Being the Potterhead I am of course I read this pretty swiftly once it was released however it is only now I have the chance to put my thoughts around the play into words and the chance to retell the story in a summarised way. I am yet to see the production on the stage and this is therefore only a reflection of the words on the page.
I personally found this plot somewhat difficult to follow as the time changes are difficult to comprehend in the written word however having studied a lot of plays and performed in a few myself it was significantly easier for me than for others I know with little history of consuming the literature.
The script begins with Albus Potter, one of Harry and Ginny’s children, meeting Scorpious, the son of Malfoy, on the train to Hogwarts for their first years to begin. Both the characters find themselves sorted into Slytherin – Scorpious of course very pleased to follow in his fathers footsteps, Albus however questioning himself and finding himself feeling as though he was not living up to his fathers reputation.
As the story progresses it is clear that Albus is having a difficult time at school and as a result him and Harry begin to drift apart. Albus learns that a powerful time turner exists, allowing the individual(s) to travel back several years, and as a result Scoprious and Albus set up on a quest to steal the time turner from the Minister for Magic’s office, Hermione Granger’s. The boys run away from Hogwarts and team up with Delphi Diggory in order to carry out the theft. With the knowledge that
With the knowledge that Cedric Diggory’s death has occurred as a result of the portkey at the end of the Triwzard tournament Albus and Scorpius propose a plan to sabotage Diggory in the initial Triwizard task in the hope of preventing his death. This however resulted in a very different reality occurring where changes occur such as: Albus being sorted into Gryffindor and Ron and Hermione are not together.
During this time, Harry is experiencing pain in his scar again and fears the return of Lord Voldermort. This leads to him fearing Scorpius and Albus’ friendship, viewing Scorpius as a threat, and tried to keep the two boys separated at Hogwarts however this is not a successful parting and relents. The two boys decide to try to change Cedric’s fate again by affecting the second wizard task. However, when Scoprius returns to present day, Albus is not around and Voldermort is ruling. The changes made causing a turmoil of events resulting in Voldermort winning the Battle of Hogwarts and killing Harry.
There is however an anti-Voldermort resistance movement and with the help of those involved Scorpius is able to amend his changes and restore things to their original story. The boys reunite in present day and are eventually found by their parents and McGonagall (the now Headmistress of Hogwarts) and the truth is outed. Albus and Harry begin to restore their relationship. The boys now recognize the risks posed by the Time Turner and attempt to destroy. Alas! This does not go to plan. The boys are captured by Delphi, who we learn is not actually a Diggory but is instead the child of Voldermort and Bellatrix. Delphi attempts to change the timeline back again in order to put Voldermort in power. The boys however manage to stop this from occurring. Delphi in anger attempts to trap the boys in time by destroying the Time Turner while the boys are present on the night of Lily and James’ death. Albus however manages to write an invisible message on Harry’s baby blanket, knowing that in their present, the blanket would become stained with Love Potion and expose the message to Harry. Harry manages to use another Time Turner, owned by Draco, in order to find the boys. The group manage to subdue Delphi in order to prevent any further changes being made and upon return to present day Harry and Albus reconcile. They visit Cedric’s grave and Harry takes the opportunity to apologise for his role in his death.
Overall I did enjoy this but it was very clear to see it was not JK novel as it lacks the charm, imagination and ability to feel the emotions of the story. There is also the issue that brief lines are used to sum up huge set-ups and issue of a written script as opposed to the production itself. I am very keen to see the production in order to do a comparison and I am confident it will be a much more enjoyable experience. How did every else find it?
365 days of Char 