Welcome back to Hogwarts
Magic once again comes back with ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,’ the eighth book in JK Rowling’s beloved series.
Muggles aren’t the only ones going back to school. Last July 31, I woke up to my grade school alarm clock (5 a.m.!) to witness the launch of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One & Two, the eighth story in the fantasy series by J.K. Rowling. I needed to wake up early because the book would officially launch at 7:01 a.m. at National Book Store in Glorietta to coincide with the midnight launch in the United Kingdom. Among kids and adults dressed in their Hogwarts robes with sleep still in their eyes, we eagerly counted down along with a timer on the screen, and pulled out our phones as the books got pulled out of the box. It was the closest thing we could get to a Hogwarts letter in 2016. And as I finished reading it, I dreaded the thought of having to explain the story to anyone, lest I spoil the magic for someone else. So this is the most that I will say: The Cursed Child is definitely worth the read if you’re a fan. It not only tells a story within the Harry Potter universe, but it’s about Harry himself — particularly with his family mentioned in the epilogue of The Deathly Hallows. Nineteen years have passed since that epilogue, and Harry is now an overworked employee at the ministry. His job to defeat Voldemort may be over, but darkness always finds a way of coming back. And now it’s up to an unlikely person in Harry’s life to ensure that goodness will prevail in the end. Old faces will make a comeback, but it’s the newer characters to watch out for — seriously, they might just steal your heart.
The story was created by Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, but this book is actually a special rehearsal script by Jack Thorne ( The Cursed Child is a play currently running in London). Thorne is best known for writing for the British teen show Skins, so you can be sure he’s familiar with exploring darker themes in young literature, something that you can expect in this story.
Spoilers of both the book and the play on Reddit have reviewed it quite poorly, saying that Rowling really needs to put the story to rest. Personally, I think the story could have benefitted from more fleshing out; the format is its greatest weakness here, because we loved reading Harry Potter for transporting us into a different world. Besides brief descriptions of the stage set-up and character actions, it’s largely dialogue-driven. Still, I wouldn’t knock it just based on that. As I tell everyone I meet: Dude, read it already.
And while I’d love to talk more about the book at length, I think it also bears mentioning that the book launch itself was met with some intriguing events. National Book Store had originally announced that they were the exclusive distributors of the book, which would be sold at around P1,500, which reflects the US$29.99 cover price on the book jacket. On the night before the July 31 launch, Fully Booked announced that they would be selling the book as well, at P500 less than National Book Store would.
This inspired some outrage among Potterheads, who felt that they were being cheated out of enjoying the book. However, throughout the social media bickering, Scholastic Asia, the regional division of the United States publisher of Harry Potter, announced that Fully Booked was selling unauthorized copies of the book. What was being offered by Fully Booked was the UK edition of Cursed Child, published by Little Brown. In an interview with National Book Store managing director Xandra Ramos Padilla, Xandra explains that Scholastic US is the sole holder of the rights to sell in the Philippines, and National Book Store is the appointed distributor. Because of this, any other bookstores that have and continue to stock the Harry Potter books (including The Cursed Child) in the Philippines have to order through National Book Store.
But to respond to the fans who felt gypped by the difference in pricing, National Book Store decided to include a gift certificate worth P500 in every purchase of the Cursed Child until this Sunday, Aug. 7. As far as any legal action is concerned, Xandra says that Scholastic has issued a “cease and desist” order to Fully Booked, the contents of which are currently not available. Little Brown, the UK publisher, is also investigating the matter, as the books weren’t purchased directly from them. “They themselves cannot sell to the Philippines, “explains Xandra, citing the Philippines as a US territory in the book industry, which is why the Harry Potter edition here is from a US publisher. “If we ordered from them, it would be blocked in the system. They wouldn’t be able to ship it to us.”
Regarding the difference in the pricing, National Book Store’s official statement says that this is a unique situation, in which a book from the UK is cheaper than one from the US because of the massive devaluation of the British pound. As of press time, Fully Booked has yet to release an official statement regarding this matter.
Throughout all talk of pricing concerns, National Book Store has reiterated that their readers come to mind first, especially in enjoying such a beloved story. With Harry and the gang back together for one last adventure in Hogwarts (Rowling says this really is the last of the series), it’s time to hit the books once again — just before your actual schoolbooks start begging to be read, too.