As I am sure everyone has heard by now, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling has been released as both a play and a published script and is already making its rounds among Harry Potter fans. I have not actually seen the play or even read the script, but based on some spoilers on the Internet, I have been able to learn about the extent of what happens in the play. I am not going to go in-depth about the spoilers I have learned, and if you are curious, you can take a look here, but instead I would like to focus on the story that "Cursed Child" did not get to: the Marauders’ Era.
Along with many others, I have been a "Harry Potter" fan forever, and over time, I have found myself wondering about what exactly it is I love about those books. And while that list could go on forever, possibly my favorite part of the Wizarding World is the collection of stories within it. Not only do we learn about the Trio’s time at Hogwarts, but we get to see sneak-peeks of other generations such as the Founders and the Marauders. The Marauders in particular sparked my interest, because Sirius and Remus are two of my absolute favorite characters in the series and I love the idea of their time at Hogwarts spent with Harry’s parents.
Furthermore, whether you love Snape or despise him (and I am in the latter group), the story of his friendship with Lily and what drove them apart is clearly an interesting one that has not yet been fully told. Something I find so special about this series is that all of these generations are somehow connected. Harry’s teachers were friends with his parents; many of the people we know so well from those books played different and maybe even larger roles during the Marauders’ Era.
I want to find out the entire story and figure out what exactly happened during their time at Hogwarts, from their first to last day. However, something I find particularly important is the fact that this story occurred before Harry’s.
A problem with spin-offs is that you see the characters you love in a different context, and often it feels forced and strange to see them in a way different from how they were when you got to know them. Readers get so comfortable and familiar with these characters, and then they have to change their images of the characters based on simply another telling of the story. With a prequel series, the story would be one we were already mostly familiar with, so it would not feel so sudden and forced. Furthermore, we would be able to keep the books in our minds as they were without needing to alter them based on new information about the former main characters.
Whatever J.K. Rowling decides to do, I will be excited to read it. But for now, I am still hoping to one day hear the rest of the Marauders’ story.
