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 the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Albus and Delphi are practicing their disarming spells. Albus feels like he’s getting better—he’s never been particularly good at spells, but Delphi encourages him, saying that he’s becoming a good wizard. Scorpius lingers in the background, a little jealous of their interaction.
Albus and Delphi’s interaction illustrates that part of Albus’s problem with meeting others’ expectations is the fact that people have expectations in the first place. Away from the weight of those expectations, and with an encouraging friend, Albus is relieved of the burden of trying to measure up to Harry and as a result is able to actually improve his spellcasting skills.
Themes
Scorpius emerges, going over the plan with Albus and Delphi. If Cedric hadn’t won the Triwizard Tournament, then he wouldn’t have been killed. So they decide to sabotage Cedric in the first task so that he can’t win, thereby avoiding his death. Delphi explains that they’re going to disarm Cedric so that he can’t use his wand during the task, which is to avoid a dragon and retrieve a golden egg.
Albus and Scorpius’s plan reveals how deeply intent they are on trying to change the past, even though they aren’t fully thinking through the potential ramifications that allowing Cedric to live could have on the present.
Themes
Delphi then produces Durmstrang robes for the boys to wear so that they can blend in better with the crowd. When Delphi explains that she’ll just hang in the background—she looks a little too old to be a student—Scorpius suggests that she shouldn’t come because she just adds risk to what they’re doing. Delphi is really upset, but she agrees. She impresses on them that they have an opportunity that few people rarely get—to change history. Kissing Albus on both cheeks, she walks away into the forest. Albus is dumbstruck.
Delphi’s comment to Albus illustrates the importance and the responsibility that Albus and Scorpius are taking on by going back to the past and trying to ensure Cedric lives. But, as Scorpius notes, it is also something that comes with great risk: they are willing to put themselves in harm’s way in order to do what they think is right—which the play portrays as a noble sacrifice.
Themes
