Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016) is a two-part play written by Jack Thorne, based on an original story collaboratively created by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne himself. Set in the universe of the Harry Potter books penned by J. K. Rowling, the play follows events occurring 19 years after the epilogue of the seventh book, The Deathly Hallows (2007); the story revolves around Albus Potter, the second son and middle child of Harry Potter, and Albus’s relationship with his famous father.

Thorne is an award-winning English screenwriter and playwright. His portfolio includes the television adaptation of the His Dark Materials series, the first book of which is The Golden Compass (1995); the screenplay of the movie Wonder; a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens for Broadway; and the creation of the television drama National Treasure, the latter of which won him a BAFTA award. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is among his award-winning works; at the 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards, the London production received a record-breaking level of nominations, of which it took home a record-breaking nine awards, including Best New Play. The Broadway production, too, received similar honors at the 2018 Tony Awards, taking home six awards, including Best Play.

Opening 19 years after Harry Potter’s defeat of the Dark Wizard Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child follows a new generation of witches and wizards on a magical, time-traveling adventure. Focused on Albus Potter’s quest to prove his worth as his famous father’s son, the play explores several themes, including friendship and loyalty, and how fame and legacy impact the relationships between parents and children. This guide is based on the 2016 Little, Brown edition.

Plot Summary

Eleven-year-old Albus Potter arrives at King’s Cross Station to board his first train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is seen off by his parents, Harry and Ginny Potter, and uncle Ron Weasley and aunt Hermione Granger-Weasley, whose daughter, Rose, is also beginning at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are famous for having defeated the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort 19 years before; now, Harry works as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, Ron helps his older brother George run a joke shop, and Hermione serves as the Minister for Magic.

Aboard the Hogwarts Express train, Albus befriends Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Harry’s former nemesis Draco Malfoy; this displeases Rose, as Scorpius is rumored to be the secret son of Voldemort, conceived through time-travel. At Hogwarts, Scorpius and Albus are sorted into Slytherin House; the latter shocks everyone, as Slytherin House has long been associated with Dark Wizards. Over the years, Albus and Scorpius are bullied and shunned by their peers—Albus for how different he is from his famous father and Scorpius owing to the rumors. This leads Albus to grow distant from Harry, who cannot understand his son’s struggles. In an attempt to reconcile, on the day before Albus begins his fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry tries to gift Albus an old blanket that belonged to Harry’s mom. Albus rejects the gesture, and the two end up in an explosive fight, during which Harry says hurtful things to Albus; Albus throws the blanket away, which collides with a love potion that spills all over it.

Meanwhile, Harry seizes an illegal Time-Turner from an old Dark Wizard, which Hermione keeps safe in her office for further observation. Simultaneously, Harry begins to have strange dreams that feature Voldemort’s voice, prompting Hermione to alert the wizarding community to potential danger; however, her warnings are dismissed. Rumors of the Time-Turner lead Amos Diggory, an old wizard, to approach Harry with a request to use it and save his son, Cedric, whom Voldemort killed, but Harry refuses. Albus overhears this conversation and is found eavesdropping by Delphini, Amos’s niece and caretaker, who befriends Albus. Angry with Harry, Albus decides to steal the Time-Turner and help Amos himself. He enlists Scorpius’s help, and the boys escape the Hogwarts Express and visit Amos, where Delphini agrees to accompany them on their mission. The trio disguises themselves, breaks into Hermione’s office, and steals the Time-Turner.

Harry has another dream that helps him divine Albus’s location. Harry, Ginny, Draco, and Hermione rush to Hogwarts, but the boys are already gone. Albus and Scorpius travel back in time to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Winning the Tournament alongside Harry was what led to Cedric’s death, and they plan to prevent his victory. In the process, they have a short conversation with a young Hermione, which changes the course of their future. In the new present, Albus has been sorted into Gryffindor House, Ron and Hermione are not together, and Rose does not exist. The boys, though friends, are kept apart on Harry’s orders, who believes Scorpius to be a danger to Albus; however, Delphini helps them reconcile, and they make another attempt to save Cedric’s life, traveling back to the scene of the second task. However, this time, Scorpius emerges in the present alone, where Dolores Umbridge, Headmistress of Hogwarts, informs him that Harry is dead—Voldemort reigns supreme.

Scorpius discovers that his interference led to Cedric joining Voldemort and killing Neville Longbottom, a wizard who was crucial to Harry’s original victory over Voldemort. Now, the Ministry is led by Voldemort, alongside a mysterious figure dubbed the “Augurey.” Scorpius discovers that Severus Snape, who was killed in the original battle, is still alive and working alongside Ron and Hermione, who are in hiding. Scorpius enlists their help to go back in time once more and undo Albus’s interference; he emerges in the unchanged, original timeline, reuniting with Albus as the adults discover them.

Unnerved by the consequences of interfering with Time, Albus and Scorpius decide to destroy the Time-Turner; they are joined by Delphini, whom Albus has informed of the plan. Albus notices a tattoo of the Augurey bird on Delphini’s neck, leading Scorpius to realize that she was the Augurey in the other world. They try to fight Delphini but are subdued and taken captive by her. Delphini travels back to the third and final task, but the boys thwart her attempts at saving Cedric; she then travels back to a different time and destroys the Time-Turner, leaving the boys stranded in an unknown place and time. The boys eventually realize that Delphini has brought them to the eve of Harry’s parents’ murders—Voldemort’s first attempt to kill Harry is what triggered his eventual downfall, and Delphini plans to stop this.

When the boys go missing again, Ron tells Harry that he glimpsed the boys in Delphini’s company; Harry realizes who she is from her description. The group rushes to confront Amos. However, they discover that Delphini had bewitched him into believing she was his niece; no record of her exists in the Ministry. The adults then discover a hidden prophecy written on the walls of Delphini’s room, revealing Voldemort’s writing; this is accompanied by writing that claims Delphini as Voldemort’s daughter. Draco reveals that he possesses another, more powerful Time-Turner; however, the parents have no way yet to rescue the boys, as they don’t know where they are in time.

Albus and Scorpius find Harry’s baby blanket on which they write an invisible message to Harry in the present, which becomes visible owing to the blanket’s contact with the love potion. Realizing where in time the boys are, Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny arrive there using the Time-Turner. Harry disguises himself as Voldemort and distracts Delphini, allowing the group to eventually subdue her. They then remain out of sight and watch as Voldemort arrives and murders Harry’s parents before returning to the present. Albus and Scorpius go back to Hogwarts, where Harry comes to visit Albus. Father and son visit Cedric’s grave together, where they pay their respects and begin to repair their relationship.