JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

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Oooh, I have missed the wonderful Harry Potter world after her final book in the series, so this book is a lovely opportunity to go back into that world again. However, I have left quite some time after this book came out before picking it up to read, as I was unsure how comfortable I would feel reading it in a script format. But it is the Harry world, so I’ll accept anything for the joy of being engrossed in it all again!  

Harry and Ginny are at King’s Cross Station with their children, James Jnr and Albus and Lily Jnr. It is Albus’ first term at Hogwarts and he is apprehensive, particularly as James has been teasing him, and Harry is reassuring Albus that the Sorting Hat will take his choice of House into account when deciding which House he goes into. Also at the station are Hermione and Ron with their child, Rose Granger-Weasley, who is also joining Hogwarts this term. Hermione is Minister for Magic, and Ron runs Fred and George’s old joke shop in Diagon Alley. Harry is aged 37 and works at the Ministry for Magic as Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and Ginny is Sports Editor of the Daily Prophet. They mention that Neville is a teacher at Hogwarts. Ginny comments on how people look at Harry and Ron and Hermione, and Rose is aware of how this will impact her and Albus as she tells Albus that everyone will want to be friends with them and that they must choose friends carefully. Oooh, I’m loving all the tantalisingly interesting characteristics coming out already in the children, with Rose being similar to her mum with her slight bossiness but different to her in that she is confident enough to presume she will have enough friends to be able to choose and discard some (as I think Hermione struggled a little to make friends when she was at Hogwarts), and I chuckled at Rose’s double-barrelled surname with mum’s surname first, and with James being mischievous like his namesake (Harry’s dad), and with Albus being more thoughtful and apprehensive (so is he more like Ginny, I wonder, as these don’t seem to be characteristics that Harry had when he was younger!) and of course Albus’ middle name is Severus so he’s named for two very memorable but very different and quite troubled characters. And wow, Hermione is Minister for Magic, that’s an amazing achievement, good for her! And she and Ron seem very similar to their younger selves when they gently tease each other, which is lovely. Harry seems more nurturing than when he was younger too, with him reassuring Albus. And what happened to Harry’s dream of being an Auror?! And clearly all of them are still recognised and famous, so I wonder how they (and their children) feel about that.

On the train, Albus and Rose meet Malfoy’s son, Scorpius. Scorpius is clearly desperate for friendship and is nervous in his eagerness, and is obviously often rejected by potential friends and is resigned to this and expects rejection, but Albus feels sorry for him and refuses to act on others’ prejudices or on the history between the families, and decides to be friends with him. However Rose leaves the carriage rather than sharing a carriage with Scorpius and being friends with him. Scorpius says his parents are Astoria and Draco, he says his mum was never a Death Eater though his dad was, and he adds that he’s aware of the rumour that his parents couldn’t have children so Lucius and Draco used a Time-Turner to send Astoria back in time to be impregnated by Voldemort so as to provide the family with an heir to the Malfoy line, though he says this is untrue and that he has Draco’s nose and hair and he also refers to father-son issues. Later at school, the Sorting Hat puts Rose into Gryffindor, but puts Albus into Slytherin. Ooooh, Slytherin for Albus, I wasn’t expecting that! And I wonder which characteristics of Albus’ determined him being put into Slytherin. But lovely generosity from Albus with him being determined to be friends with Scorpius, it shows he’s a kind empathetic person which seems more of a Lily Snr characteristic with her befriending Snape, than a James Snr characteristic who always wanted to be seen with the cool kids. And a very interesting role-reversal with Albus and Scorpius being friends, compared to Harry and Draco’s relationship, I think that is going to be fascinating to watch, and I wonder what their fathers will think of it. It’s lovely to have some things from the original books in this new book, but it’s also great to have fresh things too, like Albus and Scorpius being friends. And Scorpius is clearly very unlike Draco, being unconfident and very studious and struggling to make friends (whereas Draco had people flocking to be his friends at Hogwarts), which is intriguing as well, and it sounds like they have quite a difficult relationship. And who is Astoria (Scorpius’ mother), where has she come from, I don’t remember her name from the other books, was she not at Hogwarts, and does the fact she isn’t a Death Eater show that Draco has changed his priorities? I look forward to finding out more about her, and about her and Draco’s relationship.

The story then shoots forward a year to Harry and Albus waiting on the platform for the Hogwarts Express again. Albus is clearly feeling embarrassed at the attention his father attracts, and how this emphasises the differences between him and his father, such as Albus being in Slytherin and not very good on a broomstick and not liking Quidditch and not being very popular with his classmates, which all makes him feel inadequate. Harry is struggling to communicate with Albus, he keeps encouraging him to open up but is pushed away by Albus, and he tries to encourage Albus to make more friends but Albus says he has Scorpius who he knows his father doesn’t like. Rose and Albus aren’t actually friends but just pretend to be so for their parents. Draco asks for Harry’s help, saying the rumours about Scorpius’ parentage aren’t going away, that Scorpius is being relentlessly teased about it and needs support particularly as Astoria isn’t well, and he asks Harry if he can arrange for the Ministry to release a statement saying that all the Time-Turners were destroyed. Harry says that responding to the rumours will just feed them more and that the Ministry can’t get involved. Later at school, Rose is announced as the newest member of the Quidditch team. Hmmm, I can’t help feeling slightly cheated at how much is being missed out, just to dispense with a whole year like that, all that time just gone, it makes me so sad for all the details that have been missed, all the little minutiae of things, the little jokes and tensions and details of the lessons and the teachers, all the things that made the original books so magical and wonderful! And it seems a little harsh of Harry to refuse to help Draco, particularly with how hard it must have been for Draco to ask for help from Harry, a statement just confirming that all the Time-Turners have been destroyed needn’t mention the Malfoys at all (in fact Draco would probably prefer that it didn’t mention them) so it wouldn’t be obviously feeding the rumours.

Another year goes by and Harry, now 40, is still struggling to communicate with Albus while they stand waiting for the Hogwarts Express. He hands Albus the signed permission slip for him to visit Hogsmeade, but Albus destroys the slip saying he doesn’t want to visit Hogsmeade as it’ll be full of Hogwarts students. Harry says Professor McGonagall has told him that Albus is isolating himself, and he asks Albus how he can help him, but Albus replies saying that Harry could use magic to change him into the son he wants. On the train, Scorpius tells Albus his mum has died, and he asks Albus to come to the funeral. It is also Lily’s first year at Hogwarts, and to Albus’ and Scorpius’ disappointment she is put into Gryffindor. Sigh, again, another year gone by, it frustrates me what we’ve missed of their lives in that year, all the little conversations and relationships, and just us getting to know them all and seeing their characters develop, as we did in the other books with Harry and the others. And omg, Astoria has died! But again, I’m so frustrated that this isn’t dealt with in more depth, a child losing a parent is so huge and affects so many things, as we saw quite a lot of from Harry in the original books when he dealt with losing his parents, it seems such a shame that poor Scorpius isn’t given the same space to explore this as well. And I had hoped we’d learn more about Astoria too, I am so gutted that we’ve missed out on that, such as where she came from, was she at Hogwarts, and if so was she in Slytherin, did she mellow Draco and offer him another way to view the world, how did she get on with Draco’s parents, and soooo much more? And another interesting role-reversal of the Potters and Malfoys, as it was a Potter (Harry) dealing with the loss of his parents in the original books, and now it’s a Malfoy (Scorpius) dealing with this loss. And I think this book may well focus quite a lot on father and son relationships, both Harry and Albus, and Draco and Scorpius, and it will be interesting to see this and I hope we may see Harry and Draco speaking together about the parenting challenges they are struggling with (or is this too big a hope, is there too much in their past for them to do this?), as well as us seeing the sons Albus and Scorpius and their feelings.

At the Ministry, Harry has followed a lead and his team have raided Theodore Nott’s house and found a Time-Turner. Harry and Hermione also discuss reports of Voldemort’s old supporters gathering, such as mountain trolls moving through Hungary on graphorns, and giants moving through Greece, and werewolves hiding and being lost sight of. They also share the difficulties of combining parenting with work. When Harry is at home, an elderly and wheelchair-bound Amos Diggory comes to the door saying he’s heard that the Ministry have found a Time-Turner and he demands they use it to go back and save Cedric from dying. He blames Harry for Cedric’s death, as he knows Voldemort’s words were ‘kill the spare’ and that Voldemort wanted Harry only, he goads Harry with reminding him of how many people have died for him and accuses him of being a stone-cold Ministry man. Albus is secretly listening to all this. So is Delphi Diggory, who introduces herself to Albus as Amos’ niece and carer at St Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards in Upper Flagley. Hmmm, some old names being mentioned, with Nott and Amos Diggory! But it makes me sad that Amos blames Harry for Cedric’s death, I guess grieving people often need to blame someone but the whole experience must have been so traumatic for Harry, it is so unfair to blame him. And I guess it was a good job that the Ministry didn’t put out a statement saying all the Time-Turners had been destroyed!

On the final night before the return to Hogwarts, Harry tries again to reach out to Albus and gives him the blanket he was wrapped in when he was left on the Dursleys’ doorstep. This blanket is very precious to Harry as it’s the only thing he has from his mum, it was found hidden in Petunia’s things when she died and Dudley passed it onto Harry. Harry tentatively asks Albus if they could be together on Hallows Eve, the night when his parents died. In order to hurt Harry, Albus scorns the blanket and mocks him for seeming to boast that he was a poor orphan bullied by the Dursleys who then went on to save the wizarding world. Harry loses his temper, saying he’s sick of Albus trying to make out that Harry is the cause of his unhappiness and adds that Albus should be grateful he has a dad as Harry didn’t have one. Albus then retorts that he wishes Harry wasn’t his dad, and Harry swiftly retorts that there are times when he wishes that Albus wasn’t his son. Harry immediately regrets saying this and tries to take back his words, but Albus says he knows that Harry meant it. Albus throws the blanket across the room and it hits a bottle of love potion which then splashes all over the blanket, and Albus runs out of the room. Later that night, Harry is dreaming of the time he first met Hagrid and heard about Hogwarts, but suddenly Voldemort’s voice comes into the dream saying Harry’s name, and his scar hurts. Oooh, Harry’s scar hurting was always a sign of Voldemort gaining power, but it can’t be Voldemort, maybe it is his supporters gaining power, with Hermione and Harry reporting that they seem to be gathering. And oh no, why did Harry snap and say those words to Albus?! He can obviously still be the same Harry at times, quick to lose his temper and to act without thinking. And again oh no, with Harry’s precious blanket being treated so disrespectfully by Albus and getting splashed by the love potion, I do feel for Harry with that happening, but how lovely that Petunia had kept the blanket all that time, that seems to show that she did have a softer side (though well concealed!), and I was also touched that Dudley has mellowed with him realising that the blanket was precious to Harry and allowing him to have it. I’d like to have had more details of Dudley and the others at Privet Drive too.

At King’s Cross Station, Rose tries to be friendly to Albus but he sees through this, guessing she has been put up to it by Ron who was urged to do so by Ginny. Rose also tells Albus that a Time-Turner was found by the Ministry. Albus then tells Scorpius about the Time-Turner and says he plans to steal the Time-Turner in order to help Amos get Cedric back, as he is disgusted that his dad lied to Amos and sees this as Harry not caring, he also feels that Cedric died because Harry couldn’t save him and this was a failure on Harry’s part, which Albus thinks can be righted. Albus says they need to get off the Hogwarts Express and go to St Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards to see Amos. The Trolley Witch appears when they are on the roof of the train preparing to jump (planning to use the cushioning spell Molliare to help them land safely), she says it is her responsibility to ensure no-one leaves the train and she has an unbroken record with this, even though Sirius Black and the Weasley twins used to often attempt to leave the train. She says she doesn’t even remember her own name but that she inherited the job of Trolley Witch from Ottaline Gambol 190 years ago. She turns a pumpkin pasty into an exploding grenade and turns her fingers into spikes in order to try and stop them leaving the train, but Albus and Scorpius do escape the train. They go to St Oswald’s, where the elderly people just do magic for fun and create lots of mischief. Amos rejects their offer of help, accusing Albus of trading on his famous Potter name and saying that Scorpius is possibly the son of Voldemort, so he states he doesn’t trust either of them. Delphi urges Amos to trust the boys, saying they have put themselves at risk to get there and that they are the only ones offering to help. Albus says he knows what it feels like to be the spare. Amos finally agrees but says trying to get the Time-Turner will be very dangerous so he sends Delphi with them. Delphi uses the Veritaserum spell on a Minister’s drink when he visits St Oswald’s and he confirms the Time-Turner is in Hermione’s office at the Ministry of Magic, and Delphi makes Polyjuice Potion to transform her into Hermione, Albus into Ron, and Scorpius into Harry, so they can enter the Ministry. Hmmm, that was a surprising development of The Trolley Witch, for it to be her job to stop people leaving the train and her having the ability to use her food items (and herself) as weapons! I’m not sure if I’m totally comfortable though with having characters from the original books being altered in this new book, I do obviously love Rowling’s ideas as they are always so wonderful and fresh (as is this idea), but it just doesn’t seem believable to introduce these things now as it surely would have been mentioned in the other books, perhaps I’d have been more comfortable if it was a new character introduced, maybe a new Trolley Witch who now has more to her role (but this Trolley Witch obviously isn’t a new character as she mentions Sirius and the Weasley twins). And tee hee, I can imagine the scene in St Oswald’s was enormous fun to watch on stage! And I love that the Time-Turner is going to feature again, that was always one of my favourite items from the original books (and one of my favourite stories was them using the Time-Turner to saving Sirius and Buckbeak), and the possibilities of the Time-Turner fascinated me, I was sad we didn’t see more of them in the original books though I could fully appreciate why Rowling had to effectively ‘end’ them as otherwise there would be too many occasions when sad deaths could be altered.

An Extraordinary General Meeting is called at the Ministry, hosted by Hermione and Harry. They tell everyone about the movement of Voldemort’s allies, the trolls and giants and werewolves, and that Harry’s scar has been hurting. Professor McGonagall says the Potions store at Hogwarts has been broken into and Boomslang skin and lacewing flies were taken. Hermione says they don’t know who has encouraged Voldemort’s allies to move or why, and asks if any ex-Death Eaters have felt their Dark Mark burning, as they are concerned that some trace of Voldemort is back. This angers Draco, he says Voldemort is dead and gone and that the Ministry is prejudiced against those with a Dark Mark, and that Harry is just saying all this to get in the papers again, and that Hermione only got the Minister for Magic job because she is Harry’s friend, and that the rumours of Scorpius’ parentage were begun by the Ministry and that the Ministry need to refute them. Oh dear, Draco really seems to be struggling, although it seems he still can’t help himself from using a competitive tone even when he may be justified in some of his arguments! It feels like we’re getting to explore his character a little more in this new book though, which is quite fascinating, although (again) I wish it was more in-depth as he obviously has a lot going on in his life, not just losing his wife and presumably trying to help Scorpius deal with his grief and facing being a single parent to Scorpius, but I wonder what his family thought of him marrying Astoria in the first place, and I wonder what his feelings are towards his parents now, plus it must have been a struggle for him to find his way in the new non-Voldemort world having been known as coming from a long line of Voldemort supporters (and of course he was present on the tower when Dumbledore died), and it’s an interesting thought that those with the Dark Mark may suffer from prejudice now, that’s quite an interesting twist.

Harry and Draco learn that their sons haven’t reached Hogwarts and are missing. Hermione has contacted the Muggle Prime Minister who has also instigated searches for them but says no instances of magic have been reported by Muggles. Hermione also has the Aurors investigating those involved in Dark Magic, though Draco says those pursuing Dark Magic now are inferior and wouldn’t dare to take a Malfoy. Ginny believes the boys have run away due to what Harry said to Albus, and Draco is then angry that his son is perhaps in danger because of Harry’s rash words, Draco adding that Scorpius is his only family and that Harry is a constant curse on his family. Later that night, Harry dreams of being a young boy in the cupboard under the stairs and being awoken by Petunia who discovers he has wet the bed and is disgusted at him, he tells her he had a nightmare about his parents dying and that a man was shouting something like Adkava at them and there was the noise of a snake hissing and he could hear his mum scream, but Petunia tells him his parents died in a car crash. Harry’s dream changes to Albus standing in some trees wearing red Durmstrang robes looking at Harry, Albus is then pulled away sharply and then Voldemort’s voice speaks Parseltongue saying ‘He’s coming, he’s coming’ and ‘Harry Potter’. When awake, Harry tells Ginny he thinks from the dream that Albus is in the Forbidden Forest. Hmmm, Harry’s dreams are intriguing, though I think he needs to be cautious about reading too much into them, after his dreams were manipulated at Hogwarts leading him and others into danger (and Sirius being killed, sob!), and how is he getting the information in these dreams, where is it coming from?

Albus and Scorpius and Delphi are at the Ministry, in disguise due to the Polyjuice Potion. They narrowly avoid being caught by the real Harry and Hermione but Albus quickly distracts them as Ron. Scorpius overhears Harry and Hermione’s conversation about Harry’s words to Albus, so he sympathises with Albus saying he can see his own dad struggling to comprehend how unalike they are as well, and he says there is a reason that Albus and he have found each other and become friends. In Hermione’s office they search for the Time-Turner, they take Trelawney’s book on Divination from the bookcase which opens and speaks riddles that eventually lead them to the Time-Turner, although the bookcase tries to swallow them as Hermione has weaponised it and they are all nearly killed, and the bookcase also undoes the Polyjuice Potion. The first riddle spelt the word ‘Dementors’, and a book on Dementors gave a riddle which spelt the name ‘Voldemort’, and a book on Voldemort gave another riddle which spelt the word ‘shadow’, and in a book called Shadows and Spirits they find the Time-Turner. Phew, that was all quite dramatic, and I’m sure looked really good on the stage. And I quite liked the riddles. I also loved how Hermione chose books in order to hide and defend something, bless her for being a book-lover, and I wonder what she feels seeing the Time-Turner again after all her adventures with it at Hogwarts. And does she not guess that the Time-Turner has been stolen, with all the mess and overturned bookcases in her room?

Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny go to Hogwarts to ask Professor McGonagall if they can search the Forbidden Forest. McGonagall suggests that Neville accompanies them as his knowledge of plants may be useful. Hermione and Ron and Draco then appear through the chimney having used the Floo Network. Ginny says she has also put out an emergency edition of the Daily Prophet to appeal for volunteers to help them search the Forest. Hmmm, I am surprised that Harry asked permission to search the Forbidden Forest, that doesn’t seem like a Harry thing to do, tee hee, he has grown responsible now (or perhaps it was Ginny’s doing)! And where is Hagrid, surely he’d be the best person to help them in the Forbidden Forest?

Albus and Scorpius and Delphi go to the Forbidden Forest. Their plan is to go back in time and prevent Cedric from winning the Triwizard Tournament so he doesn’t then go to the graveyard with Harry and face Voldemort and be killed. Delphi is teaching Albus the Expelliarmus spell to prepare him for what he has to do. Delphi has also taught them how to use the Time-Turner. She gives them Durmstrang robes, explaining that if they wear Hogwarts robes then people would expect to know them. They tell her she can’t come with them as she isn’t young enough to pass for a student and her being there is risking them being discovered, but Delphi isn’t happy about this. Hmmm, interesting that Delphi is teaching Albus the Expelliarmus spell as this was Harry’s favourite spell and the one he used to finally defeat Voldemort, is there significance to Albus using this spell, I wonder, or if not then it’s nice just to see the Expelliarmus spell again!

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron and the others are searching in the Forbidden Forest. Harry is met by Bane who tells him he is trespassing and that after the Battle of Hogwarts the Forest was deemed centaur-land. Harry explains he is looking for his son, but Bane says the centaurs do not need another war, that he’s seen Albus in the stars and there is a dangerous black cloud around him that may endanger everyone, and that Harry will find his son but then he could lose him forever. Oooh, Bane’s prophecy is intriguing and alarming, but also a little vague!

Albus and Scorpius (still in the Forbidden Forest) activate the Time-Turner and go back to 1994 and the first task at the Triwizard Tournament with the dragons. Ludo Bagman has used the Sonorous spell to amplify his voice, and Charlie Weasley is also there with the dragons. Hermione from 1994 appears beside them, and Scorpius mistakes her for Rose and begins to talk to her. Scorpius then notices that something seems to be wrong with the Time-Turner as it begins to tick and then bang just as Albus shouts the Expelliarmus spell and Cedric’s wand flies to him. Scorpius quickly grabs Albus, and they are then back in present day, although Albus is injured. Harry and Ron and Ginny and Draco then appear, and Scorpius slips the Time-Turner into his pocket. Albus is sent to hospital under the care of Madame Pomfrey, and has his arm reset, though Madame Pomfrey says that it is a very unusual break as it seems like it was broken 20 years ago and allowed to re-set in a strange position. Ooooh, that was all very dramatic! And nice to have Charlie Weasley back briefly, and Hermione as she was then, and Madame Pomfrey, and Bane in the scene before too, it’s so special to see these names on the pages again after I spent so many years reading and re-reading the original books, it really does feel a treat to be let into the Harry world again, I am so eternally grateful to Rowling for writing another book.

Harry is sitting beside Albus’ hospital bed and catches the eye of Dumbledore in his portrait. He asks Dumbledore how he feels about Albus having his name, and Dumbledore says it is a great weight to place on a child. Harry asks Dumbledore for advice on how to protect Albus from the danger Bane says he is in, but Dumbledore says you can’t protect the young from harm, you can only teach them how to meet life, and that Albus is waiting for Harry to see him clearly and that Harry is blinded by his love for Albus, that Harry needs to see Albus as he is and look for what is wounding him. Albus wakes and tells Harry that they just didn’t want to go back to Hogwarts and thought they could start again in the Muggle world and then changed their minds and were on their way back to Hogwarts when they were found. Harry asks Albus about the Durmstrang robes but Albus is vague with his reply. Harry tells Albus that he needs to keep away from Scorpius, that Bane has said there is a black cloud around Albus and that Harry feels that Dark Magic is in resurgence and he needs to keep Albus safe and this means safe from Scorpius. Harry adds that he will give the Marauders Map to McGonagall for her to check that Albus and Scorpius are not together, and if they are together then Harry will fix Albus with a spell so he can watch his every move and hear his every conversation. Harry also states that he will begin investigations into Scorpius’ true heritage. It then becomes apparent that this is an alternative time, presumably altered by Albus and Scorpius going back in time, as Albus is in Gryffindor not Slytherin, Ron is married to Padma (not Hermione) and they have a son called Panju, and Ron doesn’t own a joke shop, Hermione is not Minister of Magic but is the teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Omg, an alternative time!! What a clever idea of Rowling’s, as then things are guaranteed to be very different from the original books yet with the same original characters (although I hope not too different, already I’m a bit alarmed that Ron and Hermione didn’t marry, eeeek, though I’m liking her being the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, as she’d be a great teacher!). And it was lovely hearing Dumbledore’s wise words again, although Harry doesn’t seem to have taken any notice of these wise words when he later speaks to Albus (although I guess this is Harry in an alternative time, so maybe I shouldn’t be too hard on him!). I’d kind of forgotten about Dumbledore being there in the portraits, I think I’d be tempted to speak to him every day! And I love when things from the original books, like the Marauders Map, turn up again, it feels like Rowling is rewarding us for our loyalty by giving us these things again. Although it’s quite remarkable how Harry is planning to use the map in order to curtail Albus and restrict his freedom, as Harry himself would have been very angry if anyone had used the map to do this to him during his time at Hogwarts (although, again, this is Harry in the alternative time so I shouldn’t perhaps judge him too much!).

Albus sees Scorpius briefly as he leaves the hospital wing, and he asks if any of it worked but Scorpius says no. Albus then has to shun Scorpius and continues to avoid him over the next few days. McGonagall tries to dissuade Harry from his plan of her monitoring Albus with the Marauders Map, as she says there has been no hex or curse found on Albus. She also says that Harry should be wary of listening to Bane as he is very angry and can twist things seen in the constellations to suit himself, and that Harry should also not mistake the portrait of Dumbledore for the person. Harry snaps at McGonagall and tells her if she doesn’t do what he instructs then he will bring the full force of the Ministry down on the school. He also snaps at Ginny. Oh dear, alternative-time-Harry is not coming over very well here! And interesting what McGonagall says about not mistaking the portrait for Dumbledore, as already I’d thought how tempted I would be by that! Again, it would be good to have more details around this, has McGonagall ever consulted Dumbledore herself via his portrait, and how much useful advice can you take from his portrait, as I’m sure some of it must be useful (it certainly sounded useful what he was saying to Harry about Albus)?

Draco comes to Harry’s home to ask if he can lift his ban on Albus and Scorpius’ friendship as Scorpius is very upset. Harry explains that Bane said there was a darkness around Albus, so he feels he has to protect him. Harry then asks Draco if he is sure that Scorpius is his son. This angers Draco and they fight, exchanging spells. When Ginny enters the room and calms things down, Draco appeals to Harry, saying loneliness and pain and hatred could be the black cloud that Bane saw around Albus, as Draco used to envy Harry’s friendship with Ron and Hermione and that loneliness sent him to a dark place for a long time, and also that Tom Riddle was lonely and he didn’t come out of his dark place. Draco adds that he can’t talk to Scorpius about Astoria dying, just like Harry can’t talk to Albus. He also says that Harry is risking losing Albus, and that Albus needs both Harry and Scorpius. Awww, I am really liking Draco in this book, and feeling sorry for him. I wonder if Astoria was the first person he trusted and relied on and if she encouraged him to open up and express his feelings, and he must be grieving terribly, as well as being scared of losing Scorpius, bless him. And it was interesting to have him express how he felt at Hogwarts and his envy of the others’ friendship. I wish he and Harry could talk together more. And I was fascinated by the spells Draco and Harry used on each other. They both began with Expelliarmus, then use Incarcerous, Tarantallegra, Densaugeo, Rictusempra, Flipendo (which sent Harry twirling through the air), Brachiabindo (which bound Draco), Emancipare (which unbound him), Levicorpus, Mobilicorpus (which bounced Harry up and down in the air), and Obscuro (which put a blindfold on Draco, though he blocked this), quite a few ones there that I don’t think we’ve seen before, and again ones that I imagine look good on the stage. And interesting that none of the Unforgivable curses are used by either, as both have used them before, but I guess they are not so impulsive now with spells as they were before and I guess they also realise that there is no real danger here that they need to employ Unforgivable curses to fight with.

Delphi breaks into Hogwarts to talk to Scorpius, she says Cedric still died at the Triwizard Tournament but that their going back has altered other things. She urges Scorpius to speak to Albus, saying they need each other. She also adds that she never went to Hogwarts as a child as she was ill. Scorpius speaks to Albus in the library, he says he has now read Rita Skeeter’s book of the Triwizard Tournament in this alternative time and has found that Hermione didn’t partner Victor Krum at the Yule Ball as she was suspicious that two Durmstrang students had taken Cedric’s wand and she believed that this was at the instigation of Victor, so Ron was never jealous of Victor, and was never then prompted to declare his feelings for Hermione, so Ron and Hermione never got together and Rose was never born. Scorpius says Professor Croaker’s Law states the furthest someone can go back in time without the possibility of serious harm to the traveller or time itself is five hours, and they went back years and have caused ripples that have had serious effects. Albus says they need to go back in time again and save both Cedric and Rose, but Scorpius disagrees, saying they will make things even worse. Albus gets angry with Scorpius for holding him back, and Scorpius then gets angry with Albus, saying Albus doesn’t realise how lucky he is and that Scorpius had hoped that changing time would have changed things for him but that his mum still got sick and died in this alternative world and that people still accuse him of being Voldemort’s son. He adds that Albus is selfish and never sees what Scorpius is going through. Awww, poor Scorpius, I can imagine him desperately wishing that things might be different for his mum in this alternative time, and how sad for him to have those hopeful thoughts and then to be disappointed and grief-stricken all over again, bless him. And I have to agree with Scorpius about Albus! Albus is seeming quite like Harry here, quite stubborn and impulsive and not looking at the big picture, and not considering how Scorpius feels or what he is going through. And I wonder what they will do, as going back in time again seems risky with the chance that they could do more damage, but then again this alternative time can’t stay as the present either! And I guess this five hour window explains why Dumbledore could encourage Hermione to go back to rescue Sirius and Buckbeak and there be no dire consequences, as this fell within the timeframe of the Time-Turner.

McGonagall appears, and the boys hide under James’ Invisibility Cloak which Albus had earlier stolen. McGonagall seems to be aware that they are there but as she hasn’t actually seen them with her own eyes she is relieved not to have to pursue them further. Albus and Scorpius make up, Albus saying how sorry he is about Scorpius’ mother and sorry they don’t talk about it, and adding that Scorpius makes him stronger. Albus decides the way to stop Cedric winning the Tournament is to humiliate him by using an Engorgement spell on him, so they go to the girls’ bathroom on the first floor as they’ve realised the Time-Turner brings you out at the same place that you activate it and they need to be in the lake. Moaning Myrtle appears, though she is offended at them calling her ‘Moaning’ saying her name is Myrtle Elizabeth Warren. They go back in time to the lake challenge of the Tournament, using gillyweed so they can breathe underwater, and put the Engorgement spell on Cedric and hear everyone laugh at him, and then prepare to come back to the present time. Hmmm, I feel that their solutions to save Cedric seem overly-complicated and therefore at risk of failure! I do like when things from Harry’s time are repeated, such as using gillyweed and having Moaning Myrtle there and the Invisibility Cloak, but I am feeling everything Albus and Scorpius attempt to do is doomed to failure as it is so elaborate!

Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny and Draco have gone to McGonagall, Harry apologises and says he realises he has gone about things in the wrong way. McGonagall looks at the Marauders Map to find the boys’ location, and they are surprised to see them in the girls’ bathroom and that they keep disappearing and reappearing on the map. They all head there, and Myrtle tells them about Cedric and the Time-Turner, and Harry guesses the rest. Then only Scorpius comes back to the present time, there is no Albus as this is another alternative time! Scorpius learns that Cedric became an angry person due to the humiliation at the tournament and this led him to become a Death Eater and he killed Neville at the Battle of Hogwarts, so there was no Neville to kill Nagini so Harry died at Voldemort’s hand at the Battle of Hogwarts, and therefore there is no Albus Potter. Professor Umbridge is Headmistress, there are Dementors around the school, Voldemort Day is celebrated, people also put their hand to their heart and then touch their wrists together chanting ‘Voldemort and Valour’, there is also a group called the Augurey whose flag is a bird displayed in a fascist manner, and there are Mudblood death camps. Scorpius is known as Scorpion King and is athletic and a talented Quidditch player, he has also suggested that Mudbloods be tortured and killed in the school dungeons, and he has been offered the position of Head Boy. Draco is Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and Astoria is still dead. Omg, this is even worse, there is no Harry or Neville in this alternative time, omg, this is just shocking to consider! It’s reminding me a bit of the Stephen King book I read where people could go back in time and their aim was to prevent the assassination of JF Kennedy as they believed that his policies seemed so positive for the world and that the world would be a better place with him in it, but they realise that the alternative world they’ve created with Kennedy living isn’t perfect at all as there are so many knock-on effects and consequences that they haven’t foreseen! And I’m so sad that Astoria is still dead, she is obviously not fated to be alive in whichever alternative time the boys accidentally create, although I guess it would be too tempting for Scorpius to then want to keep that alternative time as the real/present one if his mum was alive in it so perhaps this is why she’s not alive in any of them. And how interesting that Draco has the job that Harry has in the present time.

Draco talks to Scorpius and tells him that he is acting strangely by asking questions about Harry Potter. Scorpius says he doesn’t want to be who he is, and he urges his dad to remember that Astoria thought better of him. Scorpius learns that Snape is at Hogwarts as Potions Master, so he appeals to Snape and tells him the truth about what has happened with the Time-Turners and that this is an alternative time to the real time where Harry Potter lives. Eeeek, Snape is here! It’s lovely how we are able to see these characters again, and it’s such a clever idea of Rowlings to do it in this way, as otherwise how on earth could you have them come back, she is such an incredible writer and this book feels such a treat for loyal fans!

Eventually Snape is convinced by the amount that Scorpius knows, particularly about Snape’s feelings for Lily Snr and him working undercover for Dumbledore. Snape is also touched that Harry named his son after him. Snape takes Scorpius to the hidden room accessed under the Whomping Willow, Hermione and Ron are there as the only remaining members of Dumbledore’s Army. Scorpius tells them they are married with children in the real/present time, and Snape then guesses that he is dead in the real/present time as Scorpius was surprised to see him. He asks who killed him and is annoyed that it was Voldemort, although Scorpius tells him that he died bravely. Awww, poor Snape, I had a bad feeling when they went to that room under the Whomping Willow as I remembered he died there. Arrrgh, I know they can’t change things, but it’s so tempting to wish that Snape doesn’t die!

Hermione says they can use the Time-Turner to go back in time twice and use Shield Charms to block the spells that Albus puts on Cedric. This works the first time, but when they return to the present time inbetween the two Cedric events and just as they’re about to go back in time again to block the other spell that Albus put on Cedric, the Dementors appear. Hermione and Ron realise they need to give Scorpius and Snape the chance to go back in time again to block the other spell at Cedric, so they let the Demetors suck their souls out, and they die together saying they love each other and hoping that if Snape and Scorpius are successful then they aren’t really dying as a real better time exists. Phew, this is all quite complicated and involved and clever! And sob, it’s so tragic and yet lovely with Ron and Hermione. And it’s also lovely with Snape helping Scorpius, though I already feel sad knowing we have to lose Snape again, sob, though I feel a little comforted that he knows that Harry named his son for him.

Umbridge then appears and sees Snape and Scorpius, and she guesses that Snape is not true to them. Snape uses the Depulso spell to shoot Umbridge through the air and then conjures his white doe Patronus to protect Scorpius so he can complete the second Cedric task. Snape then lures the Dementors away and sacrifices himself, after asking Scorpius to tell Albus Severus that he is proud he carries his name. Oh noooo, Snape has sacrificed himself too, so he’s been brave and given his life twice, I feel like I am mourning him all over again! And eeek, he used the white doe Patronus (for Lily Snr), awww, poor poor Snape, bless him.

Both Scorpius and Albus come back from the lake to the present ‘real’ time. Albus doesn’t understand what has happened but Scorpius says they have been successful as now nothing has changed. Harry and Ginny and Draco and Hermione and McGonagall then appear, saying they know everything. McGonagall makes it clear to the boys how dangerously they have acted and the effects that their carelessness had, that they wiped out Rose and many more people, they killed Harry, and brought back Voldemort and a new age of Dark Magic, and that all that Dumbledore had done and sacrificed could have been undone, she says they have no idea how dark the Wizarding Wars were and that they were reckless with the world that people sacrificed a huge amount to create and sustain. She says she has thought about expelling them, but she will put them in detention for the rest of the year and cancel all privileges like Hogsmeade. Oh god, things are ok again, phew! And I am pleased that McGonagall was very severe and angry and made it quite clear to the boys how reckless they were, they needed scaring into realising how big the effect was and to never consider doing anything like that again, and she was so right telling them to consider all the sacrifices that everyone had made and all the lives that had been lost to give them a safe world to live in (I almost feel quite angry at them myself, when I consider again that final battle and the sadness of so many special people dying, such as Lupin and Fred).

Harry and Albus talk together. Harry is also angry at Albus and what he risked, but he says he realises he was wrong about Scorpius, and he promises that the Marauders Map won’t be used again. They both admit to each other that they are not ok. Later, Harry dreams he is at his parents’ graveside as a young boy, and Petunia is putting flowers on the grave. He hears Voldemort’s voice saying he can smell guilt in the air, and Voldemort then rises up behind the gravestone, he asks Harry if he still sees with his eyes, and then Albus comes from Voldemort’s cloak and reaches out for Harry calling out ‘dad’. Harry wakes terrified, knowing he was never at Godric’s Hollow with Petunia so that wasn’t a dream of a real event and is instead something that is going to happen, and that Voldemort is still here and they are all still in danger. Oh dear, we’re not done yet with the drama and excitement and tension! But how can Voldemort be back?!

Scorpius has secretly hidden the Time-Turner so he can make sure himself that it is destroyed as he doesn’t trust the Ministry not to keep it. He asks Albus to help him destroy it and they go to the Owlery that night and are trying to decide the best way to destroy it, remembering that the other Time-Turners were destroyed by the Stupefy spell. Albus has sent an owl to Delphi so she can join them when they destroy it, however Scorpius notices an Augurey tattoo on the back of Delphi’s neck as she takes the Time-Turner from them and asks her about it, she says augureys are sinister-looking birds that cry when rain is coming and some wizards believe their cry foretells death, she says her guardian had an augurey in a cage when she was growing up and mentions this guardian’s name was Euphemia Rowle. Scorpius gets suspicious of Delphi, remembering that the Rowles were Death Eaters, and tries to snatch the Time-Turner back but Delphi uses the Fulgari spell on both of them to bind their arms in cords and she then snaps their wands. Eeeek, Delphi is bad! I was wondering why she was brought up by a guardian when she had said she was Amos Diggory’s niece so she seemed to have family. It was almost all over otherwise, and now the danger and drama has started again!

Delphi tells them that she wants Voldemort’s return as he is the one true ruler, and that they have to humiliate Cedric in the final Triwizard task and the prophecy says Albus must do this. She says the prophecy is ‘When spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children murder their fathers, then will the Dark Lord return’. She says Cedric is the spare, and Albus is the unseen child who will kill his father. Albus says he won’t do what she wants, so she uses the Cruciatus curse on Scorpius to try and force Albus to comply as she says Albus’ weakness is friendship, just like his father. Craig Bowker Jnr runs towards them saying everyone is looking for them, and Delphi then uses the Avada Kedavra curse to kill Craig! Omg, so Voldemort could come back! And she’s using the Unforgivable Curses, I didn’t think we’d see those again. And the prophecy is quite interesting, and I can see how she can think it applies to Cedric and to Albus. But surely Delph is only there now because Albus invited her, what would have happened if he hadn’t invited her and they had successfully destroyed the Time-Turner?

Delphi activates the Time-Turner to send them back in time to the maze in 1995. Scorpius’ and Albus’ arms are bound and Delphi forces them to walk forwards with her, but they whisper together trying to find a way to stop this happening and they remember the time limit rule of the Time-Turner and wonder if they can delay Delphi until the time runs out. Scorpius tells Albus that he is prepared to die in order to stop Delphi, and Albus says the same. They try to run and Delphi flies after them without a broom, she uses the Cruciatus curse on Scorpius but then Cedric from 1995 appears and uses the Expelliarmus spell on Delphi to stop her, as he thinks this is a task although he is unsure who he needs to fight or protect, and he then uses the Emancipare spell to untie Scorpius and Albus, and then walks off to continue the task in the maze. The boys know that him continuing into the maze means that he will die, and Albus calls after him that his dad loves him very much. Delphi activates the Time-Turner, Scorpius and Albus grab hold of it, they all go to 1981 and then Delphi destroys the Time-Turner and flies away saying she will try something new and she doesn’t need them any more. Ooooh, so Delphi can fly without a broom, wasn’t Voldemort able to do that too? And oh poor Cedric, it must have been very tempting for Scorpius and Albus to tell him of his fate so he could try and avoid it, but I’m glad they’ve learnt that to interfere just causes more problems. But it was still sad, him walking away into the maze to his death. And omg, they are now in 1981, wow, Rowling is certainly using the Time-Turner fully while she has the chance! So Delphi has abandoned her plan to go to the graveyard in 1995 and change the outcome there, but why 1981, what is her plan for then? And, eeek, Scorpius and Albus are stuck in 1981 now, which will be interesting as we didn’t go to this time in the original books so will we see things we’d not seen before? It is all quite exciting, even amongst the danger!

Meanwhile Harry and Ginny and Draco go to Hermione, who is with Ron, telling her the boys are missing again and that Harry’s dreams are still continuing. They realise that the boys are with Delphi Diggory so go to Amos to question him about his niece, but he denies having a niece. They realise that Delphi must have used a Confundus Charm on Amos and the other staff, and Hermione checks with the Ministry and there is no record of a Delphi Diggory. Draco tries the Specialis Revelio spell in Delphi’s room in the hope that something will be revealed to them, but nothing appears. They begin to physically search the room, and when Ginny unscrews the top of a lamp there is a hissing noise which is Parseltongue. Harry says he’s not been able to understand Parseltongue since Voldemort died but he realises he can understand it now, and he tells them it says ‘Welcome Augurey’. Harry orders the room, in Parseltongue, to open, and writhing snakes appear on the walls, and the prophecy about spares and unseen children also appears written in fluorescent paint. They realise that Cedric was called a spare, that Delphi has a Time-Turner, and Harry realises that he hadn’t understood and seen his child. Other words then appear on the walls reading ‘I will rebirth the Dark. I will bring my father back’. Eeeek, her father?! So Voldemort is her father! And an interesting hark-back to the rumours earlier in the book that Scorpius’ father was Voldemort, there are definitely lots of interesting father/child themes in this book. And it’s also interesting that Harry hasn’t been able to understand Parseltongue since Voldemort has died, though I guess this makes sense as it was the Voldemort part of him that could understand the language (and I am just reminded again and again of how clever Rowling’s writing was in those original books, and also in this one).

Hermione calls another Extraordinary General Meeting in the Ministry’s Grand Meeting Room and she is joined on stage by Harry and Ginny and Ron and Draco, and the crowd are surprised to see Harry and Draco united. Hermione says that Craig Bowker Jnr has been killed, that a room at St Oswald’s revealed a prophecy that promised the return of darkness and a proclamation that Voldemort had a child. She says they have questioned Death Eaters but so far they have found no record of the child or the prophecy, but they know the child in question was kept hidden from the wizarding world, and that she is now out of their reach as she has hidden herself in time. McGonagall is angry that Hermione kept the Time-Turner which Delphi has now got, and she calls her reckless and stupid. Harry and Ginny and Ron and Draco all intervene to defend Hermione, saying they don’t know how Delphi got the Time-Turner but it may have been Albus who gave it to her or she perhaps stole it from him. Hermione says they have appealed to the giants and trolls for help, and the Aurors are out searching. Oh dear, I can fully understand McGonagall’s anger as all this has been caused by the Time-Turner being available to use, and I can appreciate (as she said to Albus and Scorpius) that she feels that everyone’s sacrifices and all the lives lost have potentially been in vain if a version of Voldemort can come back. I imagine this is similar to how people felt who had gone through the First World War and thought that was the war to end all wars, and then had to face a Second World War.

Harry is going through paperwork checking they have prepared all they can, when Dumbledore speaks to him out of the portrait but Harry cuts him off saying he has fought Voldemort on his own before without Dumbledore beside him, that Dumbledore was never really there for him, and that his advice to Harry about Albus that love is blind didn’t help at all. Dumbledore begins to cry, he says he loved Harry but that he himself was not a fit person for Harry to love as he always caused harm where he loved, and he adds that his love for Harry was blind. Harry says Dumbledore should have told him this earlier and he would have then hurt Harry less. Dumbledore says again ‘Those that we love never truly leave us’. Harry tells Dumbledore he did love him too, and Dumbledore says he knows, and then leaves. Omg, that was hard to read with Dumbledore being upset, I was kind of feeling Harry was quite harsh there to Dumbledore, but clearly Harry has a lot of hurt that he is still carrying, and I guess it was good that he raised it with Dumbledore as now he is clearer on how Dumbledore felt about him. And the words ‘Those that we love never truly leave us’ is one of my favourite sayings of Dumbledore’s, it was nice to see those words again.

Draco arrives in Harry’s office, he says in the alternative time he was Head of Magical Law Enforcement which was his dad’s aim for him but that he wanted to be a Quidditch player. He says Theodore Nott’s Time-Turner was a prototype made of inexpensive metal and that it being only able to go back in time for five minutes was a serious flaw, and that Nott had then built one for Lucius, and Draco produces this, he says this one is made of gold and there is no five minutes problem with it. He said he kept this Time-Turner concealed as it would have given credence to the rumours about Scorpius. Omg, there is another Time-Turner, and this one is far better than the one that Delphi has! I was wondering how on earth they were going to rescue Albus and Scorpius (never mind defeat Delphi) but this seems to be the solution (although how angry is McGonagall going to be when she finds out there is another Time-Turner?!). And how typical that Lucius had this Time-Turner, always wanting to be powerful! And I feel it is very significant that Draco has gone to Harry with this Time-Turner, and this admittance of illegality from his father, this surely shows he is willing to step away from his family heritage in order to save Scorpius, and that he’s humble enough to recognise that Harry can help him achieve this and that it’s not a weakness to ask for help and to join forces with Harry and the others. Bless him, I think Draco has changed the most out of all the original Hogwarts children.

Draco tells Harry that he and Astoria were able to have children but that Astoria had an inherited blood condition so Draco didn’t want to risk her health with a pregnancy, but Astoria wanted them to have a child together and also for this child to be company for Draco when she was gone as she knew she wouldn’t live to old age. Draco said he decided to preserve their time together as a family and to conserve Astoria’s strength, so the three hid themselves away, but he realises now that hiding away just increased the gossip. Draco says he’s had a lonely life, always being suspected and never able to escape his past. Harry says they have both been so busy trying to rewrite their pasts that they haven’t given their sons what they needed and have blighted their sons’ present. Harry says they can’t use the Time-Turner however as they don’t know where in time to look for their sons, so he says they will have to leave it up to Albus and Scorpius to help themselves. Awww, poor Draco! And interesting to learn this about Astoria having an inherited blood condition, after blood (ie pure-blood) was so important to the Malfoys. Again, I wonder what Draco’s parents said about him wanting to marry Astoria, I imagine they weren’t at all encouraging, but clearly Draco didn’t listen and followed love rather than following his father’s orders. And I think a nice link back to how a parent’s love saved Harry’s life when he was a baby, and here is Draco stating that his love for his wife and child were greater than any former feelings of ambition he may have had and any family allegiance. But oh dear, I’d got all carried away with the hope of Lucius’ Time-Turner meaning they could shoot off and rescue Albus and Scorpius, but of course they don’t know where the boys are in time.

Meanwhile, Albus and Scorpius look at a train timetable and realise they are on 30th October 1981, so they presume Delphi’s plan is to kill baby Harry in order to prevent Voldemort’s curse rebounding onto him and making him weak for so long. They decide to go to Godric’s Hollow to try and stop her. Albus realises he has never been to Godric’s Hollow, though Harry had tried to encourage him to go. They go to the graveyard at St Jerome’s Church, and they watch Lily Snr come out of her house with baby Harry and wrap him in the blanket that Harry in present time still has. They try to decide how to get a message of help to the present time, and they wonder about telling Lily Snr but then decide that if she knew that Harry survived then she may not be able to sufficiently beg Voldemort for Harry’s life which then protected him with the counter-charm of everlasting love. They think about finding Dumbledore but again think he may not be able to do all he needed to do if he knew that Harry survived. Eeeek, so that’s the significance of them going to 1981! And I’m loving the potential that this gives for us seeing far more of that time and the people and events of that time, I’ve always hoped that Rowling would write about that time! And I am impressed that Albus and Scorpius are now considering the possible effects they could cause by changing things in the past, such as Lily Snr’s and Dumbledore’s reactions to things being altered if they were told that Harry survived, I feel Albus and Scorpius are maturing and being more sensible (although both of their suggestions with Lily Snr and Dumbledore are oh so tempting!). And I wasn’t sure if we’d been told the name of the church where the graveyard was, and I wondered if St Jerome was significant in some way, as I think there are always meanings in all that Rowling introduces. I have looked on trusty Wikipedia who says that St Jerome is ‘sometimes depicted with an owl, the symbol of wisdom and scholarship. Writing materials and the trumpet of final judgement are also part of his iconography’, oooh, so that’s interesting with the owl connection, I wonder if this is why Rowling chose this saint, and I could also imagine that the writing materials would appeal to her, and I wonder if the final judgement bit signifies that this will be the final appearance of Voldemort? 

Albus then remembers Harry’s blanket now covered in love potion in the corner of his bedroom, and he knows that Harry in present time will be keeping that blanket with him that night as he always does on Hallows Eve, and they remember that love potions contain Pearl Dust which can be seen when mixed Tincture of Demiguise. They decide to get some Tincture of Demiguise from Bathilda Bagshot’s house and to write a message on the blanket for Harry that he will then see in present time, and as Tincture of Demiguise is invisible no-one will see it until the Pearl Dust from the love potion falls onto it. Oooh, this is really really clever, I do like this! And how lovely to have Harry’s blanket being so important, that seems fitting. And I love the idea that these words have been invisibly written on Harry’s blanket all that time, when Hagrid wrapped it around Harry and took him to Privet Drive, and since when Harry has been reunited with the blanket, all that time secretly written on there, I love it!

They write ‘Dad. Help. Godric’s Hollow. 31.10.81’, and the words are seen by Ginny and Harry, who send owls to Hermione and Draco to meet them with the Time-Turner. They go to 1981 and meet Albus and Scorpius and all are delighted to see each other. But they know they still have to deal with Delphi, so they decide to use St Jerome’s Church as a good vantage point to spot her. However, as the crucial time approaches, Delphi still hasn’t arrived. Ginny suddenly realises that it isn’t baby Harry that Delphi wants to kill, as at this point in time baby Harry is a year and half old so Delphi could have chosen any point before that day to kill him, so Ginny thinks her choosing this time is instead for the purpose of meeting Voldemort, her father, and to convince him not to follow the original prophecy and not to try and kill baby Harry at all. Omg, all their plans and preparations are having to be changed at the last minute! But clever Ginny to realise this, and Ginny doesn’t seem to have had that big a part so far in this book so it’s great that it’s her with this crucial realisation. And I was so pleased that the words written on the blanket worked, and Harry and the others managed to meet Albus and Scorpius, hurrah! I could breathe a little then (before we’re straight back into the action again!).

Harry realises they don’t know from where or exactly when Voldemort approached the house on that day, so he decides he will transfigure into Voldemort knowing that will draw Delphi. He will bring Delphi into the church where the others will be hidden and they will then capture her. Hmmm, I’m not sure about this plan, I can see things going wrong…! And Harry transfiguring into Voldemort just seems a bit too weird and uncomfortable, given their history, I can see that as the hero then it makes sense in the book for Harry to do this, but I’d kind of be happier if one of the others transfigured into Voldemort.

Harry transfigures into Voldemort and Delphi follows him inside the church. She tells him that she is from the future and she is his daughter, and that Rodolphus Lestrange told her this when he was released from Azkaban and he also told her of the prophecy about the unseen child and said that she was destined to fulfil this. She speaks Parseltongue and raises into the air without a broom in order to prove this relationship, and says she is the Augurey to his Dark Lord. She says she has devoted her life to being a child he could be proud of, and says his mission to kill baby Harry is a mistake as it will destroy him because Harry’s mother’s love will cause his spell to rebound on him making him weak and Harry powerful, and that he will spend the next 17 years battling Harry and will lose in the end. Ooooh, so it was Rodolphus Lestrange that told Delphi that she was Voldemort’s daughter, and told her of the prophecy! 

Harry realises the transfiguration is failing. Delphi sees this too and sends the Incendio spell at Harry who sends the same spell back, she also uses the Colloportus spell to seal the doors that the others are hiding behind, and she then disarms Harry of his wand. She then sends the Expulso spell at Harry, who hides under a church pew but she uses the Wingardium Leviosa spell to lift the pew. Albus creeps out and throws Harry a wand, but Delphi sees him and says she will kill both of them. She sends the Avada Kedavra curse at Albus but Harry pushes him out of the way. Albus then uses the Alohomora spell to open the sealed doors while Harry fights with Delphi. Delphi is then overpowered with Harry and Ron and Ginny and Hermione and Draco’s spells against her. They bind her using the Brachiabindo spell, and Harry angrily approaches her saying she dared to hurt his son. She says she just wanted to know her father and begs to be allowed to see him, and says if they won’t let her see him then to kill her. Harry says they can’t do either. Albus is surprised that Harry won’t kill Delphi, as he states she’s dangerous and is a murderer, but Harry and Ron and Hermione all say they have to be better than them. Delphi begs for them to take her mind and memory so as to make her forget who she is, but they say they will take her back to the present time and she’ll go to Azkaban, Hermione saying ‘same as your mother’. Omg, that was all very dramatic and edge-of-the-seat! I was a bit disappointed that Harry didn’t use the Expelliarmus spell at Delphi, as that would have been a nice link to the original books. But I liked that the spells were named, and there were quite a few that I recognised from the original books. And it seemed fitting that it was Harry and Albus fighting Delphi together, hopefully this signifies them becoming more attuned in their relationship too, and it was hopefully good for Albus’ confidence as well.

They hear Voldemort approaching. Delphi cries out to him, so they gag her using the Silencio spell and then use the Wingardium Leviosa spell to send her upwards and away. Harry realises his parents are about to be murdered but that he can’t stop it. Draco tells Harry he is heroic for not trying to stop it happening. Ginny tells Harry that he doesn’t have to watch it happen, but Harry says he must watch because he is letting it happen. They all say they will therefore watch with him, and Albus holds Harry’s hand and Ginny takes his other hand. They see Lily Snr at the bedroom window, and Harry says how beautiful she looks, they then hear her beg Voldemort for mercy and for him not to kill her son, they then hear Voldemort shout the Avada Kedavra spell and then hear a scream. Harry collapses on the floor of the church. They see Hagrid come to the house and hear him call out for James and Lily, and he then finds them dead. He takes some flowers from his pocket and places them on the floor, and he then apologises to them for not staying with them but says that Dumbledore had told him that he couldn’t wait with them, but he assures them that they won’t be forgotten. He goes to baby Harry in the crib and tells him he will be his friend. The police approach the house, and Hagrid leaves with baby Harry. Arrgh, that was so sad and touching, it was really quite tough to read. And somehow I hadn’t quite realised that Harry’s parents must die and he can’t intervene to change this. But oh, how he must have been tempted! It’s so clever that everything regarding time has been building up to this point and that we’ve had it reinforced again and again that you can’t alter the past without causing catastrophic changes in the present, as otherwise it would have been so tempting to will Harry to intervene and stop his parents dying. And how awful for him, and the others, to watch it happen, especially them seeing and hearing Lily Snr, that did choke me up a bit, as did Hagrid putting his flowers on the floor and apologising for not staying with them, awww, bless him Hagrid and it’s nice that he features too. It’s such a traumatic scene, and yet also so powerful a scene as it’s so crucial to everything that happens in the original books. And I liked how everyone supported Harry as he went through it, including Draco. It also seemed quite fitting that Harry wasn’t fighting Voldemort again, I think it might have felt a bit like we were going backwards if that was to have happened again, I kind of like that there was no involvement between them now, it seems to emphasise that all that is in Harry’s past. Phew, I feel quite drained now!

In present time, Scorpius and Albus are at Hogwarts and Scorpius is excited at having just asked out Rose, even though she turned him down. Later, Albus and Harry talk together, and Albus tells Harry that he watched Harry’s parents for a bit and that they all had fun together and that James Snr used to create smoke rings for baby Harry who couldn’t stop giggling, he adds that he thinks Harry would have liked them as people and that he himself would have liked them. Harry talks about thinking he’d lost Voldemort a long time ago and then fearing Voldemort would never let him go, and that he realises he had physically lost Voldemort but not lost him mentally. Harry apologises again for what he said to Albus and says he is going to try and be a better dad, and he adds that Albus is wrong if he thinks Harry isn’t scared of anything as he is scared of the dark and small spaces and pigeons, but what scares him most is being a dad as he has no dad to base himself on so he is having to learn how to do it. Albus says he’ll also try to be a better son, but adds that he knows he’ll never be like James Jnr or like Harry who he thinks are very similar to each other, but Harry says he and James are not similar as James gets everything easy whereas Harry’s childhood was a constant struggle. Harry says Albus is more like Ginny, bold and fierce and funny. Albus questions this, saying he almost destroyed the world, but Harry points out that Albus also saved the world as he brought Delphi out and found a way for them to fight her. Albus says he wanted to kill Delphi and he wonders if these angry and vengeful feelings were what the Sorting Hat saw when it put him in Slytherin, but Harry says that Albus was justifiably angry at Delphi as he’d watched her murder Craig but that he knows Albus wouldn’t have killed Delphi and that no matter whether he has the label of Gryffindor or Slytherin he has a good heart. Harry says that Albus’ names shouldn’t be a burden to him, that both men had their trials and had huge flaws but both were also great men and their flaws made them greater. Harry says the hill they are sitting on is actually a graveyard and Cedric is buried there and that Harry comes there when he can to say sorry. Awww, this scene was touching too. I really liked that Albus said all that to Harry about his parents, that was lovely. And Harry’s realisations about Voldemort were interesting too, that he needed to lose him mentally as well as physically, I think it is fitting that the trauma of everything he went through is being acknowledged, and wow he did go through a lot, learning he was a piece of Voldemort’s soul, realising that only he or Voldemort could live, as well as him losing all those people (and Hedwig!). And I like Harry’s thought that a person’s flaws can actually make them greater and stronger.

Phew, what a book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and being back in the Harry world, that feels such a treat, although now I want more and more, tee hee! I feel (yet again!) that I’m not ready to say goodbye! I do feel slightly cheated by the script format though, not just because I felt it encouraged me to race through each scene when I wanted to savour it all and make it last, but also that there didn’t seem enough chance to think things through and process it all so I feel like I have reached the end and my mind is spinning! And of course (as I have mentioned before!) I miss the wonderfully detailed descriptions of scenes which just brings everything alive in my mind and the descriptions of people and their thoughts and doubts and feelings and decisions and their relationships to each other. Oh, how wonderful it would be if it was in the form of a novel…! I can appreciate that the script format makes it fast-paced and fun and entertaining and I’m sure it all looks fantastic and alive on stage, but for me it also felt rushed with the need for action in every single scene and the way the scenes swiftly jumped from one to the other, I felt quite exhausted by it and that I read a few scenes and then had to put the book down to give me time to mull over the significance of what I’d read, so it then didn’t seem to flow so well for me, and it just seemed a bit reduced without all the descriptions. As I say, I definitely loved it, but I also definitely feel that I would have got far far far more from it if it was written first in the style of a novel (which Rowling does so wonderfully wonderfully well) and then adapted into a script for the stage, so the best of both worlds then!

I loved all the wonderful essentials from the original books being there in this book too, such as the Hogwarts Express and the Sorting Hat and my favourite and beloved characters who mean so very much to me, especially Snape, and even the Trolley Witch and Moaning Myrtle, although (and I know I’m being greedy!) it wasn’t enough for me, it just felt all too brief! I guess this is me harping on again about it being in the script format (!) but I wished all these essentials could have been written in more depth so I could savour them all over again. And also I wanted more details of new things that were introduced, such as the locations of their homes, the details of Draco’s wife, what has happened to Mr and Mrs Weasley, etc, etc, I have the impression that Rowling loves all these background details just as much as the reader does, so I find it a shame this was missing from this book. 

And now I can breathe a bit and have time to mull things over, I inevitably have questions! Maybe I’ve missed things with racing through the book, and I will definitely re-read it and hopefully these answers are supplied.

I find it intriguing to consider just who the ‘cursed child’ is from the book title, and who the ‘unseen child’ is from the prophecy, and if these are the same child or two children. Obviously the book is mainly about Albus and it is presumed that he is the ‘unseen’ child from the prophecy so it’s tempting to assume it is also him referred to in the title as the ‘cursed child’, but I feel Scorpius and Delphi could also fit both these titles, and perhaps are more fitting than Albus really. Scorpius has been cursed with his dad’s and grandfather’s history and he has to deal with people’s reactions and prejudices to him accordingly, and he would probably feel (the same as Albus felt with Harry) that his true self was ‘unseen’ by his father. And Delphi was brought up in secret so this qualifies her for the ‘unseen’ title, and she became obsessed with Voldemort and her belief that she was his daughter, so did this information that Rodolphus Lestrange impart to her actually act as a ‘curse’ on her life, as it seems to have directed her decisions and made her into a criminal in her pursuit of meeting and saving her father. Also could the ‘unseen children murder their father’ bit in the prophecy apply to Delphi (as the unseen child), as she effectively fails to halt Voldemort’s (her father’s) death by not succeeding in her mission to stop him trying to kill baby Harry? And as an interesting extra, Draco says in the book that Harry is a curse on his family so is Harry another possible contender for the ‘cursed child’ (even though he is no longer a child), and perhaps Harry is also cursed to always have the worry that Voldemort will come back, and cursed to feel a failure as a parent as he had no parents to guide him in parenting? I was also interested that Dumbledore’s portrait tells Harry that he needs to see Albus, which fits with Albus being the ‘unseen’ child, but also (if I’ve remembered correctly) this is the first instance of the unseen phrase/allegation being used in the book (as I don’t think we’d heard the prophecy by that point), so it’s interesting again why Dumbledore uses it, was he aware of the prophecy (although surely it would then just be easier to tell Harry about the prophecy!) or was he just very wise (or was it just a nice tie-in from Rowling of what would come later)? And another example of the unseen phrase/allegation being used (and again, I think this may have been before we’d heard the prophecy) was when Scorpius accused Albus of not seeing him, which fits with Scorpius then being the ‘unseen’ child, or fits with there potentially being lots of children that felt unseen so the prophecy could be applied to many.

I wondered what causes the trolls and giants and werewolves to move and gather, do we get an answer to this? Is Delphi communicating with them and directing them and sharing her Time-Turning plan with them and her aim to bring Voldemort back? Though this would surely take great magic and power on her part to direct them like this, is she capable of that, and are they likely to believe in her like this? Or are they just aware of her dark movements and aims somehow, through some kind of evil network, so are they just responding to and preparing for this, not knowing quite who or what is behind the movement? After all, it isn’t Voldemort gathering them as he did before, as he doesn’t actually really come back in this book, we only see him in one of the travels back in time, he doesn’t actually touch the present time that the book is set in. Or was it through the Dark Marks? Did they burn again, or didn’t they, I don’t know if we got a firm answer on that from any of the Death Eaters. But then would Delphi be able to activate these? I imagine Draco would have said if his Dark Mark burned, or did Draco’s not burn because he has left his Death Eater past behind him, or would it still burn regardless of his present feelings for the cause? So many questions!

Are we presuming that everyone’s parents are dead (sob!)? So Arthur and Molly Weasley, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, possibly Hagrid too? Why don’t we hear of them? I am thinking if the Weasleys and Hagrid were alive then they would have been at the Extraordinary General Meetings that Hermione called and be full of ideas and suggestions and be keen to support Harry and the others, and their experience would be valuable even though they would be elderly now. I also would have thought Molly Weasley would have had stern words with her grandson Albus for his carelessness messing with time and endangering the magical world, as McGonagall did!

I know this book is about Albus, but I’d like to have learnt more of James Jnr’s time at Hogwarts as he sounds a lot like the original James Snr to me, so it would have been interesting to see an alternative to Harry’s experience at school. Ideally (if my wishes could come true!) I’d like to have had a book about each Potter child’s time at Hogwarts, as they are different types of people so their experiences at school would be different, so I think there would be plenty of scope for fresh writing and ideas. And on that theme, why is it Albus who is the main character of this book and makes the choices he does that brings all this to happen, why not James Jnr or Lily Jnr? Is it something to do with the ‘middle child syndrome’ and them possibly feeling a lack of attention and going to extremes to get attention so is it therefore more believable that Albus as the middle child would do the things in this book whereas it’s harder to believe that James as the eldest or Lily as the youngest would? Or is it the fact he isn’t named for a Potter relative so does this make him feel he needs to prove himself more, so this caused him to make the choices he made? Or is it the pressure of the names he’s been given of memorable and admired and brave people and the feeling he has to live up to this, and if so is there significance in Albus asserting that he wants to be called Albus rather than Al as Harry keeps calling him? And with that thought, how must McGonagall and the others from Dumbledore’s time feel saying the name Albus and the memories this must bring back to them of Dumbledore?

And just a little thing, but I wondered what age Hermione and Ron’s son, Hugo, is? Is he James Jnr’s age or Lily Jnr’s age, or older or younger than them?

And I know I’ve mentioned already a few times (!) my desire to know more about Astoria, but was she at Hogwarts, and if so then what House was she in? And what family did she come from, as I’m presuming she was a Pure-Blood even though she wasn’t a Death Eater. And I’m curious for details such as where she and Draco met, how they dealt with their different upbringings, even if Draco married Astoria in order to emphasise he had left his Death Eater past behind him (as well as presumably loving her too), and how Draco was changed by being married to her.

And quite a huge question (I perhaps should have led with this one!), is Delphi actually really Voldemort’s child? It just seems so unlikely. Yes, she can fly without a broom like he could, but is this something you can learn, like Voldemort learned how to create Horcruxes? Bellatrix Lestrange, supposedly the mother of Delphi, was killed by Mrs Weasley at the Battle of Hogwarts, so when exactly did she give birth to Delphi, if she was her mother? If the conception and birth happened during the time the Death Eaters were at Malfoy Manor, then how long were the Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor for (I’m presuming it’s still nine months for witches to give birth!)? And there is no mention of Bellatrix being pregnant at Malfoy Manor, I seem to remember she was at the forefront of things there with her torturing Hermione and throwing a knife at Dobby, she didn’t seem incapacitated in any way, and there was no mention of the noise of a crying baby from Ollivander or Luna imprisoned in the cellar at Malfoy Manor all that time. And wasn’t Voldemort a bit busy with other things at that time to be thinking about providing an heir, would the providing of an heir even have been something of importance to him as in his mind he was the ultimate and the world only needed him, and I can’t imagine he’d have ever considered the possibility of dying and that an heir would be useful to carry on his work as he thought he was cheating death with his Horcruxes so there would be no need for an heir to follow him. And surely the Lestranges and the other Death Eaters would have shared the news that there was an heir to Voldemort, both to his followers but also to his enemies as this would have been incredibly intimidating to people (as it was when people learnt it in this book). No, I think this is a huge stretch, I think it is just Delphi’s desperate hope and Rodolphus’ wish to cause harm and hurt, not actual fact. I am disappointed really this Voldemort child thing has even been introduced as an idea, to be honest, it just seems unnecessary and messy, Delphi could just have been a Voldemort fan who grew up with Death Eater parents praising Voldemort and lamenting his passing so she became obsessed with him and determined to bring him back, that would fit as an explanation for her drive to bring him back as he did attract certain types of lonely people looking for a sense of belonging and of power, this would have been more believable to me than her being his child. I think this is all a story told to Delphi by her guardians or Roldophus Lestrange in order to try and keep the cause of Voldemort and the Death Eaters going, which Delphi has chosen to believe in order to feel less lonely and more powerful and that she has family. However, I noted that Hermione tells Delphi that she will go to Azkaban ‘like her mother’, which therefore implies that Hermione believes that Bellatrix is Delphi’s mother. And, as an aside, if she is Voldemort’s child then it’s interesting to consider the similarities between her and Harry (who was also part of Voldemort, being one of his Horcruxes), such as them both being brought up in secret, etc.

Is transfiguration that easy that Harry can change into Voldemort just like that? If so, then what is the point of Polyjuice Potion? I guess Harry’s transfiguration into Voldemort was quite a fragile one and began to fail quite quickly, and I guess it can’t be too difficult once you know how as James and Sirius and Peter Pettigrew used to do it regularly at Hogwarts in order to spend time with Lupin, but transfiguration just didn’t seem to be used much in the other Harry books. 

And I wondered if it was widely known afterwards what Albus and Scorpius had done with the Time-Turner, and that they had nearly brought back Voldemort and potentially eliminated several children of their own generation and killed Harry! Or was it all just conveniently hushed up? I guess I kind of hope it was hushed up, as I can imagine Albus and Scorpius being shunned and hated by everyone for being so careless! And their parents also being shunned and hated and viewed as not controlling their children adequately. 

And I know this is a minor little thing (but I like the minor little things!), where do Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione live? In one of the magical villages, like Godric’s Hollow or Upper Flagley, though as Albus knows neither of these places then I presume they don’t live in either of these villages. Does one of the families live at the Weasleys’ old home (if we think Molly and Arthur are no more, sob)? And do Draco and Scorpius live at Malfoy Manor (if Lucius and Narcissa are no more), or would Draco want to distance himself from there with people’s association of it with Voldemort and the Death Eaters?

I also wondered what had happened to Harry’s aim of becoming an Auror? Clearly the Auror Department still exists because Hermione calls them in to help search for Delphi and to question Death Eaters about the possibility of Voldemort having a child. So was it getting married and having children that changed Harry’s aim? He just always seemed so determined on this path and it seemed to fit him so perfectly that I was surprised he hadn’t followed it, but obviously life happens and changes your plans, plus I guess in the peace that (thankfully) followed the Battle of Hogwarts there perhaps wasn’t so much need for a large Auror Department and perhaps they weren’t needed to do very much, so it wasn’t such an interesting role for Harry then.

I was also a bit sad not to see Neville at all in this book. He is mentioned several times, but not actually seen (unless I’ve misremembered?). He was helping the parents search in the Forbidden Forest for Albus and Scorpius but he doesn’t say anything then and no-one chats to him. He just doesn’t really feature at all, which really disappoints me as he is so crucial to the final Harry book and the destruction of Voldemort, although I realise there isn’t room for every single character in the new book!

I was very intrigued if it was Albus’ choice to be put into Slytherin House, as a wish to be with Scorpius who had just been put into Slytherin? That would say a lot about Albus’ character and his loyalty to his friend, if so. Or did he not mentally choose Slytherin and the Sorting Hat saw some Slytherin characteristics in him, as it saw in Harry? And also what changed in Albus’ character that put him in Gryffindor House when he and Scorpius come back to the alternative time after their first attempt with the Time-Turner? Albus is still friends with Scorpius in that alternative time, so if Albus selected Slytherin as his choice while wearing the Sorting Hat then he would surely have still done this in the alternative time, or if it wasn’t Albus’ choice to go into Slytherin and it was something the Sorting Hat saw in his character then these characteristics would surely still be there to put him in Slytherin in the alternative time too? And the alternative-time-Harry is more stern and bossy and demanding and uncompromising and determined and unlistening (oh dear, how I am judging him!) which seem more of Slytherin characteristics, so Albus would presumably have inherited these enhanced Slytherin characteristics from his father in this alternative time which would surely make it even more likely that he’d be placed in Slytherin in this alternative time rather than Gryffindor.

Which leads me to the Sorting Hat, which has quite fascinated me over years of reading the original books as I’ve always wondered how much the decision of the Hat (ie which House the child goes into) potentially then emphasises the particular characteristics of the child, so how much the child then suits their actions to match the traditional values of that particular House, and also then how different they could have been as people if they had been put into a different House. Part of me has always felt that the Hat is quite dominating and dangerously prejudging, to just make a snap assessment about the character of a child and then sort them into a particular House accordingly, that’s a powerful responsibility the Hat has with how it could then determine the child’s life and actions. I have often entertained myself by wondering how the characters in the original books could have turned out (and also how different the overall story could have been!) if they’d been put into a different House. I do feel a bit kinder towards the Hat after Harry assures Albus that the Hat will take his preference into account, as it then doesn’t seem quite so dominating and prejudging an object, but I feel it still does have quite a power and responsibility.

I was puzzled at what actually causes Harry’s dreams of Voldemort and makes his scar hurt? It’s not Voldemort, as he doesn’t actually come back or gain in strength in this book (which is what caused Harry’s scar to hurt in the original books), the evil is coming from Delphi, not from Voldemort. Is it Delphi somehow creating these dreams in order to intimidate Harry, but how could she have the power to do that (or is she actually Voldemort’s daughter and so has some degree of his power?)? Or is it just Harry being aware of an undercurrent of evil growing and him subconsciously responding to this (as I’d wondered with the trolls and werewolves, etc, moving)? Or is it just the stress of recent events going round in Harry’s mind when he is going to sleep so he quite naturally dreams about these stressful things? But then Harry’s stress doesn’t explain the dream with Albus standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest in Durmstrang robes (which is accurate and aids their attempt to rescue the boys), and it seems unlikely that Delphi would give Harry this clue if she had control over his dreams. Or does this dream demonstrate the closeness of Albus and Harry and that they can sometimes almost read each other’s minds? Or with the book focusing on prophecies, could it be that Harry is actually able to prophecy a little himself?

I was also puzzled by some of Albus and Scorpius’ movements in this book. For example, how did they exit the Ministry after finding the Time-Turner when the Polyjuice Potion had worn off (and also did they leave Hermione’s office in a mess of overturned bookcases and books, as surely she would have discovered this and would then guess that the Time-Turner has been stolen?)? And from the Ministry they went to the Forbidden Forest to use the Time-Turner, but how did they get there so quickly, was it by some Portkey, or by broomsticks? And then how did they get to Godric’s Hollow on 30th Oct 1981 from the train station we last saw them at, as Delphi had snapped their wands and there was no mention of them having broomsticks or Floo Powder or a Portkey (or did the train handily go there?)?

And I know this is a boring question, but where did Delphi get the Durmstrang robes from that she gave to Albus and Scorpius? And could she wander freely into Hogwarts, both to steal from the Potions stores and to see Albus and Scorpius, were there not any restrictions in place to prevent access to Hogwarts as there used to be?

I also wondered what exactly the Augureys group is, and where they have come from? I don’t think I remember them from the other Harry books which just dealt with Death Eaters and the Dark Mark, so are these Augureys a new version of Death Eaters? They seemed to be first mentioned in the alternative time that Scorpius went to (where Harry had died and Voldemort survived) but as this was an alternative time then how did Delphi become an Augurey member in the present time? And were these birds always connected with Death Eaters? Delphi said her Death Eater guardians, the Rowles, had an augurey bird in a cage, but in the Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them reference book augurey birds are described but no link to Voldemort or Death Eaters is mentioned.

And I did get a little frustrated with Albus, I’m sorry to admit! I didn’t really see that he had anything much to complain about with his parents. I didn’t really think he was ‘unseen’ by Harry, who clearly loved him and frequently told him he loved him, and was aware that Albus was struggling at Hogwarts and tried to help, and tried to talk to Albus and give him a space to talk and encouraged him to share things. It didn’t seem like Ginny was doing anything different to Harry either in order to help Albus fit in at Hogwarts. Albus has different likes and interests to Harry, but that’s not Harry’s fault, they are just different to each other and Harry never tried to force Albus to adopt his likes and dislikes. Again, I would have been interested to learn more about James Jnr and Lily Jnr, as I can’t imagine Harry treated Albus any differently to them. Or is it the names ‘Albus’ and ‘Severus’ that cause a difficulty in Harry’s parenting of Albus, does Harry view Albus differently because he has those names (in which case, does he treat Albus more fondly because of his fond association with the namesakes, or does he still feel an awe towards those illustrious namesakes and this makes him unconsciously keep a respectful distance from them and therefore from his son with their names?), or does Albus feel pressure to live up to his namesakes so therefore blames Harry for this pressure? But whatever, I don’t think any of this made Albus ‘unseen’ by Harry, I’d say he was very much seen and he reinforced himself being seen with his rude behaviour towards Harry. I know the crutch of the story is Albus as the ‘unseen’ child who rebelled because of being unseen, but I felt he was actually more just a sullen unresponsive teenager!

And oooh, I have got a little (!) obsessed with the prophecy ‘When spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children murder their fathers, then will the Dark Lord return’. Firstly, it is quite vague (I guess prophecies are generally quite vague, but the one regarding Harry and Voldemort in the original books seemed slightly more specific as it named the birth date of the child who was to bring about Voldemort’s destruction and a hint as to who the parents were by saying they had defied him three times, admittedly it could have applied to both Harry and Neville, but still, there was enough useful detail in it for Voldemort to narrow it down). Looking at the ‘spares’ bit of the prophecy first, there are surely many many many contenders from the original books who could have a case for feeling like the spare, as well as Cedric. Could a case be made for Neville as a spare, as he wasn’t really part of the main gang at school and was always overlooked and laughed at, and he was ‘unseen’/unconsidered by Voldemort to be the boy mentioned in the prophecy in the original book with Voldemort deciding that the prophecy referred to Harry instead (and then I am fascinated with thinking how different everything could have been for Voldemort if he had decided it was Neville referred to in the prophecy, as he had no parents to defend him from Voldemort’s attack so the killing curse would have done what Voldemort intended it to do!). Could a case be made for Ron as a spare, as he certainly felt left out by Harry and Hermione in the final book from the original series, and he could have felt unnoticed within such a large family with so many siblings. Could a case even be made for Albus as a spare, as he said to Amos that he knew what it was like to feel like a spare. Yes, Voldemort used the words ‘the spare’ in relation to Cedric but it still feels a bit of a stretch to presume Cedric is the one the prophecy could refer to. And the prophecy seems to relate to plural ‘spares’, not just the one spare.

And looking at the ‘unseen children’ bit of the prophecy, (as I’ve mentioned before) how can it be assumed that Albus is the unseen child? I guess if you’re wanting to bring Voldemort back (as Delphi did) then it would be understandable to focus on Harry and his family as it was Harry who brought about Voldemort’s end, but what made Delphi feel that Albus was any more unseen than James Jnr or even Lily Jnr? I’m sure lots of kids would say they’re unseen, and also their feeling of being unseen would surely only be known by a small amount of people (or even no-one but themselves) as I can’t imagine the unseen child bragging about feeling unseen, so was Albus likely to have mentioned he felt ‘unseen’ in order to guide Delphi to focus on him over the other Potter children? And it could be said that Delphi herself is an unseen child with being hidden away and brought up in secret. And again the prophecy seems to relate to plural ‘children’ not just the one child.

And I find the ‘murder their fathers’ bit of the prophecy very intriguing too, as Albus wouldn’t really be murdering his father by changing time as the time change would just mean that Voldemort murdered Harry instead of Cedric so Albus isn’t doing any murdering, the closest he would come would be to give Voldemort the chance to murder Harry but that’s very different from a child (Albus) murdering his father (Harry) as the prophecy seems to state. Or does it mean Delphi murdering her father Voldemort because she doesn’t succeed in her mission to stop him from trying to kill baby Harry? Although again she doesn’t actually murder him, she just fails to prevent the beginning of the chain of events that leads to Voldemort’s eventual death, which is really very different from a child (Delphi) murdering her father (Voldemort). The only bit that seems to have no ambiguity is the ‘then will the Dark Lord return’ bit as that could surely only mean Voldemort. But I guess one of the main reasons for not letting prophecies determine your actions is because they are subjective and can be misinterpreted, and you can twist them to fit anything you want to, really!

And still with the prophecy (although I will leave it alone soon, I promise), looking at the ‘time is turned’ bit which obviously relates to the Time-Turner, I did have a few queries with the whole Time-Turner thing, as it just seemed a bit too coincidental to me. When the prototype Time-Turner (which Albus and Scorpius and Delphi used) was found at Theodore Nott’s house, then what was the order of this in the events of the book? Did Delphi know that Nott had a Time-Turner and so formed her plans of using this to bring back Voldemort, and if so then had she tried to get the Time-Turner from Nott already and he’d refused to give it her, so after his refusal she arranged for its existence to be revealed so the Ministry would raid his house to take it away as she felt she could then easily steal it from the Ministry? Or did the discovery of Nott’s Time-Turner put the idea of resurrecting Voldemort in her mind, with her knowing the prophecy about time being turned, and if so then did she at that point decide to become Amos’ carer as she had linked him with the prophecy saying the ‘spare’ Cedric being spared? Or had she been Amos’ carer for years and years (just because he was Cedric’s father), just patiently waiting for a Time-Turner to possibly turn up? But whichever was the order of Delphi’s plans, none of it would have happened if Nott hadn’t got a prototype Time-Turner (which is where I’m a bit uncomfortable with the huge coincidence). And what if Albus had not overhead Amos pleading with Harry to use the Time-Turner to bring Cedric back, what if Rose had not mentioned to Albus that she’d heard her parents say that a Time-Turner had been found and was now stored at the Ministry, what if Albus had not decided to offer to help Amos get Cedric back? All of Albus’ decisions and movements are just random really, and yet none of Delphi’s plans could have happened without his random decisions and movements (so again, it all feels a little bit conveniently coincidental). And this is even more apparent looking at the final dramas in the book of the boys and Delphi going back to 1981, as (to me) this solely happens because Albus randomly decides to invite Delphi to be there with them at the Owlery when they destroy the Time-Turner, if he hadn’t done this and they had uninterruptedly destroyed the Time-Turner then the 1981 thing wouldn’t have happened at all and Delphi’s plan couldn’t have happened! And I also wonder why Delphi let the boys be involved with the Time-Turner at all, why not just do it all herself, she could take Polyjuice and break into the Ministry to steal the Time-Turner on her own, she could dress in the Durmstrang robes and go back in time to stop Cedric from winning the Triwizard Tournament on her own, and she’d probably do it all far more efficiently than two inexperienced boys who caused countless muck-ups in time by doing it wrong. The chance of the successful execution of her plans seemed even more fragile with the boys involved and meant that Delphi had no control over huge parts of it, which seems foolhardy from her as there were so many things that could have happened slightly differently which would have hugely affected her chance of success. If she was indeed powerful enough to control and instruct trolls and giants and werewolves, and to also possibly influence Harry’s dreams, why would she need two children to help her? I guess the prophecy implies a child must be involved so maybe this was her thinking for involving the boys (but then I come back to how she decided that Albus was the ‘unseen’ child), but is she actually unable to undertake it herself because the prophecy must be followed exactly? And I’m intrigued in Delphi’s actual plans and just what these were exactly. The plan of firstly taking Cedric’s wand and then secondly humiliating him to ensure he doesn’t win the Tournament and reach the graveyard, was this her idea or was it Albus and Scorpius’ idea, as it just seems a bit of a fragile idea with too many potentials for things to go wrong (as they did!), so I struggle to understand why she would come up with such a fragile idea or why she would follow an idea suggested by two inexperienced boys. And then, regardless of whose plan it was, she hadn’t actually gone back in time with the boys anyway, so how did she aim to alter how things went at the graveyard (ie, Voldemort being defeated by Harry), as I imagine Harry would probably still have defeated Voldemort (with his parents helping him, as they appeared as ghosts generated through Voldemort’s wand regurgitating the last spells done by it) regardless of whether Cedric was there with him or not? If her plan was that she went back in time to kill Harry at the graveyard after the boys had gone back in time to alter what Cedric did, then how was she going to go back in time to do this as the boys always kept the Time-Turner themselves (which, again, seems foolishly bad planning on her part, why doesn’t she actually keep the main weapon herself?). Or was she planning that somehow Albus would kill Harry at the graveyard (with the prophecy stating that the ‘unseen children murder their fathers’), but then how was she going to force Albus to do this as it was only by chance (by Albus inviting her to watch them destroy the Time-Turner) that she actually went back in time herself with them. Delphi seems to be a very focused/obsessed (!) lady with a prophecy she is determined to action, so it seems strange to me that she’d leave so many things to chance and not have efficient and robust plans in place and full control over the events she wants to happen.

And after enjoying myself analysing the prophecy in great detail (!), I then moved onto where it came from. So it was told to Delphi by Rodolphus Lestrange, which made me wonder where Rodolphus is now, and the Rowles too, could they not be questioned about where this prophecy came from, or Delphi questioned further about it? Why did Rodolphus tell this prophecy to Delphi and make her believe she had to carry it out, and why tell her that she was Voldemort and Bellatrix’s child, did he really believe these things himself or did he just like the thought of breeding obsession and evil in Delphi and hoped she could cause some trouble if he gave her something to believe in? Had he told others about these things (which would then add weight to the possibility of them being true) or was it just Delphi he told (which then implies to me that it was just mischief-making)? And was this prophecy not stored at the Ministry, as the others are? And thinking about the Ministry, how do prophecies get into the storage at the Ministry, do they have to be collected and recorded by a Ministry person somehow (and if so, then how, and also what an interesting and challenging job this would be!), or when a prophecy is spoken does it just magically and automatically go to be stored at the Ministry (in which case, is Rodolphus’ prophecy stored there?)?

And with my final (I promise!) thought about prophecies, I then looked at Bane’s prophecy to Harry in the Forbidden Forest. This one does seem less vague and to be more useful and specific than the one that Delphi follows, as we can see that events happened (or were close to happening) which the prophecy seemed to mention. Bane says that he’s seen Albus in the stars and there is a dangerous black cloud around him that may endanger everyone and that Harry will find his son but then he could lose him forever. So Albus himself is mentioned (which is helpful), I guess the ‘dangerous black cloud’ is a bit vague and indeed misleads Harry as he wrongly presumes that this dangerous black cloud is Scorpius, but ‘everyone’ being endangered does seem quite specific (even if quite alarming with the scale of it!) and this indeed nearly happens with Albus and Scorpius’ meddling in time effectively killing Harry and bringing back Voldemort in one of the alternative times, and Harry does indeed ‘find his son but then he could lose him forever’ as just as we think all the drama is over and everything is calm and happy Albus and Scorpius decide to destroy the Time-Turner themselves and invite Delphi along to watch and she takes them back in time again where they are lost. So I think of the two prophecies, Bane’s is more accurate!

Phew, I just love the Harry Potter books! I love how I can reach the end of this book (as with the many many times I have re-read and reached the end of the original books) and can then spend so much time thinking about everything that Rowling has created, her writing is just so wonderful that it encourages so much thought, there seems both a delicious ambiguity to it all that just gives you chance to mull things over, and also a love of detail that gives you enough background information to be able to question how things fit together, she really is a genius! I love how the world she has created seems so real and fills my mind with far more entertaining things than what should be in my mind, it is wonderful escapism and I am so grateful to her for providing this. I just love everything about her books and the world she has created! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and now (of course!) feel tempted to re-read the original books, yet again, starting of course with The Philosopher’s Stone. And although I wasn’t a huge fan of the script format compared to the novel format, I will read The Fantastic Beasts series too (which I am aware is in script format) so I’ll start with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. And of course, once I start looking at Harry Potter-related things then I get tempted…! I love the sound of The Official Hogwarts Book of Cross-Stitch and The Official Harry Potter Baking Book and the Harry Potter Colouring Book, to enable me to still be immersed in the Harry Potter world even when I’m not reading the books! I also was reminded, when reading The Cursed Child, of the Stephen King book 11.22.63 which deals with time travel and the negative (and world-changing!) consequences caused by altering time even though the protagonists only intended good things, so I may re-read that too as it was a very clever thought-provoking book which has stayed in my mind.

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