Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Good. A Patronus is a magical charm, a projection of all your most positive feelings, and takes the shape of the animal with whom you share the deepest affinity. It is a gift of light. If you can conjure a Patronus, you can protect yourself against the world. Which, in some of our cases, seems like a necessity sooner rather than later.

ACT TWO, SCENE TWELVE

HOGWARTS, STAIRCASES

ALBUS walks up a staircase. Looking around as he does.

He doesn’t see anything. He exits. The staircases move in almost a dance.

SCORPIUS enters behind him. He thinks he’s seen ALBUS, he realizes he isn’t there.

He slumps down to the floor as the staircase sweeps around.

MADAM HOOCH enters and walks up the staircase. At the top, she gestures for SCORPIUS to move.

He does. And slopes off — his abject loneliness clear.

ALBUS

enters and walks up one staircase.

SCORPIUS enters and walks up another.

The staircases meet. The two boys look at each other.

Lost and hopeful—all at once.

And then ALBUS looks away and the moment is broken—and with it, possibly, the friendship.

And now the staircases part — the two look at each other — one full of guilt — the other full of pain — both full of unhappiness.

ACT TWO, SCENE THIRTEEN

HARRY AND GINNY POTTER’S HOUSE, KITCHEN

GINNY and HARRY watch each other warily. There is an argument due, and both of them know it.

HARRY: This is the right decision.

GINNY: You almost sound convinced.

HARRY: You told me to be honest with him, but actually I needed to be honest with myself, trust what my heart was telling me . . .

GINNY: Harry, you have one of the greatest hearts of any wizard who ever lived, and I do not believe your heart told you to do this.

They hear a knock on the door.

Saved by the door.

She exits.

After a moment,

DRACO

enters, consumed by anger but hiding it well.

DRACO: I can’t stay long. I won’t need long.

HARRY: How can I help?

DRACO: I’m not here to antagonize you. But my son is in tears and I am his father and so I am here to ask why you would keep apart two good friends.

HARRY: I’m not keeping them apart.

DRACO: You’ve changed school timetables, you’ve threatened both teachers and Albus himself. Why?

HARRY

looks at

DRACO

carefully and then turns away.

HARRY: I have to protect my son.

DRACO: From Scorpius?

HARRY: Bane told me he sensed a darkness around my son. Near my son.

DRACO: What are you implying, Potter?

HARRY

turns and looks

DRACO

dead in the eye.

HARRY: Are you sure . . . are you really sure he’s yours, Draco?

There’s a deadly silence.

DRACO: You take that back . . . right now.

But

HARRY

doesn’t take it back.

So

DRACO

takes his wand out.

HARRY: You do not want to do this.

DRACO: Yes, I do.

HARRY: I don’t want to hurt you, Draco.

DRACO: How interesting, because I do want to hurt you.

The two square up. And then release their wands.

DRACO and HARRY: Expelliarmus!

Their wands repel and then break apart.

DRACO: Incarcerous!

HARRY

dodges a blast from

DRACO

’s wand.

HARRY: Tarantallegra!

DRACO

throws himself out of the way.

You’ve been practicing, Draco.

DRACO: And you’ve got sloppy, Potter. Densaugeo!

HARRY

just manages to get out of the way.

HARRY: Rictusempra!

DRACO

uses a chair to block the blast.

DRACO: Flipendo!

HARRY

is sent twirling through the air.

DRACO

laughs.

Keep up, old man.

HARRY: We’re the same age, Draco.

DRACO: I wear it better.

HARRY: Brachiabindo!

DRACO

is bound tightly.

DRACO: That really the best you got? Emancipare.

DRACO

releases his own binds.

Levicorpus!

HARRY

has to throw himself out of the way.

Mobilicorpus! Oh, this is too much fun . . .

DRACO

bounces

HARRY