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Everything We Know About Harry Potter and the Cursed Child So Far

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Previews Start For "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child"
A general view of The Palace Theatre as previews start today for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" on June 7, 2016 in London, United Kingdom.Ben A. Pruchnie—Getty Images
By Sarah Begley

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

J.K. Rowling has asked fans to keep a tight lid on the events in her new play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which began previews Tuesday night. But naturally, a few surprising details have made their way onto the Internet. As the action of the play picks up 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, many of the beloved characters from the books return—some unexpectedly. Without seeing the play ourselves, here’s what we’ve read about their fates so far, with more details likely to come out after Part 2 of the play begins previews Thursday night:

  • Someone very bad is back—but who? The New York Times reports on the appearance of “one of the book’s more diabolically unpleasant characters, who turns up at the end and whom we had hoped we had seen the last of.” Who could this be? Perhaps more will be revealed after Part 2 begins previews on Thursday.
  • Dumbledore is also back, albeit in the form of a talking painting. The Times says this is “followed by as good an explanation as you’ll ever hear of why we should not mistake a portrait for an actual person.”
  • Also appearing per the Times: The grumpiest centaur and the Dursley family.
  • There are also owls, one of which reportedly got loose in the theater on Tuesday.
  • There is, of course, magic: flying books, a wand fight, and even some dementors that float out over the audience.
  • Part 1 ends on a big cliffhanger.
  • There are also two more spoilers reported by Hypable here and here—J.K. Rowling called the site out on Twitter for being “Wormtaily” by sharing the spoilers. We can’t confirm they’re true, but it’s certainly intriguing that she decided to call them out.

    • The outlets that have reported on these spoilers maintain that there are much bigger ones in the play itself, and many more are likely to creep out before the rehearsal text of the show is published on July 31—when readers can relive the binge-reading of the first eight books and find out everything that actually happens in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

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