Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Author: Based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, John
Tiffany, & Jack Thorne; A New play by Jack Thorne
Year: 2016
Genre: Fantasy YA
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
It seems like it was only yesterday that we stood on
Platform 9 ¾ at the historic King’s Cross Station where the terrific trio and
the friends waved goodbye as their children boarded the Hogwarts Express for
the first time.
But in fact that was almost 10
years ago!
In this new play Harry’s world comes to life on stage and
once again on the page.
We join Albus and James Potter (who also have a younger, not
school age sister named Lily), as well as Rose Granger-Weasley, & Scorpious
Malfoy as they start their journey off to Hogwarts. Albus and James don’t really
get along, but Albus quickly becomes friends with a very unlikely fellow
Scorpious.
Both of the boys are placed into the same house and face the
typical problems of having a famous name. Scorpious has even more to overcome
in that department however. There is a rumor that through the use of a
time-turner his mother was able to conceive a child with Lord Voldemort and
that he’s not Draco’s son…we’ll get to that problem shortly.
The main plot of this book is that Amos Diggory and his
“niece” Delphi want Harry who is now the Head of Magical Law Enforcement to
give them a time-turner to go back in time and prevent Voldemort from killing
his son Cedric during the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
Sometime during the span of time between the last book and
now Hermione has become the Minister for Magic and time-turners have become
illegal. Harry however has acquired one in a Ministry raid and Amos knows this.
Harry of course refuses his request and insists that to meddle with time is a
fool’s choice. But what the father’s don’t know is Albus has over heard this
conversation and intends to make things right by changing the past for himself.
So along with Scorpious, Albus & him escape from the
Hogwarts Express & steal a time-turner from Hermione’s office. During this
time in the story we see three different outcomes of the future based on the
changes of the past the boys make.
Future 1: (Out of the three futures this one is the “best”
one)
The boys have stopped Cedric from getting the golden egg
from the dragon in the first task of the TriWizard Tournament so…
Albus got sorted into Gryffindor and Harry has forbidden him
to be friends with Scorpious. Ron is not married top Hermione but Padma Patil.
Hermione teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts and is very bitter & mean.
Rose thier would have been child doesn’t exist at all.
Future 2: (PLEASE NO!)
The boys have humiliated Cedric during the second task
making him lose the Tournament…
Cedric became a Death Eater after he lost & he eventually
killed Neville which means this gave Voldemort the chance to kill Harry,
therefore Albus doesn’t exist. Dolores Umbridge is the Headmaster of Hogwarts
where only purebloods can go to school. Someone called the Auguery tortures
mixed blood children in the dungeons & Draco became Head of Magical Law Enforcement
so Death Eaters have taken of the Ministry. Snape is still alive and teaching
Potions. Hermione is in hiding beneath the Whomping Willow in a secret hideout
& working for the good side with Snape as a double agent.
Future 3: (OMG!!!!!!!!!!!)
Albus, Scorpious, & Delphi go to the maze in the third
task & try to keep Cedric & Harry from touching the portkey but fail.
So instead they go all the way back to Halloween night 1981 in Godric’s Hollow.
To the night that started it all…
Delphi is trying to keep Voldemort from killing the Potter’s
but Harry, Draco, Ron, Ginny, & Hermione get a message from the boys & travel
to the past to stop her. They kill her & the watch as the situation plays
out to make sure they will be returning to the correct future.
In between futures 2 & 3 we learn that Delphi is not
actually a Diggory but the love child of Bellatrix Lestrange & Voldemort.
Her plan the whole time was to help the boys then swipe the time-turner for
herself. Obviously based o outcome #3 she doesn’t succeed.
After all those awful outcomes & flashbacks there must
be a happy ending right?
All is right in
the world as Albus & Harry sit on the beautiful hill by the lake at Cedric’s
grave.
The End
Likes: The flashbacks in this book were great & terrible
all at once. You get to see Harry & Petunia visiting his parent’s grave in Godric’s
Hollow before Harry knows he’s a wizard, Hagrid picking up Harry that stormy
night at the island house, & the best/worst of all we see Hagrid come to
pick up little Harry after his parent’s brutal murder…and future Harry looks on
through a window nearby! (*COMMENSE UGLY CRYING*)
The script format made for a very quick read that was easy
to follow. Since we already know the world it is mostly dialogue.
Some old characters come back to join us such as McGonagall,
Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, Umbridge, & the Diggory’s.
Dislikes: The weirdest part of this story is that you must
remember Rowling DID NOT WRITE IT! Therefore the values are a little askew. The
original Harry Potter story takes pride in promotion of honesty, love, friendship,
etc. But with the strange scenarios in this book they get a little lost but the
most important one above all, friendship, finds its way back in the end.
Rating:
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