I swore to myself that I would never read "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." It was impure, the “mudblood” entry of the series, as I’ve taken to calling it.
Well, I lied.
July 31st rolled around, and I found myself in line at Barnes and Noble, clutching a copy of "Cursed Child" to my chest. And instead of swearing off the book forever, I devoured it in a matter of hours.
(I suppose this is where I should leave a spoiler warning. I plan on shying away from major spoilers, although I will discuss more minor plot details below.)
The book (or play, rather) begins right where "Deathly Hallows" ends— at Platform 9 ¾, 19 years later. In a condensed form of the seventh book’s epilogue, Albus Severus voices his concerns with being sorted into Slytherin, only for his father to reassure him that there’s nothing wrong with being in Slytherin House; but, should Albus truly want to be a Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat will take his feelings into account.
Lo and behold, Al is sorted into Slytherin, along with his new best bud, Scorpius Malfoy— who, I must say, is by far and away the best part of "Cursed Child"; genuinely kind and fiercely loyal, many readers may find it hard to believe Scorpius could truly be Draco’s son. The rest of Act One quickly chronicles the boys’ first few years at Hogwarts and Albus’ inability to cope with living in his famous father’s shadow; in the eyes’ of most his classmates, he’s an embarrassment to Harry’s legacy. Save for his close friendship with Scorpius (who has daddy issues of his own, stemming from vicious rumors about his true parentage), Albus isolates himself.
The first act of "Cursed Child" is the best segment of the script— and the most Potter-like. It gives the reader a sense similar to that he or she received upon reading "Sorcerer’s Stone" for the first time, and it makes one wish that this was instead the start of an entirely new series set around Harry’s kids and company.
The middle acts, however, prove inconsistent. Albus— daddy issues weighing down on him— sets out to right what he considers one of his father’s past wrongs. Along with Scorpius, he sets out on a time travel operation right out of "Back to the Future" and, naturally, their meddling plunges the world into darkness.
The middle acts are meant mostly to provide fan service; the alternate timelines allow old characters, friend and foe, alive and dead, to return in secondary roles, whereas events from past books are seen from different perspectives. It’s a fun ride for sure— I was excited to once again see characters so minor as Bane the centaur, let alone more major ones— but the play soon comes to rely too much on nostalgia. The plot doesn’t hold up to scrutiny— the time travel mechanics directly contradict the principles outlined in "Prisoner of Azkaban"— and the major plot twist, revealed at the end of Act Three, feels contrived and predictable.
The time travel dilemma speaks volumes about JK Rowling's involvement in writing the play— that is, this was very much Jack Thorne's story and not her's. Rowling purposefully wrote time travel out of the series by destroying the Time-Turners in book five; it makes no sense that she would bring them back.
Yet, I can't be too hard on Thorne. Bringing the series full circle, setting the climactic battle where it truly all began, was a brilliant move on his part. Although the dialogue throughout sounded strained, particularly amongst the children, not to mention his poor choice in making Ron nothing more than pathetic comic relief, the man certainly does not lack creativity or vision, and his stage directions were vivid enough to, in part, make up for the lack of exposition "Cursed Child" suffered from not being a novel. Although Rowling’s charm was missing, Thorne did a serviceable job writing in place of her, and the fourth act was wonderfully done.
I picked up "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" with low expectations, but came out pleasantly surprised. Albeit flawed, the play was fun and engaging and conjured up magical feelings which have sat dormant for nine years, and I once again feel the sense of loss that came with finishing "Deathly Hallows" all that time ago. While I still believe that Harry ended with "Deathly Hallows"— the time travel inconsistencies just make it impossible for me to consider this canon— "Cursed Child" deserves a place on your bookshelf next to the other installments.
