Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Thoughts
Let’s stop cursing the cursed child. I mean the book/play script; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!
I am a major Potterhead. I was introduced to the books soon after the seventh one came out which I think was good because I never had to wait for the next book. I was fifteen years old then and on a super reading marathon. I finished reading all the books within a couple of weeks and I have been hooked ever since.
The magic that Harry Potter and all the seven books brought with them has stayed with me through all these years. I joined multiple Potterhead communities online and multiple Facebook pages and still regularly go through all these Tumblr posts and headcanons and what not.
I was following the proceedings of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child since it started but I would admit to not wanting to read it. To me, those seven books were something else and I did not want an extension to it. I just thought that whatever more comes out would never be able to do justice to the sacred world that has amazed so many.
But then the book came out and my best friend said: “Hey, I have started reading it”. Everyone in my friendlist was reading it and I had some time on hand so I thought, I would just give it a read (with low expectations) so that I don’t miss out on anything.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Do not proceed reading if you haven’t read the book already or don’t want it to be spoiled.
I read the first 4 scenes of Act one and I was seriously missing the feel that Harry Potter is supposed to bring. It felt like the flicker is there but the mighty fire is missing. The characters are there but they don’t feel like themselves. It looks like they didn’t suffer from fighting the Dark Lord as much as they suffered from adulthood. Except Ron. He is the same good old Ron.
My initial thoughts of the new characters were: Albus is Harry (because equally confused?), Rose appears controlling like Hermione but nowhere close to as interesting as her and Scorpius loves food and doesn’t think much so he has got to be our new Ron.
JKR has a tradition of surprising us. But there were a couple of expected things in there, like Albus and Scorpius becoming friends was very clichéd but it added to my interest so no harm done there. And as it turned out Scorpius is the new Ron AND Hermione. Nobody would have thought of that combination in one person.
A few more scenes into the play and it started to slowly grow on me. But it is massively fast-paced. They just got sorted into their houses and they are in their fourth year before you know it.
When the Trolley Witch tries to stop Albus and Scorpius and mentions how the Marauders and Weasley twins tried to escape the train, I felt like YES! This is the same story I have loved all this time. Out of all the people, did you expect the trolley witch to be the one to guard the kids?
I very much like how complicated Harry and Albus’s relationship was. It is beautiful to see the boy who lived, the chosen one struggling with his own son. How he tries and tries hard to understand him, be a good father to him.
“HARRY: I know. But the thing that scares me most, Albus Severus Potter, is being a dad to you. Because I’m operating without wires here. Most people at least have a dad to base themselves on — and either try to be or try not to be. I’ve got nothing — or very little. So I’m learning, okay? And I’m going to try with everything I’ve got — to be a good dad for you.“
A major part of the book is based on time travelling. The book could have been named Albus Potter and the Time Turner. Or better yet, Scorpius Malfoy and the Time Turner because Albus doesn’t even exist in an alternate past/time. A lot of it feels flawed which they conveniently blamed on the time tuner being a prototype so not a complete fail there.
The best part of this book is that the depth of Draco’s character is finally revealed. How he survived leaving the dark side, how he wanted to be a happy child but acted to keep up appearances, how he envied the trio’s friendship, how he struggles through the loss of his spouse and how he eventually forgets all differences and joins hands with them to play his role as a loving and responsible parent.
All in all, I would not deny that the book was nowhere close to the original books. They tried to recreate the trio. They pretty much used quotes from the previous book. But, in my opinion, expecting it to be anywhere close to them is itself wrong and unrealistic. As one of my friends said: “I knew she couldn’t write better than she already has.” Not to mention, she only CO-AUTHORED this one. It still is an extension which came after JKR’s approval and hence is a treat to read.
The best part of this book is that the depth of Draco’s character is finally revealed. How he survived leaving the dark side, how he wanted to be a happy child but acted to keep up appearances, how he envied the trio’s friendship, how he struggles through the loss of his spouse and how he eventually forgets all differences and joins hands with them to play his role as a loving and responsible parent.
All in all, I would not deny that the book was nowhere close to the original books. They tried to recreate the trio. They pretty much used quotes from the previous book. But, in my opinion, expecting it to be anywhere close to them is itself wrong and unrealistic. As one of my friends said: “I knew she couldn’t write better than she already has.” Not to mention, she only CO-AUTHORED this one. It still is an extension which came after JKR’s approval and hence is a treat to read.
