The main cast of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' has now been announced, and as much as it's upped the excitement, the choice for Hermione Granger has caused some confusion among fans. Swaziland-born, Olivier-award winning Noma Dumezweni is named to play an older version of the clever witch.

JK RowlingJk Rowling approves of black Hermione

Alongside Dumezweni, whose previous credits include 'Doctor Who' and 'Little Miss Jocelyn', 'The Cursed Child' will also star Jamie Parker as Harry Potter and Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley. Parker has starred in West End's 'The History Boys' while Thornley is known for starring alongside Tom Hardy in 'London Road'.

'I'm so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child', author JK Rowling revealed on Pottermore. 'I can't wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer.'

Not everyone's happy with the choice of casting, however. There has been some backlash amongst fans as to the reason behind casting a black actress as Granger, with many fans thinking they know more about the 'Harry Potter' books than JK Rowling does. Eagle-eyed readers were quick to point out references in the books to Hermione going 'pink' with embarrassment and 'pale' with fear. Also, she was described as looking 'very brown' following her trip to the South of France in book three, which seems an unlikely choice of description for a black character. Then, of course, there's the fact that her hair is described as brown rather than the more obvious black, and the fact that Rowling frequently represented her as white in her own illustrations. There is also the idea that Rowling would've have referred to her as being black if she was intending for her to be represented that way, the same as she did with the likes of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Dean Thomas.

On the other hand, her frequent description of having 'bushy hair' is very suggestive, and there's no reason to suggest her skin wouldn't visibly go pink, lighten or even tan if she was mixed race. She's also bullied by Malfoy for being a Mudblood - or muggle-born - reflecting a kind of racism in the wizarding world which is something that would parallel beautifully if Hermione was black and had also suffered prejudice for the colour of her skin growing up.

Either way, Rowling deserves the last word in this sort of decision and she insists that there's nothing in her books to suggest a certain race for Hermione. 'Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione', Rowling told her fans on Twitter.

More: What we know about 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'

Indeed, Matthew Lewis who played Neville Longbottom in the movies was quick to back her up - and, indeed, point out that it doesn't always matter what the books say. 'Neville Longbottom was blonde. I really don't care. Good luck to [Noma]', he said. 

'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' will hit the West End in the summer of 2016.