There is something about nostalgia that sells really well. It seems to be the best way to convince the current generation to buy something. It isn’t clear if that’s what motivated JK Rowling (JKR) to revisit Harry Potter and his friends, but by the end of her latest offering in the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child , you begin to wonder.
Though, one cannot fault her for wanting to continue writing the characters and building the world that made her famous, sometimes, enough is enough. Let’s take a look at what we learned from Cursed Child .
Be warned, spoilers ahead!
The book opens with where we left the characters in Deathly Hallows : on Platform 9 and ¾, saying goodbye to their kids, as they boarded the Hogwarts Express. Harry and his middle child, the one he named Albus Severus (after two of the ‘bravest men’ he knew) do not have the best relationship. This forms one of the central plots of the story. Harry did become an Auror as he said he would in the Order of the Phoenix . In fact he went one step further and, in Cursed Child , is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, making him Head Auror. Hermione, on the other hand, is the Minister for Magic, and is happily married to Ron, who is running the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes joke shop with his brother George. Albus and Rose Granger-Weasley (yep, she did that!) run into Scorpius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass’ son on the train. While Rose is hesitant be friends with a Malfoy, especially one who is rumoured to be Voldemort’s love child with Astoria (who is rumoured to have gone back in time, via a time turner), Albus has no such qualms. It’s a pretty messy plot point, but it’s consistent with JKR’s modus operandi .
Without getting into any more detail, which would just involve me just repeating what the book says here word for word, I’ll just say that the book is excellently paced. The dialogue is top notch at places, but a lot of it lacks JKR’s usual charm and wit. Scorpius Malfoy is, by far, the best character in this book/play; he’s definitely a stand-out. He is kind, smart and charming, in every way that his father wasn’t, which leads the reader to believe that his mother Astoria did most of the raising. Old characters come and go, but a stern, yet warm McGonagall, who is now the Hogwarts Headmistress, is the best cameo. The plot never feels like a drag and always keeps you on the edge of your seat, which is obviously why the play is such a huge success, but the book lacks the soul that you come to expect from a Harry Potter story. Maybe it’s the wrong medium — Cursed Child is the script of the play that is being showcased at London’s West End, and will eventually make it to the US’ Broadway — but it’s hard to lose yourself in the book.
An outsider
You’re painfully aware that you’re an outsider looking into the lives of these magic folk. In the first seven instalments, you’d be a part of Harry’s journey, seeing what he saw and feeling what he felt. You’d be surprised, and confused at the same time, when a half-giant found Harry in a hut on an island in the middle of the sea to deliver him a letter, and be thrilled when the giant, named Hagrid, would tell him: ‘ Yer a wizard, Harry ’. You’d be filled with awe as Harry made his way across the Black Lake, on a boat, to Hogwarts and a shiver would run down your spine when you read about Dementors halting the Hogwarts Express. And when Dobby died in Harry’s arms, the life draining out of his saucer-shaped orbs, reflecting the night sky above, you’d feel Harry’s pain and despair. You feel none of that in Cursed Child , which feels like just a statement of fact most of the time.
Caricatures
So that’s my biggest complaint with the book, it’s a poor medium to tell a story. I’m sure the play, with all the effects and wonderful acting, would have more of an impact in terms of storytelling, but us Potterheads (mostly me) are not used to a story being told via the script of a play, à la, Shakespeare. The magic of JKR’s storytelling is in the way she says it, and not what she says. The stories she tells are, more often than not, well-worn tropes. It’s her characters, who feel like caricatures of themselves in Cursed Child , that bring her books alive. Ron Weasley is funny, yes, but he’s so much more than that too — he’s brave, a tad insecure but fiercely loyal and not just comic relief; something both this play, and the preceding movies made him out to be (that’s a rant for another day.)
This is not to say Cursed Child is bad, it isn’t, not by a mile. It’s just not the kind of storytelling that we’ve come to expect from a Harry Potter book. All my reservations and complaints aside, Cursed Child is a good, quick read. Diehard fans may not be able to accept this as canon, but that’s just because of the high standards that we hold JK Rowling to. But, I’m not complaining too much. I got to spend a couple of hours with the characters I loved, who have grown up, just like I have. For now, that’s enough for me.