Unless you've been living in a cupboard under the stairs, you're bound to have heard about the eighth addition to the wildly successful "Harry Potter" series. This addition? "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

If you're not familiar with "The Cursed Child," let me fill you in a bit. It is a play (let me reiterate, a play) by the creator of "Harry Potter" herself, Ms. J.K. Rowling, accomplished English playwright Jack Thorne, and the play's director, John Tiffany. It takes place nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts (a moment of silence for all of the lives lost) and literally starts with the epilogue we see at the end of The Deathly Hallows. It follows the children of Harry and Ginny Potter, Ron and Hermione Granger-Weasley and Draco and Astoria Malfoy as they board the Hogwarts Express to begin their own wild adventures.

It deals with all of your regular coming-of-age issues accompanied with the pressures of being the children of wizarding legends. You know, stuff we all face.

I think we can agree that "Harry Potter" is something that's very important to a lot of people. Whether you grew up with it or picked it up later in life, the series is something that you can very easily immerse yourself in, and is the basis for many friendships. Releasing another book in the "Harry Potter" series is risky, to say the least. Why mess with an already great thing? Well, the "Harry Potter" fan within me couldn't resist, and I had to see for myself if this addition was up to par with the rest of the franchise. Boy, let me say, it was a roller coaster of emotions. While I wish I could document the full-range of my emotion, that article would be much too long. Instead, here are five stand-out thoughts that I had upon finishing "The Cursed Child."

Note: I will do everything within my power to keep this article spoiler-free, but remember that I'm only a mere muggle.

1. The characters are nothing like I expected.

This is perhaps the hardest thing not to spoil. But there were certain expectations that I had when it comes to dealing with the children of some pretty iconic characters. Rose Granger-Weasley has to be a miniature Hermione Granger, am I right? Therefore, she's probably going to be one of my new favorite heroines within the "Harry Potter" universe. And don't get me started on Scorpius Malfoy. With a name like Scorpius, that kid is bound to be a little punk like his father. Albus Potter is a bit of a wild card, given that he is a middle child and that can have an effect on you regardless of who your parents are.

I was shocked by how wrong I was. They all had their own unique issues and quirks that truly separated them from their famous parents. In fact, Scorpius Malfoy, son of ferret-boy Draco Malfoy, was without a doubt my favorite character (and I'd argue that many would agree with me on this). I think that really drove home the message of becoming your own person that this play ran off of. Heck, even the adult characters were quite a bit different that I'd imagined them being. But, hey, that's what made it fun.

2. This was definitely written for fans of "Harry Potter."

If you're looking for a masterpiece of theatrical literature, you're probably not going to find it here. Don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing the play itself and as someone who has been in multiple theatre productions, I would love to be a part of an on-stage production of this. But I don't think my someday grandchildren will be studying "The Cursed Child" in their literature classes. I think that has to do with the fact that this play was definitely written for the massive fan-base of "Harry Potter." You got to revisit characters that you loved and I'd even say that you get closure with certain subplots. (And I'm pretty sure J.K. Rowling co-created this play in response to the "Why did this character have to die?" question.) If we're being honest, I don't know that this play would appeal to someone who is not familiar with the rest of the "Harry Potter" books (though I'd love for someone to prove me wrong on that). It was a bit cheesy at times and didn't always beg deeper thinking, but not every play has to do that. My inner child was beaming, and I still had a ton of fun reading it.

3. You may be a fan of "Harry Potter" and still not like "The Cursed Child."

There's a massive difference between a script and a normal book. One of the best qualities of the "Harry Potter" series is how immersive the writing is. J.K. Rowling gives you wild imagery and tells you specifically what you should be seeing when she describes Hogwarts or Diagon Alley or any other spot in Harry Potter's world. You don't get any of that with this. What you get is dialogue and a bit of essential stage direction, and it's up to you to fill in the blanks. For some, this is awesome as they get the freedom to envision a world of their own. For others, though, those details are what make the story. Without them, can you really experience the magic? If this is an issue that you face, I highly suggest watching the play on stage if you ever get the opportunity. Scripts are written with the intention of being performed, and just reading the script is kind of like ordering noodles and expecting to have spaghetti. There are other elements that you need for the full experience. (Obviously, you may dislike it for other reasons, and that's completely and utterly okay.) I just want people to know that this may not be the reading experience that they're used to. And, of course, you may just be irritated with the fact that this play very intensely revisits stuff that you believed to be finished with the conclusion of "The Deathly Hollows."

4. There's something extraordinarily exciting about being able to produce this.

"Harry Potter" is iconic. Everyone knows what Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley look like. Having a stage production blows that out of the water. Hogwarts changes from production to production and the portrayal of each character changes as well. From the gate, the Palace Theatre's production of the play is shattering the image of light-skinned, girl-next-door beauty that we associate with Hermione Granger and replacing it with a fierce, unconventionally stunning black woman to remind us who, at the core, the character really is (no disrespect to the wonderfully talented Emma Watson). In the realm of theatre, actors can show you many different sides to a character. Your perceptions and understandings of the
"Harry Potter" characters can become so much more nuanced than they were before. Also, if you've read the script, you'll know how tricky some of the stage direction is. It'll push all the departments of a theatre company to their limits, and we get to look forward to seeing how different companies will create their own "magic."

5. I don't need another "Harry Potter" book.

I love "Harry Potter." Admittedly, I didn't read the books until I was in middle school, but I still fell in love with them when I read them. I never got the chance of waiting for the next "Harry Potter" book with baited breath, so this was an opportunity I never thought I'd have. The thing that I've learned, though, is that Harry Potter's story really did finish in "The Deathly Hallows." I don't want to know him as a man, because I was fascinated with the story of The Boy Who Lived. I don't want to see the mundane parts of Harry Potter's life after he killed Voldemort because I liked the crazy and the magic of his journey.

The alternative is to have a grand story that tries to outshine Voldemort, which ends up cheapening both stories. "The Cursed Child" did both of these things, in a sense. It tried to create another story within Harry Potter's original story (that will make much more sense if you read it), but it also showed Harry's struggle with being a normal parent after all that has happened in his life. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed much of the play, and I'm very glad that it was written. However, "The Cursed Child" itself is far from perfect and I think that the flaws of the show highlight why J.K. Rowling was so reluctant to write this eighth book. Harry Potter's story is over, and I think this plays strongly reminded me of that fact.

Those are just my thoughts, though. "Harry Potter" can be divisive an issue as any and I know that there are many mixed opinions on "The Cursed Child." Whatever your thoughts are, may the magic of "Harry Potter" always stay with you.

Also, happy only-100-more-days-until-fantastic-beasts-comes-out (assuming that my math is right, which it probably isn't given how much of my time is devoted to "Harry Potter.")