While J.K. Rowling’s original seven-book series left fans wanting more, she always seemed insistent that it was going to end. Despite this she decided to adapt an original script into the eighth installment of her Harry Potter franchise.
The play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is currently being performed at the Palace Theatre in London. The original play was written by J.K. Rowlings, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany and it is set about 20 years after the event of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” (the seventh book) and while the book is titled “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” it instead focuses on Albus Potter Harry’s son.
The book explores Harry’s life outside of Hogwarts and digs deep into his everyday life, including his job at the Auror department. ( Law enforcement) and family(wife Ginny Potter, formerly Ginny Weasley  and his three kids James Sirius Potter,Albus Severus Potter,Lily Luna Potter ). The focal point of this play is his relationship with the main character, his son. How his son views him, not just as a person but as a heroic figure that everyone looks up to, is a huge burden on Harry.
Fans believe that this play doesn›t fit in with the other books  “It’s just extremely different from the first seven books. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t originally written by J.K. Rowlings, her writing style is very unique so it would be nearly impossible to imitate it.” junior Rachel Berman said.
Since it wasn’t originally written by Rowling But by the two other playwrights some Harry Potter purists have been critical.They believe that it is too  different to be considered a real Harry Potter book. “Since I’m a fan of the first seven Harry Potter books it was a no brainier for me to get this one too. I started reading it and it wasn’t too bad but as I got further into the book I had to stop reading it because I really didn’t like it at all. The plot was forgettable,too,” junior Ben Burger said.
Despite a similar reaction across the board from a large number of loyal fans, the play itself still received a good amount of praise from the literary community. It averaged about a 3.7-3.8 out of 5 respectively according to Barnes and Noble and Goodreads.com.
Another group of people liked the book.“It is different from the first seven books. That’s what makes it so unique. Yeah, it’s a continuation, but it’s clearly on its own in the sense that it is written in a completely different way as well as the fact that this story isn’t all about Harry,” junior Myah Owens said.
In the first 48 hours in the U.S. and Canada two million copies were sold, and four million total U.S. and Canadian copies were sold.

Sam Greene

Sports Editor