Harry Potter & the Cursed Child script due out in book form this summer

Harry Potter fans worldwide have understandably been abuzz since learning that, in addition to her work on the prequel trilogy Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, author J.K. Rowling had also developed a sequel to the original series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The play, though, only has plans to be shown in London, limiting the Potter fans who will be able to see it live.

But Scholastic announced Wednesday that they will publish the Cursed Child script in book form later this year, with a concurrent eBook version published on Pottermore.com. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts I & II, by J.K. Rowling and Jack Thorne, will be released on July 31, 2016. The date is significant; fans will remember that it’s Harry’s birthday.

A press release from Scholastic gives some information about the plot: “It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.”

The book will comprise the Special Rehearsed Edition of the script, as it stands in the play’s early production previews. A press release from Pottermore states that as the script changes throughout the preview and performance process, this Special Rehearsed Edition will eventually be replaced by a Definitive Collector’s Edition, to be announced later.