Fans Review ‘Harry Potter Cursed Child’: Not Canon
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is out and fans are not too happy, refusing to accept the eighth installment to the franchise as canon.
The whole wizarding community is bewitched this week for two reasons: the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play is out and about, with more tickets to get released to the public; and the release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book, which is the full script of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part One and Part Two play.
Today, fans flocked to bookstores to celebrate the launch of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book, the biggest event in the wizarding community since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as Pottermore reports.
“At Waterstones Piccadilly, Potter fans appeared in droves (and robes) to welcome the eighth story, the script book of stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two.”
“The atmosphere was more highly charged than a Blast-Ended Skrewt, and by 10pm there were around 500 of us snaking down Piccadilly in an orderly queue. I saw more than a few cloaks and even a few Death Eaters joined the party – which ended at one minute past midnight, when the script book went on sale.”
“First in line outside the bookstore was Ginevra Lazzoni (Ginny to her friends, of course) from Italy, who had been standing in line for six hours.”
But despite the love and the hype the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has bestowed on the whole community, a lot of fans are left disappointed after browsing through the entirety of the script, refusing to accept Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as canon.
the cursed child isnt canon. it does not exist to me at all. harry potters story ended in the deathly hallows
— gillian (@hopevanfine) July 31, 2016
Also NOT CANON: the SATC films and the third Bridget Jones book.
— Charlotte (@charlotterach) July 31, 2016
I refuse to consider Cursed child canon #itwasawful #feellikeventing #whywhy
— come what klaine (@Najaaa_) July 31, 2016
Hate to start choosing a personal canon over #CursedChild bc I’ve always been a believer in authorial authority but alas here we are
— Aubrey Nagle (@aubsn) July 31, 2016
Tech Insider agrees and illustrates some of the reasons why hardcore Harry Potter fans are not accepting the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as the eighth installment to their beloved series.
[Spoilers ahead]
A lot of fans were also taken aback by the play’s use of the time-turner, a huge part of the original Harry Potter franchise, as Entertainment Weeklywrites.
“The time-travel timeline is a beast to behold, but it does raise some fun questions. For one thing, all the what-ifs of the alternate realities were an explosion of fan-fic freedom. Ron marrying Padma Patil? Hermione becoming a bitter Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? That nightmarish Voldemort Day!?”
According to many fans, this is not how time-turner worked in the Harry Potter canon. In the original books, time-turners cannot alter the future. They work in a loop where the wizards and their actions are still included in the whole timeline. In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, however, alternate futures are created entirely because of the time-turner, which is a newly introduced mechanic for the time-travel ability.
clomjompsonjim: “The point of Delphi’s parentage was the worst.”
discodaisy: “How did anyone think that Delphi was a good idea? How did Jo sign off on that? Was this in her head as being truly what happens??”
“This is something my friends and I are trying to comprehend, and it’s honestly the part that’s most difficult.”
pattenrond: “It was really great at the beginning, then Delphi appeared and it kinda ruined the mood.”
If you’ve yet to pick up the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, we suggest you do so and tell us what you think. Is it canon? Or was Harry Potter better left at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?
