With Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them coming to the big screen next November as the prequel to the Harry Potter franchise, we were thrilled when J.K. Rowling announced the sequel to the saga a few months ago. The eighth Harry Potter story, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be a stage play, and follow our favorite trio Ron, Harry and Hermione as adults. The story will also follow Harry’s youngest son Albus as he struggles with the massive weight of the family’s legacy. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child comes to London’s West End in the summer of 2016 and we couldn’t be more excited about the cast announcement. Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni and Paul Thornley have been cast as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley respectively and the trio will lead a cast of 30 actors. All three actors are veterans of the British stage, and will bring an entirely new perspective to the beloved franchise. Unfortunately, not everyone has embraced the news of the casting positively. Many people even questioned the credibility of the play because of the choice to cast Dumezweni who is a Black actress as Hermione.
However, it seems like some of these so-called “fans” weren’t paying attention when they supposedly read the books. Though Emma Watson slays the role in the film franchise; in the books Hermione is described as having brown eyes, frizzy hair and being extremely clever. Her skin-tone and ethnicity are never specified. For years, many HP fans have been pushing for a brown-skinned Hermione and their wish has been granted. Rowling even defended the epic casting on Twitter.
Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015
Though the Wizarding world is divided among bloodlines (purebloods, Muggle-borns, etc), in the 21st century some muggles and no-majs are hung up on skin color. People also seem distressed that Jamie Parker does not have green eyes and that Paul Thornley is not ginger. It’s so sad that after Rowling gave us such a magical world to stretch our imaginations, some of us are still unable to see beyond basic human features.
Still, we won’t let other people’s ignorance ruin our excitement for this amazing news. Here is some stunning fan art next a photo of Noma Dumezweni, our new Hermione.
Some of my favourite Hermione fanarts next to our new Hermione! pic.twitter.com/80bIkcLBMJ
— alice in wonderland (@alwaysdragxns) December 20, 2015
