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 third Triwizard Tournament task in 1995, Delphi drags Albus and Scorpius through the ever-shifting hedge maze. Ludo Bagman is once again announcing, explaining that the Triwizard trophy stands within the center of the maze. As Delphi looks for Cedric, the hedge tries to grab at Albus and Scorpius. They move through the maze, with Delphi leading and Scorpius and Albus being compelled behind her.
Again, even though Delphi claims to be focused on the future, she is just as obsessed with changing the past as the other characters have been. And the fact that she is doing so in order to save Cedric and bring about Voldemort’s rise to power only underscores how dangerous that obsession can be.
Themes
Scorpius and Albus quietly try to talk to each other. They don’t know what to do; Scorpius says he’s ready to die to prevent Voldemort from returning. Albus is desperate, thinking that they can try to run out the clock on the Time-Turner—it only lasts five minutes. They try to run away, but Delphi flies without a broom and finds the boys, throwing them to the ground. She knows that they only have two minutes left and commands them to do as she says.
Scorpius affirms his willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of the wizarding world, again illustrating how sacrifice which improves the lives of countless others is an action worth taking and marks a character as heroic.
Themes
Scorpius and Albus insist that they will defy Delphi, but Delphi says that the prophecy has to be fulfilled. Scorpius points out that prophecies can’t be inevitable, because they are trying to fulfill it, and therefore they can also be prevented and broken. Delphi starts to torture Scorpius and Albus, telling them that she will kill them, when suddenly, Cedric Diggory disarms Delphi and binds her.
Here Scorpius emphasizes how the future is a very mutable thing and something that everyone has the power to change, and therefore is much less dangerous to try to affect than changing the past. In this way, the play again suggests that it’s better to focus on what a person can actually change in the present or the future rather than fixating on the past, as Delphi is.
Themes
Cedric asks if Albus and Scorpius are another obstacle in the maze, but they say he only has to free them. He does so, and he asks if he can go on. The boys tell him that he can finish the maze, even though they know this will mean his death. Before Cedric leaves, though, Albus tells him that Amos loves him very much. Cedric is slightly confused, but he thanks Albus and walks on.
Albus and Scorpius here make a conscious decision to let Cedric finish the maze, essentially sacrificing his life for the good of the wizarding world. However, it is notable that Albus does try to make a difference, even in a small way, by telling Cedric that his father loves him. He knows he can’t change the past, but also views it as important to do what he can to give Amos more comfort in the future.
Themes
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As Albus watches Cedric go, Delphi crawls away and pulls out the Time-Turner from her robes. Scorpius and Albus realize that she’s trying to leave them behind. They run close to her and scramble to grab the Time-Turner. It flashes and bangs, and time warps. In this new time, Delphi destroys the Time-Turner. She says that Scorpius is right—maybe prophecies can be broken. She ascends into the air and leaves, and Scorpius and Albus have no chance of catching up with her. They realize in despair that they’re stuck in whatever time they’re in—and they need to stop her from whatever she’s planning to do.
While Delphi destroying the Time-Turner may seem like her acknowledgement that she can’t affect the past, in reality the opposite is true. She destroys the Time-Turner so that none of them are forced to return to the present, reflecting the idea that she is so completely fixated on the past that she is willing to give up her present life to live in the past permanently.
Themes
