Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Release Context:

While various illustrated editions and companion books (such as Christmas at Hogwarts in late 2024) have been released recently, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child remains the official “eighth story” and the latest narrative installment in the Harry Potter canon. Originally released as a two-part playscript in 2016, it was written by Jack Thorne, based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne.

Quick Overview

• Setting: Begins nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts (picking up immediately from the Epilogue of The Deathly Hallows).
• Protagonists: Albus Severus Potter (Harry’s son) and Scorpius Malfoy (Draco’s son).
• Main Themes: The weight of legacy, father-son relationships, and the dangerous consequences of altering time.

Detailed Plot Summary

Part One: The Burden of Legacy

The story opens on Platform 9 ¾. Harry Potter is now the Head of Magical Law Enforcement and struggles to connect with his middle child, Albus Severus Potter. Unlike his famous father, Albus is quiet, anxious, and resentful of his family’s legacy.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts, Albus is sorted into Slytherin House, shocking the school. He creates an unlikely but inseparable friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Harry’s former rival, Draco. Rumors plague Scorpius that he is actually the secret son of Lord Voldemort, born via time travel.

Over the next few years, Albus becomes increasingly isolated from his family and the wizarding world, while Harry’s attempts to parent him only widen the rift.

The Time-Turner Incident

Amos Diggory, father of the late Cedric Diggory (who died in The Goblet of Fire), pleads with Harry to use a confiscated, illegal Time-Turner to save his son. Harry refuses, citing the dangers of meddling with time.

Albus overhears this and decides to correct what he sees as his father’s mistake. He teams up with Scorpius and Delphi, a young woman claiming to be Amos’s niece and caretaker. They steal the prototype Time-Turner from the Ministry of Magic.

The Alternate Realities

Albus and Scorpius travel back to the Triwizard Tournament in 1994 to save Cedric. However, their interference creates disastrous “butterfly effects”:

1. First Timeline Change: They humiliate Cedric during the first task. In the present, this results in Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger never marrying; Rose Granger-Weasley ceases to exist, and Albus is now in Gryffindor but hates it.
2. Second Timeline Change: They try again, humiliating Cedric further in the second task. This backfires catastrophically: Cedric, humiliated and angry, joins the Death Eaters. In this new present, Voldemort won the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter was killed, and Albus was never born. Scorpius is left alone in a dark, totalitarian wizarding world ruled by “The Augurey.”

Part Two: The True Enemy

Scorpius manages to fix the timeline and restore the original reality. He and Albus decide to destroy the Time-Turner. However, Delphi reveals her true identity: she is not Amos Diggory’s niece, but the secret daughter of Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. She takes the boys captive and destroys the Time-Turner, trapping them in the past.

Delphi intends to stop Voldemort from attacking baby Harry in 1981, believing this will prevent his downfall and allow him to rule.

The Climax: Godric’s Hollow

Stuck in 1981, Albus manages to send a message to his father in the future by burning a note into Harry’s old baby blanket (which reacts to a love potion spilled on it earlier). Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Draco decipher the message. Draco reveals his family owns a secret, fully functional Time-Turner, and they travel back to 1981 to rescue their sons.

Harry transfigures himself to look like Voldemort to lure Delphi into a trap. A duel ensues in the church at Godric’s Hollow. With the help of Albus and the others, Harry defeats Delphi.

The Resolution

The group must then hide and watch the real Voldemort arrive and murder James and Lily Potter, knowing they cannot interfere without destroying the future. It is a moment of shared grief and closure for Harry.

Back in the present, the timeline is safe. Harry and Albus visit Cedric Diggory’s grave. Harry apologizes for the pressure he put on Albus, and Albus begins to accept his father. The story ends with a hopeful, though imperfect, reconciliation.