So, before we jump in, warning here: MAJOR HARRY POTTER SPOILERS. IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, SKIP THIS POST.
I know, I know. Harry Potter and the Death Hallows came out in 2007, and the last movie came out in 2011. But there are still people reading the books or watching the movies for the first time, and they might not want to be spoiled.
Another caveat: This is just my opinion. If you are completely excited about The Cursed Child, that's awesome. I just have a lot of thoughts on it, and I'm putting them out there.
Okay, let's do this. Brace yourself -- this is going to be a long one.
If you know me, you know what a huge Harry Potter fan I am. My mom read me the first book when I was six/seven, and I have loved it ever since. I've been to movie and book premieres and dressed up, I went to Wizarding World a few years ago and almost cried having breakfast in the Three Broomsticks. I have written thousands upon thousands of words of HP fanfiction. I own a replica of Hermione's wand. I still have multiple HP posters on my walls, and I still buy shirts. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out that J.K. Rowling was writing something new, something about Harry.
I eagerly read all the news about it, all her tweets and comments. I was so excited that she was writing something new. Everyone assumed it was going to be about Harry pre-Hogwarts, and I was no different. I was hoping for some magic adventures, turning teachers' wigs blue... all that good stuff from the first book that is mentioned, but never seen.
Then she announced the plot line.
And I'll admit, I was kind of devastated.
If you haven't read the summary of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, you can do so here. At first, I was just kind of in shock. I thought J.K. Rowling would never tell another story about Harry's children; I thought she would leave it with "All was well," but I guess I was wrong. After I read the summary a few times, I began to slowly feel disappointment, and then more and more my feelings veered toward being upset.
I just finished a reread of the whole series, and when I reread it, something in me changed. Before, I was dying for just one more story, something about Albus and Lily and James. But when I finished rereading Deathly Hallows, when I wiped my tears and looked at the page, at those words, I realized I was satisfied. I loved "All was well." I loved that she ended the story that way, with those three simple words.
But not anymore.
Now, all of a sudden, everything is not well. Something happens that changes that beautiful peace Harry has spent his entire life trying to achieve. Something, as it seems, that comes from within his own family. That's just not fair. Harry has lived with abusive relatives, been tortured, possessed, dealt with chronic pain from his scar, struggled with PTSD from watching the deaths of people he loved, and was even killed himself. But finally, at the age of seventeen, he ended all of that. And nineteen years later, he had a beautiful family, peace reigned in the Wizarding World, and his scar had stopped hurting. All was truly well, until apparently a few months or possibly years later.
I don't know exactly when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place, but it can't be too long after Deathly Hallows. So what happened to "All was well"? What happened to change that? If my interpretation of the summary of the new story is correct, then Albus is the Cursed Child, the surprising place darkness comes from.
Really? The child of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley? The child of the boy who was brutally tortured and tormented, and who remained kind, the boy who sacrificed his own life so that the people he loved could live. The child of the girl who went to the Yule Ball with Neville because it was the kind thing to do, who stood by Harry even when it was breaking her heart, and who was one of the three facing down Bellatrix in the final battle. This child of these two wonderful people has darkness in him? This is something I can't even begin to understand. This is the same child who was afraid of being in Slytherin. What could possibly happen to turn this precious child toward darkness?
And that's where another problem comes into the light. I may never know what happens to Albus, because this story isn't being released as a book, or as a movie. No, it's being released as a play in London, with expensive tickets and a limited run. The eighth Harry Potter story is being released to a certain group of people: those who can afford to pay for it.
I don't like that the eighth Harry Potter story is only available to those who can afford tickets/travel. One of the reasons Harry Potter is so important is because it was a story that reached millions all across the world. There's no way I would be able to afford to travel to London, buy tickets for parts 1 and 2 of the show, and I don't know a single person who can afford that. I don't understand why J.K. doesn't understand why this is a problem for people.
Yes, I do understand that these are J.K.'s characters, and this is her world. As a writer, I totally understand this. But at the same time, the stories have been over for years. I'm not saying I've moved on, or grown out of Harry Potter. I'm not saying I'm boycotting The Cursed Child, or that I'm not curious or excited at all. Because I am very curious, and it is more Harry Potter. What I am saying is that I find the plot to be problematic, because it undoes the ending of the original stories. I find the way the story is being put out there to be problematic, because only a limited number of people will get to experience it first hand.
I'm still Harry's girl, through and through. Always will be. But this story doesn't seem to fit in with the Harry I've known and loved since I was six years old. And that, to me, is problematic.
