Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

CEDRIC

starts to grow — and grow again — and grow some more. He looks around himself — entirely panicked. And the boys watch as

CEDRIC

ascends helplessly through the water.

But no, what’s this . . . Cedric Diggory is ascending out of the water and seemingly out of the competition. Oh, ladies and gentlemen, we don’t have our winner but we certainly have our loser. Cedric Diggory is turning into a balloon, and this balloon wants to fly. Fly, ladies and gentlemen, fly. Fly out of the task and out of the tournament and — oh my, it gets wilder still, around Cedric, fireworks

explode

declaiming — “Ron loves Hermione” — and the crowd love that — oh, ladies and gentlemen, the look on Cedric’s face. It’s quite some picture, it’s quite some sight, it’s quite some tragedy. This is a humiliation, there’s no other word for it.

And

ALBUS

smiles widely and high-fives

SCORPIUS

in the water.

And

ALBUS

points up, and

SCORPIUS

nods, and they start to swim ever upwards. And as

CEDRIC

ascends, people start to laugh, and everything changes.

The world becomes darker. The world becomes almost black, in fact.

And there’s a flash. And a bang. And the Time-Turner ticks to a stop. And we’re back in the present.

SCORPIUS

suddenly emerges, shooting up through the water. And he’s triumphant.

SCORPIUS: Woooo-hoooooo!

He looks around, surprised. Where’s

ALBUS

? He puts his arms into the air.

We did it!

He waits another beat.

Albus?

ALBUS

still doesn’t emerge.

SCORPIUS

treads water, he thinks and then he ducks back into the water.

He emerges back up again. Now thoroughly panicked. He looks around.

Albus . . . ALBUS . . . ALBUS.

And there’s a whisper in Parseltongue. Which travels fast around the audience.

He’s coming. He’s coming. He’s coming.

DOLORES UMBRIDGE: Scorpius Malfoy. Get out of the lake. Get out of the lake. Right now.

She pulls him out of the water.

SCORPIUS: Miss. I need help. Please, Miss.

DOLORES UMBRIDGE: Miss? I’m Professor Umbridge, the headmistress of your school, I’m no “Miss.”

SCORPIUS: You’re the headmistress? But I . . .

DOLORES UMBRIDGE: I am the headmistress, and however important your family may be — it doesn’t give you an excuse to dillydally, to mess about.

SCORPIUS: There’s a boy in this lake. You need to get help. I’m looking for my friend, Miss. Professor. Headmaster. One of Hogwarts’s students, Miss. I’m looking for Albus Potter.

DOLORES UMBRIDGE: Potter? Albus Potter? There’s no such student. In fact, there hasn’t been a Potter at Hogwarts for years — and that boy didn’t turn out so well. Not so much rest in peace, Harry Potter, more rest in perpetual despair. Total troublemaker.

SCORPIUS: Harry Potter’s dead?

Suddenly from around the auditorium, the feel of a breath of the wind. Some black robes arise around people. Black robes that become black shapes. That become dementors.

Flying dementors through the auditorium. These black deadly shapes, these black deadly forces. They are everything to be feared. And they suck the spirit from the room.

The wind continues. This is hell. And then, right from the back of the room, whispering around everyone.

Words said with an unmistakable voice. The voice of

VOLDEMORT

 . . .

Haaarry Pottttter.

HARRY

’s dream has come to life.