Harry Potter Week | First Look at The Cursed Child (*Spoiler Free*)

Last updated on 18 September 2019

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CONTAINS NO STORY SPOILERS! – I’ll just be talking about The Cursed Child on the whole, a few comments on it in general, rather than the plot line or any other pieces of info that might spoil it for you. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s okay to read this post. I promise. I would never spoil it for you. #keepthesecrets

Well, we waited. We waited and waited (probably not patiently, let’s be honest), but the day finally arrived. I headed to the store to be there for 11.01am NZ time. After being one of the first to be given a copy in that particular store (after a particularity wonderful encounter with a Hufflepuff at the book display), I hugged it tightly and then proceeded to request 11 more books. More on that coming in the next few days.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child was magical. It really really was. As I’ve said above, I’m not going to be talking about the story at all, nor am I going to share about the release party my friend and I put on for 10 of our friends. Just a few comments.

The story, on the whole, was great. It was just as magical as you would expect from a Harry Potter book. Because it was written for the stage, and it’s in its script form rather than adapted into a novel, it was very different to read, and a big change from the 7 novels we all know and love. Reading it aloud with friends was definitely an easier way to go. The feel, therefore, was quite different from the other books, but that was not a bad thing. It still had you laughing, gasping, and tearing up at the emotional trauma it flings you through. It still had wonderful quotes and was heartwarming and beautiful.

What I was unsure about how it was going to go was the stage directions, and how it was going to read, given that we couldn’t see it played out in front of us. Thankfully, having grown up with books and imaginary worlds all our lives, it was easy to visualise what was going on. And it definitely helped everyone had a part.

I’ll say more on this in my book review soon, but I did feel that it was rather predictable. It was easy to figure out the bad guy, it was easy to see the connections between the people (both in Harry’s generation, and in his son Albus’ generation). There were times when I did think “I don’t think Harry would say that” or “why hasn’t X, Y or Z been mentioned at all?”  but I guess that’s all part of a new story, especially one set an entire generation after the Golden Trio’s stories.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny have all grown up, so their personalities have changed a little. They’re parents now, they say things and do things that perhaps we’re not really used to, because we know them as teenagers. The ’19 years later’ chapter at the end of Deathly Hallows didn’t really their let adult-selves to shine through very much, and so the Cursed Child definitely has that going for it.

While I don’t want to mention anything to do with plot (it was so nice going into without knowing anything other than that it focused on Harry’s son Albus – I managed to avoid any and every spoiler online ever since the preview showing of the play/s back in June), I will say that the characters in the Cursed Child are pretty much already known to you, with the exception of one or two new ones. As well as these few character additions, there are more spells, some of which we haven’t heard before, and mentions of things from the past that bring back fond (and, perhaps, scary) HP memories.

While I read it with friends, and finished it in way less than a day, I will definitely be re-reading this book. Maybe even this week. And it will most certainly be added to the re-reading list of all the other stories.

Without giving anyone any spoilers (I will delete any spoiler-ridden comments; you have been warned), what did you think?
Did it live up to your expectations? Will it be one that you will read and re-read for the rest of your life like the series?