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
Scorpius and Albus emerge at the Triwizard Tournament in 1994, as Ludo Bagman announces the first task. Scorpius and Albus join the gathered crowd and cheer as Victor Krum emerges. When Bagman announces Harry, Albus looks amazed as he notices that the cheering for Cedric was greater than the cheering for Harry. Albus also notices a nervous-looking young Hermione in the crowd. They greet her, and she grows skeptical that two Durmstrang students are talking to her and that they know her name.
The fact that the cheering for Cedric is greater than the cheering for Harry reminds readers that during school—particularly during the time of the Triwizard Tournament—Harry was largely criticized and ostracized because of his participation in the tournament rather than revered. This reminds the audience that Harry also struggled in his childhood, and he also needed his friends’ support—like Hermione—to get through the tasks, connecting Harry and Albus’s experiences.
Themes
Cedric Diggory is the first to compete, and Albus readies his wand. Ludo narrates the action as Cedric dives out of reach as the dragon. As this happens, Scorpius notices that the Time-Turner has started ticking. As Cedric pulls out his wand, Albus disarms him, and everything starts to go wrong for Cedric. Bagman announces that this could be the end of the task—and the tournament—for him. The Time-Turner’s ticking crescendos, and a flash goes off.
While Bagman’s statement that everything seems to be going wrong for Cedric indicates that Albus’s and Scorpius’s plan has worked in this moment, it also hints at the fact that in doing so, they have created more problems than they have solved in using the Time-Turner and messing with time.
Themes
Back in the present, Albus is hollering in pain. Scorpius realizes that there must be some time limit on the Time-Turner, and Albus wonders if they’ve changed anything. Suddenly, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Draco emerge, and Albus and Scorpius look at them all dumbly. Albus asks if something is wrong before collapsing on the floor.
Albus’s pain, though not yet explained, indicates his bravery in putting himself in harm’s way for the sake of saving Cedric. However, it also indicates the dangers in messing with time—a metaphor for the danger inherent in fixating on the past.
Themes
