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
Ron, Hermione, Draco, Scorpius, and Albus watch the church window. Albus assures Ginny that it’s going to be okay, but Ginny says it’s just hard for her to look at the man she loves shrouded in the man she hates. Albus confesses to Ginny that he really liked Delphi, and she turned out to be Voldemort’s daughter. Ginny assures him that it’s what Voldemort and Delphi are good at—catching innocent people. Albus laments that this is all his fault, and Ginny says that’s funny, because Harry thinks it’s all his fault.
Ginny provides another connection between Harry and Albus here, as both of them struggle with their reputations and the expectation that they set for themselves, and both feel that they fail to live up to it. Recognizing this fact is a way to help Albus feel more connected to Harry, because they actually share a lot in common.
Themes
Scorpius interrupts—Delphi has arrived. Hermione instructs everyone to hide in their positions behind the doors, and Harry (as Voldemort) reenters the church. Delphi follows him inside, telling him that she is his daughter—his and Bellatrix Lestrange’s, born in Malfoy Manor before the Battle of Hogwarts. She speaks in Parseltongue and flies in the air as proof, explaining that she is the Augurey to his Dark Lord, and she is ready to serve him.
In calling out the Augurey (suggesting that she is a kind of omen of Voldemort’s return), Delphi again implies her obsession with shaping the past, and thereby using it to change her own future as one of the heads of the wizarding world.
Themes
Harry (as Voldemort) tries to draw her into the church, but Delphi warns him about killing the baby Harry Potter—that his spell will rebound and make him weak. As she speaks, Harry can feel some of his features shifting back to his own. Delphi starts to grow suspicious, realizing that he isn’t Voldemort. They shoot spells at each other, their blasts meeting in the middle of the room. Delphi then seals the doors from the inside so that the others can’t help Harry.
Delphi continues to attempt to change the past while Harry again puts himself in danger for the good of the wizarding world, knowing how important it is not to allow her to change the past. Meanwhile, Delphi sealing the doors shows an implicit understanding that without his friends and family, Harry is much easier to beat because he can’t draw on their support.
Themes
Delphi disarms Harry easily, saying that she’s studied his weaknesses. As she shoots spells at him, he crawls behind a church pew, and Delphi mocks his desperation: the hero of the wizarding world cowering like a rat. Just then, Albus emerges from a grate in the floor, throwing Harry a wand. Delphi shoots a Killing Curse at Albus, but Harry throws Albus out of the way and fires back.
This exchange illustrates Albus’s own bravery as he lives up to the heroic expectations he has of himself. He is willing to put himself in harm’s way to protect Harry. Likewise, Harry is willing to sacrifice himself for Albus in order to save him, reinforcing how they are both the heroes of the story.
Themes
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Delphi asks if Harry thinks he’s stronger than her. He agrees he isn’t, but as Albus unlocks the doors, Harry assures Delphi that he’s never fought alone. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Draco emerge and fire spells at Delphi, who tumbles to the floor, bound. Without taking his eyes off Delphi, Harry asks if Albus is okay, and Albus assures his father that he’s fine. Harry is outraged that Delphi dared to try to hurt his son.
As Harry states, he couldn’t defeat Delphi alone—she’s too powerful. But when Harry is joined by the others, the play emphasizes that having friends and family in his life not only makes him braver, but it also provides him with the support he needs to defeat Delphi’s dark magic. And, in saying that he’s never done anything alone, Harry acknowledges how important love has been to fostering bravery throughout his life.
Themes
Delphi says pitifully that she only wanted to know her father. Harry says that she can’t remake her life—she will always be an orphan. That never leaves her. Harry says, however, that he can’t kill her, because they have to be better than she is. She’ll come back to the present and go to Azkaban. Suddenly, they hear a cold voice: “Haaarry Pottttter…” It’s Voldemort. He comes through the back of the stage, bringing death with him.
Harry’s comment to Delphi is a direct repudiation of her obsession with the past. Like Harry, Delphi can’t focus on her childhood trauma in order to change it. Instead, it’s more important, as Harry has learned for himself, to work through his childhood trauma and fix what he can in the present.
Themes
