The weekend of the 30th to the 31st July was the ultimate Harry Potter weekend. The last Potter book being published in 2007, the release and premiere of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was the most exciting event for Potter fans in years.
There was no official announcement whether there would be a gala event or red carpet for the premiere, but Saturday the 30th July found me travelling up to London in the early morning to wait around the Palace Theatre and secure the best spot for seeing what was going on. After two hours of circling the threatre like a lunatic stalker, about 250 wristbands were released for fans to watch the red carpet and I was Nr. 46 to get in! There, it was more waiting and I must say the red carpet disappointed me. We saw the mayor of London and MinaLima - the graphic designers behind Harry Potter - and there was this Andrew Scott guy who plays Jim Moriarty in the BBC Sherlock series, but apart from that there were no stars. We had all hoped to see some of the original HP cast, but they didn't show up. JK Rowling, however, did! I saw my biggest idol and role model, walking mere metres in front of me! I didn't get an autograph, which sucked, but as hardly anyone did, I can live with it. Here I have to say how important a good event manager is because whoever managed that event, was doing a poor job. Jo came far too late to sign anything because the stupid people beforehand took far too long, taking selfies and what. Jo had to be rushed through and left her dear fans sorely disappointed behind. Then, after the second part, we were promised she would come again and even new people were let into the area, but she didn't show up anymore and we all had waited four hours for nothing. I have to say, I don't know how much is whose fault, but from the PR manager to the security staff, no one had a clue what was going on and regarding this was such a huge and important event, things like these shouldn't happen. But still, I saw her and my pic sucks, but I was busy watching her in real life, so my view was much better than the photo indicates. After having waited hours in front of the theatre, I headed off to Putney for the book release. I didn't get tickets for the Waterstones in London, but in hindsight I liked that I went to Putney. In Waterstones Putney were about fifty people and the whole affair was not big, loud or atmospheric in a hysterical sense, but it was cosy, family-like and internal. They sorted us into houses and then we had four different classes: Quidditch (where we had to throw balls through a hoop - I sucked at this); DADA (where we had to answer trivia about Harry Potter - I was by far the best at this); Divination (where we played Pictionary - by far the best); and Herbology (where we decorated cupcakes - N was by far the best). The funny thing was that there were only children participating in the activities, and me and N, and we were still the most popular Gryffindors after five minutes, although being technically adults. Gryffindor comprised us, a sweet girl and some loud but sweet boys who asked me about football, why I know so much and were already insulting me after ten minutes (and I mean that as a good sign, when young teenagers insult you (which is the teenage version of a joke), you really have made the gang). In Herbology, N and I sat in the front row - all nerdy - and the girl and another boy sat down with the words: can we sit with you, we want to sit at the intelligent table. The activities were really well done and they had a cafeteria with HP-themed snacks, so all in all really sweet. The actual book release was a bit lame, no countdown or anything, but ultimately I held the book in my hands, went home and read until four in the morning. The next section contains spoilers for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. DO NOT READ ON if you don't want to be spoilt!! Now, to the book - or play, I should rather say. Just to update you, HPCC (as I shall from here on refer to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) was not written by JK Rowling. It is a play based on an original story by Rowling, but written by Jack Thorne (whose autograph, by the way, I got). It is also no prose, but drama. When I opened the book and saw it was catching up with the last scene of HP and the Deathly Hallows it nearly made me cry with happiness. I have to be honest, I haven't completely made up my mind yet whether I like the book or not - I will have to wait until I have seen the play and also find it difficult to criticise anything JK Rowling had anything to do with; however, I must admit the story was profoundly different from what I had expected. I thought it would display Harry's normal life as a father and Albus's normal teenage struggles as the son of one of the most famous wizards. It was, however, a real adventurous plot in which Voldemort nearly comes back and Albus and Draco's son, Scorpius, travel back in time. I also must admit that some of the story twists seemed quite far-fetched. For instance, Voldemort apparently has a daughter with Bellatrix Lestrange shortly before the big battle of Hogwarts - which I just cannot picture. Yes, there was devotion from Bellatrix toward Voldemort, but not really the other way around and, also, can you picture Voldemort having sex? (Don't, I did and it's been haunting me ever since). I just think that after all the adventures and horrors of Harry's journey, it would have been nice to just learn about his normal life and normal struggles, but that doesn't mean I cannot grow to love the plot. If you have been keeping up with Pottermore, you probably have read Jo's writing as Rita Skeeter where she reports from the Quidditch World Cup, and I had hoped the book would be like that. Glimpses into the world of the characters, now that the war is over. Also, the book concentrates mainly on Albus and his not really well-founded hatred for his famous father and I would just have loved to read more about other family members, like George, Bill and Fleur, Mr and Mrs Weasley and so on... Well, anyway, it tells us about the world, so I still have to love it, but I wanted to re-read it and must say, I just don't like reading plays, so I am currently wasting my time with re-writing the play into my version of the book. Should you read it and encounter you would prefer an actual book, too, just ask me and I can send you my version (as soon as it's finished).
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AuthorIn September 2015 I started a new chapter of my life by moving (temporarily or permanently, not yet decided) to England where I work and socialise now. Archives
December 2017
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