INTRODUCTION Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a two-part stage play written by Jack Thorne based on an original new story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling and John Tiffany.[1] Previews of the play began at the Palace Theatre, London on 7 June 2016,[2] and it officially premiered on 30 July 2016. The play will officially open on Broadway on 25 April 2018 at the Lyric Theatre in New York, although previews began on 16 March 2018. Its cast will be similar to that of the first year on West End, with returning actors Sam Clemmett, Jamie Parker, Anthony Boyle, Noma Dumezweni, and Paul Thornley. The rehearsal script, which was not a novelisation of the play,[3] was published. The story begins nineteen years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and follows Harry Potter, now a Ministry of Magic employee, and his younger son Albus Severus Potter, who is about to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards, the London production received a record-breaking eleven nominations and an again record-breaking nine awards, including Best New Play, Best Actor, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Director. ORIGINS In the opening scene, set during the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the year 2017, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley send their second son, Albus Severus Potter, on the Hogwarts Express to begin his first year at Hogwarts. Harry is now working in a desk job as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, while Ginny is the editor of the sports section of the Daily Prophet. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger also send their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley on the train. Hermione is now Minister for Magic, while Ron manages Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley. Albus makes an unlikely friend in Slytherin with Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Harry's former nemesis Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass. The school is stunned when, in a break with the tradition of Potters being sorted into Gryffindor, Albus is sorted into Slytherin house alongside Scorpius. Both boys are bullied by other students over the next few years, Albus due to his perceived failure to live up to his parents, Scorpius due to unproven rumours that he is the son of Lord Voldemort. In addition, Albus and Harry begin to drift apart, owing to Albus's struggles with his father's shadow and Harry's uncertainty on how to deal with his son's issues. Albus also drifts apart from Rose, with whom he was friends before meeting Scorpius. Prior to Albus and Scorpius's fourth year, Albus gets into a fight with his father after he is given Harry's baby blanket and a love potion from Ron. During the fight, Harry accidentally says that he sometimes wishes Albus was not his son, and Albus spills potion on the blanket. Harry obtains a prototype of a more powerful version of the Time Turner that allows one to travel back several years into the past and change history. Simultaneously, Harry's scar begins to hurt again, causing him to become concerned that Voldemort may somehow be returning. Amos Diggory, who has become old and is cared for by his niece, Delphi Diggory, asks Harry to use the Time Turner to prevent Cedric Diggory's death. After overhearing Harry refuse to help the Diggorys, Albus is inspired to do so himself, and convinces Scorpius to help him. The two escape from the Hogwarts Express and the trolley operator, who is revealed to be a monster placed on the train to prevent students from escaping. The two arrive at St. Oswald's Home for Old Witches and Wizards in Yorkshire, where Amos lives, and team up with Delphi to steal the Time Turner from Hermione's office while disguised with Polyjuice Potion. PERKS Knowing that Cedric's death was the result of him winning the Triwizard Tournament alongside Harry, the boys use the Time Turner to travel back to the first challenge of the Triwizard Tournament in 1994, and sabotage Cedric during the tournament's first task in the hope of preventing his victory. Instead, they only succeed in creating an alternate reality in which Ron and Hermione never married, and thus Rose was never born, and Albus was sorted into Gryffindor. Albus discovers that this was because they chose to disguise themselves as Durmstrang students, causing Hermione to become suspicious of Viktor Krum and go to the Yule Ball with Ron instead of Viktor. As a result, Ron never experienced the jealousy fundamental to his relationship with Hermione, fell in love with Padma Patil at the Ball, and eventually became married to her, having a son named Panju. Hermione, in turn, became a frustrated and mean professor at Hogwarts. At around the same time, Harry's fear that Voldemort may return increases as his scar continues to hurt and as he has Voldemort-related nightmares. After speaking with a portrait of Dumbledore, he becomes convinced that Scorpius is a threat to Albus and tries to have the boys kept apart at Hogwarts by forcing McGonagall to keep tabs on Albus using the Marauders' Map. Albus and Scorpius's friendship is destroyed, but the two eventually reconcile after Albus steals Harry's old Invisibility Cloak from James Sirius Potter (Albus’ older brother), and after McGonagall refuses to enforce Harry's request. Harry himself is persuaded to relent after a conversation with Draco and Ginny. Meanwhile, Albus and Scorpius decide to make another attempt to use the Time Turner to change Cedric's fate, this time by humiliating him during the Triwizard Tournament's second task. When Scorpius returns to the present day however, Albus is not with him, and Scorpius finds himself in a reality in which Harry is dead and Voldemort rules the wizarding world. VEHICLES Scorpius discovers that - as a result of his actions - an embittered Cedric joined the Death Eaters and killed Neville Longbottom during the events of Deathly Hallows, preventing him from killing Nagini and allowing Voldemort to win the Battle of Hogwarts. With Harry now dead, Albus subsequently never existed, while Voldemort was able to completely consolidate power and transform the Ministry of Magic into a dictatorial regime. In the new timeline, Scorpius became a popular Head Boy and Quidditch star, helping the staff and students torment Muggle-borns. Dolores Umbridge became the new Headmistress of Hogwarts, and patrols the school with Dementors and a revived Inquisitorial Squad led by Scorpius. Draco Malfoy occupies Harry's old position as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, using his post to encourage routine attacks on Muggles and bribe the Prime Minister to remain silent on the actions of the Death Eaters. With help from Ron, Hermione, and Severus Snape, now the final members of a dwindling anti-Voldemort resistance movement, Scorpius is able to use the Time Turner to prevent the interference of Albus and his past self and restore the events of the original timeline, the alternate Ron, Hermione, and Snape sacrificing themselves to the Dementors in order to allow him to do so. Scorpius reunites with Albus, and the two boys are eventually found by their parents, as well as Ron and Hermione. Following these events, Harry scolds Albus for his actions, but the two nevertheless begin to reconcile. Realising the danger the Time Turner poses, and deciding their parents will continue to keep it, Scorpius and Albus attempt to destroy it themselves, but they are joined by Delphi. Scorpius realizes Delphi was in charge of the Ministry of Magic in the alternate timeline, and she takes them captive, later revealing her intention of restoring the alternate timeline. After the adults learn Albus and Scorpius were seen disappearing with Delphi, they confront Amos, only to discover Delphi is not his niece, but the daughter of Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. Searching her room, they discover she is following a prophecy that, if fulfilled, would lead to Voldemort's return. Delphi takes the boys to the final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament, but Albus and Scorpius prevent her from acting, and Delphi uses the Time Turner to travel further back in time. She inadvertently takes the boys with her, and destroys the Time Turner to leave them stranded in time. MISC. ITEMS Abandoned by Delphi, Albus and Scorpius discover they have been taken back to the night Harry's parents were killed, and assume Delphi is planning to kill Harry before Voldemort can do so. Albus and Scorpius write an invisible message on Harry's baby blanket, knowing in the present, the blanket would become stained with love potion and expose the message to Harry. Meanwhile, Draco reveals the Time-Turner was actually a prototype for a perfected model owned by him, but they remain unable to rescue the boys due to their uncertainty over which time period they have entered. After Harry receives the message from the boys, he and his allies use Draco's Time Turner to travel back in time to save them and stop Delphi. While waiting for Delphi, they deduce she intends to convince Voldemort to abandon his doomed attempt to kill Harry, ensuring her father's survival and allowing her to be with him. Harry disguises himself as Voldemort using Transfiguration to distract Delphi, and the group subdues her. They allow the murder of Harry's parents to play out, unwilling to risk the consequences of altering the past. After returning to the present day, Delphi is sent to Azkaban Prison.