fanfiction, instead of as canon.

This is not to say that it was not a good read. The writers took a plot I was skeptical of and somehow made it work, which is a type of magic common in the Harry Potter universe. But that kind of magic, making a wild premise work in a story, is also common to Harry Potter fanfiction.

So do read the script. There were parts that I loved. (Spoilers ahead.) I appreciated the fact that Hermione is Minister for Magic and that she kept her last name. I adored Scorpius, and his dynamic with Albus. The character development was phenomenal. And I gather that, since it’s a play, the script is better seen live, with the dynamic and power of the actors on stage, so we should not judge the script too harshly. If you are lucky enough to see the play, please tell me all about it, because I am curious.

I enjoyed reading "Cursed Child." But that was partially because I came in with low expectations. Part of me can’t help but think that by trying to squeeze things out of something that was already wonderful, JK Rowling is unwittingly spoiling her once-pristine legacy. "Cursed Child" is one possibility in a next-generation era that is open to interpretation. Please don’t shove it down our throats as canon. Harry Potter is magical and sacred to me; I don’t want to watch that magic seep away.