Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

At a train station in the Scottish Highlands, Albus and Scorpius deliberate talking to the station master to gather more intel about “when” they are. They have a confusing conversation with him but based on the date mentioned on a timetable he hands them, Albus divines where Delphini is and why—it is the eve of Halloween in 1981, the day before Harry’s parents were killed by Voldemort; Delphini is trying to break the original prophecy which foretold Voldemort’s downfall when he attempts to kill an infant Harry, by killing Harry herself.

Albus and Scorpius arrive in Godric’s Hollow, and they watch Albus’s grandparents, James and Lily Potter, leave the house with an infant Harry in a pushchair. Delphini hasn’t arrived yet; the boys ponder how to save Harry when she does.

In his office, Harry talks to Dumbledore’s portrait. Harry is angry with Dumbledore for having been “absent every time it really counted” (274) and believes he has been as bad a father to Albus as Dumbledore was to him. Dumbledore tearfully expresses that he loved Harry and was trying to protect him, as he has “never loved without causing harm” (275)—his love blinded him from seeing that Harry needed to hear this all along. He advises Harry, “Be honest to those you love” (275) and show them his pain; before Dumbledore leaves the portrait, Harry tells Dumbledore he loved him as well.

Draco arrives, revealing that he, too, owns a Time-Turner, albeit superior to what Delphini has—it was made in secret as a collectible for Draco’s father. Draco had kept his possession of it a secret to not fuel rumors about Scorpius’s parentage. Astoria’s frail health had weakened after Scorpius’s birth, which led Draco to hide his family away to conserve her strength; this initiated the rumors. Draco now regrets having shielded Scorpius from the world, for he then “emerged shrouded in worse suspicion than [Draco] ever endured” (279). Draco wants to use the Time-Turner to save Albus and Scorpius; Harry responds they can’t, as they have no idea where the boys are.

At Godric’s Hollow, Albus and Scorpius try to figure out how to send a message to Harry about where and “when” they are. Albus watches Lily wrap Harry in a blanket, the same one Harry still has and holds close every Halloween. Remembering how the blanket collided with the love potion, Albus comes up with an idea—an ingredient from the love potion, Pearl Dust, burns when it comes into contact with another potion: Tincture of Demiguise. Since the Tincture is invisible to the naked eye, Albus and Scorpius decide to write out a message on the blanket—the message would stay invisible until it came into contact with the love potion 39 years later and the words burnt through; Harry in the present would pick up the blanket and see it. The boys set out to steal wands and ingredients to make the potion.

It is Halloween in the present; Ginny finds Harry in Albus’s room, and the couple apologizes to each other—Ginny for blaming Harry for Albus’s disappearance and Harry for pushing Albus away. Harry feels guilty about having survived Voldemort, considering all the people who have died for him; Ginny tries to convince Harry that Albus is not dead.

Harry picks up the blanket and notices writing burnt through that spells out “Dad. Help. Godric’s Hollow” (288) alongside the date of Harry’s parents’ death. Harry and Ginny rush to inform Hermione and Draco, asking them to meet at Godric’s Hollow with the Time-Turner.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Draco arrive at a present-day Godric’s Hollow and travel back to Harry’s parents’ death date using the Time-Turner.

Albus and Scorpius enthusiastically greet the adults. They hasten to find a place that will give them a clear view of Delphini’s arrival and decide upon St. Jerome’s Church, in the graveyard of which James and Lily Potter were eventually buried.

Ginny and Harry watch Albus sleep in a pew inside the church. Ginny remembers an incident from their childhood when everyone was ostracizing her, but Harry was kind to her. She believes Albus needs to feel that kind of love—“specific love”—from Harry, as opposed to his general willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of everyone else.

The conversation about fatherhood leads Ginny to chance upon the real reason Delphini has chosen this particular day in the past—Harry is already over a year old on this day, and Delphini could have already killed him at any point in his short life if she wanted to. She picked this day to reunite with her father, Voldemort, and stop him from attacking Harry, which originally caused his downfall.

Everyone regroups to come up with a new plan. They eventually decide that Harry must transfigure his appearance into that of Voldemort’s. Being Voldemort’s daughter, Delphini will choose to speak to him in Parseltongue, and the only other person who knows it is Harry. When Delphini approaches and talks to him, Harry is to lead Delphini to a particular point where the others will be lying in wait to capture her. Together, everyone casts a spell that slowly transfigures Harry’s appearance into Voldemort’s.

Harry, as Voldemort, manages to draw Delphini out; she reveals her history, born the child of Voldemort and another deceased Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange. After Voldemort’s fall, Bellatrix’s husband, Rodolphus, found and revealed the prophecy to Delphini. Harry tries to draw Delphini toward the designated point, but his appearance begins to change back into his own. Delphini realizes that Harry is not Voldemort; she magically seals the doors behind which the others are hidden, and the two duel. Albus manages to slip out, and along with Harry, they use magic to open the doors, and the group subdues Delphini together. Delphini begs to be allowed a glimpse of her father, but she is refused; she will be sent to Azkaban for life. The voice of Voldemort whispering Harry’s name is heard again, and he finally arrives.

Aggrieved that he can do nothing to stop his parents’ deaths from happening, Harry chooses to watch the scene that unfolds; everyone else stays, too, to support him. Voldemort murders James, then Lily, off-stage; their voices are heard, Lily begging for Harry’s life. At her death, Harry dissolves into grief; a scream is heard off-stage, following which the scene rapidly transforms.

Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, walks through the ruins of the house, sent there on Dumbledore’s orders; overwhelmed by what he sees, he lays flowers at James and Lily’s bodies. Hagrid hears a baby’s snuffling and finds Harry in his crib; he lifts baby Harry into his arms, promising to “be [Harry’s] friend whether yeh like it or not” (320). He leaves the house, the scene descending into darkness.

Back at Hogwarts, Scorpius celebrates having asked Rose out, and Albus points out that she turned him down; nevertheless, Scorpius believes it is a start. Rose walks past them, smilingly addressing Scorpius as “Scorpion King.” Albus declines Scorpius’s invitation to watch the ongoing Quidditch match together, as Harry is coming to meet Albus and share something with him. Albus and Scorpius will see each other at dinner instead.

As Harry and Albus walk up a hill together, Harry confides in Albus about the dreams he had been having. He apologizes to Albus for what he said during their fight, promising to be a better and more honest father; in keeping with this, he confesses he is scared of the dark and pigeons.

Albus, in turn, promises to be a better son; Harry affirms that he is already a “pretty great son” (328)—despite whatever labels Albus has been given, Harry knows that his heart is a good one. They arrive at Cedric’s grave, which Harry occasionally visits “just to say sorry” (330). Harry thinks it will be a nice day—and as father and son “just slightly—melt together,” Albus agrees.