Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play that has taken the West End in London by storm. Despite the fact the second Deathly Hallows movie released in 2010 to conclude the series, JK Rowling’s creation still lives on in fans enchanted by the eight movies and seven books that ultimately came to shape a generation.
And while the Fantastic Beasts series starring Eddie Redmayne and Johnny Depp has had its good moments, we would still love to see the Cursed Child play out on the big screen, rather than a stage. Here are 10 moments that would make a blockbuster involving The Boy Who Lived, Ron, Hermione and co worth it — even if the plot of the play divided some members of the fan base.
Albus Being Sorted
In the first Harry Potter book and movie, we see the Boy Who Lived sorted into Gryffindor, the same house that his parents Lily and James were put in during their own time at Hogwarts. However, only Harry knows the truth about his sorting and the fact that he was only put into the same house because he asked to be placed in ‘anything but Slytherin.’
Could you imagine the shock if Harry, the boy who famously defeated Lord Voldemort when Tom Riddle was operating at the peak of his powers, had been placed within the very house the Dark Lord himself attended? Well in the Cursed Child, it’s poor Albus Potter who finds himself sporting the colors of green and silver. And that’s something we’d of loved to have seen.
Albus And Harry's Argument
The majority of the Cursed Child is told from Albus Potter’s point of view, rather than Harry’s. Readers and audiences see him struggle with the burden of being born to the most-famous face in the entire Wizarding World and things come to a head when he clashes with his father over his relationship with Scorpius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's son.
The reason we’d love to see the argument fold out on screen is because it’s effectively a nostalgic ticket. In their argument, Harry is refusing to back down, still blighted from a relationship with Draco that was strained, to say the least. And when he announces that he wishes Albus wasn’t his son, that hits us right in the feels. It's hard to see our favorite hero turning so very un-Harry like.
Amos Begging Harry To Use The Time Turner
Another nostalgic scene would be seeing Amos Diggory begging Harry Potter to use the time turner to bring back his dead son, Cedric. Cedric Diggory met his end in the Goblet of Fire when, upon landing in the graveyard of Little Hangleton, he was mercilessly slaughtered by Peter Pettigrew on the orders of Lord Voldemort.
One of the Goblet of Fire’s most-emotional scenes was poor Amos discovering the death of his son, releasing haunting screams as the pupils of Hogwarts comprehend the news themselves. In the Cursed Child, Cedric’s father begs Harry to use a Time Turner to undo the damage — only for Potter to refuse. It is a moment that would certainly have us thinking back to the movie that was released in 2005.
Defeating the Trolley Lady
Could you imagine if, for a split second, we’d known the truth about the Trolley Lady when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone released back in 2001? Her line of ‘anything off the trolley dears?’ would have felt like a full-on, passive-aggressive threat given the fact that, in the Cursed Child, she’s actually a monster whose very job it is to prevent pupils from getting off the train.
Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter both try and get off — only for the lady to transform into a beast. They manage to fend her off but it’s a truly shocking moment, arguably the most-surprising part of the entire play. The prospect of the two boys comically trying to get away from her would look great on the big screen.
Sabotaging Cedric
Cedric Diggory was a great pupil at Hogwarts. He had everything, from the good looks that had girls crooning to a courageous persona, one that earned him both a place in the Triwizard Tournament and the trophy itself. When Voldemort murders him in the Goblet of Fire, there’s genuine sadness at such a nice character meeting his end.
As Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy fiddle with the time turner, they travel back to the third task, set in the maze. There, they sabotage Cedric, creating an alternative timeline where he lives on, only to become a Death Eater due to the humiliation the boys cause him. The scene of Albus and Scorpius interacting with him would be great on screen, particularly if Robert Pattinson were to reprise his role (and given how ageless he is, that could well happen.)
Hermione The Teacher
We can’t be the only ones who, upon being introduced to Hermione Granger in both the Harry Potter books and movies, didn’t take to her right away? She was downright patronizing towards both Harry and Ron Weasley, mocking them when they try and bewitch Scabbers the rat and only warming to them once they defeat a mountain troll in their first year at Hogwarts together.
So to see Hermione go full Hermione would make for blockbuster viewing. In the Cursed Child, she becomes Hogwarts’ Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, one who makes predecessors Severus Snape and Dolores Umbridge come across as pleasant individuals after Ron Weasley ended up marrying Padma Patil following their dance at the Yule Ball. To see this play out would be rather comedic and offer fans a glimpse of what might have been.
Harry Potter Is Dead
Harry Potter dying is something that appeared to happen in Deathly Hallows: Part 2, only for the Boy Who Lived to be faking in order to deceive Lord Voldemort and protect the students of Hogwarts from the Dark Lord’s murderous wrath. But in the Cursed Child, JK Rowling takes it up a notch with Albus and Scorpius learning of his death in another alternative timeline.
What’s made worse is the fact that news of Harry’s death is slivered to them by Dolores Umbridge, who can barely hide her glee. Should the scene ever make it to a movie theatre then it’s one that would offer us a tantalizing glimpse of what life for the magical community would have been like had Voldemort won the second wizarding war. And the acting Albus Potter could produce upon learning he doesn’t exist would make it all the more worthwhile.
Snape Helps The Pupils
Upon learning of Harry’s death, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy decide to enlist the help of Severus Snape. Only they know at this point in time that Snape is actually working for Albus Dumbledore and the former Hogwarts potion master is left shocked when they reveal they know the truth about him and where their allegiances lie.
Fortunately for them, Snape decides to place their faith in the duo and helps them set about going back in time. The scene is a great one because it shows the true side of the Hogwarts legend for the first time, with audiences never seeing him show his true colors during the original Harry Potter blockbusters. It would also right the wrongs of the scene from the Order of the Phoenix, where Snape appears unwilling to help Harry contact Sirius Black. The books tell a different story, however.
The Revelation About Delphi
During the alternative timeline, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy both learn about something called the Augurey, something they cannot fathom or understand at the time. But, upon discovering that Delphi Diggory has the bird tattooed on her arm, they learn that she is not in fact a Diggory but the product of an illicit relationship between both Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange, conceived in Malfoy Manor during the second wizarding war.
It’s a huge shock because Delphi had struck up such a close relationship with the boys and how it plays out is nothing short of sensational. She spills secrets about her past, murders a poor Hogwarts student called Craig and ties both Albus and Scorpius together, nearly killing the latter. It looks as if she’s destined to get her wish of reversing Voldemort’s fate before one final showdown at Godric’s Hollow...
Godric’s Hollow Final Showdown
It’s poetic that the final showdown in the Cursed Child takes place at Godric’s Hollow, the very place where Harry Potter’s story truly began when Voldemort traveled there years ago, murders his parents, and ultimately lost his powers. Harry, along with Ron, Hermione, and Draco Malfoy, end up back there again and are able to successfully prevent Delphi from announcing her relationship to Voldemort and saving him from a nasty fate.
The best part about it is clearly the emotional impact such a confrontation has on Harry. Our protagonist is forced to toe the line, displaying incredible maturity and self-restraint, by allowing the Dark Lord to kill his parents despite knowing he has a chance to save them. The scene is pivotal, too, because it ultimately sparks a change in him: from then on, he allows Albus and Scorpius to be friends. And his long-standing issues with Draco Malfoy are also resolved.