Despite the final "Harry Potter" book release in 2007, and it's film adaptation release in 2011, the "Harry Potter" series is still making waves. With a fearlessly passionate and overwhelmingly large fan base that transcends age, gender, and backgrounds, this is to be expected. Earlier this year, a play based on a short story written by J.K. Rowling titled "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was scheduled to open in July 2016. The play is a sequel to the books that will pick up where Deathly Hallows left off, focusing on Harry's youngest son, Albus Severus Potter. This news was met with an overwhelming amount of fan approval and excitement. Fan dedication to the iconic book series and later movie franchise was showcased firsthand when tickets for the first three months of the show's run were released online and sold out in less than in hour.
Earlier this week, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," as well as the fiercely opinionated Potterheads made headlines once again when the official casting of the play was announced: Jamie Parker as Harry Potter, Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley, and Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger. This time, however, the announcement was met with an overwhelming amount of outrage and confusion, aimed mostly at the casting of Dumezweni, a woman of color, as the beloved bushy haired character. Many fans even went so far as to tweet Rowling, asking her for her opinion on black Hermione. It didn't take long for the author to respond, shutting down the chorus of haters.
As Rowling stated, white skin was never specified. In fact, this isn't the first time that Hermione's skin color was questioned by fans of the series. However, despite this truth, there are still many fans who cannot accept that the character, famously portrayed by Emma Watson in the movies, could ever be anything other than white.
As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, myself, I was outraged that something so trivial as skin color could cause such a huge uproar among people who dared to call themselves fans. I couldn't help but make the connection between Hermione Granger and the actress who is set to play her this coming July. From the very beginning, Hermione is an outsider in the wizarding world. Being muggle-born, or born to non-magical parents, she faces prejudice from other students far before Voldemort and his "pure blood" mania gained leeway for the second time. It is this obsession with "pure blood" that drove Voldemort and his followers into committing their heinous acts, as well as the Second Wizarding War that would eventually culminate during the final book of the series.
From the moment she was introduced to the reader, it is obvious Hermione is no ordinary witch. It seems that as the series progresses, Hermione only gets more and more brilliant. She possesses an incredible mind, as well as being a diligent scholar, fierce friend, and model student. Anyone could tell that Hermione was extraordinarily gifted; however, despite this, she was still seen by many as lesser than many of her colleagues who were not as clever as she, but born to magical parents.
It is ironic that a similar prejudice is now being placed on the actress set to portray Hermione, but because of race instead. If you did your research you know that Dumezweni is an incredibly gifted stage actress. Described as "an actress who consistently engages and enthrals," she won the Olivier Award, the highest award in British theater, in 2006, for her performance in "A Raisin in the Sun." With this kind of track record, there is no reason to think that Dumezweni would not put on a hell of a show as the clever witch we all know and love. However, just like Hermione was met with animosity despite her obvious brilliance, Noma Dumezweni faces the same despite her obvious talent.
I believe fans that find themselves in opposition to this announcement should take a moment to really consider what black Hermione means for the beloved series, today. I believe it means that even now, 18 years after its inception, the series continues to carry a powerful message, even beyond barriers set by surface issues such as race. So love it or hate it, black Hermione is here and she is not going anywhere.
