:::: One Part FANDOM RETROSPECTIVE, One Part ANALYSIS ::::
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play that premiered in London, 2016. It was met with praise by theatergoers and disdain, even hatred, by those who read the script. Today, there is a...
Despite JKR telling us that the play was #NotAPrequel, we continued to speculate. Until late October, that is. A detailed plot description was provided on Pottermore.
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This is definitely not a prequel, my friends. That age-old question of "What Happened Next" will be answered! We're picking up right where the epilogue of the last book left off, 19 Years Later. And all was not so well, it seems...
An overworked Harry at the Ministry. A past that refuses to stay where it belongs, fusing ominously with the present. A son who is struggling. Hmm...and unexpected darkness...
Okay, I'm hooked.
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In addition to getting the plot, we were blessed with our first image. Ooh! A Golden Snitch? And the center of the Snitch is made to look like a nest with a child inside. Is that Albus, Harry's son? It can't be Harry, no glasses. It's clear that tons of thought went into this. And they love teasing and enticing us with frustratingly mysterious tidbits. So what does this mean??
Initial thoughts circulated on how the Golden Snitch played a significant role in the last book, when Scrimgeour administered Dumbledore's will:
"'To Harry James Potter,'" he read, and Harry's insides contracted with a sudden excitement, "'I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.'"
We know that the Snitch was holding the Resurrection Stone. Does that child in the nest have something to do with resurrection? If the past is refusing to stay where it belongs, it's telling me that You Know Who...could be coming back...
We also know that a phrase, written in Dumbledore's handwriting, was stamped on that famously winged ball.
I open at the close
If this play is meant to follow up the final book, then it makes sense that Dumbledore's final words to Harry could have a lasting impact. And if this is the true "close" of the series, then we are going back to the "opening" as well. Or, at least, we should be. Something tells me this play is going to have that classic multi-layered style we have associated with the books!
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The hype was so real, and there was no way this could be anything but perfect. Tickets for the initial sixteen-week run, premiering on July 30th, went on sale at the end of the month. They sold out, as expected. Over 175,000 tickets in just eight hours. Ticket resale agencies were selling seats for up to £3,000, and the booking was extended more than once to accommodate the demand.
For the fans, this seemed to be an answer to all our prayers. And JKR's description of the "epic nature" of the production was making it even more brutal that this was being reserved for Londoners. No matter what squabbles could have separated the fanbase in the past, Potterheads felt pretty united in our desire to see this play.
We could all gratefully say that Harry Potter was resurrected. And we were The Fandom That Lived!
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