Christina Mack/E! IllustrationThis week marks an occasion so monumental that Harry Potter fans can hardly believe it.
Nearly a decade after the final tome was released, there's finally another story in the HP tale. The story comes, oddly enough, straight from London's West End. The book is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is technically a printed screenplay. This summer, the play of the same name has been performing for lucky Brits, and J.K. Rowling herself decided to spread the wealth to her geographically-unlucky fans.
The Cursed Child's plot has been kept relatively under wraps by order of Rowling, in an attempt to preserve some element of surprise for readers. No spoilers here, but we will say that it starts where the seventh book left off—Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron are sending their children off to their first year at Hogwarts. It follows Albus (a.k.a. Harry's son) as he struggles with living in his father's shadow...and that's pretty much it. You'll learn the rest when you crack open the first page.
But what we do know is that there is a slew of new names and terms to get familiar with before we said cracking open. After decades with the previous books everybody is well versed with the accios and the parselmouths and the every flavor beans, but what about this round of terms and characters? That's where we come in. Consider this your pre-Cursed Child test prep. Read up on these cheats and you'll be good to go for all your reading pleasure.
The Players
Albus Potter: Son of Harry and Ginny, namesake of the late Dumbledore. Duh.
Scorpius Malfoy: Son of Draco, possible arch-nemesis to Albus.
Delphi Diggory: The niece of Amos Diggery, who, if you'll recall, lost his hunky son Cedric during The Goblet of Fire.
Bane the Centaur: The head of the centaurs, a.k.a. half-men/half-horses, who run the Forbidden Forest at the edge of Hogwarts.
Ludo Bagman: The charismatic emcee of the Tri-Wizard tournament.
The Terms:
Durmstrang: A magic school that competed against Hogwarts in the 1994 Tri-Wizard Tournament, whose reigning star is the hunky-slash-scary Viktor Krum.
Beauxbatons: The third competing academy of magic participating in said Tri-Wizard Tournament. It's French, and their fans are...lackluster.
Engorgement: This is a charm that does pretty much exactly what it sounds like—it causes the recipient to swell up an embarrassing-slash-frightening amount.
Incarcerous: A spell that conjures ropes to bind up one's enemy.
Tarantallegra: Otherwise known as the "Dancing Feet Spell." You get the idea.
Flipendo: Picture a curse that sends your dueling partner twirling through the air.
Emancipare: Want to get free of the aforementioned binding spell? Use this one.