Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Themes

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child returns to the beloved characters of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy, who were children in J. K. Rowling’s original series but in this play are all grown up with children of their own. In particular, Harry and Draco struggle with how to connect to their sons Albus and Scorpius, because Harry largely grew up without parental figures and Draco had…

Many of the characters in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have regrets about the past, and the play explores what might happen if people were actually able to go back in time and try to change some of those past mistakes. For example, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy use a Time-Turner to go back in time to the Triwizard Tournament to save Cedric Diggory from an unjust death, but in doing so, they create…

Throughout the play, adult characters like Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy have to live with their reputations—Harry as the heroic “Boy Who Lived” and Draco as an evil Death Eater. Meanwhile, their children, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, have to grapple with the expectations that come with their famous parents—Albus feels constantly inadequate compared to his father’s shining example, and rumors plague Scorpius that he is actually Voldemort’s son, which leads other…

Several of the characters in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sacrifice their lives for the greater good. For example, when Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy create an alternate timeline in which the dark wizard Voldemort reigns over the wizarding world, Hermione and Ron give themselves up to the dementors in order to help Scorpius reverse this reality. Similarly, Severus Snape helps Scorpius even though he knows that he will die if he does. In…