The original seven-volume Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling documented the magical journey of the formative years of a young wizard, as he not only battles evil but also struggles to come to terms with the responsibilities, losses and burdens in his relatively hard life.
Along with the coming-of-age arc of our beloved protagonist, we also lived through exciting and deadly adventures, gained valuable lessons and met unique characters that charmed us thoroughly.
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HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD: A REVISITATION TO THE PAST
You will find only a select few whose childhoods were not shaped by the wizarding world of Harry Potter, whose fantasies didn’t involve receiving a letter from Hogwarts. When the Harry Potter franchise ended for both the books and their adapted movies, the fanatics in us were left quite bereft. As much as the ending satisfied us, some parts of us still hungered for more crumbs from that fantasy world. So you can imagine the momentous occasion when we all rejoiced the addition of yet another installment to the series.
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Titled as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the new story is something of both a spin-off and a continuation from where the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, left us at. Additionally, it is not a novel but a play written by playwright Jack Thorne. So it may be possible that we wouldn’t get the same nuance of the plot and the characters like we experienced in J.K. Rowling’s writings. But nevertheless, the play is based on the original story with a concerted effort to remain loyal to the source material. And honestly, as long as we get to immerse in that magical world again, that is all we need.
So let’s relive our memories as we hop onto a brand new ride on the Hogwarts Express, and get reacquainted with the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter with butter beer, love potion and time travelling. It is going to be magical!
Marketed as the eighth story in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child begins 19 years after the events of the 2007 novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and follows Harry Potter, now Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and his younger son, Albus Severus Potter, who is about to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This new journey in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sees the growth of Albus, his straining relationship with his father as he copes with the suffocating expectations of being THE Harry Potter’s son and the roles he and his best friend, Scorpius (Draco Malfoy’s son), play when dark forces once again threaten the fate of the world. We also get to see how our original protagonist has settled into middle age as a civil servant at the Ministry of Magic in London, and more importantly, as a father. It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee, 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.
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD : PLOT SUMMARY
The play is divided in two parts, consisting of two acts each.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child : Act One
In the opening scene, set during the epilogue of Deathly Hallows in the year 2017, Harry and Ginny Potter send their son, Albus Severus, on the Hogwarts Express to begin his first year at Hogwarts. Harry works a desk job as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, while Ginny is the editor of the sports section of The Daily Prophet. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger also send their daughter Rose on the train. Hermione is now Minister of Magic, while Ron manages Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley.
On his first trip aboard the Hogwarts Express, Albus forms an unlikely friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Harry’s former nemesis Draco and his wife Astoria (née Greengrass). Unlike his father, Scorpius is very polite and very nerdy. The school is stunned when, in a break with the tradition of Potters being sorted into Gryffindor, Albus is sorted into Slytherin alongside Scorpius. [ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ]
Both boys are bullied by other students over the next few years, Albus due to his perceived failure to live up to his parents, Scorpius due to unproven rumours that he is the son of Lord Voldemort. Scorpius’s mother then passes away due to a fatal disease. Albus and Harry drift apart due to Albus’s struggles with his father’s shadow and Harry’s uncertainty on how to deal with his son’s problems. Albus also drifts apart from Rose, with whom he was close before meeting Scorpius.
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Prior to his fourth year, Albus gets into a fight with his father after being given the latter’s baby blanket and a love potion from Ron. During the fight, Harry angrily says that he sometimes wishes Albus was not his son, and Albus spills the potion on the blanket.
Harry obtains a prototype of a more powerful version of the Time-Turner that allows one to travel into the past and change history. Simultaneously, Harry’s scar starts hurting again, causing him to become concerned that Voldemort may be returning. Amos Diggory, who has become old and is cared for by his niece, Delphi, asks Harry to use the Time-Turner to prevent the death of his son, Cedric.
After overhearing Harry refuse to help the Diggorys, Albus is inspired to do so and convinces Scorpius to help him. The two escape from the Hogwarts Express to visit Amos, and they team up with Delphi to steal the Time-Turner from Hermione’s office, in the Ministry of Magic, while disguised with Polyjuice Potion. [ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ]
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child : Act Two
Knowing that Cedric’s death was the result of him winning the Triwizard Tournament alongside Harry, the boys use the Time-Turner to travel back to the first tournament challenge in 1995. The two disguise themselves as Durmstrang students in an attempt to sabotage Cedric to prevent his victory. The plan fails, and the disguises cause Hermione to become suspicious of Viktor Krum, a Durmstrang student, and go to the Yule Ball with Ron instead. As a result, Ron never experiences the jealousy fundamental to his relationship with Hermione, and the two never marry. Ron instead falls in love with Padma Patil at the Ball, and Hermione becomes a frustrated and mean professor at Hogwarts, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Meanwhile, Harry has nightmares about Voldemort as he grows suspicious that the wizard will return. A centaur named Bane tells Harry that a “dark cloud” is around Albus. Convinced that Scorpius is a threat to Albus, Harry tries to have the boys kept apart at Hogwarts by attempting to force Headmistress Minerva McGonagall to keep tabs on Albus using the Marauder’s Map.
Albus and Scorpius’s friendship is destroyed, but the two eventually reconcile after Albus steals Harry’s old Invisibility Cloak from Albus’s older brother James Sirius. Harry is persuaded to relent after a conversation with Draco and Ginny. Meanwhile, Albus and Scorpius make another attempt to use the Time-Turner to change Cedric’s fate, this time by humiliating him during the Triwizard Tournament’s second task. When Scorpius returns to the present day, however, Albus is not with him. Dolores Umbridge walks up to him and reveals that Harry is dead and Lord Voldemort rules the wizarding world.[ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ]
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child : Act Three
Scorpius discovers that as a result of his actions, Cedric joined the Death Eaters and killed Neville Longbottom, preventing him from killing Nagini and allowing Voldemort to win the Battle of Hogwarts. With Harry now dead, Albus never existed, while Voldemort was able to completely consolidate power and transform the Ministry of Magic into a dictatorial regime. In the new timeline, Scorpius became a popular Head Boy and Quidditch star, helping the staff and students torment Muggle-borns. Umbridge became the new Headmistress of Hogwarts and patrols the school with Dementors and a revived Inquisitorial Squad led by Scorpius.
A powerful dark figure called “The Augurey” leads the Ministry of Magic. With help from Ron, Hermione, and Severus Snape, now the final members of a dwindling anti-Voldemort resistance movement, Scorpius is able to use the Time-Turner to prevent the interference of Albus and his past self and restore the events of the original timeline; the alternate Ron, Hermione, and Snape sacrificing themselves to the Dementors in order to allow him to do so. Scorpius reunites with Albus, and the two boys are eventually found by their parents, as well as Ron and Hermione. Following these events, Harry scolds Albus for his actions, but the two nevertheless begin to reconcile. [ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ]
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Realising the danger the Time-Turner poses, Scorpius and Albus attempt to destroy it themselves, but they are joined by Delphi. Scorpius notices that Delphi has a tattoo of an Augurey and realizes she was in charge of the Ministry of Magic in the alternate timeline. Delphi takes them captive, killing a fellow student in the process, and reveals her intention of restoring the alternate timeline.
After Ron reveals he saw Albus and Scorpius with Delphi while he was in Hogsmeade with Neville, Harry and Draco confront Amos, only to discover Delphi had bewitched him into thinking she was his niece. Delphi takes the boys to the final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament, but Albus and Scorpius prevent her from acting, and Delphi uses the Time-Turner again to travel farther back in time. She inadvertently takes the boys with her and then destroys the Time-Turner to leave them stranded in time.
Searching Delphi’s room, Harry, Draco, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron discover hidden writing on the walls describing a prophecy that will allow Voldemort to return. Draco questions why she would be so obsessed with Voldemort’s return, as Ginny finds writing on the ceiling that claims Delphi is the daughter of Voldemort.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child : Act Four
Albus and Scorpius discover they have been taken back to the night before Harry’s parents were killed and assume Delphi is planning to kill Harry before Voldemort attempts to do so. Albus and Scorpius write an invisible message on Harry’s baby blanket, knowing in the present, the blanket would become stained with a love potion and expose the message.
Meanwhile, Draco reveals the Time-Turner was actually a prototype for a perfected model owned by him, but they remain unable to rescue the boys due to their uncertainty over which time period they have entered. After Harry receives the message from the boys, he and his allies use Draco’s Time-Turner to travel back in time to save them and stop Delphi. While waiting for Delphi, they deduce she intends to convince Voldemort to abandon his doomed attempt to kill Harry, ensuring her father’s survival and allowing her to be with him.
Harry disguises himself as Voldemort using Transfiguration to distract Delphi; after a struggle, the group manages to subdue her. Rather than killing Delphi, it is decided that she will be brought to Azkaban Prison. Lord Voldemort then appears and is oblivious to the presence of Harry and the group. The group allows the murder of Harry’s parents to play out again, unwilling to risk the consequences of altering the past.
After returning to the present day, Delphi is sent to Azkaban. Albus and Scorpius now decide to be more active at Hogwarts, with Scorpius expressing interest in trying out for Quidditch and asking Rose on a date. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child comes to an ends as Harry and Albus visit Cedric’s grave, with Harry apologizing for his role in Cedric’s death.
The adaptation of the play into a movie is not out of question. There are chances that it might happen as well in the near future though bringing together the original trio Radcliffe, Watson and Grint would surely pique the viewers anticipation levels about the new film.
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD: A DEVIATION FROM THE PREVIOUS BOOKS
Although it is essentially a play, the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is made available as a book version as well. It is inevitable that it will lack the play’s special effects but it is still a compelling read in its own rights. Moreover, it deviates from the main series in terms of the central theme. It is not so much about the world and the magic, but more about relationships, familial conflicts and the dialogue between characters. This makes more sense in a play, where the story unravels through dialogue and not through a narrator.
Therefore it is important not to delve into the script fully expecting the immersive amplitude of the original novels. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is by a different writer and the deviation in the writing would often feel like fan fiction from a biased perspective. But then the groundwork for the fictional universe has already been laid out perfectly, so it is easy enough for the play to sustain itself simply by remaining true to its characters and rules.
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD CHARACTERS
This instalment has seen a lot of new faces, and these new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child characters give a very interesting turn to the gigantic story. The new story talks about friendship in a very fresh and modern manner.
Harry Potter Ginny Weasly Albus Severus Potter (Harry & Ginny’s Son)
Hermoine Granger Ron Weasly Rose Weasly (Ron & Hermoine’s Daughter)
Draco Malfoy Scorpious Hyperion Malfoy (Draco’s Son) Professor Albus Dumbledore
Lord Voldemort Professor Severus Snape Rubeus Hagrid
Professor Minerva McGonagall Sorting Hat
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD CAST
The incredible actors who have made the whole franchise one of the best movies ever made would be thrilled to watch the Harry Potter and The Cursed Child cast in the new play.
Returning to their roles, decided before the world lockdown are James Snyder as Harry Potter, Diane Davis as Ginny Potter, Jenny Jules as Hermione Granger and Nadia Brown as Rose Granger-Weasley. David Abeles will join the cast as Ron Weasley.
James Romney and Aaron Bartz, taking on the roles of Albus Potter and Draco Malfoy, respectively.
Oge Agulué, Kevin Angulo, Chelsey Arce, Quinn Blades, Michela Cannon, Will Carlyon, Lauren Nicole Cipoletti, Judith Lightfoot Clarke, Ted Deasy, Kira Fath, Stephanie Gomérez, Steve Haggard, Ben Horner, Edward James Hyland, Jax Jackson, Jack Koenig, Spencer LaRue, Rachel Leslie, Sarita Amani Nash, Alexandra Peter, Dan Piering, Kevin Matthew Reyes, William Rhem, Antoinette Robinson, Stephen Spinella, Tom Stephens, Maya Thomas and Karen Janes Woditsch will be the reopening Harry Potter and the Cursed Child cast.
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HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD : ANALYSIS
One of the central themes to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the father-son dynamic, which in some way is a reflection of the relationships Harry had with various father figures throughout his years at Hogwarts. There are growing tensions not only between Harry and Albus but also between Draco and Scorpius. This would be the Conflict of the story.
But on the other hand, both of the teens get the better end of the stick in terms of friendship, when Albus ironically strikes an unlikely friendship with Scorpius. It is endearing to see them bond over their respective father issues and the fact that both of them are outcasts at Hogwarts.
Albus is initiated into the Slytherin house and being the least talented son of “the Chosen One,” this brings him increasingly at odds with his father. Especially when we throw Harry’s overprotective parental instincts and his inability to clearly express his feelings into the mix. We also have Scorpious who is insecure and ostracized from his peers due to unfounded rumors about his birth.
The trademark suspense is maintained throughout the story of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and it has been cleverly constructed around developments recalling events in the original novels. Some scenes in particular were a nostalgic touch for the passionate hardcore fans like the Triwizard Tournament, the daring escapade into Ministry of Magic using Polyjuice Potion and the visit to Godric’s Hollow. As a bonus, we are also given interesting new insights into main characters like Harry, Dumbledore and Voldemort.
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD : RECEPTION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
The play received enthusiastic critical reception, although the script was not received well by some of the Harry Potter fandom. At the 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards, the London production received a record-breaking eleven nominations and won another record-breaking nine awards, including Best New Play. At the 2018 Tony Awards, the Broadway production won six awards, including Best Play. The play also set the record for highest all-time weekly ticket sales of any play, grossing over $2.5 million at the Lyric Theater.
And according to the latest rumours, Warner Bros – who now own the rights to the two-part play of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – are considering adapting it. While nothing official has been announced, there has been recent speculation that Warner Bros are looking to make a Harry Potter TV series on HBO Max. Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Movie Release Date is yet unconfirmed but it is scheduled to resume performances at the Lyric Theatre on November 12.
There could be new developments based on the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play. Considering the original trio from the Harry Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, are now in their thirties, they’re getting ever closer to the age of their characters in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie release date is highly anticipated and the viewers are ready to watch the newer version of their all time favourite tale.
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