Harry Potter and the Cursed Child came out a couple weeks ago, but it has taken me a while to gather my thoughts about it enough to write about it.

Let me just say, I was not expecting a new book. J.K made it pretty clear that it was a story that was developed by her, but not written completely by her. Still, it was marketed as the 8th story, so I feel that I have every right to judge it as such. I was not expecting a new book, but I was expecting better.

Cursed Child started out okay. I was excited enough that I got to celebrate another one of Harry's birthdays with a story about him. I downloaded the book at midnight tentatively excited, and read about Harry's son Albus struggling to make friends. Like Harry, he found his best friend on his very first train ride to Hogwarts, and like Harry, he chose to be friends with someone despite discouragement from other students (in Albus' case, his cousin Rose).

Albus' friend Scorpius just happened to be the son of Draco Malfoy.

I thought I knew where the story was going. I thought we were going to see Harry accepting the fact that his son was in love with Malfoy's. I was actually kind of excited for it. That was not what happened.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The most accurate review that I've read about Cursed Child calls Back to the Future meets Prisoner of Azkaban fanfic, which is exactly what it read like. I've heard people complain that there is no way that Hermione Granger would turn into a mean old shrew without Ron and that making her one in a timeline in which they do not end up together is completely insulting to her character. One friend made the argument that Voldemort would never have had sex with Bella because the very idea of procreating goes completely against his plan of conquering death and being in power forever. I understand both of these complaints, but I haven't been able to really think about them because my mind has been stuck on what I see as the BIGGEST PLOT HOLE IN THE SERIES.

Albus and Scorpius go back in time and see Lily and James Potter with their son, Harry. My question is HOW??? Surely the play is not implying that the boys could see the Potter house, not after the story revolved around the fact that the house was protected by the Fidelius charm and NO ONE could see the house unless they were told the address by Wormtail who betrayed them. Even if the charm was broken when the Potters died or when Wormtail died, the charm was supposed to be in full effect at the time they were there. Maybe they are trying to say the Potters were walking down the street, but WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT. They were in hiding from the most dangerous dark wizard of their time. Other books have even mentioned that Voldemort knew their general location, he just couldn't see the house. SO WHY WOULD LILY BE WALKING DOWN THE STREET WITH HARRY WHEN VOLDEMORT WAS LOOKING FOR THEM. The answer is she wouldn't. She just wouldn't. What's more, we can assume that the Potters were in the house and Scorpius and Albus could see them there, because they observe James blowing bubbles from Harry, which we know happened in the house because Harry sees it as Voldemort when he relives the moment of his parent's death through Voldemort's eyes in Deathly Hallows.

Which brings me to my next point. Harry had ALREADY seen his parents' death when he relived it as Voldemort. He had heard it many times when he got close to the Dementors as well. So why does he insist that he has to see it? To me, it sounds like the writers either forgot he had already seen it, or just didn't care and wanted to repeat a moment that had happened in a previous book.

Of course, there were a lot of small inconsistencies as well. Ron just didn't seem like Ron anymore. His jokes fell flat, except for the one that was already written in the epilogue of Deathly Hallows. Harry's scar shouldn't have hurt him just because Voldemort's daughter was around. The scar only ever hurt him because there was a piece of Voldemort's soul attached to him, and that was killed years ago. A little evil wouldn't bring that back. And don't get me started on that whole scene where all these wizards who have been built up as some of the best in their generation can't get out of a locked closet and then Albus opens it with alohamora. Please.

And really, I really do get the point of Harry not being able to defeat Delphi on his own, and how he says he always had help, but that battle scene was pathetic. I can only hope that Harry showed his stuff on stage a little better than it was written in the book.

At the end of the day, I agree with my friend who said that it is probably a fantastic play. I'm excited to see all that magic on stage. I just wish that no one had messed with the characters that I spent my entire childhood learning to love. Luckily, thanks to all of the plot holes, the story just doesn't feel real to me at all. In my heart, Harry's story ended in the train station when he sent Albus off to school.