Yesterday, "Harry Potter" fans across the world cheered when it was announced that J.K. Rowling would release the script for the play she co-wrote, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," in book form. Many fans took the news to mean that there would indeed be an eighth Potter book. Early this morning, Rowling clarified that the manuscript for the play is not an eighth novel.
"To be clear!" Rowling wrote on Twitter. "The SCRIPT of #CursedChild is being published. #NotANovel #NotAPrequel"
Ever since the news of the "Cursed Child" play was announced, Rowling has said that it is not a sequel or a prequel, according to Entertainment Weekly. The plot for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child reads: "It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. 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 script was co-written by Rowling and playwright Jack Thorne, and will be broken up into two separate parts "due to the epic nature of the story," according to Pottermore.
"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" will debut on London's West End this summer, and Scholastic will release the script in book form July 31, which is Harry Potter and Rowling's birthdays.
