Like many in my generation, I have been a die-hard Harry Potter fan since a young age. I read the first book when I was in the third grade and I was hooked -- I’ve loved the series ever since. After the series “officially ended” with the release of the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 in 2011, I, like many others, waited with baited breath for any sort of continuation of the series. Prequels, sequels, spin-offs… well, this year we got our wish. First with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a sequel to the original Harry Potter series that follows the Trio’s children that premiered as a stage play on July 30, 2016; and the accompanying script that was released as a special-edition hardcover book on July 31. Secondly, we await the opening of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a spin-off of the original series, set in the 1920s, it focuses on the North American school of magic. The movie will be released on November 18, 2016.
Recently, I was able to get my hands on a copy of The Cursed Child. I had high hopes and expectations, despite the “spoiler alerts” that I was truly hoping were false. I was met with soul-crushing disappointment, because the spoiler alerts were indeed canon. I have so many problems with the plot of the play, as do many other people. The Cursed Child netted a rating of 3.9 of 5 on Goodreads. In comparison, the original series averaged a 4.74, with the lowest rated book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, being rated at a 4.35.
The plot goes a little something like this:
The Potters (Harry and Ginny) and the Weasleys (Ron and Hermione), arrive at Platform 9 and ¾ to send their children, James Sirius and Albus Severus, and Rose, respectively, off to Hogwarts. What ensues is a confusing and poorly written set of misadventures involving Albus Severus and Draco Malfoy’s son, Scorpius. Albus Severus is burdened with the legacy of being Harry Potter’s son, and weighed down with the guilt that his father allowed Cedric Diggory to die during the Triwizard Tournament. So he and Scorpius decide to travel back in time with an illegal Time Turner to prevent Cedric’s death. Essentially they rip some holes in the space-time continuum, and along the way they meet Voldemort’s daughter, Delphi. (Yes, you read that right. In this strange, somehow canon, alternate Potterverse, Voldemort had a daughter, by way of an affair with Bellatrix Lestrange.) With some help from a second Time Turner, Albus and Scorpius defeat Delphi and restore the space-time continuum and return, relatively unscathed, to the present. Harry and Albus make peace with each other, all is right with the world, and the play ends.
The plot seemed like poorly written fan fiction. I was expecting more from J.K. Rowling, who had a hand in writing the script, and Jack Thorne, a critically acclaimed screenwriter, whose notable work includes the British T.V. show Skins and a stage adaption of Let the Right One In.
There is little continuity to the plot. The timeline is confusing. The characters are mere shadows of themselves from the original books. Granted, perhaps this all translates very well to the stage. However, I am a poor college student and not even in my dreams could I afford the tickets to the play itself, let alone the travel to London, so I can only critique from my current position. And my current position is disappointed and vaguely disgusted by this unfaithful and unsatisfactory adaptation of some of my favorite fictional characters.
Here’s to hoping Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them makes up for the trainwreck that was Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.
