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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6YTnxWkvs8)

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD BOOK REVIEW

(*SPOILERS AHEAD*)

 AUTHOR: J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany

PUBLISHED DATE: July 31, 2016

SERIES: Harry Potter [Original Script by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany]

PAGES: Approx. 320 pages

RATING: 4/5 STARS

 The eighth story – 19 years later.

 Rumors about J.K. Rowling continuing the adventures of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley have been circulating the Internet since the publication of Deathly Hallows in 2007. Although there are 7 full-length novels, 8 movies, 3 companion stories, several video games, a couple thousand fanfiction websites, numerous blogs, Pottermore, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter amusement parks located in California, Florida and Japan – the world still constantly asks for more adventures about the Boy-Who-Lived and his two best friends. It wasn’t until December 2013 that it was revealed to the world that a play about the much-beloved fantasy series was being put into production, with plans to launch the performance in 2016 at the latest.

 At first, because of certain choice comments released to the media, it was believed that the play, The Cursed Child (its official title was revealed June 2015) would center on Harry Potter and his parents, James and Lily. The idea that this was going to be a prequel story about the Potter parents and their son, with speculation revolving around the concept that the play would start in James’ and Lily’s 7th year, follow as they graduate Hogwarts, marry, and fight in the Order of the Phoenix, eventually leading up to their deaths by Voldemort, continued for some time before Rowling herself admitted that The Cursed Child was actually a sequel to the book franchise, with the story centering around Albus Severus Potter, Harry and Ginny’s second child and son.

 Divided into two parts and four acts, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened at West End Palace Theatre, London, scheduled on July 30th, 2016. On July 31st, 2016 – Harry Potter and the J.K. Rowling’s shared birthday – a printed and digital copy of the two-part play, a special first edition entitled “Special Rehearsal Edition,” was released, with plans for a finished, re-edited “Definitive Collector’s Edition” to be released in 2017.

 *~*~*~*

 Two boys from two different families. One with a family legacy that he fears he’ll never live up to; the other with a legacy he fears he will never escape from.

 Albus Severus Potter arrives at Hogwarts with a particular set of expectations already placed on him. Not unlike his father, Harry Potter, Albus must contend with other people’s estimation on what kind of person he is, the kind of wizard he’ll grow up to be, and how he’ll measure up to the legacy left behind not only by his father but also his namesakes, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

 Scorpius Malfoy – the son of Harry’s rival Draco Malfoy – also has expectations, but whereas Albus is viewed favorably due to his family and name, Scorpius is looked down upon with fear, disgust and morbid curiosity. There are rumors circulating the Wizarding World about Scorpius Malfoy’s true parentage, rumors that make him out to be something much worse than the son of an ex-Death Eater. Surprisingly, despite the fact that he physically resembles his father Draco, people speak – in hushed tones – that Scorpius is actually the progeny of Voldemort.

 Neither boy looks alike nor do they come from the same background, family, or circle of friends. The burden of their legacies, however, bonds the two children, and from there, a friendship is born.

 Being sorted into Slytherin helps to strengthen that friendship; it does nothing to alleviate Albus’ situation. From the first night at Hogwarts, through the rest of first year, then second year, then third, Albus is continuously judged by the other students on not only his choice of House but also his choice of friends, his lack of flying talents, and everything else that sets him apart from the rest of his family. Sullen and resentful, by the beginning of fourth year, Albus has resigned himself to being the “black sheep” of the family.

 Harry Potter’s life is no easier than his son’s. Despite the war being over and Voldemort dead, there is still much trouble needing to be dealt. He cannot seem to mend his straining relationship with his youngest son, and he’s being plagued with nightmares about his past. If that wasn’t bad enough, in between working as an Auror, managing as Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, and juggling his responsibilities as a father and husband, he, Hermione (the current Minister of Magic) and Ron stumble upon a magical item that no one thought they’d ever see again, at least not after the Battle at the Ministry of Magic: a Time-Turner. The discovery of such an object brings a figure from the past to Harry’s doorstep, and when Albus overhears this particular conversation, it sets into motion a daring quest to change the past and bring back to life a much-missed character.

 What neither Albus or Harry or anyone could’ve predicted, this same quest may end up resulting in Voldemort’s return. After all, why else would Harry’s scar start to hurt again?

 *~*~*~*

 Reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was a quick and enjoyable experience. Unlike the 7 novels and 3 companion books, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is printed in the script format, so there isn’t much detail about the surroundings, classes, people and events that were featured. It was a new way to experience Harry Potter, certainly, and made for a quick reading, but there were several issues. A lot of scenes took place in familiar settings – the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, Dumbledore’s (now Minerva’s) office, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch pitch – so it wasn’t difficult to picture it mentally because a lot of the scenes came from watching all 8 Harry Potter movies. What was difficult about reading The Cursed Child in the script format was when it came to certain scenes involving magic, transformations, duelings, and subterfuge. A great part of the reason why I want to see the play for myself is because I want to see how the theatre adapted the Wizarding World onto a live stage: I want to see the costumes, the stage props, the background designs, hear the sounds and see the lighting and how they accomplish making it look like the actors were doing magic or transforming into each other with the use of Polyjuice Potion. Another difficulty is the lack of emotional empathy for the characters introduced, most especially the new ones. Caring for Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny or even Draco comes from the fact that we were able to connect with them because Rowling had fleshed out their characters and was able to elaborate on their thoughts, emotions, decisions and pasts; I enjoyed the characters that were newly-introduced in The Cursed Child but I couldn’t feel as strongly for them because we were only able to garner their personality from the dialogue they had and speculate on everything else about them.

 The story for The Cursed Child was certainly an interesting one. I wouldn’t have guessed that Time-Turners would come back into the story, although this probably fulfills the wishes of every reader whom wished that J.K. Rowling expanded on the time-travel magic that she introduced in Prisoner of Azkaban but never thought to bring up again. A probable reason for why Rowling hadn’t involved time travel more is most likely because it’s a confusing concept with many variables, outcomes and possibilities for paradoxes and the sort, assuming she goes for the basic rules of time travel: the butterfly effect, fixed timeline events, paradoxes, etc. It was certainly confusing in The Cursed Child, more so because there was little elaboration on how time travel magic worked in the Wizarding World and how one’s actions in the past ultimately led to the new future created.

 Another surprise was the subject of Voldemort having fathered a child. That idea always seemed more like a fanfiction story prompt than an actual detail belonging to the story of Harry Potter. Needless to say I was shocked that it featured here in The Cursed Child. And I thought that the idea of Scorpius actually being rumored to be that child was laughable. Even disregarding the physical resemblance to Draco, I got enough of an impression on Scorpius’ personality to know that no one in their right mind would believe he was related to an ex-Death Eater, much less be the son of the Dark Lord.

 I was greatly overjoyed about Harry’s, Hermione’s and Ron’s return in The Cursed Child. Now adults and married, with kids in school and their own individual careers, everyone’s favorite Golden Trio continue their lives as both family and friends now that Voldemort has been vanquished and the Ministry and Wizarding World is rebuilt. In the 19 years that have passed since the end of the war, Harry, Hermione and Ron have experienced much and it shows in the small changes to their personalities. The most noticeable change is Harry: juggling his work and his family life is no easy task, but the strain shows in particular when it comes to Albus, whom during one particular scene he has a bad argument with. Readers will know which scene I’m talking about; it’s the same scene that most people take issue with because of how out-of-character Harry responds to Albus and then to McGonagall in a later part of The Cursed Child. I have my own issues with this scene but I put it down to the fact that Harry as an adult is a different person to when we last saw him as a 17-year-old hero, and that because we skipped to 19 years later, we weren’t able to see how him develop into the person, father and husband he is now.

 Because of how the play is written and how long it would actually take to perform, it’s understandable that certain things couldn’t be properly explained and why certain characters didn’t appear or weren’t even mentioned. That being said, it’s another disadvantage of The Cursed Child being released in script form. James Sirius and Lily Luna, Harry’s and Ginny’s other children, appeared in, at most, three scenes total in The Cursed Child and then never mentioned again. None of the Weasley’s beyond Ginny and Ron appeared; none of the other kids of the new generation (besides Rose Weasley) appeared; not even Neville and Luna appeared in The Cursed Child. Only Neville has been given a mention at all the entire script. It was disappointing that we weren’t able to check in on any of the other characters, especially in regards to the situation, or how they thought it should be dealt, and that other characters that were featured were given a brief cameo at best.

 For all its problems, The Cursed Child is still something worth checking out. I can’t honestly say that The Cursed Child met everyone’s expectations, and for some of us it came as something of a disappointment because of how certain scenes were written, what certain characters did and how the story progressed, because I know that another issue is the fact that the Time-Turner and its uses, discovery, and creation were never properly explained and that, in turn, caused a bit of confusion regarding the storyline.

 That doesn’t mean, however, that The Cursed Child didn’t have its own merits and value. Although I can’t say that I love The Cursed Child with the same energy as the novels and movies, that’s an unfair comparison. When read and analyzed on its own, the story was intriguing, the characters were a great surprise in how we came to know them and re-know them, and despite the lack of details and explanations, it gave readers the chance to mentally build up the story in their own minds, which is something we’ve always had to do before the movies were created. And that’s what we have to do now.

 At least until the play comes to America.

É exagero falar que ela é quase uma mãe pra nós? Justo ela que fez na vida de alguns a infancia, na de outros a adolescencia? Justo ela que nos ajudou a amadurecer, nos ajudou a crescer, nos ensinou a VIVER.

Good night! #quote #jkrowling #jkrowlingquotes #goodnightquote #rote of tho day

Severus Snape: Siblings

Imagine Severus Snape is your brother, and you defend him:

Severus and I had just arrived on the platform, meekly dressed in our second-hand robes. We were clutching the worn handles to our suitcases tightly - due to how last year some students thought it funny to steal them away, resulting in us almost missing the train.

As we pushed through the crowd I softly grabbed onto my brother's cloak, allowing him to swiftly guide us through the bustling platform and up the stairs to the train. The loud noises scared me, I never have done well in crowds, but Severus ushers me forwards quickly to aid in my escape.

He opens a door for me and I eagerly enter it, he closes the door to our carriage, effectively cutting out the noisy crowd. I release a sigh of relief, shutting my eyes in content at the slightly quieter environment.

"Are you okay Y/N?" My brother's voice breaks my solitude. I open my eyes to see him looking at me in concern, he hasn't seen me react like that to a crowd in quite a while.

"I'm fine Sev, I haven't been in a crowd that big since last school year. I just need a little time to get used to it again." I smile reassuringly at his remaining look of concern. He slowly leans back and nods in acceptance of my answer, though I know he doesn't believe me.

As the train starts moving, Severus takes out one of his school books and begins reading whilst I stare out the window in a haze.

I think about school, how it'll be in my new classes, if I'll make any friends. I have trouble making friends as I tend to be too shy or too blunt when meeting new people; they are either mean to me, or stay away because they think I am strange. My only friends so far are Lily Evans, and Lucius Malfoy.

I know being friends with Lucius sounds a little strange, but I am actually quite fond of him, he is like an older brother to Sev and me. I remember one time when he saw us carrying books with covers that were stained and ripped, pages missing with others scribbled on.

The next morning we woke up to find brand new textbooks with hardcovers, the pages were so white I was afraid to touch them. He never said anything about it other than when I thanked him and offered to pay him back, but he simply waved me off and said that they were gifts. That was the day I knew Lucius Malfoy was a brother to me.

———————

After the feast ends, we all head back to our common rooms, Sev and I were talking before he went off to join Lucius and some others. Lucius always welcomed me into their group, but I know what they speak of, and I sadly refuse to be privy to such information. I instead walk through the corridors at the back of the group, daydreaming the whole way until I slip into my room and fall asleep.

———————

Classes were dragging on today, not only did someone fuck up there spell and send me to the hospital wing, but I also got whacked by a bludger in our quidditch practice. Of course, our captain only cared that I was too slow to dodge the bludger, and refused to let me go back to the hospital wing. He even threatened to kick me off the team if I left practice early. Needless to say, I am in a lot of pain.

My feet drudging through the grass, hair ruffled from practice and ribs burning with every breath. I am about to turn towards the castle when I hear shouting and laughter. That may sound like a normal thing to hear, but the shouting sounds defensive, and the laughter sounds obnoxious. I turn my head in its direction curiously before deciding to take a detour from the hospital wing.

As I reach the sounds, I am shocked to see some acquaintances of mine bullying my brother! I can feel the anger stirring in my chest, it feels like it's going to sear straight through my sternum.

My brows furrowed in aggression as I marched over to the group, or as they call themselves, the Marauders. They can see me coming, and two quickly shift their attention to me while one continues to bully my brother.

I snatch my wand out of my cloak pocket and aggressively point it at the two boys facing me.

"Just what do you think you're doing!?" My voice is sharp, I would almost say my vocal chords hurt with how low my voice went when I growled that sentence, but all my attention was on defending Severus.

They both point their wands at me, one smirking, while the other looks away guiltily.

"Easy now Y/N. We're just having some fun with Snivillus." I hear the arrogant one smirk, I think his name is Black.

I'm about to respond when I hear Sev yell in pain, Potter had sent a curse at him, my vision almost turns red when I see some blood tickle down his face.

"Incarcerous!" I yell out, my wand waving sharply, the spell shooting at an almost ungodly speed. The spell caught them off guard, neither able to counter it as the ropes tightly wrapped around both their bodies. One still has their arm free, and is about to shout a spell back, but I say one quicker.

"Expelliarmus!" His wand goes flying through the air, landing swiftly into my open hand. The last remaining boy realizes his friends are incapacitated and shifts his attention from my brother to me. As I see his face, the rage bubbles even more within me, it was James Potter, my best friend's annoying crush. I don't know whether to kill him for hurting Sev or to kill Lily for liking this dickhead.

He shouts a spell at me, which I gracefully block, taking a moment to look at the irritated glint in his eyes before sending a barrage his way.

"Expelliarmus! Confundo! Immobulus! Impedimenta! Levicorpus!" If you can name it, I shouted it. James was frustratingly good at blocking, but I never gave him a moment to respond. We continued like this for a few moments before I sent a spell I knew he couldn't block.

"Sectumsempra!" All my frustration left me as I heard the gratifying yelp of pain from him as he flew backwards and to the floor. I walk past Lupin and Black, stopping momentarily to kneel by Potter. The blood was soaking through his clothes, I almost felt bad, but then I remembered what he was doing.

His eyes glisten with tears of pain as he makes eye contact, all I can do is smirk in satisfaction. Knowing I was the cause of his suffering, knowing I brought one of the great marauders down from their pedestal all the way to rock bottom.

I stand up and back away before turning to face Sev, his expression one of surprise and shock.

"I know I know, you told me not to look through your spell books, but you always create the most interesting spe-" A tight hug interrupts my apology.

"Thank you."

Finished the second book, I liked it better than the first one #JKRowling #GinnyWeasley #RonWeasley #HermioneGranger #HarryPotter #TomMRiddle #Voldemort

~Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone & Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition :) ~They are so Beautiful! ! 😍 I rlly love how this picture turned out ! <3

Why yes please, thank you! #jkrowling #thecasuavacancy (Taken with Instagram at Barnes & Noble)

My Take on the JKR Situation

[Prior to the last few days] I have never viewed JK Rowling as anything less than a role model to myself and others. Her creation of the Harry Potter series is something that I know many people hold very dear to their hearts. Especially to those in the lgbtq+ community. To many, myself included, Hogwarts is a place that one can look to for a family, home, and acceptance. The refuge people take inside fictional universes is wonderful. The credit is to be given to the author for the creation of such universes. However, if the creator of that universe fails to give that acceptance to those who looked to them for just that, then the upholding of those principles is left to the members of that community. Personally, I do not agree with what has been said by JKR (I'm lazy and just chose to abbreviate) or Maya Forstater. At the same time, I do not agree with cancel culture. My stance is with protecting those who need it. Protecting those who are in need of that family and acceptance. And though I am Cis, I will fight for my trans siblings to the end. Also, @jammi-dodger has a video about the LGB alliance (https://youtu.be/2xJJiPjHVSg) where I think he pretty much sums it up saying (this is what I took from the video) it doesn’t make sense to have “LGB without the T.” I think that it is in the hands of the community (both Harry Potter and lgbt+) to make sure that the sense of home given by this fictional universe remains alive, despite the, please excuse my informal speech, negative vibe given by JKR. I think that the trans children and adults, that look to Harry Potter Universe for acceptance, deserve to be able to have that refuge. You CAN truly love the art and kinda hate the artist (Yes, I took that from AJR). Also, yes, I know that JKR has had terf tendencies in the past I have not looked into it prior to this incident, I apologize to the members of the community. Thank You.

The Brightest Star In The Sky - Gifts And Surprises (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/831746410-the-brightest-star-in-the-sky-gifts-and-surprises?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=Lucifer5lucy&wp_originator=fGnhy2z4tyOxxnMcn1UMpXy9F0lAKhi5lkXeY1xXVB50UmS5vHYe7jYCJJi6Sd1Kn3F7JVkLk%2Br%2BwC5K62y%2B3bUyZLJO9jlOnMblzPpWZU1Mc16ohuiDZ6%2BlbuKPK1qm 

 You're a huge Potterhead from America, and after a strange Halloween night, you find yourself at King's Cross station, platform 9 ¾, and four teenagers you thought you'd never meet just a couple of feet away. 

"I know JK Rowing is a terrible person but her books are so good-"

You sure about that?

I mean, just for a start, have you taken a good look at her fantasy creatures lately? A whole bunch of them are straight-up based on malicious and dehumanizing stereotypes about actual people.

Remember the werewolves? And being a werewolf was made into a kind of metaphor for having AIDS?

And you know how AIDS was first associated with gay men? And how conservatives back in the day were claiming gay men were preying on children in order to convert them to gayness?

Remember how Fenrir Greyback preyed on children in particular? Yeah, she put that subtext in there. She was an adult in the 90's. She knew damn well what she was doing.

Remember the house elves? Remember how most of them loved to serve and needed to have a home and a master or else they just wouldn't know what to do with themselves?

Did you know that's literally what slavers in the American South said about the Black people they kept enslaved? Go look up the happy slave myth.

Do I even need to get into the goblins and the antisemitic tropes they're based on? No, folkloric goblins were not gold-hoarding bankers waiting for their chance to stab humanity in the back.

"But the characters are so good!"

Are you kidding me?

Most of her characters are pretty one-dimensional, including Harry. Her idea of making a morally complicated character is giving a tragic past to a bully. Numerous characters are little more than stereotypes. (Looking at Fleur right now.) Literally anybody, including you, can easily make dozens of characters just as good, if not better. (It doesn't exactly take a lot of character designing skill to go, "hey, actually, having a sad backstory doesn't make it okay to bully children" or "hey, maybe I should not base a character on the first stereotype that pops into my head.")

"But the rest of the worldbuilding!"

Sorry, but her worldbuilding is just as basic as her characters. Magical castles and secret passages are stock tropes. Magical people who keep their true nature secret from humanity is the premise of pretty much every White Wolf TTRPG. Most of her fantasy creatures are just common European fairy tale and folklore creatures with shitty stereotypes projected onto them.

I'm not saying "basic worldbuilding bad." I'm saying, you could do just as good, if not better, with minimal effort.

Also there's her magical bioessentialism, where only Harry's abusive blood relatives could provide him with supernatural protection from Voldemort. Rowling thus effectively declared that non-biological family isn't quite real family, and that abusive biofamily can give you some essential thing that a loving, supportive family that isn't related to you just can't.

The Hogwarts houses are one of the most insidious elements of her worldbuilding. The idea of being sorted gives you a little dopamine hit because wow now you have a li'l niche where you belong!

But the actual function of the houses and sorting system and the House Cup is teaching children to see each other as rivals, and ensure that the most toxic views of the upper class get passed on to every new batch of kids sorted into Slytherin.

Hogwarts effectively prepares children for a dystopia where magic serves to distract its citizens from how nightmarishly awful it is. Economic inequality is so bad that people like Arthur and Molly Weasley can barely afford to put their kids through school, casual sadism is just an accepted norm in everyday society, and non-humans are second class citizens. Rowling sorta acts like she thinks this is a bad thing with certain lines she gave to Dumbledore, but in the end, her special boy protagonist becomes an auror; IE, a defender of the status quo. So.

If you've never seen it, Lily Simpson's video goes into even more detail on how the worldbuilding of Harry Potter is actually incredibly fucked up, and how it betrays small-minded attitudes on Rowling's part. There's no separating the art from this artist, because Rowling's rotten values pour out of nearly every page.

Yes, there are many things in Harry Potter that evoke feelings and inspire people, but there's absolutely nothing in it that this series has a monopoly on. You can find those same experiences in much, much better media.

at some point this has had to happen (after the snape calling lily the 'm' word situation).

snape: *taps james's back at breakfast

james: *aggressively turns around

james: what, snivey?

snape: how's your girlfriend?

james: *confused but trying not to show it* I don't have a girlfriend...yet

snape: i know im just reminding you.

snape: *swiftly walks off*

james: *yells* hey snivey

everyone (including teachers): *looks up from food to see whats going on*

james: how's your mom?

everyone including lily and regulus except Slytherin: *laughing too loudly

minnie: *whispers* nice one, potter