Book #142: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling with John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

J.K. Rowling

with John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

Released: July 31st, 2016

My 8th book for 2026 was J.K. Rowling’s "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child".

[Blogger's Notes: I'm going to do this series a little bit different than I normally do. My sister, Megan Perry, is a diehard Harry Potter fan. Since she also does some blogging, I figured I would incorporate her thoughts on this one as well. You can check her blog "Between The Pages" at Megan Perry Writes.

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Bryan Shades: I have never read this before now. Originally, I had no plans to, but the more I read about it, the more I wanted to. I found a nice hardcover copy at Half Price Books in Bethel Park, outside Pittsburgh. It was worth it.

This book takes place in the future, and picks up right where Deathly Hallows left off. The next generation of children are leaving for Hogwarts, and the classic characters all arrive at King's Crossing to see them off. Albus Severus Potter has a struggling relationship with his father. In his first year, he is sorted into Slytherin, and befriends Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco. He feels compassion to the Diggory family and the two set out to save his life in the Triwizard Tournament using a Time-Turner. After saving Cedric during the first task, their world changes vastly. Cedric still ends up dead, Ron and Hermione do not end up together, and several other massive changes. After a while, they realize this is not the world they desire to live in and go back to alter the second task as well. This one really destroys things. Voldemort lives. Harry died at the Battle of Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione are fugitives and things are in disarray under Voldemort. After changing back again, they set out to stop it once and for all, but Delphi who was mistaken for Amos Diggory's niece, reveals herself to be Voldemort's daughter. She intends to steal the Time-Turner, go back to Godric's Hollow on October 30th, 1981, and prevent the Dark Lord from being cursed. After using a unique message to alert Harry, Ginny and the others, they all travel back in time to save their children and save their future.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good of a read this is. I wasn't sure how I would feel about reading it in play form, but it actually reads rather well, and a bit quickly. There are references galore from the original series, and we see many Easter Eggs throughout. The novel captures the spirit of the originals, albeit in a condensed manner.

Seeing the different outcomes play out show just how important some events are in history, even if it hurts to lose someone, or experience a negative outcome.

Albus and Scorpius are a good pair, and it's nice to see how they work together, knowing how their fathers struggled to get along in the old days. On that same note, it's nice to see Harry and Draco working together in this one. Has sort of a Cobra-Kai vibe to it.

Luna is surprisingly absent, and Neville is named dropped several times. Some characters have moved on from the original series.

It was nice to see the original events from Godric's Hollow on All Hallow's Eve 1981. The loss of the Potter's is a devastating event, but one that Harry and family truly had to witness to understand the full importance of the events.

Megan Perry:

Here is what I learned.

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To Jack Thorne who entered my world and did beautiful things there. — J.K. Rowling

For Joe, Louis, Max, Sonny, and Merle... wizards all... — John Tiffany

To Elliott Thorne, born April 7, 2016. As we rehearsed, he gurgled. — Jack Thorne

Reads as the original theatrical play rehearsal script.

The story begins where Deathly Hallows concluded 19 years later. The story is essentially the same but less detailed.

Harry Potter is 37-years-old.

“You say lame, he says glorious, I say — somewhere in between.

James Potter is Harry & Ginny Potter’s oldest son.

Albus Severus Potter is Harry & Ginny’s middle child. He is just starting at Hogwarts.

Lily Potter is their daughter and the youngest.

Rose Granger-Weasley is Ron & Hermione Granger-Weasley’s oldest daughter. She has a younger brother named Hugo.

Scorpius Malfoy is Draco & Astoria’s son.

Scorpius considers Pepper Imps to be the king of the confectionary bag.

Pepper Imps are peppermint sweets that make you smoke at the ears.

Draco Malfoy’s wife is Astoria Malfoy.

There is a rumor that Draco and Astoria couldn't have children. That Scorpius’ father and grandfather were so desperate for a powerful heir, to prevent the end of the Malfoy line, that they ... that they used a Time-Turner to send my mother back...and she was impregnated by Voldemort.

Scorpius and Draco have father-son issues.

Albus stays with Scorpius for his sweets.

Albus Potter is sorted into Slytherin.

Karl Jenkins calls Albus the Slytherin Squib.

This story takes place in more than one year.

Draco asks Harry to release a Monisty statement stating all Time-Turners were destroyed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. This would silence the rumor of Scorpius being Voldemort’s son.

Rose is the new Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Harry signed Albus’s permission slip to Hogsmeade.

Lily is sorted into Gryffindor.

Harry has an office in the Ministry of Magic.

Theodore Nott is in custody for having possession of a time-turner.

Harry is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement.

Hermione sneaks toffees behind Ron’s back.

Harry and Ginny are off sugar at the moment.

Hermione is the Minister for Magic.

Harry’s code for the Ministry lift is 62442.

Amos Diggory feels shut out by Harry and the Ministry.

Delphi Diggory looks after Amos.

Delphi is his niece.

He is the reason she took the position at Upper Flagley.

She works for St. Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards.

James’ hair turned pink.

Harry gave James the Invisibility Cloak.

Harry gives Albus the blanket he was wrapped in and left at the Dursley’s.

Aunt Petunia has passed away about 22 years after Deathly Hallows.

Harry struggle raising Albus.

The play revisits Hagrid’s formal introduction to Harry.

Harry’s scar burns for the first time in 22 years.

Sleeping Draughts help you sleep.

Albus was Rose’s best friend when she was 6.

There was a big Ministry raid led by Harry.

People have written “Son of Voldemort” on Scorpius’ trunk.

The Triwizard Tournament was stopped after Cedric Diggory died.

Albus wants to steal. Time-turner to go back and save Cedric.

The Trolley Witch who sells refreshments on the Hogwarts Express was hired by Ottaline Gambol.

The Trolly Witch has been doing the same job for 190 years.

She has made over 6 million pumpkin pastries.

She keeps people from leaving the Hogwarts Express while in motion.

Sirius, Fred, and George have all failed to escape the moving train.

Albus and Scorpius jump off a moving Hogwarts Express.

Molliare is the cushioning charm.

Voldemort’s Allie’s have gone missing.

Boomslang skin and lacewing flies are missing from the potions stores.

Neither is on the Restricted Register.

Ginny edits the Sports pages of the Daily Prophet.

Albus and Scorpius go to meet Amos.

Draco has become widowed.

The parents are alerted by Professor McGonagall that Albus and Scorpius have gone missing.

Delphi takes Polyjuice and becomes Hermione.

Albus takes Polyjuice and becomes Ron.

Scorpius takes Polyjuice and becomes Harry.

Scorpius is a follower, not a leader.

“I don’t care what you did or who you saved, you are a constant curse on my family, Harry Potter.”

The time-turner is hidden in a book.

Albus reappears back at the Dursleys in Red Durmstrang robes.

Draco trusts Harry’s luck.

Albus learns disarming spells.

Albus and Scorpius leave Delphi behind to make the plan more seamless.

Bane the Centaur foresees a black cloud around Albus that could endangers the lives of everyone.

Scorpius was passionate about attending Hogwarts. He wanted to make a friend to get into trouble with just like Harry Potter.

Draco was not a big fan of Hogwarts.

Albus is Scorpius’ best friend.

The two boys return to the Triwizard Tournament of 1994.

Albus used magic to take Cedric’s wand as he attempts to collect the dragon’s egg.

Dumbledore visits his multiple portraits regularly.

Harry forbades Albus to hang out with Scorpius.

Harry slips up and tells his Slytherin son that he is continued to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Ron works with George at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

In the first alternate time:

Ron is married to a woman named Padma.

They have a son Panju.

Albus was sorted into Gryffindor.

Bane is an extremely angry centaur.

Professor McGonagall warns Harry about the Headmasters portraits.

“A head teacher's portrait is a memoir. It is supposed to be a support mechanism for the decisions I have to make. But I was advised as I took this job to not mistake the painting for the person. And you would be well-advised to do the same.”

Harry gives McGonagall the Marauder’s Map with intentions of spying on Albus and keeping him away from Scorpius.

Harry threatens Hogwarts with the Ministry’s power.

Hermione is Professor Granger at Hogwarts.

Professor Granger enjoys being mean.

Ron and Hermione have gone skewwhiff, or not together.

Skewwhiff is a British term meaning not straight, askew or lopsided.

Scorpius invented a friend called Flurry.

Malfoy envied the friendship of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Ron took Hermione to the Yule Ball as friends.

At the Ball, Ron met and danced with Padma, fell in love and continued from there.

Hermione didn’t got to the Ball with Krum because of meeting Albus and Scorpius in the Durmstrang robes and having a bad feeling about them sabotaging Cedric.

Albus stole the invisibility cloak from James.

Ron and Hermione fight their feelings as the connection is still strong for one another in this timeline.

Moaning Myrtle’s full name is Myrtle Elizabeth Warren.

Myrtle helps the boys gain access tot he Hogwarts lake.

Albus and Scorpius take Gillyweed to breathe underwater.

The adults realize the boys have been traveling through time.

In the second alternate timeline:

Dolores Umbridge is the Headmistress of Hogwarts.

Harry Potter died in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Albus Potter no longer exists.

The wizarding world celebrates Voldemort Day.

Umbridge and Scorpius do work for Voldemort and Valor.

Polly Chapman wants Scorpius to take her to the Blood Ball.

Draco is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry.

Cedric Diggory is a Death Eater because of his embarrassment at the Triwizard Tournament.

Scorpius is know as the Scorpion King.

Craig Bowker Jr. does Scorpius homework for him because he dislikes it.

Snape is alive and still teaching Potions.

He is moved that Harry named his son after him and Dumbledore.

Cedric killed Neville Longbottom at the Battle of Hogwarts.

Dumbledore’s Army has dwindled. Ron and Hermione are on the run.

“Sometimes costs are made to be borne.”

Hermione and Ron sacrifice themselves and kiss before receiving the Dementor’s Kiss.

Umbridge discovers Snape is part of the D.A. and is attacked.

Snape sacrifices himself for Scorpius and receives the Dementor’s Kiss.

Both incidents at the Triwizard Tournament are thwarted.

In the third alternate timeline:

The time-turner has gone missing.

"Bravery does not forgive stupidity."

Harry dreams that Voldemort attack a younger version of him and Ain’t Petunia at his parent’s gravesite in Godric’s Hollow.

Delphi has an Augurey tattoo.

An Augurey is a sinister-looking black bird that cries when rain is coming. Wizards believe foretold death.

Delphi binds Albus and Scorpius and snaps their wands.

“I am the new past. I am the new future. I am the answer this world has been looking for.”

Delphi steals the time-turner.

Ron was very drunk when he married Hermione.

He wants to renew their wedding vows sober.

Amos Diggory reveals that he does not have a niece, exposing Delphi.

Delphi kills Craig.

“When spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children murder their fathers; Then will the Dark Lord return.”

Delphi is Voldemort’s daughter.

“But there is one truth we can't escape: That somewhere in our past a witch is trying to rewrite everything we ever knew —and all we can do is wait wait for the moment she either succeeds or fails.”

Albus and Scorpius discover they have arrived October 30th, 1981.

Delphi is trying to prevent Voldemort from being cursed.

“There is never a perfect answer in this messy, emotional world. Perfection is beyond the reach of humankind, beyond the reach of magic. In every shining moment of happiness is that drop of poison: the knowledge that pain will come again. Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe.”

Draco’s father had the time turner built.

Astoria had a blood malediction due to a cursed ancestor.

Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange had a daughter in Malfoy Manor shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts.

Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix’s husband who revealed the lineage to Delphi.

We witness the original events of the night Harry survived.

Scorpius asks out Rose (he is turned down).

Harry dislikes the dark, small spaces, and pigeons.

Cursed Child premiered at the Palace Theater in London on July 30th, 2016.

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Overall, it's a great read. I finished this in a day (so now I can officially claim I have read an entire Harry Potter novel in a single day). While it will never be the original series, it captures magic in its own way and will captivate wizard readers new and old alike. For that, you must read it, especially if you read the original 7 books.

Highly Recommended.

On to Book #143: Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy.

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Need to catch up? See previous blog post: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.

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Want to read about just this series? See the other posts below:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince