Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I don’t recommend this book – or script, to be exact – to anyone who hasn’t read the original series. But, since that’s a pretty small group by now, I think it’s safe to say that for anyone else, Platform Nine and Three Quarters can be relied upon to open once again. I warn you though, this is not going to be objective.

Speaking as a fangirl, this story was everything I hoped for and more. It tackled all the important questions we on the Internet have been asking for years: What was Dumbledore thinking, leaving the would-be savior of the world to be raised by the Dursleys? What is it like for Albus Severus Potter, growing up with a name like that – especially if he does end up in Slytherin? Will Draco Malfoy and the Golden Trio ever bury the hatchet? What was really going on between Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange? Did Cedric Diggory really have to die? And, last but not least – for me, anyway – can Ron and Hermione’s marriage really work?

Rowling and her co-playwrights, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, serve up their answers with equal parts passion and precision. If you don’t believe it’s possible to return home to familiar ground and still be surprised, think again. The villain of this story is someone you’ll never see coming. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione themselves have changed and matured. It’s ironic – and satisfying - to see Harry as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, calling someone out for reckless decision-making. Karma has come full circle there.

I don’t want to talk too much about the plot, for fear of spoilers. It does, however, involve Time-Turners. There must be thousands of Time-Turner fanfics already published, but Rowling, Tiffany and Thorne approach the subject with the intelligence and subtlety it deserves. Every person’s choice affects another; changing even one thing can lead to unpredictable – and in this case, terrifying – consequences. As Albus and his friends hop from one parallel future to the next, wreaking havoc on the timeline with the best intentions in the world, they run into old friends and enemies, see them through fresh eyes, and find answers to questions they never had the opportunity to ask.

Ironically for a story about time travel, however, this story is about making peace with the past. Harry may be forty, a family man and a national hero, but he still has demons left to fight. For someone who’s been fighting all his life, sometimes the hardest thing is knowing when to stop – and when to let the next generation take up the battle.