Did anyone truly believe that J.K. Rowling was done with Harry Potter seven years ago when she finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? We all didn’t, especially the Potter loyalists.

And now we can all say, “See, I knew it!”

A new Harry Potter book is here, and though it is the “official” eight Harry Potter book, it isn’t really a novel like the last seven. The story does provide a sense of continuity as it starts 19 years after the end of The Deathly Hallows, featuring the original characters as grownups sending their own children off to magic school.

It is the book version of the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a play that opened in London last weekend and was written by playwright Jack Thorne.

Yes, Ms Rowling isn’t the writer of the script everyone is rushing to buy or has bought, but her name appears first, obviously, and it is the script that is “based on an original story by Ms Rowling, Mr Thorne and the director of the play, John Tiffany”.

But don’t let this disappoint you as so far the reviews of the story are as great as any Potter book’s always are, and the two-part play is a hit, as is its book version.

The book was released the world over on July 31, which is Harry Potter’s birthday, with midnight releases in many countries seeing scores of kids of all ages dressed up in cloaks and hats like their favourite HP series characters, lining up to get their copy. Many must have stayed up all night to read the book and find out what more happened in the magical world of Harry Potter.

But would all the readers be as pleased with this book as they were with the last ones? Reactions and reviews abound in cyberspace, mostly positive. We will not recount those here, I believe in reading a much loved and awaited book myself so as not to come across the spoilers and spoil my fun, and I will not spoil the fun for you guys too.

But I am sceptical, because this time I’ll be reading a play script — something I hated in school — and not a novel. The magic of the series was in Rowling’s storytelling as much as in the stories themselves. But here is a script, comprising simple dialogues, devoid of the emotions of the speaker or the narratives that create the atmosphere in any story, and bland stage commands. The magical stage effects that have made the play a hit are also not possible in a play script. So are we going to find ourselves easily transported in the magical world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.

So I am actually in two minds about reading it because I don’t want to be disappointed when comparing it with the other books, rather novels. I want to keep loving the magic of this world of wizards and witches.

All you need to know about the new book

The premiere of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a London-based play, and a book based on the play’s script has got HP fans excited again. Their favourite series is back, they think. But they are wrong because author J.K. Rowling clearly says that she is done with Harry!

Yes, that’s what she told reporters recently when asked if fans could expect a new set of stories. “No. No. (Harry) goes on a very big journey during these two plays and then, yeah, I think we’re done. This is the next generation, you know. So, I’m thrilled to see it realised so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now.”

She also added, “(The play) chimed perfectly with the material I had about the next generation and I could see it would work perfectly. So, I never wanted to write another novel, but this will give the fans something special.”

We, we want to give you something special on the book, too, so here are some things that you would want to know till you get your hands on the book. But don’t worry, there are no spoilers about the story.

The story

The play picks up 18 years after the last novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007), with Harry now being 37 years old, and a father of three. The story is about the next generation, the kids of the main and minor characters of the HP books, with the focus being on Harry’s teenage son, Albus, and others going to Hogwarts. The story progresses to tell how they handle the pressures their parents’ legacy and of life in Hogwarts.

The characters

Harry Potter: Head of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic.

Hermione: She is now the Minister of Magic.

Ron: He runs his brothers’ joke shop.

Albus Potter: Son of Harry and Ginny, namesake of the late Dumbledore.

Scorpius Malfoy: Son of Draco, Albus’ best friend and possible arch-nemesis to Albus.

Delphi Diggory: The niece of Amos Diggery, who lost his son Cedric during The Goblet of Fire.

Bane the Centaur: The head of the centaurs, a.k.a. half-men/half-horses, who run the Forbidden Forest at the edge of Hogwarts.

Ludo Bagman: The charismatic emcee of the Tri-Wizard tournament.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 06th, 2016