For all you Potterheads out there, yesterday was a pretty great day. Not only was it the day the world graced us with the presence of a true saint (aka bestselling author and generally great person J.K. Rowling), but we got a double whammy Harry Potter Birthday Celebration with the release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script. My house was so filled with HP that I had to ignore the ABC Family/Freeform Harry Potter Weekend to sit in my study wrapped up in my Griffindor robes Snuggie and read the whole book in one sitting. And man was it awesome. No spoilers here that haven't been blatantly spoiled weeks ago by press for the London play (you're welcome), but here's some general thoughts about The Cursed Child.
1. Scorpius Malfoy is the purest and most precious soul that has ever graced the Harry Potter universe.
Maybe it's the fact that his name quite literally screams "Oh my God I'm a bad guy," or just an underlying prejudice against Malfoys in general that made this character a total surprise to me, but I adored Scorpius. Without a shadow of a doubt, he was my favorite part of the whole book. He's funny and lovable, kind of playing the Ron to Albus's Harry, and he provides much-needed hilarity to a pretty dark storyline.
2. I loved how the casting affected the way I read this story.
As much as I would have loved to keep my traditional cast from the first seven books in my imagination, it was rather interesting to take on the Potter universe with a different dynamic. Picturing Noma Dumezweni as Hermione was my personal favorite, especially in various scenes interacting with Paul Thornley’s Ron.
3. J.K. Rowling once again assures that the writers' storyline seamlessly interacts with her previous installments.
One thing that I've always loved about the Harry Potter universe is that the further she got into the series, the more she let her storylines play on plot points in the previous books. Prime example: introducing the diary from Chamber of Secrets as a horcrux in Half-Blood Prince, four entire books later. I won't give too much away, and I will admit, in the play it's more grasping at a prior plotline to cause a new conflict rather than weaving a new story into the mix, but the writers very much honor this important and complex aspect of Rowling's stories.
4. Kind of annoyed at how little of James Jr., Rose, Lily Jr. and Hugo we see, and where the heck is Teddy Lupin?
I do understand that there are limitations in a theatre setting, and I already know the plot was going to focus around Albus, but the majority of what we get of James and Rose is that James is a total jerk older brother (very much like Harry's dad in Severus's memory I might add), and Rose is as much of an overachiever as her mom. And I repeat: WHERE IS TEDDY LUPIN? I've needed to know his story from the second I finished The Deathly Hallows. Not cool, Jo.
5. I'm sad I rushed through it so take your time.
Rowling said at Saturday's premiere that this is the end of her literary contribution to Harry's universe, so if you love the series as much as I do, savor it. And once you're finished, you'll feel how I feel: desperate to make it to London ASAP to see it live...a Muggle girl can dream.
