As a mega-fan of the Harry Potter series for almost seventeen years now, I felt as if I needed to speak out about the newest addition to the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I was wary of it to begin with because it was coming out in play format, and I just was not entirely sure how my beloved childhood book series would translate to stage (excluding the non-canon A Very Potter Musical made by StarkidPotter, of course; that worked out perfectly). Like many other Potterheads, I went to the midnight release of the book with some friends, and we spent the majority of the night downing butterbeers and playing Harry Potter Clue while waiting for the book. I was beyond excited—but I was also cautious.
I feel like I was right to be. I am a slow reader, so by the time I even got through the first scene of the book, a lot of people were already done and were posting their feelings online, and they were not-so-positive feelings. At first, I desperately tried to defend the book because I couldn't believe that people could have such negative reactions to something that belonged to the Harry Potter franchise, but the more I read, the more I started to feel the exact same way.
The first complaint I'll bring up that seems to just sum up about ninety percent of my feelings for the book is this: it feels like fanfiction. Don't get me wrong; there is some fantastic fanfiction out there written by some very talented authors. However, there is also some dreadful fanfiction that really should never have been made available to the public. Cursed Child falls somewhere in between. It's one of those fanfictions that you read all the way through but don't end up taking anything away from it, and it's probably not one that you'll ever read again. There were just a lot of instances that did not really seem to fit within the world that I grew up with and loved. For instance, I would have loved the scene with Scorpius and Albus's getaway from the Hogwarts Express had it not been for the trolley lady turning into some sort of immortal demon monster and trying to attack them. That seemed very out of place and extremely far-fetched, and it honestly ruined what could have been an amusing part of the story for me. Also, (spoiler alert!) Bellatrix and Voldemort are obviously a couple that make sense in a fanfiction setting, and clearly Bellatrix has a thing for the Dark Lord in the main series, but for them to have a daughter together? That seemed a little far-fetched to me too. Besides, to me, their daughter didn't seem like nearly as cool of a villain as Bellatrix or Voldemort were. She was plain and generic and not really all that interesting at all.
Another problem that I had, which goes along with the idea of bad fanfiction nicely, was how out of character our main Trio seemed. Ron was completely ridiculous, and every line that came out of his mouth seemed silly, unnecessary, and only there for comic relief in an otherwise dark setting. Hermione was the character I was most upset with though. As a little girl, I always looked up to her (actually, I still look up to her) because she's strong, intelligent, brave, and independent. Hermione has been on multiple lists of top heroines in literature of all time, ranking within the top ten at least, and with good reason too. It hurt me a lot to see what became of her in an alternate universe when she and Ron did not get together. Hermione was teaching at Hogwarts, unable to live up to her full potential, and she was strict and bitter with the world just like Severus Snape was when he was a teacher. And why? Because Ron Weasley didn't marry her? Hermione's fate relied on whether or not Ron Weasley was in love with her? It was completely degrading and belittling to what Hermione's character was. I'm sure that it was not intentional, and I am very forgiving, but it still hurt me to see her like that.
The book was also too rushed. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it was meant to be performed on stage, and stage adaptations of stories can sometimes seem crunched. However, I was under the impression that most of the action would take place in Albus's first year at Hogwarts, yet the play took us all the way up to his fourth year. There was just too much going on within the span of time that they had to cover it. I will admit, Albus was a very interesting character, and I was very pleased with the way he was written. I always loved the idea of Harry's youngest being Sorted into Slytherin, and I am elated that they actually went through with that idea. The tension that he felt between him and his father was very plausible and understandable because of all of the weight that he had to carry and the expectations he had to meet being the son of Harry Potter. However, I would have loved to see how the other two children reacted to the situation as well. I understand that the story was meant to be centered around Albus, but Lily and James seemed very flat or have any feelings at all. Did they feel the same way about being the son of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley? Or were they content with the fame and didn't care if they lived up to expectations? Was it easier on them because they were not Sorted into Slytherin? There were lots of unanswered questions that could have been played with, but they were largely ignored.
I can't say that the entire book was bad, however. I was always a fan of Albus and Scorpius being best friends, and I was very happy with that choice. In fact, I was extremely excited to see how big of a role Scorpius actually had in the play. He was a great character, and I loved how shy and awkward and nerdy he was, as opposed to his father. I think that basically everything done with the Malfoy family was done correctly and, if anything, it's worth a read just for that. It was also interesting to see the wizarding world as it was in an alternate timeline where Harry died and Death Eaters ruled. However, I can't say that it's the most interesting "what if Harry died" concepts I've ever read; there have been beautiful fanfictions written on the topic that far exceed what occurred here. Still, it was interesting. If I had to give it a rating out of five, I would give it a strong 2.5 or 3. It's a good, quick read, but I wouldn't say it's a must-read, even for the most fanatical of the Potterheads.
