New Harry Potter Game Will Have Transgender Character Despite J.K. Rowling's Views

Makers of the new Harry Potter game are ignoring J.K. Rowling's reservations about transgender women.

The soon-to-be-released game would now include a trans character, despite the Harry Potter creator's critique of the community, dating back to 2017 and 2018 when she liked tweets that spoke against the movement.

Although she subsequently claimed that she mistakenly liked the statements, which also made derogatory comments about trans women, the author has returned to her original position. In fact, she has doubled down so much on her stance that celebs like Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Eddie Redmayne took a stand against her publicly.

The wizarding universe of "Harry Potter" has introduced its first trans character in its upcoming game, "Hogwarts Legacy." The highly-anticipated role-playing game would now include a character known as Sirona Ryan — a witch that serves as the proprietress of the "Three Broomsticks" pub in Hogsmeade village. While the game does not explicitly state that the character is trans, Ryan clues players in by saying:

"[Lodgok's] mistrust of wizardkind ran deep... [I] hadn't seen him in years when he came in a few months ago. But he recognized me instantly... Which is more than I can say for some of my own classmates. [It] took them a second to realize I was actually a witch, not a wizard."

The statement is made after players meet the character in her pub and pull up a chair at the bar to engage Ryan. Additionally, the new game would enable players to customize their avatars to identify as trans. 

While Harry Potter stans are excited about the game, Daily Mail has reported claims about the character's inclusion being "performative bulls**t" to limit attention to the controversy surrounding it. 

The controversy in question would be the culmination of calls to boycott the game based on Rowling's stance that being trans should not oust gender identity. The philanthropist had written at the time:

"If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn't hate to speak the truth."

The "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" author added that the concept of women like her that have spent decades "been empathetic to trans people, feeling kinship because they're vulnerable in the same way as women—i.e., to male violence—'hate' trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences—is a nonsense."

While calls for boycotts of "Hogwarts Legacy" began as the game's release date drew closer, they escalated after Rowling responded to a Twitter user that stated that "any support" of the "is harmful." In the words of the 57-year-old:

"The truly righteous wouldn't just burn their books and movies but the local library, anything with an owl on it and their own pet dogs."

With all this happening, one person who claimed to be friends with somebody who worked on the game said the Warner Bros. video game studio, Portkey, responded to the growing clamor by inserting Sirona Ryant into "Hogwarts Legacy."

The Blast observed last October that Rowling clapped back at a Twitter troll by posting her royalty check to prove her unstoppable income flow. The drama began after the tweeter asked, "How do you sleep at night knowing you've lost a whole audience from buying your books." 

In response, the "Troubled Blood" author shared a screenshot of the original tweet along with the caption, "I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly."

Rowling's statement seemed to resonate with her followers who have given it over 22k retweets and nearly 300k likes. Several open-minded individuals who believed she deserved every bit of her dime also showed her support, showering her with positive remarks.

The last time the screenwriter did anything remotely controversial was when she skipped the HBO special, "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts." In her defense, Rowling said:

"I was asked to be on that, and I decided I didn't want to do it. I thought it was about the films more than the books, quite rightly. That was what the anniversary was about."