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
At Hogwarts, Delphi approaches Scorpius surreptitiously. She acknowledges that she shouldn’t be there, but she notes that there’s pretty lax security at the school—she mentions that she’s never been to Hogwarts before. Scorpius asks why she didn’t attend Hogwarts, and she explains that she was unwell as a child and couldn’t attend. When he remarks that he didn’t know that, Delphi explains that she prefers not to be seen as a tragic case.
Scorpius is surprised to hear Delphi’s story, particularly given his own struggles that he’s going through without a friend. Even though Delphi doesn’t want to be seen as a tragic case, it’s clear to Scorpius (and thus, to the audience), how much not attending Hogwarts was likely a very isolating experience as a child, and thus something with which Delphi likely still struggles.
Themes
Scorpius tells Delphi sadly that nothing changed. Delphi knows this—Albus sent her an owl explaining what happened. Losing the first task only made Cedric want to win even more, so he still died. But now Ron and Hermione aren’t together, creating other problems. Delphi acknowledges that they have to fix what they’ve done—but first they have to fix Albus and Scorpius’s friendship. She says that Albus seems completely destroyed in all the owls that he sends her, and Scorpius grows resentful that Albus has found a shoulder to cry on. She assures him that Albus needs him, and that they belong together.
As Delphi and Scorpius go over the consequences of what they did, the play illustrates again the danger in trying to change the past. Not only did they cause problems between Ron and Hermione, but they also didn’t fix the problem that they set out to fix. Additionally, Delphi’s statement that Albus is completely destroyed emphasizes the importance of friendship in overcoming obstacles, because she implies that the only way for them to solve the problems that they’ve created is by first becoming friends again.
Themes
