Harry Potter and the Cursed Child published this summer!

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Adam Lowe is an award-winning author, editor and publisher from Leeds, now based in Manchester. He runs Dog Horn Publishing and is Director and Writing Coordinator for Young Enigma, a writer development programme for LGBT young people. He sometimes performs as Beyonce Holes.

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According to The Rowling Library, it seems J.K. Rowling’s two-part play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts I & II, is going to be published in print and ebook editions.

Set 19 years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the story features an adult Harry working at the Ministry of Magic, and his young son Albus Severus James Potter. The synopsis is:

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son, Albus, must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.

The stage production caused some minor controversy when Laurence Olivier Award-winning black actor Noma Dumezweni was selected to play Hermione (although J.K. Rowling said her description of Hermione had been vague enough to allow this). Some fans, however, were thrilled – as was Emma Watson.

Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione 😘 https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015

Can't wait to see Noma Dumezweni as Hermione on stage this year. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #harrypotterandthecursedchild #2016
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) January 2, 2016

Fans, too, have long imagined Hermione was either black or mixed race (with her frizzy hair often seen as a coded way of referencing this). Fan art is one such way the idea has been explored (see some of the best fan art here).

The script is co-written with director John Tiffany (Once) and playright Jack Thorne (Let the Right One In), but it is considered canon by Rowling.

The book is expected to be released on 31 July, which is Harry Potter’s birthday, and the day following the play’s premiere at the Palace Theatre in London.