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
Back in the Potter home, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are having a meal together, talking about Draco. Ginny says that he’s simply grieving Astoria and he’s obsessed with trying to dispel the rumors about his son. Ron says that he’s sorry for Draco’s loss, but that his grief doesn’t justify his baseless accusations.
The play highlights how Draco is grappling with Scorpius’s reputation, as Ginny recognizes that he feels the heavy burden of not being able to protect his son from others and having to recognize that Scorpius’s life is the worse for it.
Themes
Ron also assures Hermione and Harry that Voldemort’s supporters’ movements could be nothing, joking that Harry’s scar is just hurting because he’s getting old. Hermione says that if Voldemort survived, they need to be prepared. She doesn’t want to stick her head in the sand like Cornelius Fudge, even if it makes her unpopular with Draco. Just then, an owl swoops into the room with a letter. It’s from Professor McGonagall: Albus and Scorpius never made it to the school. They’re missing.
Hermione is also dealing with the burden of reputation at the Ministry. She recalls how Cornelius Fudge (the Minister for Magic when they were young) often tried to avoid the rumors of Voldemort’s return, and as a result, Voldemort was able to gain power much more easily and quickly. She doesn’t want to continue that legacy, showing how her role means that she struggles not just with her own reputation, but with upholding the Ministry’s reputation as well.
Themes
