Chinese Fantasy Show Accused of Stealing Harry Potter’s Magic

Harry Potter fans threaten to Avada Kedavra drama accused of plot-copying.

Harry Potter fought off Dementors, won Ginny Weasley’s heart, and vanquished Voldemort, but he’s now got a new challenge on the horizon: A Chinese drama that appears to have snitched a storyline directly from the series.

After “Legend of Fu Yao” premiered in China on Monday, some viewers pointed out that the television series appeared to have plagiarized “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire,” the fourth installment in British novelist J.K. Rowling’s seven-part series. Twelve episodes have aired so far — and online clips from or related to the show had gained over 350 million views within a day of the season premier.

In the series, the heroine Fu Yao is a disciple at Xuanyuan, a Taoist school that teaches swordsmanship and sorcery. The story focuses on the Tiandou Competition, an event held every eight years. To join in the contest, hopefuls must throw a piece of paper dipped in their own blood into a bronze cauldron. Once they’re signed up, there’s no getting out of the three-round competition, which sees challengers fight against a buffalo-shaped mythical creature, among other tasks.

Loyal Potterheads were quick to notice the similarities with the fourth installment’s Triwizard Tournament, a competition held every five years between three wizarding schools. Like Potter, Fu Yao wasn’t qualified to enter — but someone stole her blood and entered her anyway, hoping to get her killed. In the Harry Potter book, a teacher hoping to put Potter in harm’s way threw a piece of parchment with the 14-year-old’s name on it into the Goblet of Fire, despite the competition being restricted to students over 17. Continue to read the full article here.

 

-This is original content by Sixth Tone and has been republished with permission.