‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ Casts a Black Hermione Granger!

The golden-trio for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Cursed Child live stage play have been cast, and in true Internet fashion people feel conflicted — especially about actress Noma Dumezweni, who will play the iconic Hermione Granger.

According to IGN, the plot of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will take place nineteen years after Voldemort’s defeat. The play will be divided into two parts with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in their thirties. Harry, now working for the Ministry of Magic, will have to deal with the pressures of his job and the responsibilities that come with having a family. Harry’s son Albus will have to deal with his family’s legacy.

The plot kind of reminds me of Boruto: Naruto the Movie, in which Boruto tries to become stronger than his father Naruto and gain his attention. While Boruto wanted to become the strongest ninja, I think Albus will be the kind of character who doesn’t want anything to do with being a hero — unlike Harry and his friends when they were young.

Coming to the casting, Harry Potter will be played by Jamie Parker, Ronald Weasley by Paul Thornley, and Hermione Granger by Noma Dumezweni. While the Internet seems content with the casting of the two male leads, it’s Dumezweni who has come under attack. People just can’t seem to wrap their heads around the possibility of Hermione being black. Some are justifying their opinion by saying that because Hermione was white in the film series, she needs to be white in the play as well. If she were black in the movies, then they would’ve been fine with the current casting.

I’m going to stop such people right now with some help from J.K Rowling.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is based on the books by J.K. Rowling, not on how the characters were portrayed in the films. And as Hermione’s ethnicity was never described in the books, then the people in charge of the play are free to cast whomever they want as long as the actress brings justice to the character they have envisioned.

If you go on Tumblr you will see tons of images of a black Hermione Granger. There is no textual evidence that cements the fact that she was an obviously white fictional character. However, I do feel that the fact J.K. Rowling never voiced such an opinion during the casting of the Harry Potter film series and the book cover designs does nothing to help the matter now. It’s kind of similar to when Rowling said Hogwarts has queer students.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will debut in London’s West End in May at the Palace Theatre in 2016.

What do you think about the current casting choice? Let us know!

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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