Nine years and 10 days after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows appeared on bookstore shelves, thus conclusively ending J.K. Rowling’s seven-book magical series, the Boy Who Lived returned. Yet Cursed Child is no mere fanfic: Technically, according to Rowling herself, it’s the “eighth Harry Potter story,” a part of the series canon. (For reference: Canon, particularly used in fan fiction settings, refers generally to narrative, background or character material that can be found in the original source rather than in fan fiction or fan theories. Critics began to postulate ― was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in fact cursed with the traits of mediocre fan fiction? Was it the devil-may-care use of frivolous plot devices like time travel, appropriate for fan art but not for canon?

Source: Huffington Post August 16, 2016 13:18 UTC