Harry Potter fans got a huge surprise today with the announcement of an eighth story coming very soon.

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts I and II will be released on July 31, 2016, according to a new announcement by British publisher Little, Brown. But this is not a new novel. It is actually the script book of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, which is debuting at the West End in London in July.

However, Little, Brown is advertising this as the eighth story in the Harry Potter series. The play is written by Jack Thorne and based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Thorne and the play's director, John Tiffany.

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"We are so thrilled to be publishing the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," David Shelley, CEO of Little, Brown Book Group said in a press release this week via The Bookseller. "J.K. Rowling and her team have received a huge number of appeals from fans who can't be in London to see the play and who would like to read the play in book format--and so we are absolutely delighted to be able to make it available for them."

The play takes place 19 years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows--the final novel in the series. Harry Potter is now a worker at the Ministry of Magic and the father of three children. Meanwhile, his youngest son, Albus, is grappling with the legacy of his family.

"Together the print and digital editions of the script book will allow the epic, eighth Harry Potter story to be read by those fans globally who may not be able to see the stage version in London," said literary agency The Blair Partnership.

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Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Books