The Boy Who Lived, Again: All The New Stuff You Can "Expecto" From The World Of Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling’s magical world of Harry Potter has returned like a phoenix from the ashes.

In this exciting time for wizards, witches and Muggles everywhere, you may need a Rememberall to keep up. Are we witnessing the beginning of a new generation of magic or will this rebirth taint our memories of the series that made so many of our childhoods?

Here’s what to expect from the next few years of Pottermania.

Fantastic Spin-Offs and Where to Find Them

The first film in the Harry Potter canon since 2011’s Deathly Hallows Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set seventy years before the events of the original series and follows the adventures of ‘magizoologist’ Newt Scamander in New York.

The film is directed by David Yates, who also helmed the final four Harry Potter films. J.K. Rowling herself penned the original screenplay and the spin-off book it is based on. Fans should hopefully be able to breathe easy, knowing these two competent creatives are calling the shots (not to mention the fact the lead role is in the safe hands of Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne).

So there’s a chance that, with a little help from some Felix Felicis, this movie might actually go some way towards filling the lightning bolt-shaped hole in so many Potter film fans’ hearts.

Of course, there’s one curse that Hollywood has cast that might see some fans disappointed: This is a planned trilogy. No surprises there, of course, given the current insatiable desire the mainstream film industry has for sequels and sagas. One can only hope that lessons have been learnt from the ironically gargantuan mess that was the Hobbit trilogy, and that another terribly tedious trilogy doesn’t resurface to tarnish the world we know and love.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set for release in Australia on November 17.

Hogwarts’ Secrets Revealed in New eBooks

J.K. Rowling has been releasing new content on Pottermore, her Harry Potter companion site, ever since its inception in 2012. It was announced a few months ago that a compilation of these stories and some new content would be released in the form of three short eBooks.

Entitled Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide; Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies; and Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists, these Pottermore Presents eBooks are set to explore the corridors of our favourite castle and its inhabitants in more detail than ever before. While these short stories hardly amount to a new novel, they might constitute a nice treat for fans keen for new source material.

The eBooks were released this week in the UK and are available on the Pottermore site for two pounds apiece (galleons, it specifies, are not accepted).

The Cursed Child Franchise Rumours: Will we see a Hogwarts Reunion?

The published script to the hit stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released just over a month ago, and it was met with a mixed reaction from the fandom.

Say what you will about some of its questionable additions to the canon, it was a Harry Potter book and thus guaranteed to sell. Naturally widely reported rumours suggest Warner Bros is interested in translating the stage play to the silver screen (although nothing has been officially announced).

The main issue facing this project would be managing the returning cast members. Daniel Radcliffe has said he may consider returning, but not any time soon. That’s not to mention the many cameos from previous characters the play contains, including the late Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape. Perhaps it would be best to recast it completely, rather than in bits and pieces. Or, maybe this is a story that should be left behind the red curtain. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a few more years for any of this to become more than speculation. Unless someone has a Time-Turner that works forwards as well as backwards?

Mischief Managed

The Harry Potter universe has definitely made a return, on the stage, on the page and on the silver screen. Maybe these new stories will give a new generation the sort of childhood we had… or maybe they will miss the mark this time around.

The best thing, however, is that if none of this works out, we can still lock ourselves away in the cupboard under the stairs and relive the magic contained in those first seven books. That magic will always be there.

Xavier Hazard is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributor program.

Photo: Warner Bros.