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
The group gathers. Ron is confused that they’re fighting to protect Voldemort now. They try to formulate a plan to use their knowledge to their advantage: Albus suggests that they can try to transfigure someone into Voldemort to throw Delphi off, because then she won’t know when Voldemort actually arrives. They all offer themselves up to become Voldemort, but Harry knows it has to be him because he’s the only one who speaks Parseltongue. The others realize that Harry is right.
Acting as Voldemort is an incredibly risky thing to do, and the fact that each of the characters offers to do it shows how much they value making that sacrifice. They all want to ensure the others’ safety as well as the wizarding world as a whole. This is one of the things that marks the group as the heroes because they are willing to make that sacrifice.
Themes
The group works through the rest of a plan: Harry will lure Delphi into the church and then they can all attack her. Draco isn’t sure, saying there are too many variables, but Albus assures Draco that Harry won’t let them down. Harry is moved by his son’s confidence. Hermione and the others start to transfigure Harry, until the form of Voldemort emerges—it worked.
This exchange illustrates how Harry’s earnest attempts to understand his son are starting to repair their relationship, as Albus no longer resents Harry for being a kind of golden child that Albus has not been, but instead Albus appreciates the love and support that his dad is now giving to him.
Themes
