Discussion Sunday: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Spoilers)

I’ve been seeing, for the most part, two different opinions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I thought it would be really cool to have a discussion between people who represent each half of the fandom. The half that loved it and the half that disliked it and compare each side of things.

This isn’t meant to start fights or make anyone feel bad or like their opinion is less valid. This is just for fun. Anyone who starts fights in the comments or gets too aggressive will be blocked.

There will be spoilers in this post! So if you haven’t read The Cursed Child, continue at your own risk!

Meet the readers!

  

Jordan                             Nanna

     

Taylor                                   Logan

Let’s begin!

Did you feel like there was any out of characters actions from the characters?

Logan: “I felt that the responses from some of the characters in certain scenarios were a bit different from how they would have handled them 22 years ago. But then I have to remind myself that these are 36, 37 year olds who have children of their own. They’ve grown and changed and handled a lot since then. They’re not the same characters they were in the 7th book – you have to expect some change.”

Jordan: “I absolutely felt that a lot of our well-known and loved characters were completely unlike how they had been presented in the Harry Potter books themselves. Take Ron, for example. When he was a teen, he was brave, smart, and witty; in The Cursed Child, though, he was constantly stuttering and seemed to be constantly nervous and inarticulate most of the time. I thought that even Harry himself was misrepresented: the Harry Potter I know would never have told his son that he sometimes didn’t want him as a son, and he never would have been as harsh as he often seemed to be in The Cursed Child.”

Nanna: “I think the biggest one was Harry. He had me shaking my head. I didn’t think he’d be the same teenage Harry we grew up with though because adulthood changes us. Some scenes really upset me though. Also, Hermione! Really, girl? A bookcase? A bookcase! Not her brightest moments. You know who still kicked ass? Ginny freaking Weasley. Oh, my god. My love for her is so strong. ”

Taylor: “Yes! For sure! I didn’t expect them to be exactly the same but holy crap. Harry was the worst one. Nothing about him seemed even remotely similar to the Harry Potter I know. Things he said, thing he did, were so unlike him and it made me want to cry.”

How did you feel about Voldemort having a child? Did it seem plausible? Did Bellatrix being the mother seem plausible?

Logan: “Voldemort having a child was weird. Like, really weird. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I figured The Cursed Child was Albus and him having to live in Harry’s shadow was his curse, but then like….I don’t know. It doesn’t fit in with the old timeline AT ALL. Unless Bellatrix got pregnant and then they time turnered forward 9 months and had the baby in like, a day. The only plausible thing is that they time turnered even FURTHER back to before the wizarding war….maybe even when Bella was in Azkaban? And she was pregnant there. But they never go into that so I’m just…yea no, it’s weird.”

Jordan: “I could see him having a child, but definitely not within the circumstances the play described. If Voldemort had a child, he would have raised her, ensured that she was like him and didn’t end up in a situation where she could turn against him. Instead, Delphi somehow inexplicably idolized her father without ever having met him? I don’t remember getting any information about Delphi’s childhood, so I was left slightly confused in that aspect. As for the likelihood of Bellatrix being the mother, I don’t think this would have been plausible if Voldemort were to “realistically” have a child in the Harry Potter series. I just think that he wouldn’t have chosen someone so close to him; he wouldn’t gain really anything by the match, and it could affect the relationship between him and Bellatrix in a negative way. ”

Nanna: “Oh, my god. Yes! When I read this part, I yelled “I knew it!” Bellatrix was always crazy in love with old Voldie. She was so devoted to him from the very beginning that it didn’t surprise me. Still, the entire idea of Voldemort and Bellatrix having sex had me laughing so hard and cringing. I can’t picture it nor do I want to. I would have rather had Delphi be a devoted follower too instead of the child of Voldemort.”

Taylor: “I think that’s what I hated most about this book. First off, it just didn’t make sense. Why would Voldemort want someone who could rival him? Who could potentially be better than him? Voldemort was always about power and himself and him having a child made no sense. Plus, the timing of Bellatrix being pregnant and having a baby made even less sense. The whole thing made not even a drop of sense. I feel like that aspect of the plot was only included for shock value.

Also, it was just weird. It made me feel so uncomfortable. Sometimes I’ll randomly think about it and it makes me wish I never read this book. It was just so freaking weird.”

What about the overall plot? Did it ever seem outlandish or unlike something Jo would think of?

Logan: “I liked the overall plot. I thought it was fun, and really different from the other books – which honestly, it’s not apart of the first 7 novels so it wouldn’t make sense to fit the flow of those. I also think this sort of plot is fantastic in the sense that in answers a lot of What If questions that the readers might have. If this character hadn’t died, or this hadn’t happened…I don’t know, it was a cool concept and I feel like it would be awesome to see portrayed on stage. It IS really weird with all that trolley witch nonsense and some other scenes. Those I didn’t think fit. But I overall enjoyed it and think Jo absolutely contributed to it.”

Jordan:  “I definitely think that the plot was unlike what we’re used to from JK Rowling. In the first 7 books, the conflict was real and stressful; I felt engaged and was turning the page because I just couldn’t wait to find out what happened. In this play, however, I felt the barriers the characters faced were exaggerated in terms of urgency/importance and were there solely for shock value; I was turning the page simply because I wanted to finish, not because I really cared about the turnout. Not only did I find the main conflict to be exaggerated, however, but I also just found them to be generally odd and somewhat nonsensical. Here’s how I viewed it: after eavesdropping a conversation his dad had with an old man Albus had never met and after having a fight with his dad, Albus suddenly decides it’s his responsibility to steal a dangerous artifact from the Ministry of Magic to go back in time and save someone he knows nothing about… and then basically everything goes south from there. It wasn’t necessarily that all the plot points themselves were outlandish, it was that the base of the conflict just made no sense in my opinion. ”

Nanna: “I didn’t think of it as outlandish. It was crazily fast paced. It took me a while to get that we were going to be on a long, and yet short, journey with Albus. The time jumping was hard to keep up with. But I chalked it up to the story being told in script-form. It needed to be fast paced, it couldn’t have filler moments. I also understood that it wasn’t just Jo writing it so I wasn’t expecting a Harry Potter book.

One of the major things that did shock me about the plot was Ron and Hermione constantly being in love. After Jo questioned their relationship, I feared that she would maybe make an alternative world where Harry and Hermione did end up together but she didn’t. She cemented Ron and Hermione’s love more than ever. It was beautiful.”

Taylor: “I didn’t like the plot at all. It was so rushed (which I think is because it’s a play and not a real book) and confusing. It didn’t seem like something Jo would think of and overall felt like someone wrote a fan-fic while they were drunk. I found it hard to follow and insane. So many things didn’t make sense to me and it didn’t feel authentic.”

Harry was a horrible father in The Cursed Child. How did you feel about this? Did you believe the explanation that it was because he didn’t have a father figure to learn from?

Logan: “I don’t think Harry was a horrible father. I think that he didn’t know how to relate to Albus because they were so alike. Growing up, I was so much like my mother, she said some horrible things and I said horrible things and we fought endlessly, but now I just realize it’s because we were too similar. I don’t think Harry intends to be the way he is with Albus – I think Albus fights back because he’s 14, 15 years old and that’s what most 14 – 15 year olds do. They push their parents buttons and being the middle child really irked him and he knew how to piss off Harry. I don’t think Harry could ever be a horrible father, I just don’t believe he knew how to connect with Albus. What also bothers me is that I’ve heard people accusing Hermione of being a neglectful mother and that’s why Rose is so nasty to Albus. Within a few seconds of Albus wanting to be friends (not even, just wanting to sit) with Scorpius, Rose is storming away and not speaking with him. I’ve heard a lot of people saying that Hermione is a terrible mother and that her daughter shouldn’t have traits like that, but Ron is her father. Ron is one of the most loyal characters, and Hermione is so insightful, I find it harder to believe that Rose is written correctly. She has so much good in her from both her parents, it hurt to read about her character.”

Jordan: “I just found his actions and character to be completely unrealistic based on his personality from the original series, and I absolutely do not think his being a terrible father had anything to do with the fact that he didn’t have a father figure himself. I would have expected that because of how the Dursleys treated him despite the fact that he was supposed to be their “second son”, he would be encouraged to be the best father he could be; I thought he would ensure that all of his children were treated with the utmost respect and care. Instead, I was left utterly confused at Harry’s awful treatment of Albus. ”

Nanna: “This is such a hard question. I don’t think he was necessarily a bad father. He definitely could have not said some things and reacted differently, but I understood him. There are times when we say things we don’t mean, especially in arguments. In that scene with Albus & what Harry tells him, I was more saddened that shocked or upset. I knew he didn’t meant it. It was a horrible thing to say but, in the heat of the moment, many people say things to hurt people. I was more upset over the way he talked to McGonagall than over what he said to Albus. For the whole “didn’t have a father figure to learn from” part, that was complete rubbish. He had two other kids who turned out just fine!”

Taylor: “The things Harry said to Albus were unforgivable. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t my son.” Who says that?! I don’t care what Albus said to Harry or how heated things got, no parent should ever say that to their child. The Harry Potter I know would never say that.”

How do you feel about this book being marketed as an 8th book, a continuation of the original 7?

Logan: I don’t like it. It’s not an 8th book – it’s entirely separate. This isn’t even a book, it’s a play. And as a play, I love it. I love the universe, I love that we get to look at the lives of some of our favorite characters again, and I’m thrilled it exists. But it is NOT an 8th book.

Jordan: “I don’t think it’s fair to call this the 8th book of the series when everything about it is different. If the characters, plot, format, and writing style are all separate from these same aspects in the first 7 books, how could it possibly be referred to as a continuation?”

Nanna: “It being marketed at the 8th book was definitely a no-no. I really don’t think it was a continuation. It’s definitely more of a spin-off than a continuation. I think that “continuation” gives the presumption that the main characters are going to be the same ones as the the first books in the series. I didn’t think of Harry as the main character (he was more of a secondary character); Albus was the main character in my opinion. Instead of having the golden trip, we have the duo: Albus and Scorpius.”

Taylor: “I think that was a big part in the down fall of this book for me. I was expecting something very different from this book because it was marketed as an 8th book. I think that that’s what it was, a marketing scheme. They probably didn’t mean it in a bad way but I do feel tricked into thinking the book was something it wasn’t.”

Do you feel like this book is canon?

Logan: I’d like to think parts of it are. And with it having Jo’s name on the cover, it’s hard to believe it isn’t. I really do believe Scorpius is a sweetheart and Draco changed for the better, having broken out of his father’s shadow. I like to think that Hermione really became everything she was destined to be, and Ron supported her. (Side note, I also loved that even though Jo has said in past interviews that she doesn’t think she’d have put Ron and Hermione together again, she had them have a pull toward each other in every single timeline. Even when they didn’t end up together, there was always something.) I like to think that all these things are real, and that their futures were bright. Do I find it hard to believe that Voldemort had a child, and that the Trolley Witch is crazy? Yes. But I feel like if we had more information on both those topics, it would be easier to jump ship.

Jordan: “Absolutely not. Nothing about this book (other than the names of the characters) reminded me of JK Rowling’s work. To me, this play felt like a work of fanfiction (and not a good one, at that): the plot points that were supposed to be “exciting” just seemed to fall flat, contrary to the heart-racing action Rowling usually writes; the characters in this play didn’t feel realistic, whereas in the first 7 books I felt like I could literally call them if I wanted to; and where the dialogue in the original Harry Potter novels felt natural and real, the conversations in The Cursed Child felt completely forced. I really am hoping JK Rowling didn’t contribute much, because it would only add to the disappointment if she was the main author and creator of this plot. ”

Nanna: “Sort of. I think the world is a little lost. We don’t get much details and I miss being immersed in the story. As I was reading it, I pictured scenes but I wasn’t in the world. Maybe I’m being weird but that’s the best way I can think to explain it.Would I like to see more? Yes. I would like to see more details. I want the entire story but with Scorpius as the main character! He’s my absolute favorite now. I can picture already how beautiful heart-wrenching his story can be.”

Taylor: “J.K Rowling could knock on my front door and tell me this book is canon and I still won’t accept it. This book felt like fan-fic and that’s all it ever be to me.”

Did The Cursed Child book satisfy you as a continuation?

Logan: I was absolutely happy with The Cursed Child and its content. I’m glad it was written and I really really enjoyed it. I’m actually surprised to hear how much negativity there is surrounding it, but it’s so interesting to hear all the varying opinions about such a popular series.

Jordan: “No, definitely not. There really just wasn’t much at all I liked about it: I did like Scorpius, but other than that? I was disappointed by pretty much everything else. I almost wish I hadn’t read it, because then the beautiful almost perfect image of Harry Potter I used to have would have been preserved, and I never would have had to feel the disappointment I’m currently facing after finishing The Cursed Child. “

Nanna: “Not a continuation, no. A “glimpse at the life” is more like it! Don’t think of it as a continuation. If I think of it as a short story, yes. It makes more sense as a short story but I’d rather read a continuation about the golden trio.”

Taylor: “Uh, no. Not even a little bit. This book was marketed as a continuation and that feels like a lie to me. If this was marketed as a play based on the characters by Jo, I probably wouldn’t have hated it as much. Every time I think about this book, I’m filled with regret and disappointment.”

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Thank you so much to Logan, Jordan, and Nanna for this amazing discussion! I really loved everyone’s answers and thoughts!

If anyone wants to answer any of the questions in the comments, please do! We’d love to hear your thoughts!

And be sure to follow Logan, Jordan, and Nanna on all of their social media, which will be linked down below.

 Follow Logan: Instagram, Twitter, blog.

 Follow Nanna: Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads.

Follow Jordan: Instagram, blog.