J.K. Rowling is begging fans not to spoil “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”

It’s time to return to Hogwarts. We know who the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is and what they look like, and we can’t wait for them to bring the next installment to life. Public previews of the play start today, but author (and playwright!) J.K. Rowling wants to make sure the magic stays real for every new audience who comes to see it.

Rowling released a video yesterday on YouTube asking Cursed Child audiences to keep the story’s secrets to themselves. In the video, she’s standing next to a “Keep Calm” parody poster that reads “Keep Calm and Keep the Secrets.”

“You’ve been amazing for years at keeping Harry Potter secrets so you didn’t spoil the books for readers who came after you,” she says. “So I’m asking you one more time to keep secrets and lets audiences enjoy Cursed Child with all the surprises that we’ve built into the story.”

When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book of the series, was released, Twitter had only been around for a little over a year. It didn’t have nearly the number of users it does now, and people certainly didn’t flock to it to share every feeling, reaction, and, well, spoiler that they do now. But 10 years later, we’re experiencing Harry Potter in a new generation of technology and connectivity. Once Cursed Child is out there, it will be easy to spoil the story. So please, if you’re going to talk about the plot, lead with a ton of spoiler warnings.

Here’s the video of Rowling making her plea to audiences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=