The Cursed Child Questions (Spoilers Abound) Part 3
I am telling you once again, you have been warned. There are absolutely, definitely spoilers in this post for JK Rowling’s The Cursed Child. Look away if you don’t want the play ruined.
I mean it.
This is your last warning…
Okay, coast is clear.
My favourite moment in the original series came in book 7 when you learn that Aberforth has been there the entire time. That Rowling began dropping clues in book 1. I don’t know why that meant so much to me, but it did. Best reveal ever.
The trolley witch was sort of that reveal in this book. Bit character that you’ve barely noticed becomes an immortal witch (hey, why didn’t Voldemort do whatever the trolley witch did to live indefinitely?) hell-bent on getting the kids to Hogwarts. I’ll never read the Hogwarts Express scenes in the rest of the books in the same way.
BUT.
When they brought up the Triwizard Tournament early in the play, I thought that we were going to find out that Albus and Scorpius were the ones that use the Imperius curse on Krum in the maze. Wouldn’t that have been brilliant? Again, something in front of our face the entire time, and we’d finally have an explanation that it was Albus and not Barty Crouch controlling that moment.
But that plot point never happened. Instead the moments where they went back in time were my least favourite in the play. Ludo Bagman didn’t sound like himself at all — and why did we never hear him say anything remotely like those introductions in book 4? The interaction in the maze was unsatisfying. I didn’t feel like I was going back to the same events from book 4, but rather some messed up memory of those events. It feel less like time travel and more like a flimsy re-creation.
I really wanted Rowling to use the play to address the story holes that fans have found over the years, but there were few Aberforth-like reveals. Please don’t misunderstand me; I enjoyed the book, more than I’ve enjoyed a lot of other stories recently. But at the same time, I don’t think we’ll keep it on the bookshelf in the kitchen with the rest of the series. It feels a little bit like Pottermore; a fun revisit but ultimately a different beast.
What were your thoughts about returning to events from book 4 inside this play? Did you enjoy seeing them from a new angle, or do you wish she had left those moments alone?
3 comments
WOW I felt the same way about going back. It made me want to get out the original books and check that they didn’t really say what was in the play ( I was 99% sure, but I read the play while traveling, so I couldn’t check). It was weird that they didn’t stick to the original books for pieces that were being repeated.
Oh, I loved the trolley witch! I also loved that as she got angry that Scorpius and Albus were leaving the train, she got all scary-looking and Babadook-like, with her pointy hands and stuff. She was a favorite bit part. Great question on Voldemort. Seems a missed opportunity (although one I’m glad he missed!). I have to go back and reread the books, because I remembered the stuff from Goblet of Fire but not enough to do a meaningful comparison. It kind of made me sad, like that Cedric was just doomed to die no matter what (or become horrible from the humiliation, but really death was the endpoint that had to happen for him). I feel like with all the time messing, the realities became a little more warped, so maybe that’s an explanation for characters not seeming quite right? Or it’s just that it’s a different group of authors working, not just JK Rowling. I liked it, too, and it was fun to go back (I really liked revisiting Godric’s Hollow, even though that was a difficult time). Maybe I’ll be more irked after I reread the books… 🙂
When I realized they were going back to Book 4, I thought that Albus would have swiped the Marauder’s Map and put it in his Dad’s pocket. Was kinda bummed that it didn’t happen.