'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child:' Book Review

It’s been nineteen years since the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry Potter is Head of Magical Law Enforcement, husband to Ginny Weasley, and father to three children: Lily, James, and Albus. Life should be easy for the Chosen One, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Ministry is up to their eyeballs in paperwork, nasty rumors are flying around about a specific magical object, and middle child Albus starts to realize being the child of Harry Potter isn’t all fun and games. This is especially as Albus is sorted into Slytherin and befriends Scorpius, son of Draco Malfoy.

Harry and Albus’s relationship is strained and only continues when Harry’s scar starts hurting again and believes that Albus is surrounded by darkness. Determined to make his own mark and fix his father’s past mistakes, Albus takes it upon himself to change time itself. He and Scorpius follow in their parents’ footsteps of adventure and magic and find themselves in more danger than ever before. Their good intentions have grave consequences that play into the hands of evil all too familiar.

Putting aside their differences both past and present, Harry and Draco pull together to find their sons. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child brings back our favorite wizarding world characters while showing a side of them that hasn’t been seen before.

There were so many mixed reviews about the Cursed Child when it came out. Even before opening it, I expected to tolerate it at best. It is a script and taking place when all are older could easily be a hit and miss with the reader. I can’t explain just how surprised I am, now that I’ve finished it, to say that I really, truly enjoyed it. So what if J.K. Rowling didn’t write it? She had her inputs. That’s good enough for me.

Some have said that the script is nothing but fanfiction and isn’t canon. Both of those facts might be true, but that doesn’t take away from that fact that I would like it to be. More specifically, I want to relationship and stress issues to be canon to the series.

It would be all too easy to close Deathly Hallows and decide that everything was sunshine and rainbows for Harry and the rest of the gang. Their whole world was tipped upside down since book one. The death of Voldemort doesn’t instantly get rid of worry and prejudice and speculation. I would challenge anyone who thinks that the Malfoy name wouldn’t be tinted (even more than it already had been). No longer the power it once was, people are bound to gossip. And did anyone really think more than a second or two what Harry would be like as a father? The notion hardly crossed my mind until the end of the series. Being the offspring of the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived, can’t be easy. Those are impossibly large shoes to fill. At least one of Harry and Ron and Hermione’s kids were destined to buckle under the pressure.

The heavily focused on friendship between Albus and Scorpius was all I could want from the next generation. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy didn’t end up being best friends, so it was only right that their kids were. Was this not what so many of us imagined anyway? And I can’t express how much I’m rooting for Scorpius and Rose. I felt a James/Lily vibe. It’s only a matter of time before Rose realizes that Scorpius is worth taking a chance on. Can you imagine Scorpius heading to the Weasely’s for Christmas, best friends with Albus, and arriving hand in hand with Rose? Scorpius is without Astoria’s love, a mother’s love, so I would love to see Molly take him under her wing as she did with Harry. Malfoy or not, I truly believe she would treat him as her own. I secretly wish that Molly would even do the same to Draco as I’m still distraught that he’s on his own with his son. Without the love and stability from his mother and his wife, he needs something to grasp onto more than anyone.

None of this is canon, but it’s the fact that it very well could be is what makes the script worth the read. The Voldemort/Bellatrix Delphi child included.

Don’t get me wrong, the idea is ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible. Voldemort couldn’t fall in love. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t want to get frisky once every 25 years. Again, ridiculous, I know, but it could theoretically happen. I thought for a long while how the Voldemort/Bellatrix child could work better within the parameters of the series. Voldemort and Bellatrix having a go for the hell of it doesn’t work. Give him an agenda. Tell me that Voldemort wanted an heir in the case of his demise, and the child’s blood was a way to bring some part of him back or make him even stronger. Delphi was devoted to Voldemort, a father she never knew, so make her believe that he would love her too only to realize that she has to die an agonizing death to aid his endures. He wouldn’t think twice, wouldn’t care for a moment, wouldn’t show her an ounce of the love she held for him. Set all of that side by side with the love that Harry had for Albus. That’s how the Voldemort/Bellatrix child could have worked.

It’s true that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child wasn’t written by J.K. Rowling and all, but unless she suddenly decides to whip up more books, I don’t think that we’re going to get anything from her besides what’s published on Pottermore. She’s said so herself it’s very unlikely. You can choose to ignore this story and imagine an entirely different scenario if you want, as I’m sure some do, but I would advise against it for more reasons than one. It’s still heartfelt and magical and fun as the original series while expanding on the characters that we know and love.

Rating: 4/5