Harry Potter and the Inevitable Prequel

When I was six years old, people at school took the mickey out of me for my Harry Potter lunchbox. I spent hours playing the Harry Potter games on Gamecube through the seemingly endless summer holidays. When I was ten years old, I queued up at ASDA at midnight, itching to get my hands on a copy of The Half Blood Prince. When I was sixteen years old, I sobbed in the cinema watching Deathly Hallows Part II, because it was all over. “All was well” is the last line of The Deathly Hallows and also summarises how I feel about the Harry Potter franchise: leave it alone, it’s done.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1

I’m now almost twenty-one and I love Harry Potter just as much as I’ve ever done. The films, and the books especially, were such an incomprehensibly huge part of my formative years. When it was all over, there were no unanswered questions. When Harry put his son on the train at the end of Deathly Hallows, it was the end of Harry’s journey and the beginning of another that was entirely left up to the reader’s imagination. Creatures such as Blast-Ended Skrewts and Mandrakes were so creative, but such a small part of the enchanting universe. Do I really need a film all about the guy who wrote the book on them? It feels like a bit of stretch to me. To be fair, the cast is amazing and the setting of 1920s America sounds pretty cool. Cinematically, I’m sure it will be sound, but all the kids who grew up with Harry Potter now have careers, relationships and other miscellaneous adult stuff to think about; I can’t really generate any enthusiasm for it. On the other hand, I’m grateful that it’s only an extension of what already existed in the Harry Potter universe, meaning that the original story won’t be tainted.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures. Matthew Lewis in Harry Potter and The Deathy Hallows Part 2.

Not to go off on a tangent (seeing as this is the Film section) but what irritates me more is the stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. On top of the fact that I believe the series ended perfectly with Harry shipping Albus jr. off to Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling said that, before her rise to fame she was “as poor as it’s possible to be” and claimed she sometimes went hungry in order to feel her children. The Cursed Child is exclusive to the West End. Putting a play on in London excludes all those fans who don’t have the financial or geographical means to see the show. You’d think that someone who lived in such extreme poverty would have more consideration for those who don’t live somewhere along a tube line or have the disposable income for theatre tickets.

You’d think that someone who lived in such extreme poverty would have more consideration for those who don’t live somewhere along a tube line or have the disposable income for theatre tickets.

The Harry Potter franchise has really reached its limits in my eyes. You can go on a tour of the Warner Brother’s studios and see the film sets up close. You can wander round Hogsmeade at the Wizarding World in Florida… but once again, these are experiences that require more than just a bit of pocket money. J.K. Rowling has sold out. But she’s definitely not alone, so can I really blame her? There is talk that Lionsgate are exploring ways to extend the Hunger Games universe via spin-off films. In 2017, we will see the launch of the third new Spider-Man universe in the last fifteen years. It seems like the current trend is to stretch a universe to the point that everyone’s sick of seeing it (note: Fantastic Four) and stops doling out cash.