JK Rowling Cursed Child read in Russian. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Joanne Rowling)

The life of this amazing woman is like a fairy tale. JK Rowling and Neil Murray made each other happy and proved that magic definitely has a place in life when people want to believe in it. However, that year the stars were aligned in her favor: it was the year of the film adaptation of her first book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” and the year of the only desired meeting.

Fairytale dreams


Little Joanna with her mother Anne and sister Diana.

Joan has always dreamed for as long as she can remember. I dreamed of unexplored countries and exciting fairy-tale forests. She even composed her own fairy tales as a little girl so that she could later tell them to her little sister. But its reality was far from imagined. My mother was seriously ill, my relationship with my father was very difficult, and I had to endure ridicule from my classmates. She could only hide in her imaginary world.

Joanne Rowling.

After graduating from school, she entered the French language department, although she dreamed of English literature. But her parents considered her choice too frivolous. Joana obediently agreed to study French. It was as if she was going the wrong way again. Having received her education, the girl moved to London, worked in different places as a secretary, but she herself admits that she was not a very good secretary. But she had an imaginary friend.


Illustration by JK Rowling for the future book about Harry Potter.

Once on the train, the image of a funny boy in round glasses appeared in front of her with all reality. He could do everything that she herself dreamed of. Joana began writing about the boy with glasses. He was strong and smart, her new friend, fearless and dexterous. He could overcome any obstacles and defeat all enemies. The thin manuscript kept growing, its Harry Potter acquired more and more new features.

But the news of her mother's death shocked her too much. The inability to return to her home due to a completely deteriorated relationship with her father influenced Joana to find a job as an English teacher in Portugal.

Escape from the Nightmare


On the day of his marriage to Jorge Arantes, his mother and sister.

The young English teacher worked in the evenings and during the day wrote about her wizard, including the music of Tchaikovsky. Sometimes she and her friend would go out to a local bar. There she met student Jorge Arantes. He was handsome, like a Greek god, ardent and passionate. The novel developed very quickly, somewhat similar to the Mexican series. It contained passion, jealousy, mutual grievances and stormy reconciliations. Joanna became pregnant and dreamed of a boy, whom she would definitely name Harry. Her dream did not come true, she lost her child. Jorge was very worried about his beloved and proposed his hand and heart to her.


With my first husband and tiny Jessica.

However, nothing good came out of this marriage. The jealous and hot young man began to raise his hand against his young wife. Even the birth of baby Jessica did not make him change his attitude. After another scandal, he put her out on the street. Joana had to return with the police to pick up her daughter and leave this nightmare forever.

The main thing is not to give up!


JK Rowling 1998.

She returned to London and again found herself alone with problems. Alone, with tiny Jessica in her arms. But she had a dream. About the same Harry Potter with whom she passionately wanted to introduce the whole world. She wrote wherever there was such an opportunity. But most of all she loved the small cafe that her sister’s husband ran. She settled down at the window, rocked her baby and immersed herself in a fairy-tale world. She was not afraid of the approaching poverty, she believed in herself.


First edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997.

When The Philosopher's Stone was published, the girl was simply happy. Even though the circulation was absolutely minuscule, a start had been made. Success came with the first book. She wrote, and people were already waiting for her books; unprecedented queues lined up for them. Joana became rich and famous.

Her Harry Potter


A real sorceress and a grown-up Harry Potter (Neil Murray).

In 2001, Joana meets a modest anesthesiologist at a charity party. He was the living embodiment of her Harry Potter. The same funny bangs, thoughtful look, embarrassed smile. Neil Murray at that time was just finishing the divorce proceedings with his first wife.

It was as if they were made for each other, a real sorceress and an aspiring wizard. They carefully protected their nascent love from prying eyes. Just a few weeks later, JK Rowling and Neil Murray became husband and wife. They were happy. The girl, who always dreamed of quiet comfort and a calm family life, has finally found the ground under her feet.

It's hard to be a star

She had never been so happy.

At first, the newlyweds had a hard time. Journalists and photographers followed them constantly. Modest Neil even had to flee his hospital because reporters tried to get close to him under the guise of colleagues. He didn’t want to give any interviews, and Joanna didn’t strive for publicity at all.

She began to travel a lot around the world, either participating in the presentation of a new book about Harry Potter, or appearing at the premiere of the film. It was difficult for the couple to spend a lot of time apart. Neil decided to spend more time with his family, quit the hospital, and began accompanying his wife everywhere.

Happinnes exists

JK Rowling and Neil Murray in 2006.

Joana, wounded by her first marriage, for a long time could not believe that now everything in her life was different. Her beloved is gentle and caring, he does not suffer from attacks of jealousy, he loves and appreciates her. For him, Joanna is a whole world, mysterious, mysterious, but so beautiful. Let her withdraw into herself sometimes. For Joana herself, her beloved Neil is the best husband in the world. He is well-mannered, intelligent and in love. Sometimes she can’t believe that she invented her happiness for herself. And here it is, alive, real, next to her. In 2003, a son, David, was born to the family of Joan and Neil, and a daughter, Mackenzie, was born in 2005.


JK Rowling and Neil-Michael Murray.

Now the famous writer tirelessly talks about her immense happiness. She loves and is loved, she has a wonderful loving husband and three dearest children. She no longer needs to worry about money. She donates a lot to charity, remembering those difficult times when she was on the verge of despair.


JK Rowling and Neil Murray at a charity event on November 9, 2013.

JK Rowling and Neil Murray still do not like publicity, trying to keep their little island of happiness intact. They were able to make their dreams come true because they always believed in miracles. After all, fairy tales appear only where people are ready to hear them.

JK Rowling about herself and her life.

On the evening of July 30, 2016, the day before JK Rowling turns 51 and Harry Potter turns 36, the world will see Rowling's curse. On this day, the premiere of the play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will take place at the Palace Theater in London. Tickets are moderately priced even at the current ruble exchange rate, from 15 pounds (approximately 1,750 rubles as of February 13, 2016), but they are sold out months in advance - if you want to try your luck, you can go to the performance’s website, seats for May 2017 are still on sale. The day after the premiere, a book with the text of the play will appear in bookstores. "The Cursed Child" is not a theatrical version of one of the parts of "Harry Potter" and not a short retelling of the entire saga. This is a new story about grown-up Harry and his family, written by JK Rowling herself. Seven novels have been written about Harry Potter, they were published from 1997 to 2007, sold a whopping 450 million copies, and were then extremely successfully filmed. The author of books has turned from a self-taught writer into a millionaire, constantly present in various ratings of “the most influential women in the world”, and a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2007, after the release of The Deathly Hallows, the final installment, Rowling announced that the series had ended and would never be followed by new books.

And now Harry Potter returns. Fans waited, believed and finally got it. But what?

This is not a pipe

#This is_not_a novel #This_is_not_a prequel is scattered with JK Rowling hashtags in her twitter. This is #19_years_later. What do we know about the new Potter? Firstly, it is a play, and secondly, the play is so large that the production is divided into two parts and will be shown two evenings in a row. Thirdly, although this is not a novel, but Rowling herself, it turns out that she did not break her promise not to write more books about Potter, “The Cursed Child” is still a full-fledged 8th story and will become part of the so-called canon - that is official episode of the larger Harry Potter universe. The fans owe the book’s release to themselves—Rowling was inundated with letters from admirers from all over the world asking her to do something for those who couldn’t get to London. Two editions of the book are planned - in the first the rehearsal text will be published, in the second - the final one, with all the edits by the director and the troupe made during the general run-through. Closer to the publication of the volume, we should expect unprecedented excitement - all the past seven releases of the next book were accompanied by sheer madness and wild news. People tried to steal manuscripts from the printing house, agents, publishers and the editor made spy attacks when handing over the manuscript, they were afraid to even hold it in their hands and were horrified at the mere thought that someone would find out that they had it. The rumors were true: for example, the vans in which the book is transported to stores are surrounded by iron chains so that no one gets inside and finds out how it all ends before the start of official sales. This summer the rumors will probably be similar - say, books will be delivered by cargo drones accompanied by combat drones.

Fourthly, the author of the play is #not_quite_Rowling. She was responsible for the plot and characters, and the play “Cursed Child” itself was written by screenwriter Jack Thorne, specializing in TV series about troubled teenagers and other skinheads - “Skins”, “Misfits”, “This is England ’88”. In total, there are three names on the cover of the book: director John Tiffany, who received a Tony Award for the musical Once Upon a Time, is also listed there.

Little is known about the plot. The year is 2017, almost 20 years have passed since the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny have three children, Harry is buried alive working as an Auror at the Ministry of Magic, Ginny is working as a journalist, and their youngest son Albus Severus Potter is heading off to first grade at Hogwarts. The boy has a hard time with the fame of his family and the burden of his family name, and he is forced to deal with long-standing family secrets. The synopsis promises: “Father and son discover that sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.” There are not many plots in the world at all - only 36, according to the 19th century French theater critic Georges Polti. Let's see what Rowling came up with in a campaign with an expert on youth gangs and neo-Nazis.

Black Hermione

The grown-up Harry Potter will be portrayed on stage by Jamie Parker, an English theater actor who previously played Henry V in Henry V, one of the main roles in the musical Guys and Dolls, and in the movies he helped Tom Cruise assassinate Hitler in Operation Valkyrie " But it's all very boring. More interesting with two other main roles. Paul Thornley, who plays red-haired Ron Weasley, is brunette, and Noma Dumezweni, who plays Hermione, is black and 46 years old. She has already played a witch - in a theatrical production of Macbeth. Having joked back in December, when the casting became known, all the banal jokes on the topic of political correctness and old jokes about colorblind people and one-legged lesbians, fans rushed to study the sacred seven books and found out that Hermione’s skin color is indeed not indicated anywhere. She is white in the film only because Emma Watson is white. In general, the situation is quite interesting: one of the cross-cutting themes of Harry Potter is the conflict between Nazi magicians and antifa magicians. The first do not like “mudbloods” like Hermione and dream of destroying them. The second are against magical xenophobia. That is, even the most slow-witted people understood that this was a metaphorical description of ordinary racism. With black Hermione, the metaphor becomes completely head-on.

Literary girl

After the release of the book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in 2007, the writer went into literary experiments. In 2012, “The Casual Vacancy” went on sale, the story of a small town in which the death of a city council member provokes a long-simmering conflict between everyone and everyone. "Vacancy" is written extremely elegantly - in form it is very similar to the classic British detective story. The number of characters, space and time are limited, a closed world is shown, torn apart by internal contradictions and behind-the-scenes intrigues, there is a corpse, but there is no corpus delicti. Rowling is still not just a writer, she is, to begin with, an extremely diligent reader. The original Harry Potter was a kind of textbook of English children's literature, with endless indirect and sometimes almost direct references to the texts of its predecessors. Apparently, before writing “The Casual Vacancy,” she studied detective stories and liked it.

Then a new series followed - about the always hungover one-legged detective Cormoran Strike, whose body is broken by the Iraq war, and his soul - by the war with his ex-fiancée. There is an anecdotal situation associated with this book, either flattering or, on the contrary, very offensive for Rowling. The first series, the novel The Cuckoo's Calling, was published in 2013 under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. And in the first months several hundred copies were sold. And then it became known who the true author was, and in a couple of weeks several hundred thousand were sold.

We don't yet know what JK Rowling read before she started writing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Captivated by your heroes

Obviously, Rowling's attempts to distance herself from her main creation end in failure over and over again. Over the past nine years, she has given out new crumbs of details about the heroes of the saga with enviable regularity. She either published (for the sake of charity) short stories about Harry's parents, or wrote essays signed by Rita Skeeter about the visit to the Quidditch World Cup by the adult Potter and his brothers in arms from Dumbledore's Army, and released reports from this championship, or told fans details that were not in the books. mentioned. Yes, Dumbledore is gay, and his brother is a bestiality, Dolores Umbridge really was raped by a herd of centaurs, the marriage of Hermione and Ron cannot do without a family therapist, Potter will have a new terrible scar. In 2008, she wrote Tales of the Bard Bill, a book whose existence was mentioned in the saga, and a two-page miniature, Harry Potter: The Background, about the problems of young James Potter and Sirius Black with the police.

This year is also quite fruitful according to news from Rowling.

On websites specializing in anime and manga, a series of full-length portraits of Harry Potter characters with large eyes, traditional for Japanese comics, appeared and the caption: “This is not fan art!” It seems like these are the first images from the officially licensed manga based on Harry Potter.

Meanwhile, July 30, 2016 is not the only red day in the Potter calendar—the premiere of the film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” will take place on November 18. Rowling published the book of the same name back in 2001; in the world of Potter, it is used to teach how to care for magical animals. But this will not be an adaptation of the textbook, but a kind of prequel to the saga - about wizards and magical animals in New York in the 1920s with Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne from The Theory of Everything. And again the most important issues of the relationship between wizards and mere mortals will be touched upon. The script was written by Rowling herself. We are clearly learning something new about the magical world.

A writer is not always the master of his plots and characters. Of course, the play will enrich JK Rowling. Even if Cursed Child was a failure, people would still pay for tickets and books—any piece of paper with Rowling's name on it was bound to be a success. But don’t think that it’s all about money. Harry Potter came back because he had to come back. Some literary characters returned from the dead, like, say, Sherlock Holmes or Ostap Bender, whom their creators killed completely and irrevocably. And then they returned to the world of the living, and their adventures continued - simply because there was no other way. Yes, the writer is pressured by fans, publishers are pressured, but so are the heroes, the fictional Universe is pressured.

Joan Katherine Rowling tried to get as far as possible from the world she created. In her new works, she broke all the rules inherent in fantasy and happily used words like “condom” and “vagina”, because you can’t have sex with a unicorn in the background, she said. But there is still no escape from Rowling’s Harry Potter, and in this regard he is, of course, a cursed child.

The real name of the famous British writer J. K. Rowling is Joanna Murray. Many people know the author of the seven Harry Potter novels as Robert Galbraith. The writer uses the same pseudonym to write her equally popular detective stories.

Today Joan Kate Rowling is a successful literary figure, an outstanding personality with a worldwide reputation, a rich woman, screenwriter, film producer, happy wife, and caring mother of three children.

Joanna Kate Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in an ordinary family living in the city of Waite (UK). The girl's father (P. J. Rowling) worked at Rolls-Royce, and her mother (J. Ann Rowling) was a housewife. When Joanna was two years old, her sister, Dianna, was born. In 1969 the family migrated to Winterbourne.

The writer's childhood was truly carefree. Numerous photos of the little girl Joanna posted online confirm this fact. And Rowling herself always remembers her childhood with a smile, as it was filled with fun games with her sister, family comfort and warmth, and the care of her parents. It was they who instilled in the girl a love of literature.

A little-known fact that many researchers miss concerns the beginning of the work of the modern star: Joanne Kate Rowling wrote her first story at the age of six, and from that moment the girl did not stop creating.

In 1974, the Rowling family moved to Tutshill, Wells. The change of residence was a real shock for the nine-year-old child, due to the fact that Joanne loved and valued her school friends very much.

After 6 years, a difficult event occurred in the life of the young lady: her mother fell ill. The rapid development of the disease led to the fact that Rowling's mother soon died from multiple sclerosis. Having buried her loved one, in 1990 Joanna decides to leave Tutshill and move to London.

Having defended her diploma in French linguistics, the young girl received a position as a secretary at Amnesty International. During the same period, Rowling fell in love for the first time, so a year later she moved to Manchester with her first boyfriend.

One day, on a train heading from Manchester to London, the writer came up with the image of the same boy wizard in round glasses, familiar to all fans - Harry Potter.

"Harry Potter"

The year of publication of the first part of the novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), is considered to be the start of Joanna Rowling's career. The circulation was 1000 copies. In November, this book received the Nesyle Smarties Book Prize. In 1998, Rowling received her first international award for her work, the British Book Award.

After such success and recognition of the writer’s work, an auction was held in the United States, the lot at which was the right to publish “The Philosopher’s Stone.” The American publishing house Scholastic Incorporation won the auction, paying $105,000.

In the summer of 1998, a continuation of the novel, “The Chamber of Secrets”, was published; in 2000, the world saw the third part of the novel - “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”. The fourth part, called “The Goblet of Fire,” was able to break all sales records: the volume was 373 thousand books in 24 hours.

In 2003, Rowling wrote and published the fifth part of the sensational saga - “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” In 2005, the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was published, which broke all previous book sales records: the volume amounted to 9 million in 24 hours. In 2007, the seventh part of the novel about a boy wizard, “The Deathly Hallows,” was completed and published.

To date, all 7 parts of the fantastic saga have been translated into 70 languages. In addition, great films have been made based on JK Rowling’s novels, directed by:

• K. Columbus.
• A. Cuaron.
• D. Yates.

Rowling's other books

In addition to the novels about the little wizard from Hogwarts, the writer became famous thanks to other works.

The only book published under the pseudonym "Newt Scamander". This literary masterpiece is a spin-off story about the main little wizard. It describes events that took place 65 years before the appearance of the boy Harry.

JK Rowling transferred most of the money received from the sale of the book (about 13 million pounds sterling) to the account of the largest children's charity organizations.

The fairy tale “The Bunny Hare and her Cluttering Tree Stump” was written between 2007 and 2009. For this masterpiece of world literature for children, Prince Charles awarded the writer the Order of the British Empire.

The novel “The Casual Vacancy” is the first work of the “social drama” genre from Joan Kate Rowling for adults and teenagers.

Also, the detective story “The Call (Cry) of the Cuckoo” made a lot of noise.

Personal life of JK Rowling

While working at Amnesty International in her youth, Rowling was looking for a new job. So, after reading an advertisement in The Guardian about a teaching vacancy, J. K. Rowling decided to leave for Portugal.

It was in the city of Porto that Rowling met her first husband, television journalist Jorge Arantes. Their wedding took place in the fall of 1992, and already in July 1993, the young family had a daughter, Jessica-Isabelle Rowling-Arantes.

Despite the complexity of her relationship with her husband, the writer tried her best to keep the family together. Biographers suggest that Rowling was often subjected to scenes of jealousy, domestic violence, and beatings. Such rumors are confirmed by the writer’s confession about how her husband once beat her and then simply kicked her and her daughter out of the house.

In December 1993, Rowling, with Jessica in her arms (and 3 chapters of Harry Potter already written in her bag), was forced to go to Edinburgh (Scotland) to visit her younger sister.

In 1993, Rowling returned to England. Having become a single mother, she applied for state benefits (70 pounds), which became the writer’s only income. Despite her poor financial situation, she continued to work hard.

Due to bitter personal experience, the writer did not dare to start a family for a long time. She devoted all her time to her daughter and, of course, to creativity. Only 8 years later, Joan became a wife again. The writer's chosen one is anesthesiologist Neil-Michael Murray (5 years younger than her).

In 2001, the couple legalized their relationship, and in 2003 their son David was born. In January 2005, the couple had another baby, who was named Mackenzie. In her first interview after giving birth, J.K. Rowling stated that she was truly happy, and the reason for her boundless joy was her beloved children and a sincerely loving man.

• Before the first publication of Harry Potter, it was the American publishing house Scholastic Incorporation that suggested Rowling use a pseudonym. The author chose to add her grandmother’s initials to her name – Kathleen. This is how the pseudonym J. K. Rowling appeared. Even despite her official surname Murray, Joanna continues to write under a pseudonym, which brought her worldwide popularity.

• Joanne Kate Rowling admits that today (as when creating her first book) she is inspired by the lyrical concerts of Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The writer says that she writes her masterpieces armed with pen and paper. Only after creating a draft by hand, the author types the text on a computer, then sends it to the publishing house.
• If there are no sheets of notepad at hand, she writes down thoughts on any objects. For example, the names of the faculties of the Hogwarts University of Magic were invented by J. K. Rowling on the plane and written down on a disposable paper bag.

JK Rowling today

Today, J. K. Rowling is the world's highest paid author. Rowling's entire literary legacy is valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, and the Harry Potter trademark itself is worth approximately $15 billion.

In the summer of 2016, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child took place in London. Contrary to numerous rumors and fan assumptions, this work is not a full-fledged eighth part of the novel, but only a script for a theatrical production. The real authors of The Cursed Child are Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

The work is a new story. It shows actions taking place 19 years after the events described in Deathly Hallows.

In September 2016, Rowling's Pottermore portal launched new applications, which are collections of additions to the main 7 parts of the fantastic saga about the wizard. The plots of these stories tell about several minor characters, about the history of the emergence of the Azkaban prison and the Hogwarts school of magic.

In an interview with The Guardian, J.K. Rowling admitted that she is currently working hard on two works. New books will be published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

The writer noted that the “new items” have nothing to do with the character of Newt Scamander from the story “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which was filmed in America in the fall of 2016.

Bibliography

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• Harry Potter And The Chamber of secrets
• Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Random vacancy
• The Cuckoo's Calling
• Silkworm
• In the service of evil

Celebrity biographies

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31.07.15 12:40

The billionaire writer who gave the world Harry Potter has sold her books about the boy wizard with a circulation of more than 400 million copies. The biography of JK Rowling, who is celebrating her fiftieth birthday today, is quite remarkable: a poor housewife became one of the most successful women on the planet! Isn't this magic?

Biography of JK Rowling

Almost like Hermione

London's King's Cross station, from which the express train departs for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, played a huge role in the biography of JK Rowling. It is well known that it was at this large station that inspiration came to the desperate housewife. And on his platform, the romance of Joan’s parents began: English engineer Peter James Rowling met his future wife Anne Wolan. Married in 1965, they became father and mother to Joan (her birthday was July 31 of that year) and Dianne, who is almost two years younger than her sister.

Joan was born near Bristol, and later the family moved to the village of Winterbourne. Already as a schoolgirl, Rowling wrote short fantasy novels - Dianne was her first reader. The writer herself claims that the “nerdy” Hermione is almost her self-portrait. Rowling also had an enviable thirst for knowledge; she passed exams in French and English with “excellent” marks, and in German with “good” marks. But everything was difficult with the parents: my mother was already ill then, and my father did not understand his daughter, who adored Tolkien and Dickens.

Modest secretary

Rowling dreamed of Oxford, but was only able to enter the University of Exeter, and studied for a year in Paris (as an exchange student). She received degrees in philology and French and settled in London. The first job in JK Rowling's biography was the Amnesty International organization: an excellent student and a smart girl got a modest position as a secretary. In a few years she will leave this job and move with her boyfriend to Manchester. It was on the Manchester-London Express in 1990 that strange fantasies about a little magician from a school of witchcraft came into Joan's head.

Depression and unbridled inspiration

Returning home, she immediately started writing a novel. This inspiration coincided with a difficult period in JK Rowling's personal life: in December 1990, her mother, who had been battling multiple sclerosis for many years, was overcome by illness. This is where, in the first book about Harry, the hero’s painful thoughts about the death of his parents come from.

For some time, Joan moved to the capital of Portugal - she taught English and at the same time worked on a book. In Porto, she met her first husband, but the marriage with journalist Arantes lasted just over a year, the British woman remained with her baby daughter and returned to her homeland. At the end of 1993, they ended up in Edinburgh, Scotland. A few chapters of the novel and a handful of personal belongings - that was all the wealth of the future celebrity at that time. No work, no prospects... Rowling was overtaken by depression, but the writer was also able to “use” it in the future: Joan described her heart-sucking melancholy in her third novel (this feeling covers those who encounter dementors).

A bestseller born... in a cafe

The husband tried to take his daughter away, but Rowling protected herself from him with a court order. Why did she write to her Harry in a cafe? She explains it simply: her daughter fell asleep well in the fresh air, so they went for a walk. Having put the baby to sleep, the young mother sat down at the table and scribbled sheet after sheet. She lived on benefits, and after finishing The Philosopher's Stone in the summer of 1995, she got a job at a college at the University of Edinburgh.

After unsuccessful attempts to get the novel published (a dozen publishers refused to publish the newcomer’s work), Rowling was finally able to come to an agreement with the editor of the London publishing house, Cunningham: his daughter liked the first chapter, which her dad gave her to read “as a test.” Joan was given an advance of 1.5 thousand pounds. Later, the debutante managed to receive an 8,000-dollar grant, so she could continue to create. Thus began the great epic of writing Potter.

Record after record

The same publisher (Bloomsbury) released a thousand copies to begin with. The book received many awards and was published in the States. Joan was able to buy a house in Edinburgh, where she settled with her daughter. In the summer of 1998, the second book about Harry was published, a year and a half later - “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”; these two books, like the debut, won the prestigious Smarties Award. “Goblet of Fire” was able to break sales records, being released on both sides of the ocean - in the UK and the States (more than 372 thousand on the first day).

Three years later, The Order of the Phoenix was released - everyone will agree that this is the most unassuming of the seven books. Evil tongues claimed: this is a creative crisis. The author did not agree with this statement. In the summer of 2005, another record-breaking book was published - about the Half-Blood Prince. At the beginning of 2007, the seventh part (“Deathly Hallows”) was completed. Its sale began in July of the same year. The first day brought a pleasant surprise: 11 million copies were sold instantly.

Now the Harry Potter brand, according to the most conservative estimates, is worth more than $15 billion, and the film adaptations have become commercial hits. Joan controlled the filming process so that there were no gross discrepancies with her books. Although the writer promised that she would no longer publish novels about Harry, she broke her promise. A book about the adult heroes of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child series has been published.

Other projects and charity

In 2012, a novel by a British woman not related to the Potter universe, “The Casual Vacancy,” was published. And although its circulation exceeded a million copies, it did not see the success of books about Harry.

Joan wanted to intrigue the public and published the detective story “The Cuckoo's Calling” under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. No one believed that this was a newcomer, and then one of the writer’s acquaintances revealed her secret. The Deciphered celebrity published the second book in this series (about detective Strike) in the summer of 2014. The Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, has been successfully filmed. Rowling herself wrote the script for this film with Redmayne and Farrell. Another big-budget franchise awaits us.

Rowling, who herself has fully experienced poverty, devotes a lot of effort and money to charity, takes financial part in the research of the terrible disease that claimed the life of her mother - multiple sclerosis. She has already donated more than £10 million to these causes. The writer also has her own fund, money from which goes to socially disadvantaged families.

Personal life of JK Rowling

Unsuccessful marriage

Joan got married for the first time in the fall of 1992 - her husband was the Portuguese Jorge Arantes, whom the future billionaire first met in a bar. JK Rowling's personal life turned into a nightmare for a while: Jorge had a hot temper.

While they were still dating, the British woman had a miscarriage, and in July 1993, the couple had a daughter, Jessica Isabelle. When, just over three months later, Joan and Jorge had a huge fight, he kicked his wife out of the house. The divorce was finalized later.

Loving husband and three children

The writer was in no hurry to start a family again - all her time was occupied by creativity. But in December 2001, she became a wife again. Her chosen one is doctor Neil Michael Murray (he is almost five years younger than Joan).

Joanne Rowling

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Part one. Part two.

PART ONE

Act one

Act two

PART TWO

Act three

Act Four

Acknowledgments

To Jack Thorne, who came into my world and created something beautiful in it.

- J.K. Rowling

To Joe, Louis, Max, Sonny and Merle... you are all magicians...

- John Tiffany

- Jack Thorne

Translating to Russian language

Alexander Averba, Svetlana Tonkonozhenko, Oleg Chumachenko, Daria Nikolenko, Melinda Taizhetinova, Anna Prosenko, Tatyana Osipenko, Nadezhda Shinkareva, Shef. Alexander “Tiziano” Polyatykin, Ksenia Kotikova, Anton Zhalob, rioter_blast, Olesya Stafeeva, Dionis Korneev

Translation editors

Anna Prosenko, Vladimir Seleznev, Dionis Korneev, Daria Nikolenko, Melinda Taizhetinova

PART ONE

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE. KING'S CROSS

A busy and crowded station, full of people trying to get somewhere. Amid the hustle and bustle, two huge cages rattle on top of two carts. They are being pushed by two boys, James Potter and Albus Potter. Their mother, Ginny, follows. Thirty-seven-year-old Harry holds his daughter Lily on his shoulders.

ALBUS: Dad. He keeps saying it.

HARRY: James, stop it.

JAMES: I just said he might end up in Slytherin. And he can... (Under the gaze of his father.) OK.

ALBUS (looks at his mother): You will write to me, won't you?

GINNY: Every day, if you want.

ALBUS: No. Not every day. James says most receive letters from home about once a month. I don't want...

HARRY: Last year we wrote to your brother three times a week.

ALBUS: What? James!

Albus looks at James accusingly.

GINNY: Yes. You probably won't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts. Your brother really likes to joke.

JAMES (with a grin): Please, can we go now?

Albus looks at his father, then at his mother.

GINNY: All you have to do is go straight between platforms nine and ten.

LILY: I'm so worried.

HARRY: Don't stop and don't worry about crashing, that's very important. It's better to run away if you're nervous.

ALBUS: I'm ready.

Harry and Lily place their hands on Albus's cart... Ginny takes James' cart and the whole family struggles to get over the barrier.

SCENE TWO. PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS

The platform is covered in thick white steam emanating from the Hogwarts Express.

It's very crowded... but instead of people in sharp suits going about their business, it's filled with wizards and witches in robes, trying to say goodbye to their beloved offspring.

ALBUS: There she is.

LILY: Wow!

ALBUS: Platform nine and three quarters.

LILY: Where are they? They are here? Maybe they didn't arrive?

Harry points to Ron, Hermione and their daughter Rose. Lily quickly runs towards them.

Uncle Ron. Uncle Ron!!!

Ron turns to them as Lily runs towards him. He grabs her in his arms.

RON: Isn't this my favorite Potter?

LILY: Do you have a new trick?

RON: Have you ever heard of the Magical Breathing Hoarse?

Certified Nose Kidnapping from Mr. Weasley?

ROSE: Mom! Dad wants to show this disgusting trick again.

HERMIONE: You say disgusting, someone says wonderful, but I say

Somewhere in the middle.

RON: Wait. Let me just chew this... air for a bit. Now forgive me if I smell a little like garlic...

He blows on her face. Lily giggles.

LILY: You smell like oatmeal.

RON: Bing. Bang. Boeing. Young lady, get ready to no longer be able to smell...

He pulls her nose.

LILY: Where's my nose?

RON: Ta-dam!

His hand is empty.

LILY: This is stupid.

ALBUS: Everyone's staring at us again.

RON: It's all because of me! I'm extremely famous. My nose tricks are legendary.

HERMIONE: Yes, that's something.

HARRY: Did you park properly?

RON: Yes. Hermione didn't believe I could pass the Muggle driving test, did she? She thought I would have to cast a Confundus Charm on the examiner.

HERMIONE: I didn’t even think of anything like that, I was absolutely sure of you.

ROSE: And I'm absolutely sure that he actually cast a Confundus Charm on the examiner.

ALBUS: Dad...

Albus grabs Harry's robes. Harry looks down.

Do you think... what if... what if I end up in Slytherin...

HARRY: What's wrong with that?

ALBUS: Slytherin is a house of snakes, a house of Dark magic... And not at all a house of brave wizards.

HARRY: Albus Severus, you were named after two Headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably one of the bravest people I have ever met.

ALBUS: But just tell me...

HARRY: If it matters to you, the Sorting Hat will take your feelings into account.

ALBUS: Really?

HARRY: Well, she did it for me.

Harry realizes he's never spoken about this before and he pauses for a moment.

Hogwarts will take care of you, Albus. I promise you have nothing to fear there.

JAMES: Except for thestrals. Watch out for thestrals.

ALBUS: I thought they were invisible!

HARRY: Listen to your professors, not James, and remember to have fun. And now, if you don’t want the train to leave without you, it’s time to jump on it...

LILY: I'll run after the train.

GINNY: Lily, come back right away.

HERMIONE: Rose, don't forget to kiss Neville for us.

ROSE: Mom, I can't kiss the professor!

Rose got on the train. Then Albus turned and hugged Ginny and Harry one last time before following her.

ALBUS: Okay. Bye.

He climbs into the carriage. Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry stand and look at

a train leaving with a whistle and rumble.

GINNY: They'll be okay, right?

HERMIONE: Hogwarts is a great place.

RON: Great. Beautiful. Filled with food. I would give anything to go back there.

HARRY: It's strange, Al is afraid of being sorted into Slytherin.

HERMIONE: That's okay, Rose is afraid of whether she'll break the Quidditch record in the first or second year. And how early can she take her S.O.V.s.

RON: I have no idea why she's so ambitious.

GINNY: Harry, how will you feel if Al gets there?

RON: You know, Gin, we always thought you had a chance to get into Slytherin.

GINNY: What?

RON: Honestly. Fred and George were sure of it.

HERMIONE: Shall we go? People are watching, you know.

GINNY: People always stare when you three are together. And separately. People are always looking at you.

The four heads towards the exit. Ginny stops Harry.

Harry... he'll be fine, right?

HARRY: Of course it will.

SCENE THREE. HOGWARTS EXPRESS

Albus and Rose walk around the train carriage. A witch conductor approaches them, pushing a cart with sweets.

WITCH GUIDE: Do you want anything, kids? Pumpkin pie? Chocolate frog? Boiler cake?

ROSE ( catching Albus's loving gaze at the Chocolate Frogs): Al. We need to focus.

ALBUS: What to focus on?

ROSE: On who we can make friends with. My mom and dad met your dad on their first trip on the Hogwarts Express, you know...

ALBUS: So now we need to choose those with whom we will be friends for the rest of our lives? It's quite scary.

ROSE: On the contrary, it's interesting. I'm Granger-Weasley, you're Potter - everyone will want to be friends with us, we can choose anyone we want.

ALBUS: And how do we decide which compartment to go in...

ROSE: We'll go through everything and then decide.

Albus opens the door and sees a lonely blond man, Scorpius, in an empty compartment. Albus smiles. Scorpius smiles back.