The Harry Potter generation has grown up. Depending when you started the magical series, you are either already starting your career or starting college, but if you’re anything like me, you still love Harry Potter. The books and movies might have all ended five years ago, but Tumblr, Pottermore, Harry Potter World, fan art and fanfiction have kept the love alive.
On Sunday July 31st, we were finally given a continuation of the seven (now eight) book series for us to love: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Book stores hosted parties, we broke the world record for most pre-ordered books, and the wizarding world lived again (although to many of us it has always been very much alive). My twin sister and I had pre-ordered the book, which came on Monday (Vernon Dursley taught us in the first Harry Potter that there’s no post on Sundays, but we were busy on Sunday), and was finished by both of us by one in the morning on Tuesday. Together, it took us nine hours of reading. And now, a week later, I’ve had time to reflect on the characters, the plot twists, and the importance of this new Harry Potter.
Reading Cursed Child was some of the best hours of my life. Why? There are so many reasons why this is a great piece of literature, and one of them is the journey. It’s a transcription of a play that is based on a story by J.K Rowling. The play itself has her blessing despite not being directly written by her, but it’s only playing in London, so reading the written down version is the best Americans like me could do. This backstory makes the entire experience more magical because I saw pictures of the new cast, including the black Hermione played by Noma Dumezweni and my excitement had time to grow. Now I was seeing the story itself with my own eyes. Finally, I was adventuring with Harry Potter again.
Said adventurous plot actually focused on Albus Severus Potter, Harry and Ginny’s second born, not Harry himself. The plot reminds me somewhat of fanfiction, as it gives many considerably nods to head canons expressed by fans throughout the years. For example, we all wondered why time turners couldn’t have been used to save Lily and James or Cedric Diggory, but one was used for Hermione to go to class and to save Sirius and Buckbeat. It turns out that going back in time more than a few hours has considerable shockwaves throughout all of history. By the time the shock of Lily, James, and Cedric dying had faded, it would have been too late to go back. Even something as simple as disarming Cedric during the first challenge of the Triwizard Tournament had shockwaves throughout history, such as destroying Hermione and Ron’s romantic future and sorting Albus into a different house.
Other plot twists that remind me of fanfiction is the surprise that Delphi Diggory is not a Diggory at all, but the child of Voldemort. Fans have been hypothesizing about Voldemort having a child and shipping him with Bellatrix Lestrange for years, so naturally she was the surprise mother of Voldemort’s heir. Although I think this is highly improbable even after the play received J.K Rowling’s blessings, I enjoyed the shock. Need we remember that Quirrel was actually evil and Snape technically good in the very first book?
I also think it is very important that Voldemort fathered a daughter. ‘Heirs’ are stereotypically male and males in literature are generally more prone to fighting and desiring a relationship with their father. Yet Delphi is a woman and an heir, as cunning as the Dark Lord and as wicked as Bellatrix, and as thoroughly feared as any villain in Harry Potter history because of her desire to change time for a relationship with her father. She, as a female character, is done justice by Rowling/Thorne and although I find her existence improbable, I am glad that she is a round character, not flat.
Other characters who remain round despite the size of their appearance are McGonagall, Snape, and Umbridge. Minerva McGonagall is headmistress of Hogwarts and still a wise spitfire of a woman, which was a delightful discovery, and Snape accepts that he will die for his cause, never losing his tie to the light. Umbridge being headmistress of Hogwarts is truly terrifying because she remains as despicable as ever. Seeing these characters again was vital to the storyline because it was not Harry revisiting them, it was Albus and Scorpius, Draco’s son, seeing them for the first time and learning who their fathers were and why, while discovering their own bravery, loyalty, and cunning.
The best part of the entire book, however, was the endurance of friendship. Many supporters of the book series have always pointed to the positive view of friendship and that teamwork is always necessary to defeat evil, which are excellent lessons to teach the target audience (although it is read by many outside said target audience, but sometimes we need reminders too). Harry Potter and the Cursed Child continues to show us the power of friendship and encouragement through Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, an unlikely but incredible friendship that helps both boys realize their potential in multiple ways and bond with their fathers. Father-son relationships are also important throughout the play/book, something impossible for us to enjoy in the first seven books since Harry for an orphan. We also get to see a gentler side of Draco and an imperfect side of Harry, which is crucial for both characters, as audiences have demonized them and celebrated them for so long.
Additionally, Cursed Child is important to Slytherins, as Albus and Scorpius are both Slytherins who use their cunning for good. Scorpius is almost as brilliant as Hermione but not prideful in any way about his smarts, brilliance and humility both good credits for Slytherin. Slytherins are necessary to the plot not because they are bad but because they are using teamwork and friendship for good. They are not overcoming their house. They are representing Slytherin as it always should have been seen: a house of many students and many talents, not as the house of villains.
Slytherins getting a positive shout out from creators J.K Rowling and Jack Thorne is vital to the continuation of the Harry Potter universe. They have been demonized for years and since Albus’s worries at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows about being sorted into Slytherin, we have all wondered if such an outcome could occur. I was excited that the end of the book was not that the Sorting Hat made a mistake and the boys deserve to be in Gryffindor for their bravery. Instead, the boys remain Slytherins, and the end is the restoration of family, the endurance of hope, and the reminder that magic continues to exist under our noses.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child gives us closure beyond the mysterious “all was well.” It is an incredible joy to return to King’s Cross, Hogwarts, and all the other places Harry Potter fans love with characters we have never let go off. I recommend that every Harry Potter fan read this book so that we can wrap ourselves in the adventure that is the wizarding world one last time with our favorite heroes. It is an opportunity you cannot miss. Let it never be said that we were not with Harry Potter- and Albus and Scorpius- until the very end.
Always.
