Muggle Monday: It's an exciting time to be a Harry Potter fan again

It's time for Muggle Monday, in which I highlight something from the Harry Potter world. This is somewhat inspired by the Mundane Monday posts by The Mundie Moms.

But let's be real as to why I made up this feature: I just want the opportunity to post something about Harry Potter.



It's been a while since I posted my Muggle Monday feature, but I think it will be making a more regular comeback in 2016 for good reason: it's an exciting time to be a Harry Potter fan again.

The entire concept of my blog was based around the fact that I had spent the past decade living and breathing all things Harry Potter, only to have the rug swept out from under me when the franchise came to an end and I was left floundering with a major series hangover. Of course, my love for the series will never fade. But in the wake of the end of the Harry Potter franchise (i.e. my life), I felt a tremendous amount of loss in that it was over and there would never be anything NEW to get excited over again.

But in the past years, deals have been struck and announcements made: new works set in the Harry Potter universe and written by Queen Jo herself. And so in 2016, it's an exciting time to be a Harry Potter fan again, and I couldn't be happier.

Here are some of the things to be excited about this year as Harry Potter fans:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Premiering July 30, 2016 in London's West End in two parts, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will tell the story of Harry's life nineteen years later and of Albert Severus Potter, Harry's youngest son.

Jo always said "never say never" when it came to the possibility of Harry Potter 8, but I don't think anyone ever expected it to happen this soon and in play format, no less. I would think Harry has earned his happy ever after finally and so I hope no harm comes to him in this next story! I'm just excited that this work was written at least in part by J.K. Rowling - that's what makes it a must-see.

Synopsis:

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.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Another Wizarding World project written by J.K. Rowling: the first movie adaptation of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be hitting screens November 18, 2016. Fantastic Beasts will give us our first look at Newt Scamander as a main character, as well as the Wizarding World in America in the 1920s. Even though we won't be seeing our favourite boy wizard at any point in this movie, it's still set in the same world and it's still written by Jo, and so there is much to be excited about here.

Synopsis:

The story revolves around Newt Scamander's (Eddie Redmayne) arrival at the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), for a meeting with an important official. Central to the story and this meeting is a magically expanded briefcase which houses a number of dangerous creatures and their habitats. When the creatures escape from the briefcase, it sends the American wizarding authorities after Newt, and it threatens even further the state of magical and non-magical relations, which is already in a dangerous place, due to the threatening presence of the fanatical New Salem Philanthropic Society, an extremist organization dedicated to the eradication of wizard-kind. The story tells of what effect this devastating mistake has on the state of wizard/No-Maj (the American term for a non-magical person) relations in New York City's community of wizards and witches in 1926, the effort to correct the mistake, and the horrors of the resultant increase in violence, fear, and tension felt between magical and non-magical peoples.

Cormoran Strike Series

Alright, well this one is unrelated to the Harry Potter world in any way, but let me just say that if you're a fan of J.K. Rowling's writing - doesn't matter if you don't typically read adult mysteries - then you MUST read this series. If you love Jo's characterizations - and I'm sure you do if you're reading this post - then you will love these characters too. The fourth book in the series will be out in 2016 as well, though no firm date has yet been set. Also on my radar: the BBC television adaptation of the novels.


So yes, lots to be excited about in 2016! As I mentioned, I plan on posting my Muggle Monday feature more regularly in 2016, at which point I plan on discussing each of these at more length.

So I'm curious: which of Jo's 2016 projects are you most excited about?