Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
By: Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling & John Tiffany
Grade: A
Another Harry Potter story! I’m not going to lie. My excitement level and my love for the characters and the world are already ingrained. Plus, I actually really like reading plays and anything in script format so all those things were really beneficial in what I thought of The Cursed Child.
(Some spoilers below! Mostly about characters who appear…)
19 years after the events of the last novel we follow Harry’s second son Albus Severus to Hogwart’s where being the son of Harry Potter doesn’t do him much good. He befriends Scorpius Malfoy and they embark on an attempt to change the past. One that could have potentially deadly consequences for them, their families and the Wizarding World as a whole.
Okay. Before reading this I was fine without being able to see the play (most likely) but honestly after reading this I feel like I need to see it! There’s a great deal of magic in the story that I would love to see how they’re doing on the stage. I was surprised by how many characters playing other characters and such was going on. There was also a couple of somewhat confusing scenes (Like how do they get from the bathroom to the lake?) Maybe it would make more sense visually?
I really liked the interplay between Harry and Draco Malfoy. You could really see them having exactly that sort of relationship with each other as adults. Hermione was great though Ron seemed a lot more goofy than I remember him being. Dumbledore being called out on his treatment of Harry (sending him to the Dursley’s amongst other things) was a little like fan fiction come to life but I enjoyed it greatly.
There’s also a great bit with a certain Professor that just seemed absolutely right on. True to the character and made me tear up just like he always did. He was brave and selfless even in an alternate reality. Plus I kept picturing the original actor and hearing his voice in my head which also got me all emotional.
One problem was I liked Scorpius far more than Albus. They have a great friendship but it got to the point where I almost don’t see why on Scorpius’ part. Being Harry Potter’s son might be hard but it also doesn’t really make you likable.
And certain things that would likely be dealt with in a long novel format or even in a movie are taken care of a little too quickly or not at all. They seemed to start playing a little loose at the end with the time travel element and some of the rules of magic. Which could be because of the format and just not enough time allowed.
In the end this was a personally emotional, nostalgic, fun and somewhat flawed story. If this wasn’t Harry Potter’s world I’m not sure I would have loved it as much. I would absolutely love to see it performed. My friend and I were talking about that the other day but the cost for something like that (for us) is just crazy expensive. Even with the rumors that The Cursed Child might go to New York. A girl can dream. But I do hope they film it and maybe after the run put it in theaters so that everyone can experience it.
Recommend: Yes.