Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two: The Official Playscript of the Original West End Production

*some spoilers to follow* If I’m being honest, I never originally intended on reading this story. I adore Harry Potter, I just felt that the story was better left as is after the epilogue of the Deathly Hallows. But then my book bestie morphed into the pushiest book pusher that ever pushed and suddenly I found myself having already finished and wondering how I ever thought I could not read this. Setting aside all the vast amounts of criticism this has received (i.e. this isn’t written by Rowling, it reads like fan-fic, it’s not even a book but a screenplay) it ended up being more than I could have ever hoped for. “Hogwarts will be the making of you, Albus. I promise you, there is nothing to be frightened of there.” Taking us right back to the epilogue of the Deathly Hallows, we get to see Albus getting on his first train to Hogwarts. And his discussion with Harry regarding the possibility of him being placed in Slytherin. We’re not given the detailed account of his time spent at Hogwarts, but rather the generalized impression that Hogwarts isn’t quite the sanctuary for him that it was for his father. The comprehensive details of the world are also missing from the screenplay but for those of us who have already read the first seven books, that world is emblazoned upon our minds and no rehashing of details are necessary for us to fully comprehend each and every scene. Cursed Child manages to smoothly connect many major plot points from the original novels: the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic by Harry, Ron, and Hermione (Deathly Hallows, book 7), the Tri-Wizard tournament and Cedric’s death (Goblet of Fire, book 4), time turners (Prisoner of Azkaban, book 3), the perpetual battle between good and evil, and the important father-son relationships that have been a focal point of this series from the beginning. It also makes a less than obvious point of showing how seemingly inconsequential deaths end up having a much larger impact in the grand scheme of things. With the help of a time turner, we’re shown snippets of how the world could have been with the simplest of changes. The variation of possibilities was both shocking and horrifying. What I most enjoyed was how this wasn’t simply a new set of adventures with a new set of characters but rather recognition of the fact that the actions of the past was not a given end to that story, but that they inevitably had an effect on the future of their own children. Harry: “How do I protect my son, Dumbledore?” Dumbledore: “You ask me, of all people, how to protect a boy in terrible danger? We cannot protect the young from harm. Pain must and will come.” While we do see the original characters and what they have become 19 years later, the focal point is on their children, primarily Albus and Scorpius who become immediate friends on the Hogwarts Express. Albus has a severely strained relationship with his father, Harry, and has difficulty living up to not just the enormous importance of his father, of the great men he was named after, and because of the fact that he was in fact placed in Slytherin rather than his father’s house, Gryffindor. It’s easy to see from the original stories how understandable it would be for Harry to not be the perfect father, considering his own lack of a permanent father figure. He does what he feels is best even when it is quite clearly not best, and the scenes between the two are often painful and heartbreaking. Scorpius, son of Draco Malfoy, also suffers from a poor relationship with his father due the actions of his past as well as Draco’s own relationship with his father, Lucius. In October of this year I decided to do an impromptu re-read of the Harry Potter series on audio. I have re-read books 1-3 numerous times but I tend to run out of steam and have never been able to re-read books 4-7. Well, I finally overcame my hangups and completed my first re-read of Goblet of Fire. Due to the majority of this story centering around the storyline from The Goblet of Fire I chose to do my second re-read of the year (ha) of Cursed Child since the storyline was still so fresh in my mind. It works extremely well if you treat it as a #4.5 book as well, granted, it’s vital to know the outcome of the series as a whole in order to fully appreciate how it ties everything together and illustrates the growth of these characters. “Perfection is beyond the reach of humankind, beyond the reach of magic. In every shining moment of happiness is that drop of poison: the knowledge that pain will come again. Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe.” Yes, perfection is an impossibility, and while there were many things I would have personally changed, this still managed to hit all my Harry Potter feels as perfectly as possible. Cursed Child reinforced my love of both the original stories and characters by growing them in legitimate ways, it gave me new characters to love (primarily Scorpius <3), and it removed the stereotype associated with Slytherin house by showing that not all associated are necessarily evil. #slytherinpride

I was so happy to be transported back into the magical world of Harry Potter one more time. I never thought that would happen again and for that I am grateful. Overall, I'm glad I read the screenplay. I had heard many not-so-good reviews of the book and decided to go into it as blindly as possible. I was able to avoid any spoilers and was very aware that this was a screenplay and not a book and that it wouldn't be the same as a Harry Potter book, and that helped me to enjoy it more and just take it for what it is: another new Harry Potter experience. HP8 is not perfect. The writing is often quite flat and SO FAR from J.K. Rowling's voice that at times the characters don't even feel like themselves (I'm looking at you, Ron...). It is largely plot and action based, and I'm sure the actors would bring so much more life into the script when performed, but to read it certainly felt unauthentic at times. Where the old characters fall a bit flat, the new ones shine. Albus and Scorpius have an enviable friendship. It was interesting to see the children of two arch-enemies become best friends, completely disregarding their fathers' opinions of the other family. It was also interesting to see Hogwarts through the eyes of an unpopular boy who wasn't particularly good at magic or Quidditch. Albus' experience at school was the complete opposite of Harry's and, in my opinion, made Hogwarts feel a little bit more realistic. I loved the theme of family in this book. It was so satisfying to see our trio happy with families of their own and jobs that were actually perfect for them. Regardless of how I felt about the actual choice of storyline, the writing style, or anything else, I still loved the book because it was another chance to be immersed in the wizarding world without knowing what happens next, and that is a rare thing that I haven't had the privilege of experiencing for many years. Harry Potter is and always will be my first true love when it comes to books. The original Harry Potter books inspired and engrossed me like nothing has since, and have proved themselves to endure as phenomenal works for nearly my whole life. I remember being six or seven years old and my mom purchased Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to read aloud to me at night before bed. As they came out, I checked out the next books at the library and devoured them. I became obsessed with the series -- I had SO MUCH HP merch back in the day. Shirts, a backpack, decorations for my room, a clock, video games, literally everything. I had my mom pre-order the new books for me and waited at the front door for UPS to show up. I attended midnight releases of the books and movies as I got older. I literally grew up alongside Harry Potter and I am so grateful for those wonderful experiences, and I will continue to be grateful for any little extension of that world that I might get. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK, I RECOMMEND STOPPING HERE. It was absolutely heartbreaking to read about Albus' trials during the first part of the book. I felt so sad for him to feel so lonely and useless at Hogwarts. I hated that he felt like a disappointment to Harry for being sorted into Slytherin. I wanted to help Albus and Harry to connect with each other and for Harry to be able to help Albus with his demons. I was terrified during the portion of the time travel when Albus and Scorpius discover the alternate reality where Voldemort is ruler. I had never considered that alternative -- that Voldemort was victorious during the Battle of Hogwarts, that he killed Harry and prevailed to lead the wizarding world into darkness. I'm glad it was a short piece of the book because it was so horrible, but it was interesting to consider and also put into perspective a bit more that weight of Harry's greatness that Albus felt he had to live up to. The back and forth time travel got a bit tiresome at times, but I did not see the twist with Delphi coming AT ALL. I love when I can be surprised by a twist or turn in a book and certainly was here, although thinking about Voldemort's and Bellatrix's daughter is pretty disgusting. It's very interesting that J.K. Rowling decided to make that canon. One last thing -- THANK YOU to J.K. Rowling for making Hermione Minister of Magic! I could not believe what I had read when that was revealed and was SO PROUD of my frizzy-haired girl for coming so far. Hermione was the first character I remember ever truly LOVING and identifying with and it was so wonderful to see her turn out to be everything she deserved.

My daughter was very happy

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Qu'il est plaisant de revenir à Poudlard (ou enfin presque). Bien que le format pièce de théâtre soit un peu plus compliqué à lire que les romans, on replonge avec plaisir dans l'univers créé par J.K.Rowling, 20 après nos première péripéties. Sans dévoiler quoi que ce soit, nous repartons exactement là où la lecture des précédents volets nous avait arrêté, puisque le début reprend presque au mot près l'épilogue du tome 7 des aventures du sorcier à lunette. Nous suivons ici les pérégrinations d'un de ses fils, en compagnie d'un autre élève de Poudlard. La lecture est agréable, l'anglais n'a rien de compliqué et même sans être parfaitement bilingue on peut se permettre de lire cette version originale. L'histoire est simple, mais nous remet immédiatement dans le bain, et nous montre à quel point on était en manque de cet univers simple et fantastique. Ce qui suit peut contenir d'éventuel spoilers, mais rien de méchant. Ce qui m'a peut-être un peu gêné, bien qu'on soit sur l'aventure du fils d'Harry Potter, et qu'on puisse légitimement se dire qu'on n'a pas besoin de la présence des anciens personnages, c'est l'absence marquée de Ron. Autant les autres sont bien dosés, autant j'ai trouvé son personnage assez éloigné de ce que j'avais en souvenir. Après, il faut bien percevoir qu'il s'agit d'une pièce, tout ce qu'on lit a pour vocation d'être joué, d'être interprété, c'est donc un choix volontaire que de faire de Ron une sorte d'amuseur public, mais c'est un peu dommage. Le fil conducteur autour du voyage temporel, bien que simpliste là aussi nous permet d'en apprendre cependant plus sur l'univers de la saga originale. Je ne m'avancerai par contre pas sur le twist final, car je ne veux rien dévoiler d'une part, et d'autre part j'ai trouvé ça un peu gros. Au final, bien que cette pièce verse plus du côté "œuvre enfantine" que ne l'était réellement la saga originale, ça reste un vrai plaisir de lecture. A conseiller à tout ceux qui aiment cet univers, même si l'approche sous format pièce de théâtre pourra en rebuter certains.

My son (aged 11) is a huge Harry Potter fan; he demolished the series within weeks. Until he mentioned it, we didn't realise this book existed, but as soon as we discovered it, we knew it would be a great birthday gift for him. He absolutely loved this book; it was a great way for him to understand what happened to the characters he loves after the ending of the previous books. Highly recommend this book for any fan of Harry Potter.