In this April 9, 2015, file photo, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling lights the Empire State Building to mark the launch of her non-profit children’s organization Lumos, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)It’s been years since anybody has heard from him, but despite whispers of his return, Jennifer Edge has spent months patently avoiding any news about her longtime friend Harry Potter.
A 39-year-old tattoo artist, Edge describes herself as “a real big Harry Potter nerd.” So much so, her right forearm is decorated with a full-color tattoo of the lightning-scarred wizard’s friend Hermione Granger and the back wall of her studio, Main Line Ink, is covered with artwork depicting characters and scenes from J.K. Rowling’s beloved series of fantasy novels.
Edge is one of many Harry Potter fans in Chattanooga who rabidly are anticipating the release (at 12:01 a.m. Sunday) of “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child – Parts I & II,” the script to a theatrical production of the same name set to premiere last night on London’s West End. The play is the first new entry in the series since the 2007 release of the last novel, “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.”
“I haven’t done much research. I’m waiting,” Edge says of lead-up to “The Cursed Child.” “I would rather be surprised. It’s the same way I did with the books. You want to have that moment with yourself, or at least I do.”
Details of the plot of “The Cursed Child” have been kept under tight wraps since Rowling confirmed the play’s existence in June 2015. According to the official website, however, the script (the book is the script itself, not an actual novel) picks up after the epilogue of “The Deathly Hallows” and is set 19 years after that book’s climactic showdown between Potter and series’ antagonist Voldemort.