The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Anyone who has been lucky enough to visit “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” knows just how magical and spectacular it really is to walk up the cobblestone path to Hogwarts and stop inside Hogsmeade for a warm pint of butterbeer. While some of us have only been able to dream about this magical experience up until now, visiting the world of Harry Potter has just gotten a little easier!
As of April 9, 2016, a second “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” location has officially been open to the public at Universal Studios Hollywood. Every last detail and design has been masterfully crafted to bring fans of the franchise the ultimate Hogwarts wizarding experience. Fans can now explore the magical world they know and love from every angle, acting as their own directors as they take a tour of this fantasy brought to life. Not only are there two Harry Potter theme parks for fans to immerse themselves in now, but the magical content that started it all has not ceased to exist either!
Even though the seventh book in this spectacular series was released nearly nine years ago and the second Deathly Hallows film came out in 2011, JK Rowling and her team of wizarding experts have not left fans to mourn the end of this childhood world of wizardry for long. As of October 23, 2015, the Harry Potter team announced the upcoming release of a new book to the Harry Potter series!
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
That’s right. It’s time to break out the chocolate frogs and pumpkin juice to settle in for a new installment to this beloved series. Immediately following the events of the epilogue at the end of the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is set to be both a book and a two-part play that focuses on Harry’s current life working for the Ministry of Magic, as well as his son, Albus’, own struggle with the family legacy. Though she collaborated on the script, Rowling herself did not write this extension of the series, but she does consider it to be part of the canon events following the previous seven books.
As someone who has been following the tale of “The Boy Who Lived” since the beginning, the news of this new addition to the story brought on some mixed feelings. At first, I was ecstatic to learn that I no longer had to rock back and forth in my Hogwarts Snuggie while hugging the entire collection of books and films to my chest while wondering why such a beautiful world had to come to an end. It also means, that we will finally have our many questions answered about how the Golden Trio really turned out after their time at Hogwarts and learn more about what lies in store for the Potter and Weasley children. We all remember reading the last line, “all was well.” But can anything every truly be just well for Harry Potter?
Will this sequel meet the expectations of Harry Potter fans around the globe? Is it possible that this new story might underwhelm its audience and cause the franchise to fall into the category of “overdone”? I truly hope not.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Of course, as any true Harry Potter fan is already aware, a trailer was released on December 15, 2015 announcing the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In this continuation of the wizarding world, we are thrown 70 years back in time to follow the story of Newt Scamander—author of the Hogwart’s textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them—as he faces a battle between Muggles and the secret world of witches and wizards in 1920s New York. This addition to the series is Rowling’s screenwriting debut, and is meant to be its own collection of films separate from the storyline of the Harry Potter series.
When I first heard about this new film, I was thrilled! More screen time for my favorite series of all time in addition to some background on the wizarding world itself? Sign me up! I was, however, a little bit skeptical. Is Rowling selling out? While there is a slim chance this could be true, I’m going to give Rowling the benefit of the doubt. After all, she did singlehandedly turn an entire generation of Muggles into witches and wizards. The change in overall setting of the story and the focus on a new character, though unfamiliar, is greatly appealing as it means everyone in love with the wizarding world will gain some insight as to what the students at Hogwarts were really learning about. The story will also, hopefully, provide some background on the history of the wizarding world, the relationship between Muggles and wizards and how the story we all know so well truly came to be.
So, books, movies, plays and theme parks. What does all of this really mean? Each of these additions breathes life into a new generation of fans, forming connections between people across the world and allowing the world of Harry Potter to live on. Should we be worried that this new content won’t match up to the stories we know so well, or that somehow the continuation of a story we had all believed to be over will result in the death of one of the most memorable stories of our childhood? Probably not. The depth and detail Rowling has included in her previous novels and Harry Potter-related works have proven to be enough to influence millions of people’s lives and create a community of people dedicated to a fictional world. This, by the way, is entirely supported by the fact that I write this as I sit here, at 20 years old, drinking out of a Harry Potter mug. If that isn’t promising, I don’t know what is.
For those of us who have been there since the beginning, I think it’s important to remember one very important quote from Albus Dumbledore. “Of course it’s happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?”
Me too, Harry, me too.