8th Harry Potter Story to be Released

Harry Potter fans are rejoicing at the prospect of an 8th story in the series, although the latest installment isn’t actually a novel by J.K. Rowling.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

It has been announced that a theatrical production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is set to premiere in London on July 30, 2016. A day later, the script will be released in ebook and hardcover form.

The script was written by Jack Thorne, and is based on a story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne.

The script begins 19 years after the end of the original Harry Potter series, with Harry as a father of three children. Pottermore describes it in the following manner:

Readers and moviegoers last saw Harry waving off his children at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, in the epilogue to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child picks up after that moment and is staged in two parts, due to the ‘epic nature of the story’.

It will be available from Pottermore in ebook form, and as a hardcover edition by Scholastic in the U.S. There will first be a “Special Rehearsal Edition” which will be replaced later by a “Definitive Collector’s Edition” which will reflect any changes made after initial previews of the play.

Rumors of an 8th Harry Potter book have swirled for years, including a long-running version which started as an April Fool’s joke several years ago.

With Harry Potter and the Cursed Child being announced on Pottermore, it is confirmed that an official 8th story in the series will now be available. Pottermore adds, “It is officially the eighth story in Harry Potter canon and a new play by Jack Thorne.” While it isn’t a novel penned by Rowling, fans are likely to be delighted to see how the Harry Potter story progresses beyond the original seven books.