" Harry Potter and The Cursed Child," the brand new stage play created by J.K. Rowling and Jack Thorne, opened for sold-out preview performances on June 7th at the Palace Theatre in London's West End. When the project was first announced back in 2013 it was marketed as the "Eighth Harry Potter Story" so of course fans everywhere collectively freaked out! The hype over new Potter material was huge with speculation over what this new story could be about. Was it a prequel? A sequel? Or something else entirely? It seemed only those lucky enough to score tickets to London would be able to find out, but then Rowling announced that "The Cursed Child" script would also be available to everyone on July 31 2016. Potterheads rejoiced and immediately ran to secure their preorders on Amazon!
But with a whole month between the play's opening night and the script's general release it was inevitable that parts of the plot would be leaked to the public. Even with Rowling's ongoing campaign for audiences to #KeeptheSecrets the Huffington Post recently released a spoiler filled synopsis of the entire show. And I'll admit it, as a lifelong dedicated Harry Potter enthusiast...I couldn't help but read it. (So sorry, Jo!)
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Now of course won't give away any details for all of you who stronger willed out there who have managed to avoid spoilers, but I will say that the reveal of the actual "Cursed Child" left me completely shocked and totally defied every single one of my potential theories. While I'll still have to wait until I've read the full script to pass any final judgements, I do think that there were many other interesting directions that this production could have taken considering how incredibly detailed the Potter world is and how many backstories are still waiting to be explored.
Rather than give anything away, here are five characters from the Harry Potter universe that who I feel would've made awesome picks for the role of "Cursed Child":
(Disclaimer: I am in no way smarter than J.K. Rowling. She is a genius and the absolute Queen. No disrespect J.K., I adore you and all that you write!)
5. Albus Severus Potter
While Harry's youngest son does play an important part in "The Cursed Child" show, many people guessed that he would be 'cursed' with living in the shadow of his famous father and the plot itself would involve his own Hogwarts adventures with all the other characters we met in the Deathly Hallows Epilogue. After seven years of following Harry and Co. as teenagers, it would be a complete shift in tone to see them struggle with parenthood while also exploring the ways that Hogwarts and the entire Wizarding World has changed a decade after Voldemort's downfall.
4. Severus Snape
Is there any other character that has sparked as much post-Deathly Hallows discussion as Severus Snape? Heated Twitter arguments and essays have raged on for years on whether the reveal of Snape's love for Lily Potter made him a hero or if his past as a Death Eater/years of bullying of students made him completely unworthy of the title of "Bravest Man Harry Ever Knew". The Snape Debate got so intense that J.K. Rowling herself even weighed in at one point saying, "Snape is all grey". No matter what your opinion on the Potion Master is, there's no denying that Snape's story is a deeply complicated and tragic one. A Snape-centric "Cursed Child" story would be an amazing opportunity to explore his memories with Lily and Petunia, his interactions with an abusive Muggle father which led to the decision to use his mother's maiden name to craft his persona of Half Blood Prince, and his time time serving Voldemort after graduating from Hogwarts.
3. Andromeda Tonks (neè Black)
Alright so this is definitely my own personal fascination/obsession with the entire House of Black showing but hear me out! Andromeda Tonks, the midddle sister, of Bellatrix and Narcissa, is one of the most underrated and under-explored characters in the entire HP series. Even though Sirius gets all the credit for rebelling against the Black Family's pureblood prejudice, Andromeda actually did it first when she ran away and married a Muggleborn! Her story is the the classic tale of choosing love over family loyalty, and she must've been pretty awesome to have raised a kid as cool as Nymphadora Tonks! Plus, if that wasn't badass enough she also took over the task of raising Teddy Lupin after both his parents were tragically killed in the Battle of Hogwarts. Andromeda definitely deserves more attention then her single brief appearance at the beginning of Deathly Hallows!
2. Remus Lupin
Every fan has been dying for more backstory on the Mauraders, and Lupin's difficult childhood and struggle with his werewolf identity definitely qualify him for the title of "Cursed Child". A play about Lupin's early life would be a total emotional roller coaster. We'd learn the details behind how exactly his father angered the notorious werewolf Fenrir Greyback in the first place to make him bite Lupin. We'd witness his conference with Dumbledore who promised to protect Lupin's secret and even planted the Whomping Willow to keep Lupin from harming other students during his transformations. And we'd get to see the shy, impoverished, bookworm who felt ashamed of his condition start Hogwarts, and make friends who not only accepted him as a werewolf, but worked for years to become Animagi so that they could be by his side during the full moon.
1. Ariana Dumbledore
Poor, Ariana Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore's youngest sister who died after being struck by a curse in a duel between her brothers and Gellert Grindlewald forever remained Dumbledore's deepest regret,and it was her memory that was used to torture Albus after he drank the Horcrux potion in Half Blood Prince. After suffering a traumatizing attack from a gang of boys at the age of six, Ariana was unable to ever gain control over her magical abilities. Her entire life was kept so secret by her family that barely anyone in the Wizarding World knew of her existence until Albus' own death over a century later. Even when Ariana's past is finally revealed in the final book, it's framed through the lens of Rita Skeeter's gossip and Aberforth's own nostalgic memories. In my opinion, no character would be more deserving of having their voice heard and their story told than Ariana herself, a true Cursed Child.
So while I will try to keep my mind open about the actual "Cursed Child" story until after I've had the chance to read the full script, I can't help but imagine all the amazing 8th Potter stories that could have been...
