JK Rowling confirms Harry Potter's story is complete: "We're done"

Speaking at the Palace Theatre on the official launch day of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the author told press that the Boy Who Lived "goes on a very big journey during these two plays and then, yeah, I think we're done".

She added: "This is the next generation, you know. So, I'm thrilled to see it realised so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now."

It comes as the two-part play, which officially opened yesterday after more than a month of previews, extends its run until December 2017. From today, fans around the world will also be able to buy and download a copy of the Cursed Child script – a release that many bookshops marked with launch parties akin to the kind staged when Rowling's books were first released.

The new production tells the story of Harry, Ron and Hermione 19 years after the events of the Deathly Hallows, but also focuses on Harry's son, Albus Severus Potter, and introduces a number of new characters to the canon.

Created by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany and Sonia Friedman, Rowling said, "It chimed perfectly with the material I had about the next generation and I could see it would work perfectly. So I never wanted to write another novel, but this will give the fans something special."