On February 10, an article was posted on the official Harry Potter tie-in website, Pottermore. This article, titled “Exciting publishing program from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World,” revealed something that immediately sent the Potter fans into a frenzy.
It has been known for some time that Rowling has been involved in the creation of a two- part stage version of a Harry Potter continuation called "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." However, there didn’t seem to be a large opportunity for fans around the world to view the show. While that’s still currently true, the announcement made on Wednesday was that the script for the play would be released as a book. The article makes it clear that there will be two editions of the book: the first will be the version of the script that was used for the play’s previews called the “Special Rehearsal Edition” and will later be replaced by the final version of the script called the “Definitive Collector’s Edition.”
Since the article’s posting, Rowling has clarified that it is the script that is being released, not a novel. In fact, the she isn’t even the person who wrote the script; Jack Thorne adapted it from a story that Rowling wrote. She also wants to make sure that people understand that the story is not a prequel or a sequel technically, but it does feature the main characters from the famous novels and films in a continuation (that I would call a sequel, but for some reason it isn’t actually).
Although the “Special Rehearsal Edition” will not be released until July 31 - which many may notice as the birthday of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter - the book has already topped bestseller charts for pre-orders which comes as no surprise since fans have been wanting more stories since the final novel came out. The book can be ordered online currently or you can wait until it’s official release in the hopes that a bookstore near you will be hosting a midnight release party. I will most likely be one of those people because I have never been to one of the release parties; I was going to go to the one for Deathly Hallows because I pre-ordered it, but I ended up being out of town.
Further announcements on the Pottermore article reveal that the “textbooks” from the Wizarding World - "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" - will be re-released in new formats and editions. This hopefully also means new content, because let’s be real, who wouldn’t want to hear more of the wizarding children’s fairytales?
Another possible interpretation of the new formats might mean that Fantastic Beasts, a guidebook about magical creatures, will be released as a novel following the 2016 release of the film that J.K. Rowling wrote based on the “textbook.” Only time will tell.
