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
Harry and Albus walk together on a hill, enjoying the sun. They talk about Albus’s end-of-year exams, before Albus starts to say that he watched Harry’s parents for a while, before they died. He says that they all had fun together, and that Harry would have liked them. Harry nods.
Just as Harry is starting to be more open and honest with Albus, Albus is also starting to put an effort into sharing a connection with Harry—especially because he now appreciates the incredible loss that Harry endured growing up without real parental figures of his own.
Themes
Harry says that he thought he finally got rid of Voldemort, but even though he got rid of Voldemort physically, he didn’t get rid of him mentally—and that’s a lot to overcome for a 40-year-old man. Harry acknowledges that what he said to Albus was unforgivable, but he hopes they can move past it. Harry also said that he is scared of things, even if Albus doesn’t think he is—the dark, small spaces, and pigeons. But the thing that scares him the most is being a dad, because he didn’t really have much of a father figure growing up. So he’s going to try to be a better dad for Albus.
Harry recognizes the problem with constantly grappling with the past trauma of his experiences with Voldemort, and how they affected his relationship with Albus in a harmful way because they made him do and say things he wouldn’t have otherwise. And Harry affirms the importance of trying to change what he can in the present, like moving forward from their conflict and trying to be a better father for his son.
Themes
Albus agrees that he’ll try to be a better son—he knows he’s not his brother James. Harry points out that James is nothing like Harry—everything comes easy to James, whereas Harry’s childhood was a constant struggle. Albus agrees, saying that that’s something they have in common. Harry says Albus is also like Ginny—bold, fierce, and funny, and that makes him a pretty great son.
While Albus always thought he didn’t live up to his father’s expectation, here Harry affirms that Albus and Harry have a lot in common, and appreciating Albus’s struggles (as well as his good points) clearly for the first time fosters a camaraderie and important understanding between them.
Themes
Albus points out that he almost destroyed the world, but Harry says that Delphi was going to find a way to try to fulfill her prophecy, and Albus found a way for them to fight her. Albus asks if he should have done better, and Harry says he asked himself the same questions all the time.
Again, Harry and Albus bond over the fact that both of them had such high expectations for themselves and reputations that they had to live up to, and how that has weighed heavily on Harry’s mind throughout his life and even Albus as he considers the problems he’s caused in the last few months.
Themes
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Albus admits that when they caught Delphi, he wanted to kill her, wondering if that’s his Slytherin side. Harry acknowledges that Albus was just angry, and whatever label he’s been given, his heart is a good one, and he’s going to be a good wizard. Albus’s names come with huge weight, but both Dumbledore and Snape were great men with huge flaws whose flaws made them greater.
Harry recognizes that a reputation can become a great weight for a child such as Albus, but he notes that everyone—even the great wizards Albus is named for—still had flaws. And, alleviating his fears about being Slytherin, Harry affirms that labels are unimportant burdens compared to what a person truly believes or how they act.
Themes
Harry and Albus come to a stop, and Albus asks where they are. Harry explains that it’s a graveyard, where Cedric is buried. He asks Albus how well he knows Craig, the boy who was killed. Albus says not well enough. Harry says he didn’t know Cedric well enough either. Cedric could have been anything, but instead his life was stolen. So Harry comes to his grave to say sorry when he can. Albus says that that’s a good thing to do. Harry touches his son’s shoulder and says it’s going to be a nice day, and Albus agrees, smiling back.
Harry and Albus’s reconciliation shows how, when Harry and Albus are open with each other and able to see each other clearly, they are able to find points of connection and comfort in each other. And in showing how Harry tries to make amends with Cedric by visiting his grave and apologizing, the play affirms that rather than trying to fixate on what a person can’t really change in the past, the best way to live is to acknowledge and learn from that past but to live and create change in the present .
Themes
