**Minor Cursed Child spoilers

I’ll be the first to admit that I greatly enjoyed reading The Cursed Child. After all of the hype for this 8^th story, it seems as though too many fans are disappointed. I know that it’s difficult to revisit a story with such a cult following and make fans completely happy with the outcome, but I think that HP fans should give J.K. (and Jack Thorne and John Tiffany) some slack here.

First off, I’ve heard many fans say that it was overly dramatic and felt like fan fiction. I’d like to point out that it is a play and is first and foremost meant to be seen and not read. You should have a much different mindset and method when reading a play than when reading a novel. Maybe it’s the English major in me (forever grateful for that Shakespeare class requirement), but a play shouldn’t feel the same as reading a novel. It should be much more visual and overly dramatic because a script is so dialogue-heavy. I also want to point out that J.K. Rowling wrote the story but not the actual script, so the voice should be expected to slightly change because of that.

Some fans have also said that they don’t like Harry in The Cursed Child. I’d have to agree that Harry isn’t the most likeable character in the play. However, I think that it’s a pretty real expectation for him to not be the most stable parent on the planet. He was, after all, partially inhabited by the soul of an extremely dangerous and dark wizard for 17 years of his life. There have been various points in the original books where Harry has been pretty unlikeable as well (*cough*Order of the Phoenix*cough*). Parents in general sometimes find it hard to relate to their kids, especially with such high hopes for them and such a famous family name for them to carry.

With such a huge reputation, any further Harry Potter stories will have big expectations riding on their shoulders. I, for one, am glad at the prospect of having more stories revealed within the wizarding world (like forthcoming Fantastic Beasts). And I’m looking forward to the day that Cursed Child comes to the US in play form so that we can all see the story how it was meant to be performed. Mad props to J.K. for continuing to expand the universe that she so painstakingly and lovingly created.

For the record, I totally ship Scorpius and Albus.