The Cursed Child, as this book is commonly known is a play that first opened in London on July 30, 2016. Honestly, I bought the book when it came out but put off reading it and then the reviews came out and they weren't good and people I talked to said they hate it so I kept it on my bookshelf and never read it. But my daughter wants to read it and the book is found in the adult non-fiction section of the library so I must read it before she can. The only reason it's in the adult section is that the young adult section doesn't have a non-fiction section.
The story opens right where Deathly Hollows ends with Harry Potter and Lilly and Ron and Hermione putting their children on the train to Hogwarts. It's Albus Severus's first year and he's worried about being placed in Slytherin but Harry reassures him that the hat takes his choice into consideration. When they get on the train Rose, Ron and Hermione's child tells Albus that they have their choice of friends and must be careful who they make friends with and that these will be the friends they will have for life. In a compartment by himself is Scorpius Malfoy looking pretty forlorn when the two of them arrive he cheers up and offers his candy. Albus is touched but Rose believes he is trying to buy his friendship and then do bad things to him. Besides there are rumors about his mother that she took a Time-Turner and went back in time and had sex with Voldemort and Scorpius is his child since she and Draco couldn't have children of their own. But Albus doesn't care about that and refuses to move on with Rose and sits with Scorpius and makes a friend.
When it's time for the Sorting Hat, Albus gets sorted into Slytherin and becomes a pariah. He also can't seem to do anything right like ride a broom or do a potion or a spell. He feels less and less like his father's child every day and more and more like a failure. Scorpius is having similar problems though he is great at school work everyone believes he is Voldemort's son and they hate him. Albus is his only friend. Meanwhile, as time passes, Harry and Albus grow farther apart as the two fail to understand the other.
The Ministry of which Harry is the Head of Law Enforcement and Hermione is the Minister, find a Time-Turner capable of going back years. This could be the Time-Turner used by Draco's wife if indeed she used one or it could be a dangerous artifact. Harry receives a visit from Cedric Diggory's father who wants him to use the Time-Turner that it is rumored that the Ministry has to bring back Cedric. Albus is listening in and meets Diggory's niece Delphi who takes care of him at St. Mungo's Hospital for the Sick, Old, or Insane. The next day Harry tries to give Albus the blanket that is all Harry has left of his past. It's something that means a great deal to him and he's trying to reach out to his son with this gift but Albus doesn't like it and says that he wishes Harry wasn't his dad and Harry says he wishes Albus wasn't his son. He doesn't mean it and wishes he could take it back the second the words leave his mouth, but his son gets so under his skin.
Albus and Scorpius leave the Hogwarts train and head to St. Mungo's and talk to Diggory and Delphi about bringing Cedric back. It just so happens that Delphi has some Polyjuice potion brewed up for them to use to sneak into the Ministry of Magic. Albus decides to be Ron while Scorpius is Harry and Delphi is Hermione. They sneak into her office with some difficulty and have to figure out where the Time-Turner is. But Scorpius figures out where it is and they leave with it.
The first time Albus and Scorpius use it Cedric still doesn't live but Hermione and Ron don't marry and Hermione is a teacher not Minster of Magic. The second time they use it is when things go seriously wrong afterward. Can things be fixed? And who exactly is the cursed child? Is it Scorpius for being Voldemort's child or is it Albus for being Harry Potter's kid? Will Harry and Albus ever get the chance to repair their relationship? Will Harry ever figure out how to fix it? Will Draco and Harry become friends finally?
This book isn't as horrible as I thought it would be. That's not to say it was great. It lacked a sense of dangerous adventure to it that the Harry Potter books had in them. I will say that I loved the character of Scorpius. He was delightful in his love of reading and homework and his quest to get Rose to fall in love with him. He may have been in Slytherin but he was a sweet and caring boy. If it hadn't been for family tradition maybe he would have been in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Rose is a bit of a bitch and reminds you of Draco Malfoy with her speech of who you should be talking with on the first train ride to Hogwarts. Of course, Scorpius reminds you of Hermione. Which leaves Albus to remind you of Ron or Neville. Overall I think Rowling wrote this in response to those fans who kept decrying that she saved Buckbeak but not the Potters. That it was more important to save a Hyppogriff than to save James and Lilly. This play shows that the farther back in time you go the more things you can screw up. This book was okay and did have some good characters in it. I give it three and a half stars out of five stars.
Quotes
Harry: “The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.” Dumbeldore.
-J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thomas (Harry
Potter and the Cursed Child p 48)
Dumbledore: To suffer is as human as to breathe.
-J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thomas (Harry
Potter and the Cursed Child p 258)
Listed on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Cursed-Child-Playscript-ebook/dp/B073P962D9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FJQK6K3REA6U&keywords=harry+potter+and+the+cursed+child&qid=1568635697&s=gateway&sprefix=harry+potter+and+the+cu%2Caps%2C369&sr=8-1
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