'Harry Potter 8 And The Cursed Child' Summer Release Date: Who is the 'Cursed Child'? - What You Need to Know

• comments
• 
• 

"Harry Potter and The Cursed Child" which is originally a stage play will come out as the eighth book of the seven-book series by J.K. Rowling this summer.

According to the announcement posted on Pottermore, the events in the books will take place 19 years after Harry Potter defeated Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Readers and moviegoers last saw Harry waving off his children at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, in the epilogue to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child picks up after that moment and is staged in two parts, due to the 'epic nature of the story'," the announcement said.

The official synopsis for the story hints at untold stories of the Boy Who Lived, including the lives of his parents James and Lily Potter before Voldemort.

"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 hardback edition of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts I & II" will be released on July 31 after the stage play has debuted the day before in London's West End. The new story is made by Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

In an interview with BBC, Rowling stated that the Cursed Child is not a novel because she is "confident when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story."

The reason why the script will be published is to allow people who won't be able to see the play read it in book format. The script will be published with ebooks. There will also be a Special Rehearsal Edition which will include a preview of the play in its early production days and a Definitive Collector's Edition for which the details will be unveiled soon.

The stage play and script-turned-book will be followed by the Potter spin-off "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" in November 2016.