Praise #BlackGirlMagic: Harry Potter Finally Casts a Black Hermione

Oh, you thought Nerdom 2015 couldn’t get any Blacker? You thought we were done taking over all the fandoms? Nah, son. I hope you got your wand ready because the new face of Hermione Granger has just been announced as incredible South African British actress Noma Dumezweni! Many fans will remember that for the past two years J.K. Rowling has had a plan in the works to bring her beloved fantasy series to the stage, and it was recently confirmed that the two-part project, titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, would premiere at London’s Palace Theatre on July 30, 2016. Dumezweni will join actors Jamie Parker as Harry Potter and Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley to bring to life our heroes’ adventures as fully mature adults, imagined by playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany. According to the official synopsis: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

With a long and impressive resume of film, television, radio, and theatre roles as well as a coveted Laurence Olivier award, this isn’t Dumezweni’s first time assuming a role originally playe…