Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Parenthood
Time, Mistakes, and the Past
Friendship, Family, Love, and Bravery
Reputation and Expectation
Death and Sacrifice
Summary
Analysis
In Amos’s room, Albus says that they’re there to help save Cedric, but Amos is skeptical that two teenagers can help him. When Albus argues that Harry was a teenager when he saved the world, Amos again protests, saying that Albus is a Potter in Slytherin House working with a boy who might be a Voldemort. With strength, Albus says that he wants to correct his father’s mistakes, but Amos is hearing none of it.
The play again underscores how much Albus’s and Scorpius’s reputations—and their failure to meet expectations set by themselves and others—are burdens for them. Even as they’re trying to help Amos, he doesn’t believe they can do it because Albus doesn’t boast the same accomplishments as his father and Scorpius is rumored to be Voldemort’s son.
Themes
Delphi interjects, explaining that Albus and Scorpius are the only ones volunteering to help, bravely putting themselves at risk to save Cedric. Amos asks what’s in it for them, and Albus explains that he knows what it feels like to be the “spare” and that Cedric didn’t deserve to be killed. Amos finally breaks down, thanking them for wanting to correct the injustice. He asks Delphi to go with them, knowing that even getting the Time-Turner will be dangerous. She agrees, and Amos says he hopes they succeed.
Here Delphi portrays Albus and Scorpius’s actions as heroic because they are willing to put themselves in harm’s way and sacrifice themselves for someone else. Albus again reinforces his desire to be a hero and not to be the “spare,” which is what Voldemort called Cedric as Cedric died. Albus underscores how he is motivated by the way other people perceive him.
Themes
