harry_potter_and_the_cursed_child.pdf

 The digital heart of the Wizarding World www.pottermore.com Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two may not be performed in whole or in part and no use may be made of it whatsoever except under express license from the rights holders of the work, J.K. Row...

 The digital heart of the Wizarding World www.pottermore.com Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two may not be performed in whole or in part and no use may be made of it whatsoever except under express license from the rights holders of the work, J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions Limited. Please email [email protected] with any inquiries.  To Jack Thorne who entered my world and did beautiful things there. — J.K. Rowling For Joe, Louis, Max, Sonny, and Merle... wizards all... — John Tiffany To Elliott Thorne, born April 7, 2016. As we rehearsed, he gurgled. — Jack Thorne  CONTENTS PART ONE ACT ONE ACT TWO PART TWO ACT THREE ACT FOUR ABOUT THE PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES OF THE ORIGINAL STORY TEAM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  ACT ONE, SCENE ONE KING’S CROSS A busy and crowded station. Full of people trying to go somewhere. Amongst the hustle and bustle, two large cages rattle on top of two laden trolleys. They’re being pushed by two boys, JAMES POTTER and ALBUS POTTER, their mother, GINNY, follows after. A thirty-seven-year-old man, HARRY, has his daughter, LILY, on his shoulders. ALBUS: Dad. He keeps saying it. HARRY: James, give it a rest. JAMES: I only said he might be in Slytherin. And he might so... (Off his dad’s glare.) Fine. ALBUS (looking up at his mum): You’ll write to me, won’t you? GINNY: Every day if you want us to. ALBUS: No. Not every day. James says most people only get letters from home about once a month. I don’t want to... HARRY: We wrote to your brother three times a week last year. ALBUS: What? James! ALBUS looks accusingly at JAMES. GINNY: Yes. You may not want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts. He likes a laugh, your brother. JAMES (with a grin): Can we go now, please? ALBUS looks at his dad, and then his mum. GINNY: All you have to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. LILY: I’m so excited. HARRY: Don’t stop and don’t be scared you’ll crash into it, that’s very important. Best to do it at a run if you’re nervous. ALBUS: I’m ready. HARRY and LILY put their hands on ALBUS’s trolley — GINNY joins JAMES’s trolley — together, the family run hard into the barrier.  ACT ONE, SCENE TWO PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS Which is covered in thick white steam pouring from the HOGWARTS EXPRESS. And which is also busy — but instead of people in sharp suits going about their day — it’s now wizards and witches in robes mostly trying to work out how to say good-bye to their beloved progeny. ALBUS: This is it. LILY: Wow! ALBUS: Platform nine and three-quarters. LILY: Where are they? Are they here? Maybe they didn’t come? HARRY points out RON, HERMIONE, and their daughter, ROSE. LILY runs hard up to them. Uncle Ron. Uncle Ron!!! RON turns towards them as LILY goes barreling up to him. He picks her up into his arms. RON: If it isn’t my favorite Potter. LILY: Have you got my trick? RON: Are you aware of the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes–certified nose-stealing breath? ROSE: Mum! Dad’s doing that lame thing again. HERMIONE: You say lame, he says glorious, I say — somewhere in between. RON: Hang on. Let me just munch this... air. And now it’s just a simple matter of... Excuse me if I smell slightly of garlic... He breathes on her face. LILY giggles. LILY: You smell of porridge. RON: Bing. Bang. Boing. Young lady, get ready to not being able to smell at all... He lifts her nose off. LILY: Where’s my nose? RON: Ta-da! His hand is empty. It’s a lame trick. Everyone enjoys its lameness. LILY: You are silly. ALBUS: Everyone’s staring at us again. RON: Because of me! I’m extremely famous. My nose experiments are legendary! HERMIONE: They’re certainly something. HARRY: Parked all right, then? RON: I did. Hermione didn’t believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I’d have to Confund the examiner. HERMIONE: I thought nothing of the kind, I have complete faith in you. ROSE: And I have complete faith he did Confund the examiner. RON: Oi! ALBUS: Dad... ALBUS pulls on HARRY’s robes. HARRY looks down. Do you think — what if I am — what if I’m put in Slytherin... HARRY: And what would be wrong with that? ALBUS: Slytherin is the House of the snake, of Dark Magic... It’s not a House of brave wizards. HARRY: Albus Severus, you were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew. ALBUS: But just say... HARRY: If it matters to you, you, the Sorting Hat will take your feelings into account. ALBUS: Really? HARRY: It did for me. This is something he’s never said before, it resonates around his head a moment. Hogwarts will be the making of you, Albus. I promise you, there is nothing to be frightened of there. JAMES: Apart from the Thestrals. Watch out for the Thestrals. ALBUS: I thought they were invisible! HARRY: Listen to your professors, don’t listen to James, and remember to enjoy yourself. Now, if you don’t want this train to leave without you, you should leap on... LILY: I’m going to chase the train out. GINNY: Lily, come straight back. HERMIONE: Rose. Remember to send Neville our love. ROSE: Mum, I can’t give a professor love! ROSE exits for the train. And then ALBUS turns and hugs GINNY and HARRY one last time before following after her. ALBUS: Okay, then. Bye. He climbs on board. HERMIONE, GINNY, RON, and HARRY stand watching the train — as whistles blow up and down the platform. GINNY: They’re going to be okay, right? HERMIONE: Hogwarts is a big place. RON: Big. Wonderful. Full of food. I’d give anything to be going back. HARRY: Strange, Al being worried he’ll be sorted into Slytherin. HERMIONE: That’s nothing, Rose is worried whether she’ll break the Quidditch scoring record in her first or second year. And how early she can take her O.W.L.s. RON: I have no idea where she gets her ambition from. GINNY: And how would you feel, Harry, if Al — if he is? RON: You know, Gin, we always thought there was a chance you could be sorted into Slytherin. GINNY: What? RON: Honestly, Fred and George ran a book. HERMIONE: Can we go? People are looking, you know. GINNY: People always look when you three are together. And apart. People always look at you. The four exit. GINNY stops HARRY.  Harry... He’ll be all right, won’t he? HARRY: Of course he will.  ACT ONE, SCENE THREE THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS ALBUS and ROSE walk along the carriage of the train. The TROLLEY WITCH approaches, pushing her trolley. TROLLEY WITCH: Anything from the trolley, dears? Pumpkin Pasty? Chocolate Frog? Cauldron Cake? ROSE (spotting ALBUS’s loving look at the Chocolate Frogs): Al. We need to concentrate. ALBUS: Concentrate on what? ROSE: On who we choose to be friends with. My mum and dad met your dad on their first Hogwarts Express, you know... ALBUS: So we need to choose now who to be friends with for life? That’s quite scary. ROSE: On the contrary, it’s exciting. I’m a Granger-Weasley, you’re a Potter — everyone will want to be friends with us, we’ve got the pick of anyone we want. ALBUS: So how do we decide — which compartment to go in... ROSE: We rate them all and then we make a decision. ALBUSopens a door — to look in on a lonely blond kid — SCORPIUS — in an otherwise empty compartment. ALBUS smiles. SCORPIUS smiles back. ALBUS: Hi. Is this compartment... SCORPIUS: It’s free. It’s just me. ALBUS: Great. So we might just — come in — for a bit — if that’s okay? SCORPIUS: That’s okay. Hi. ALBUS: Albus. Al. I’m — my name is Albus... SCORPIUS: Hi Scorpius. I mean, I’m Scorpius. You’re Albus. I’m Scorpius. And you must be... ROSE’s face is growing colder by the minute. ROSE: Rose. SCORPIUS: Hi, Rose. Would you like some of my Fizzing Whizbees? ROSE: I’ve just had breakfast, thanks. SCORPIUS: I’ve also got some Shock-o-Choc, Pepper Imps, and some Jelly Slugs. Mum’s idea — she says (sings), “Sweets, they always help you make friends.” (He realizes that singing was a mistake.) Stupid idea, probably. ALBUS: I’ll have some... Mum doesn’t let me have sweets. Which one would you start with? ROSE hits ALBUS out of sight of SCORPIUS. SCORPIUS: Easy.I’ve always regarded the Pepper Imp as the king of the confectionery bag. They’re peppermint sweets that make you smoke at the ears. ALBUS: Brilliant, then that’s what I’ll — (ROSE hits him again.) Rose, will you please stop hitting me? ROSE: I’m not hitting you. ALBUS: You are hitting me, and it hurts. SCORPIUS ’s face falls. SCORPIUS: She’s hitting you because of me. ALBUS: What? SCORPIUS: Listen, I know who you are, so it’s probably only fair you know who I am. ALBUS: What do you mean you know who I am? SCORPIUS: You’re Albus Potter. She’s Rose Granger-Weasley. And I am Scorpius Malfoy. My parents are Astoria and Draco Malfoy. Our parents — they didn’t get on. ROSE: That’s putting it mildly. Your mum and dad are Death Eaters! SCORPIUS (affronted): Dad was — but Mum wasn’t. ROSE looks away, and SCORPIUS knows why she does. I know what the rumor is, and it’s a lie. ALBUS looks from an uncomfortable ROSE to a desperate SCORPIUS. ALBUS: What — is the rumor? SCORPIUS: The rumor is that my parents couldn’t have children. That my father and my grandfather were so desperate for a powerful heir, to prevent the end of the Malfoy line, that they... that they used a  Time-Turner to send my mother back... ALBUS: To send her back where? ROSE: The rumor is that he’s Voldemort’s son, Albus. A horrible, uncomfortable silence. It’s probably rubbish. I mean... look, you’ve got a nose. The tension is slightly broken. SCORPIUS laughs, pathetically grateful. SCORPIUS: And it’s just like my father’s! I got his nose, his hair, and his name. Not that that’s a great thing either. I mean — father-son issues, I have them. But, on the whole, I’d rather be a Malfoy than, you know, the son of the Dark Lord. SCORPIUS and ALBUS look at each other and something passes between them. ROSE: Yes, well, we probably should sit somewhere else. Come on, Albus. ALBUS is thinking deeply. ALBUS: No. (Off ROSE’s look.) I’m okay. You go on... ROSE: Albus. I won’t wait. ALBUS: And I wouldn’t expect you to. But I’m staying here. ROSE looks at him a second and then leaves the compartment. ROSE: Fine! SCORPIUS and ALBUS are left — looking at each other — unsure. SCORPIUS: Thank you. ALBUS: No. No. I didn’t stay — for you — I stayed for your sweets. SCORPIUS: She’s quite fierce. ALBUS: Yes. Sorry. SCORPIUS: No. I like it. Do you prefer Albus or Al? SCORPIUS grins and pops two sweets into his mouth. ALBUS (thinks): Albus. SCORPIUS (as smoke comes out of his ears): THANK YOU FOR STAYING FOR MY SWEETS, ALBUS! ALBUS (laughing): Wow.  ACT ONE, SCENE FOUR TRANSITION SCENE And now we enter a never-world of time change. And this scene is all about magic. The changes are rapid as we leap between worlds. There are no individual scenes, but fragments, shards that show the constant progression of time. Initially we’re inside Hogwarts, in the Great Hall, and everyone is dancing around ALBUS. POLLY CHAPMAN: Albus Potter. KARL JENKINS: A Potter. In our year. YANN FREDERICKS: He’s got his hair. He’s got hair just like him. ROSE: And he’s my cousin. (As they turn.) Rose Granger-Weasley. Nice to meet you. The SORTING HAT walks through the students, who spring into their Houses. It becomes quickly apparent he’s approaching ROSE, who is tense as she awaits her fate. SORTING HAT: I’ve done this job for centuries On every student’s head I’ve sat Of thoughts I take inventories For I’m the famous Sorting Hat I’ve sorted high, I’ve sorted low, I’ve done the job through thick and thin So put me on and you will know Which House you should be in... Rose Granger-Weasley. He puts his hat on ROSE’s head. GRYFFINDOR! There’s cheering from the Gryffindors as ROSE joins them. ROSE: Thank Dumbledore.  SCORPIUS runs to take ROSE’s place under the SORTING HAT’s glare. SORTING HAT: Scorpius Malfoy. He puts his hat on SCORPIUS’s head. SLYTHERIN! SCORPIUS was expecting this, he nods and half smiles. There’s cheering from the Slytherins as he joins them. POLLY CHAPMAN: Well, that makes sense. ALBUS walks swiftly to the front of the stage. SORTING HAT: Albus Potter. He puts his hat on ALBUS’s head — and this time he seems to take longer — almost as if he too is confused. SLYTHERIN! There’s a silence. A perfect, profound silence. One that sits low, twists a bit, and has damage within it. POLLY CHAPMAN: Slytherin? CRAIG BOWKER JR.: Whoa! A Potter? In Slytherin. ALBUS looks out, unsure. SCORPIUS smiles, delighted, as he shouts across to him. SCORPIUS: You can stand next to me! ALBUS (thoroughly discombobulated): Right. Yes. YANN FREDERICKS: I suppose his hair isn’t that similar. ROSE: Albus? But this is wrong, Albus. This is not how it’s supposed to be. And suddenly a flying lesson is happening with MADAM HOOCH. MADAM HOOCH: Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up. The kids all hurry into position beside their brooms. Stick out your hands out over your broom, and say, “Up!” EVERYONE: UP! ROSE’s and YANN’s brooms sail into their hands. ROSE and YANN: Yes! MADAM HOOCH: Come on, now, I’ve no time for shirkers. Say “UP.” “UP” like you mean it. EVERYONE (bar ROSE and YANN): UP! Brooms sail up, including SCORPIUS’s. Only ALBUS is left with his broom on the floor. EVERYONE (bar ROSE, YANN, and ALBUS): YES! ALBUS: Up. UP. UP. His broom doesn’t move. Not even a millimeter. He stares at it with disbelieving desperation. There’s giggling from the rest of the class. POLLY CHAPMAN: Oh Merlin’s beard, how humiliating! He really isn’t like his father at all, is he? KARL JENKINS: Albus Potter, the Slytherin Squib. MADAM HOOCH: Okay. Children. Time to fly. And suddenly HARRY appears from nowhere beside ALBUS as steam expands all over the stage. We’re back on platform nine and three-quarters and time has ticked on mercilessly. ALBUS is now a year older (as is HARRY, but less noticeably). ALBUS: I’m just asking you, Dad, if you’ll — if you’ll just stand a little away from me. HARRY (amused): Second-years don’t like to be seen with their dads, is that it? An OVER-ATTENTIVE WIZARD begins to circle them. ALBUS: No. It’s just — you’re you and — and I’m me and — HARRY: It’s just people looking, okay? People look. And they’re looking at me, not you. The OVER-ATTENTIVE WIZARD proffers something for HARRY to sign — he signs it. ALBUS: At Harry Potter and his disappointing son. HARRY: What does that mean? ALBUS: At Harry Potter and his Slytherin son. JAMES rushes past them, carrying his bag. JAMES: Slythering Slytherin, stop with your dithering, time to get onto the train. HARRY: Unnecessary, James. JAMES (long gone): See you at Christmas, Dad. HARRY looks at ALBUS, concerned. HARRY: Al — ALBUS: My name is Albus, not Al. HARRY: Are the other kids being unkind? Is that it? Maybe if you tried making a few more friends... without Hermione and Ron I wouldn’t have survived Hogwarts, I wouldn’t have survived at all. ALBUS: But I don’t need a Ron and Hermione. I’ve — I’ve got a friend, Scorpius, and I know you don’t like him but he’s all I need. HARRY: Look, as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters to me. ALBUS: You didn’t need to bring me to the station, Dad. ALBUS picks up his case and makes hard away. HARRY: But I wanted to be here... But ALBUS is gone. DRACO MALFOY, his robes perfect, his blond ponytail precisely placed, emerges from within the crowds to be beside HARRY. DRACO: I need a favor. HARRY: Draco. DRACO: These rumors — about my son’s parentage — they don’t seem to be going away. The other Hogwarts students tease Scorpius about it relentlessly — if the Ministry could release a statement reaffirming that all Time-Turners were destroyed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries... HARRY: Draco, just let it blow over — they’ll soon move on. DRACO: My son is suffering and — Astoria hasn’t been well recently — so he needs all the support he can get. HARRY: If you answer the gossip, you feed the gossip. There’ve been rumors Voldemort had a child for years, Scorpius is not the first to be accused. The Ministry, for your sake as well as ours, needs to steer well clear. DRACO frowns, annoyed, as the stage clears and ROSE and ALBUS stand ready with their cases. ALBUS: As soon as the train leaves you don’t have to talk to me. ROSE: I know. We just need to keep the pretense up in front of the grown-ups.  SCORPIUS runs on — with big hopes and an even bigger case. SCORPIUS (hopeful): Hi, Rose. ROSE (definitive): Bye, Albus. SCORPIUS (still hopeful): She’s melting. And suddenly we’re in the Great Hall and PROFESSOR McGONAGALL is standing at the front with a big smile on her face. PROFESSOR McGONAGALL: And I’m pleased to announce Gryffindor’s newest member of the Quidditch team — our — (she realizes she can’t be partial) your superb new Chaser — Rose Granger-Weasley. The hall erupts into cheers. SCORPIUS claps alongside them all. ALBUS: Are you clapping her too? We hate Quidditch and she’s playing for another House. SCORPIUS: She’s your cousin, Albus. ALBUS: Do you think she’d clap for me? SCORPIUS: I think she’s brilliant. The students circle ALBUS again as suddenly a Potions class begins. POLLY CHAPMAN: Albus Potter. An irrelevance. Even portraits turn the other way when he comes up the stairs. ALBUS hunches over a potion. ALBUS: And now we add — is it horn of bicorn? KARL JENKINS: Leave him and Voldemort’s child to it, I say. ALBUS: With just a little salamander blood... The potion explodes loudly. SCORPIUS: Okay. What’s the counter-ingredient? What do we need to change? ALBUS: Everything. And with that, time moves ever onwards — ALBUS’s eyes become darker, his face grows more sallow. He’s still an attractive boy, but he’s trying not to admit it. And suddenly he’s back on platform nine and three-quarters with his dad — who is still trying to persuade his son (and himself) that everything is okay. Both have aged another year. HARRY: Third year. Big year. Here is your permission form for Hogsmeade. ALBUS: I hate Hogsmeade. HARRY: How can you hate a place you haven’t actually visited yet? ALBUS: Because I know it’ll be full of Hogwarts students. ALBUS screws up the paper. HARRY: Just give it a go — come on — this is your chance to go nuts in Honeydukes without your mum knowing — no, Albus, don’t you dare. ALBUS (pointing his wand): Incendio! The ball of paper bursts into flame and ascends across the stage. HARRY: Of all the stupid things! ALBUS: The ironic thing is I didn’t expect it to work. I’m terrible at that spell. HARRY: Al—Albus, I’ve been exchanging owls with Professor McGonagall — she says you’re isolating yourself — you’re uncooperative in lessons — you’re surly — you’re — ALBUS: So what would you like me to do? Magic myself popular? Conjure myself into a new House? Transfigure myself into a better student? Just cast a spell, Dad, and change me into what you want me to be, okay? It’ll work better for both of us. Got to go. Train to catch. Friend to find. ALBUS runs to SCORPIUS, who is sitting on his case — numb to the world. (Delighted.) Scorpius... (Concerned.) Scorpius... Are you okay? SCORPIUS says nothing. ALBUS tries to read his friend’s eyes. Your mum? It’s got worse? SCORPIUS: It’s got the worst it can possibly get. ALBUS sits down beside SCORPIUS. ALBUS: I thought you’d send an owl... SCORPIUS: I couldn’t work out what to say. ALBUS: And now I don’t know what to say... SCORPIUS: Say nothing. ALBUS: Is there anything... ? SCORPIUS: Come to the funeral. ALBUS: Of course. SCORPIUS: And be my good friend. And suddenly the SORTING HAT is center stage and we’re back in the Great Hall. SORTING HAT: Are you afraid of what you’ll hear? Afraid I’ll speak the name you fear? Not Slytherin! Not Gryffindor! Not Hufflepuff! Not Ravenclaw! Don’t worry, child, I know my job, You’ll learn to laugh, if first you sob. Lily Potter. GRYFFINDOR. LILY: Yes! ALBUS: Great. SCORPIUS: Did you really think she’d come to us? Potters don’t belong in Slytherin. ALBUS: This one does. As he tries to melt into the background, the other students laugh. He looks up at them all. I didn’t choose, you know that? I didn’t choose to be his son.  ACT ONE, SCENE FIVE MINISTRY OF MAGIC, HARRY’S OFFICE HERMIONE sits with piles of paper in front of her in HARRY’s messy office. She is slowly sorting through it all. HARRY enters in a rush. He is bleeding from a graze on his cheek. HERMIONE: How did it go? HARRY: It was true. HERMIONE: Theodore Nott? HARRY: In custody. HERMIONE: And the Time-Turner itself? HARRY reveals the Time-Turner. It shines out alluringly. Is it genuine? Does it work? It’s not just an hour-reversal turner — it goes back further? HARRY: We don’t know anything yet. I wanted to try it out there and then but wiser heads prevailed. HERMIONE: Well, now we have it. HARRY: And you’re sure you want to keep it? HERMIONE: I don’t think we’ve a choice. Look at it. It’s entirely different to the Time-Turner I had. HARRY (dry): Apparently wizardry has moved on since we were kids. HERMIONE: You’re bleeding. HARRY checks his face in the mirror. He dabs at the wound with his robes. Don’t worry, it’ll go with the scar. HARRY (with a grin): What you doing in my office, Hermione? HERMIONE: I was anxious to hear about Theodore Nott and — thought I’d check whether you’d kept your promise and were on top of your paperwork. HARRY: Ah. Turns out I’m not. HERMIONE: No. You’re not. Harry, how can you get any work done in this chaos? HARRY waves his wand and the papers and books transform into neat piles. HARRY smiles. HARRY: No longer chaotic. HERMIONE: But still ignored. You know, there’s some interesting stuff in here... There are mountain trolls riding Graphorns through Hungary, there are giants with winged tattoos on their backs walking through the Greek Seas, and the werewolves have gone entirely underground — HARRY: Great, let’s get out there. I’ll get the team together. HERMIONE: Harry, I get it. Paperwork’s boring... HARRY: Not for you. HERMIONE: I’m busy enough with my own. These are people and beasts that fought alongside Voldemort in the great wizarding wars. These are allies of darkness. This — combined with what we have just unearthed at Theodore Nott’s — could mean something. But if the Head of Magical Law Enforcement isn’t reading his files — HARRY: But I don’t needto read it — I’m out there, hearing about it. Theodore Nott — it was me who heard the rumors about the Time-Turner and me who acted upon it. You really don’t need to tell me off. HERMIONE looks at HARRY — this is tricky. HERMIONE: Do you fancy a toffee? Don’t tell Ron. HARRY: You’re changing the subject. HERMIONE: I truly am. Toffee? HARRY: Can’t. We’re off sugar at the moment. (Beat.) You know, you can get addicted to that stuff? HERMIONE: What can I say? My parents were dentists, I was bound to rebel at some point. Forty is leaving it a little late, but... You’ve just done a brilliant thing. You’re certainly not being told off — I just need you to look at your paperwork every now and again, that’s all. Consider this a gentle — nudge — from the Minister for Magic. HARRY hears the implication in her emphasis, he nods. How’s Ginny? How’s Albus? HARRY: It seems I’m as good at fatherhood as I am at paperwork. How’s Rose? How’s Hugo? HERMIONE (with a grin): You know, Ron says he thinks I see more of my secretary, Ethel, (she indicates off) than him. Do you think there’s a point where we made a choice — parent of the year or Ministry official of the year? Go on. Go home to your family, Harry, the Hogwarts Express is about to depart for another year — enjoy the time you’ve got left — and then come back here with a fresh head and get these files read. HARRY: You really think this could all mean something? HERMIONE (with a smile): It could do. But if it does, we’ll find a way to fight it, Harry. We always have. She smiles once more, pops a toffee in her mouth, and leaves the office. HARRY is left alone. He packs his bag. He walks out of the office and down a corridor. The weight of the world upon his shoulders. He walks, tired, into a telephone box. He dials 62442. TELEPHONE BOX: Farewell, Harry Potter. He ascends away from the Ministry of Magic.  ACT ONE, SCENE SIX HARRY AND GINNY POTTER’S HOUSE ALBUS can’t sleep. He is sitting at the top of the stairs. He hears voices below him. We hear HARRY’s voice before he’s revealed. An elderly man in a wheelchair is with him, AMOS DIGGORY. HARRY: Amos, I understand, I really do — but I’m only just home and — AMOS: I’vetried to make appointments at the Ministry. They say, “Ah, Mr. Diggory, we have an appointment for you, let’s see, in two months.” I wait. Very patiently. HARRY: —and coming to my house in the middle of the night — when my kids are just getting ready for their new year at school — it’s not right. AMOS: Two months pass, I receive an owl, “Mr. Diggory, I’m awfully sorry, but Mr. Potter has been called away on urgent business, we’re going to have to shift things around a little, are you available for an appointment in, let’s see, in two months’ time.” And then it repeats again, and again... You’re shutting me out. HARRY: Of course I’m not. It’s just, I’m afraid, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement I’m afraid I’m responsible — AMOS: There’s plenty you’re responsible for. HARRY: Sorry? AMOS: My son, Cedric, you do remember Cedric, don’t you? HARRY (remembering Cedric hurts him): Yes, I remember your son. His loss — AMOS: Voldemort wanted you! Not my son! You told me yourself, the words he said were, “Kill the spare.” The spare. My son, my beautiful son, was a spare. HARRY: Mr. Diggory, as you know, I sympathize with your efforts to memorialize Cedric, but — AMOS: A memorial? I am not interested in a memorial — not anymore. I am an old man — an old dying man — and I am here to ask you — beg you — to help me get him back. HARRY looks up, astonished. HARRY: Get him back? Amos, that’s not possible. AMOS: The Ministry has a Time-Turner, does it not? HARRY: The Time-Turners were all destroyed. AMOS: The reason I’m here with such urgency is I’ve just heard rumor — strong rumor — that the Ministry seized an illegal Time-Turner from Theodore Nott and has kept it. For investigation. Let me use that Time-Turner. Let me have my son back. There’s a long, deadly pause. HARRY is finding this extremely difficult. We watch as ALBUS moves closer, listening. HARRY: Amos, playing with time? You know we can’t do that. AMOS: How many people have died for the Boy Who Lived? I’m asking you to save one of them. This hurts HARRY. He thinks, his face hardens. HARRY: Whatever you’ve heard, the Theodore Nott story is a fiction, Amos, I’m sorry. DELPHI: Hello. ALBUS jumps a mile as DELPHI — a twenty-something, determined-looking woman — is revealed, looking through the stairs at him. Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle. I used to be a big stair-listener myself. Sitting there. Waiting for someone to say something the tiniest bit interesting. ALBUS: Who are you? Because this is sort of my house and... DELPHI: I’m athief, of course. I’m about to steal everything you own. Give me your gold, your wand, and your Chocolate Frogs! (She looks fierce and then smiles.) Either that or I’m Delphini Diggory. (She ascends the stairs and sticks out a hand.) Delphi. I look after him — Amos — well, I try. (She indicates AMOS.) And you are? ALBUS (rueful grin): Albus. DELPHI: Of course! Albus Potter! So Harry is your dad? That’s a bit wow, isn’t it? ALBUS: Not really. DELPHI: Ah.Have I just put my foot in it? It’s what they used to say about me at school. Delphini Diggory — there isn’t a hole she couldn’t dig herself into. ALBUS: They do all sorts with my name too. Pause. She looks at him carefully. AMOS: Delphi. She makes to depart and then hesitates. She smiles at ALBUS. DELPHI: We don’t choose who we’re related to. Amos... isn’t just my patient, he’s my uncle, it’s part of the reason I took the job at Upper Flagley. But that’s made it difficult. It’s tough to live with people stuck in the past, isn’t it? AMOS: Delphi! ALBUS: Upper Flagley? DELPHI: St. Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards. Come see us sometime. If you like. AMOS: DELPHI! She smiles and then trips as she travels down the stairs. She enters the room with AMOS and HARRY in it. ALBUS watches her. DELPHI: Yes, Uncle? AMOS: Meet the once-great Harry Potter, now a stone-cold Ministry man. I will leave you in peace, sir. If peace is the right word for it. Delphi, my chair... DELPHI: Yes, Uncle. AMOS is pushed out of the room. HARRY is left, looking forlorn. ALBUS watches on, thinking carefully.  ACT ONE, SCENE SEVEN HARRY AND GINNY POTTER’S HOUSE, ALBUS’S ROOM ALBUS is sitting on the bed as the world goes on outside his door. Still against the constant motion outside. We hear a roar from JAMES (off). GINNY: James, please, ignore your hair, and tidy that damn room... JAMES: How can I ignore it? It’s pink! I’m going to have to use my Invisibility Cloak! JAMES appears at the door, he has pink hair. GINNY: That’s not why your dad gave you that Cloak! LILY: Who’s seen my Potions book? GINNY: Lily Potter, don’t think you’re wearing those to school tomorrow... LILY appears at ALBUS’s door. She’s wearing fairy wings that flutter. LILY: I love them. They’re fluttery. She exits as HARRY appears in ALBUS’s doorway. He looks through. HARRY: Hi. There’s an awkward pause between them. GINNY appears in the doorway. She sees what’s happening, she stays a moment. Just delivering a pre-Hogwarts gift — gifts — Ron’s sent this... ALBUS: Okay. A love potion. Okay. HARRY: I think it’s a joke about — I don’t know what. Lily got farting gnomes, James got a comb that’s made his hair turn a shade of pink. Ron — well, Ron’s Ron, you know?  HARRY puts down ALBUS’s love potion on his bed. I also — this is from me... He reveals a small blanket. GINNY looks at it, she sees HARRY is trying, and then she softly walks away. ALBUS: An old blanket? HARRY: I thought a lot about what to give you this year. James — well, James has been going on about the Invisibility Cloak since time itself, and Lily — I knew she’d love wings — but you. You’re fourteen years old now, Albus, and I wanted to give you something which — meant something. This... is the last thing I had from my mum. The only thing. I was given to the Dursleys wrapped in it. I thought it had gone forever and then, when your great-aunt Petunia died, hidden amongst her possessions, surprisingly, Dudley found this and he kindly sent it on to me, and ever since then — well, anytime I’ve wanted luck I’ve found it and just tried to hold it and I wondered if you... ALBUS: Wanted to hold it too? Okay. Done. Let’s hope it brings me luck. I certainly need some. He touches the blanket. But you should keep it. HARRY: I think — believe — Petunia wanted me to have it, that’s why she kept it, and now I want you to have it from me. I didn’t really know my mother — but I think she’d have wanted you to have it too. And maybe — I could come find you — and it — on Hallows’ Eve. I’d like to be with it on the night they died — and that could be good for the two of us... ALBUS: Listen,I’ve got quite a lot of packing to do, and you undoubtedly have Ministry work coming out of your ears, so... HARRY: Albus, I want you to have the blanket. ALBUS: And do what with it? Fairy wings make sense, Dad, invisibility cloaks, they also make sense — but this — really? HARRY is slightly heartbroken. He looks at his son, desperate to reach out. HARRY: Do you want a hand? Packing. I always loved packing. It meant I was leaving Privet Drive and going back to Hogwarts. Which was... well, I know you don’t love it but... ALBUS: For you, it’s the greatest place on earth. I know. The poor orphan, bullied by his uncle and aunt Dursley... HARRY: Albus, please — can we just — ALBUS:... traumatized by his cousin, Dudley, saved by Hogwarts. I know it all, Dad. Blah, blah, blah. HARRY: I’m not going to rise to your bait, Albus Potter. ALBUS: The poor orphan who went on to save us all. So may I say — on behalf of wizarding kind — how grateful we are for your heroism. Should we bow now or will a curtsy do? HARRY: Albus, please — you know, I’ve never wanted gratitude. ALBUS: But right now I’m overflowing with it — it must be the kind gift of this moldy blanket that did it... HARRY: Moldy blanket? ALBUS: What did you think would happen? We’d hug. I’d tell you I always loved you. What? What? HARRY (finally losing his temper): You know what? I’m done with being made responsible for your unhappiness. At least you’ve got a dad. Because I didn’t, okay? ALBUS: And you think that was unlucky? I don’t. HARRY: You wish me dead? ALBUS: No! I just wish you weren’t my dad. HARRY (seeing red): Well, there are times I wish you weren’t my son. There’s a silence. ALBUS nods. Pause. HARRY realizes what he’s said. No, I didn’t mean that... ALBUS: Yes. You did. HARRY: Albus, you just know how to get under my skin... ALBUS: You meant it, Dad. And, honestly, I don’t blame you. There’s a horrible pause. You should probably leave me alone now. HARRY: Albus, please... ALBUS picks up the blanket and throws it. It collides with RON’s love potion, which spills all over the blanket and the bed, producing a small puff of smoke. ALBUS: No luck or love for me, then. ALBUS runs out of the room. HARRY goes after him. HARRY: Albus. Albus... Please...  ACT ONE, SCENE EIGHT DREAM, HUT-ON-THE-ROCK There’s a LARGE BOOM. Then there’s a LARGE CRASH. DUDLEY DURSLEY, AUNT PETUNIA, and UNCLE VERNON are cowering behind a bed. DUDLEY DURSLEY: Mum, I don’t like this. AUNT PETUNIA: I knew we made a mistake coming here. Vernon. Vernon. There’s nowhere we can hide. Not even a lighthouse is far enough away! There’s another LARGE BOOM. UNCLE VERNON: Hold on. Hold on. Whatever it is, it’s not coming in here. AUNT PETUNIA: We’re cursed! He’s cursed us! The boy has cursed us! (Seeing YOUNG HARRY.) This is all your fault. Get back in your hole. YOUNG HARRY flinches away as UNCLE VERNON holds out his rifle. UNCLE VERNON: Whoever’s there, I should warn you — I’m armed. There’s a MASSIVE SMASH. And the door falls off its hinges. HAGRID stands in the middle of the doorway. He looks at them all. HAGRID: Couldn’t make us a cup o’ tea, could yeh? It’s not been an easy journey. DUDLEY DURSLEY: Look. At. Him. UNCLE VERNON: Stand back. Stand back. Behind me, Petunia. Behind me, Dudley. I’ll soon see this scarramanger off. HAGRID: Scarrawhat? He picks up UNCLE VERNON’s gun.  Haven’t seen one of these for a while. He twists the end of the gun and ties it in a knot. Oops-a-daisy. And then he gets distracted. He’s seen YOUNG HARRY. Harry Potter. YOUNG HARRY: Hello. HAGRID: Las’ time I saw yeh, yeh was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer mum’s eyes. YOUNG HARRY: You knew my parents? HAGRID: Where’s me manners? A very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right. From inside his coat he pulls a slightly squashed chocolate cake with “Happy Birthday Harry” written on it in green icing. YOUNG HARRY: Who are you? HAGRID (laughing): True, I haven’t introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. (He looks around himself.) What about that tea, then, eh? I’d not say no ter summat stronger if yeh’ve got it, mind. YOUNG HARRY: Hogwhere? HAGRID: Hogwarts. Yeh’ll know all about Hogwarts, o’ course. YOUNG HARRY: Er — no. Sorry. HAGRID: Sorry? It’s them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren’t gettin’ yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn’t even know abou’ Hogwarts, fer cryin’ out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all? YOUNG HARRY: Learnt what? HAGRID turns menacingly towards UNCLE VERNON. HAGRID: Do you mean ter tell me, that this boy — this boy! — knows nothin’ abou’ — about ANYTHING? UNCLE VERNON: I forbid you to tell the boy anything more! YOUNG HARRY: Tell me what? HAGRID looks at UNCLE VERNON and then at YOUNG HARRY. HAGRID: Harry — yer a wizard — yeh changed everything. Yer the most famous wizard in the whole world. And then, right from the back of the room, whispering around everyone. Words said with an unmistakable voice. The voice of VOLDEMORT... Haaarry Pottttter.  ACT ONE, SCENE NINE HARRY AND GINNY POTTER’S HOUSE, BEDROOM HARRY wakes suddenly. Breathing deeply in the night. He waits a moment. Calming himself. And then he feels intense pain in his forehead. In his scar. Around him, Dark Magic moves. GINNY: Harry... HARRY: It’s fine. Go back to sleep. GINNY: Lumos. The room is filled with light from her wand. HARRY looks at her. A nightmare? HARRY: Yes. GINNY: About what? HARRY: The Dursleys — well, it started there — then it became something else. Pause. GINNY looks at him — trying to work out where he is. GINNY: Do you want a Sleeping Draught? HARRY: No. I’ll be fine. Go back to sleep. GINNY: You don’t seem fine. HARRY says nothing. (Seeing his agitation.) It can’t have been easy — with Amos Diggory. HARRY: The anger I can cope with, the fact he’s right is harder. Amos lost his son because of me — GINNY: That doesn’t seem particularly fair on yourself... HARRY: — and there’s nothing I can say — nothing I can say to anyone — unless it’s the wrong thing, of course... GINNY knows what — or rather who — he’s referring to. GINNY: So that’s what’s upsetting you? The night before Hogwarts, it’s never a good night if you don’t want to go. Giving Al the blanket. It was a nice try. HARRY: It went pretty badly wrong from there. I said some things, Ginny... GINNY: I heard. HARRY: And you’re still talking to me? GINNY: Because I know that when the time is right you’ll say sorry. That you didn’t mean it. That what you said concealed... other things. You can be honest with him, Harry... That’s all he needs. HARRY: I just wish he was more like James or Lily. GINNY (dry): Yeah, maybe don’t be that honest. HARRY: No, I wouldn’t change a thing about him... but I can understand them, and... GINNY: Albus is different and isn’t that a good thing. And he can tell, you know, when you’re putting on your Harry Potter front. He wants to see the real you. HARRY: “The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.” GINNY looks at him, surprised. Dumbledore. GINNY: A strange thing to say to a child. HARRY: Not when you believe that child will have to die to save the world. HARRY gasps again — and does all he can not to touch his forehead. GINNY: Harry. What’s wrong? HARRY: Fine. I’m fine. I hear you. I’ll try to be — GINNY: Does your scar hurt? HARRY: No. No. I’m fine. Now, Nox that and let’s get some sleep. GINNY: Harry. How long has it been since your scar hurt? HARRY turns to GINNY, his face says it all. HARRY: Twenty-two years.  ACT ONE, SCENE TEN THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS ALBUS walks quickly along the train. ROSE: Albus, I’ve been looking for you... ALBUS: Me? Why? ROSE isn’t sure how to phrase what she has to say. ROSE: Albus, it’s the start of the fourth year, and so the start of a new year for us. I want to be friends again. ALBUS: We never were friends. ROSE: That’s harsh! You were my best friend when I was six! ALBUS: That was a long time ago. He makes to walk away. She pulls him into an empty compartment. ROSE: Have you heard the rumors? Big Ministry raid a few days ago. Your dad apparently was incredibly brave. ALBUS: How do you always know about these things and I don’t? ROSE: Apparently he — the wizard they raided — Theodore Nott, I think — had all sorts of artifacts that broke all sorts of laws including — and this has got them all gooey — an illegal Time-Turner. And quite a superior one at that. ALBUS looks at ROSE, everything falling into place. ALBUS: A Time-Turner? Dad found a Time-Turner? ROSE: Shh! Yes. I know. Great, right? ALBUS: You’re sure. ROSE: Entirely. ALBUS: Now I have to find Scorpius. He walks down the train. ROSE follows, still determined to say her piece. ROSE: Albus! ALBUS turns decisively. ALBUS: Who’s told you that you have to talk to me? ROSE (sprung): Okay, maybe your mum owled my dad — but only because she’s worried about you. And I just think — ALBUS: Leave me alone, Rose. SCORPIUS is sitting in his usual compartment. ALBUS enters first, ROSE still tailing him. SCORPIUS: Albus! Oh hello, Rose, what do you smell of? ROSE: What do I smell of? SCORPIUS: No, I meant it as a nice thing, you smell like a mixture of fresh flowers and fresh — bread. ROSE: Albus, I’m here, okay? If you need me. SCORPIUS: I mean, nice bread, good bread, bread... what’s wrong with bread? ROSE walks away, shaking her head. ROSE: What’s wrong with bread! ALBUS: I’ve been looking for you everywhere... SCORPIUS: And now you’ve found me. Ta-da! I was hardly hiding. You know how I like to — get on early. Stops people staring. Shouting. Writing “son of Voldemort” on my trunk. That one never gets old. She really doesn’t like me, does she? ALBUS hugs his friend. With fierceness. They hold for a beat. SCORPIUS is surprised by this. Okay. Hello. Um. Have we hugged before? Do we hug? The two boys awkwardly dislocate. ALBUS: Just a slightly weird twenty-four hours. SCORPIUS: What’s happened in them? ALBUS: I’ll explain later. We have to get off this train. There’s the sound of whistles from off. The train starts moving. SCORPIUS: Too late. The train is moving. Hogwarts ahoy! ALBUS: Then we have to get off a moving train. TROLLEY WITCH: Anything from the trolley, dears? ALBUS opens a window and makes to climb out. SCORPIUS: A moving magical train. TROLLEY WITCH: Pumpkin Pasty? Cauldron Cake? SCORPIUS: Albus Severus Potter, get that strange look out of your eye. ALBUS: First question. What do you know about the Triwizard Tournament? SCORPIUS (happy): Ooooh, a quiz! Three schools pick three champions to compete in three tasks for one Cup. What’s that got to do with anything? ALBUS: You really are an enormous geek, you know that? SCORPIUS: Ya-huh. ALBUS: Second question. Why has the Triwizard Tournament not been run in over twenty years? SCORPIUS: The last competition included your dad and a boy called Cedric Diggory — they decided to win together but the Cup was a Portkey — and they were transported to Voldemort. Cedric was killed. They canceled the competition immediately after. ALBUS: Good. Third question: Did Cedric need to be killed? Easy question, easy answer: No. The words Voldemort said were “Kill the spare.” The spare. He died only because he was with my father and my father couldn’t save him — we can. A mistake has been made and we’re going to right it. We’re going to use a Time-Turner. We’re going to bring him back. SCORPIUS: Albus, for obvious reasons, I’m not a massive fan of Time-Turners... ALBUS: When Amos Diggory asked for the Time-Turner my father denied they even existed. He lied to an old man who just wanted his son back — who just loved his son. And he did it because he didn’t care — because he doesn’t care. Everyone talks about all the brave things Dad did. But he made some mistakes too. Some big mistakes, in fact. I want to set one of those mistakes right. I want us to save Cedric. SCORPIUS: Okay, whatever was holding your brain together seems to have snapped. ALBUS: I’m going to do this, Scorpius. I need to do this. And you know as well as I do, I’ll entirely mess it up if you don’t come with me. Come on. He grins. And then disappears ever up. SCORPIUS hesitates for a moment. He makes a face. And then hoists himself up and disappears after ALBUS.  ACT ONE, SCENE ELEVEN ROOF OF THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS The wind whistles from all angles and it’s a fierce wind at that. SCORPIUS: Okay, now we’re on the roof of a train, it’s fast, it’s scary, this has been great, I feel like I’ve learnt a lot about me, something about you, but — ALBUS: AsI calculate it we should be approaching the viaduct soon and then it’ll be a short hike to St. Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards... SCORPIUS: The what? The where? Look, I am as excited as you are to be a rebel for the first time in my life — yay — train roof — fun — but now — oh. SCORPIUS sees something he doesn’t want to see. ALBUS: The water will be an extremely useful backup if our Cushioning Charm doesn’t work. SCORPIUS: Albus. The Trolley Witch. ALBUS: You want a snack for the journey? SCORPIUS: No. Albus. The Trolley Witch is coming towards us. ALBUS: No, she can’t be, we’re on top of the train... SCORPIUSpoints ALBUS in the right direction, and now he can see the TROLLEY WITCH, who approaches nonchalantly, pushing her trolley. TROLLEY WITCH: Anything from the trolley, dears? Pumpkin Pasty? Chocolate Frog? Cauldron Cake? ALBUS: Oh. TROLLEY WITCH: People don’t know much about me. They buy my Cauldron Cakes — but they never really notice me. I don’t remember the last time someone asked my name. ALBUS: What is your name? TROLLEY WITCH: I’veforgotten. All I can tell you is that when the Hogwarts Express first came to be — Ottaline Gambol herself offered me this job... SCORPIUS: That’s — one hundred and ninety years. You’ve been doing this job for one hundred and ninety years? TROLLEY WITCH: These hands have made over six million Pumpkin Pasties. I’ve got quite good at them. But what people haven’t noticed about my Pumpkin Pasties is how easily they transform into something else... She picks up a Pumpkin Pasty. She throws it like a grenade. It explodes. And you won’t believe what I can do with my Chocolate Frogs. Never — never — have I let anyone off this train before they reached their destination. Some have tried — Sirius Black and his cronies, Fred and George Weasley. ALL HAVE FAILED. BECAUSE THIS TRAIN — IT DOESN’T LIKE PEOPLE GETTING OFF IT... The TROLLEY WITCH’s hands transfigure into very sharp spikes. She smiles. So please retake your seats for the remainder of the journey. ALBUS: You were right, Scorpius. This train is magical. SCORPIUS: At this precise moment in time, I take no pleasure in being right. ALBUS: But I was also right — about the viaduct — that’s water down there, time to try the Cushioning Charm. SCORPIUS: Albus, this is a bad idea. ALBUS: Isit? (He has a moment’s hesitation, then realizes the time for hesitation has passed.) Too late now. Three. Two. One. Molliare! He incants as he jumps. SCORPIUS: Albus... Albus... He looks down desperately after his friend. He looks at the approaching TROLLEY WITCH. Her hair wild. Her spikes particularly spiky. Well, as fun as you clearly look, I have to go after my friend. He pinches his nose, he jumps after ALBUS, incanting as he goes. Molliare!  ACT ONE, SCENE TWELVE MINISTRY OF MAGIC, GRAND MEETING ROOM The stage is flooded with wizards and witches. They rattle and chatter like all true wizards and witches can. Amongst them, GINNY, DRACO, and RON. Above them, on a stage, HERMIONE and HARRY. HERMIONE: Order. Order. Do I have to conjure silence? (She pulls silence from the crowd using her wand.) Good. Welcome to this Extraordinary General Meeting. I’m so pleased so many of you could make it. The wizarding world has been living in peace now for many years. It’s twenty-two years since we defeated Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts, and I’m delighted to say there is a new generation being brought up having known only the slightest conflict. Until now. Harry. HARRY: Voldemort’s allies have been showing movement for a few months now. We’ve followed trolls making their way across Europe, giants starting to cross the seas, and the werewolves — well, I’m distressed to say we lost sight of them some weeks ago. We don’t know where they’re going or who’s encouraged them to move — but we are aware they are moving — and we are concerned what it might mean. So we’re asking — if anyone has seen anything? Felt anything? If you could raise a wand, we will hear everyone speak. Professor McGonagall — thank you. PROFESSOR McGONAGALL: It did look like the potions stores had been interfered with when we returned from summer break, but not a huge amount of ingredients were missing, some Boomslang skin and lacewing flies, nothing on the Restricted Register. We put it down to Peeves. HERMIONE: Thank you,Professor. We shall investigate. (She looks around the room.) Nobody else? Fine, and — gravest of all — and this hasn’t been the case since Voldemort — Harry’s scar is hurting again. DRACO: Voldemort is dead, Voldemort is gone. HERMIONE: Yes, Draco, Voldemort is dead, but these things all lead us to think that there is a possibility that Voldemort — or some trace of Voldemort — might be back. This gets a reaction. HARRY: Now this is difficult but we have to ask it to rule it out. Those of you with a Dark Mark... have you felt anything? Even a twinge? DRACO: Back to being prejudiced against those with a Dark Mark, are we, Potter? HERMIONE: No, Draco. Harry is simply trying to — DRACO: You know what this is about? Harry just wants his face back in the newspapers again. We’ve had rumors of Voldemort coming back from the Daily Prophet once a year every year — HARRY: None of those rumors came from me! DRACO: Really? Doesn’t your wife edit the Daily Prophet? GINNY steps towards him, outraged. GINNY: The sports pages! HERMIONE: Draco. Harry brought this matter to the attention of the Ministry. And I — as Minister for Magic — DRACO: A vote you only won because you are his friend. RON is held back by GINNY as he charges at DRACO. RON: Do you want a smack in the mouth? DRACO: Face it — his celebrity impacts upon you all. And how better to get everyone whispering the Potter name again than with (he does an impression of HARRY) “my scar is hurting, my scar is hurting.” And do you know what this all means — that the gossipmongers once again have an opportunity to defame my son with these ridiculous rumors about his parentage. HARRY: Draco, no one is saying this has anything to do with Scorpius... DRACO: Well, I, for one, think this meeting a sham. And I’m leaving. He walks out. Others start to disperse after him. HERMIONE: No. That’s not the way... Come back. We need a strategy.  ACT ONE, SCENE THIRTEEN ST. OSWALD’S HOME FOR OLD WITCHES AND WIZARDS This is chaos. This is magic. This is St. Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards and it is as wonderful as you might hope. Walker frames are conjured into life, knitting wool is enchanted into chaos, and male nurses are made to dance tango. These are people relieved of the burden of having to do magic for a reason — instead these witches and wizards do magic for fun. And what fun they have. ALBUS and SCORPIUS enter, looking around themselves, amused, and let’s face it, slightly scared. ALBUS and SCORPIUS: Um, excuse me... Excuse me. EXCUSE ME! SCORPIUS: Okay, so this place is wild. ALBUS: We’re looking for Amos Diggory. There is suddenly total silence. Everything is instantly still. And slightly depressed. WOOL WOMAN: And what you boys want with that miserable old sod? DELPHI appears with a smile. DELPHI: Albus? Albus! You came? How wonderful! Come and say hello to Amos!  ACT ONE, SCENE FOURTEEN ST. OSWALD’S HOME FOR OLD WITCHES AND WIZARDS, AMOS’S ROOM AMOS looks at SCORPIUS and ALBUS — irritated. DELPHI watches the three of them. AMOS: So let me get this straight. You overhear a conversation — a conversation which was not meant for you to overhear — and you decide — without prompting, in fact, without leave — to interfere, and interfere hard, in someone else’s business. ALBUS: My father lied to you — I know he did. They do have a Time-Turner. AMOS: Of course they do. You can move along now. ALBUS: What? No. We’re here to help. AMOS: Help? What use could a pair of undersized teenagers be for me? ALBUS: My father proved you don’t have to be grown-up to change the wizarding world. AMOS: So I should allow you to get involved because you’re a Potter? Relying on your famous name, are you? ALBUS: No! AMOS: A Potter who is in Slytherin House — yes, I’ve read about you — and who brings a Malfoy with him to visit me — a Malfoy who may be a Voldemort? Who’s to say you’re not involved in Dark Magic? ALBUS: But — AMOS: Your information was obvious but the confirmation is useful. Your father did lie. Now leave. The pair of you. And stop wasting my time. ALBUS(with power and strength): No, you need to listen to me, you said it yourself — how much blood is on my father’s hands. Let me help you change that. Let me help correct one of his mistakes. Trust me. AMOS (his voice raised): Did you not hear me, boy? I see no reason to trust you. So go. Now. Before I make you leave. He raises his wand ominously. ALBUS looks at the wand — he deflates — AMOS has crushed him. SCORPIUS: Come on, mate, if there’s one thing we’re good at it’s knowing where we’re not wanted. ALBUS is reluctant to leave. SCORPIUS pulls him by the arm. He turns and they walk away. DELPHI: I can think of one reason why you should trust them, Uncle. They stop. They’re the only ones volunteering to help. They’re prepared to bravely put themselves at risk to return your son to your side. In fact, I’m pretty sure they put themselves at risk even getting here... AMOS: This is Cedric we’re talking about... DELPHI: And — didn’t you say yourself, having someone inside Hogwarts might be a massive advantage? DELPHI kisses the top of AMOS’s head. AMOS looks at DELPHI, and then turns to look at the boys. AMOS: Why? Why do you want to put yourself at risk? What’s in it for you? ALBUS: I know what it is to be the spare. Your son didn’t deserve to be killed, Mr. Diggory. We can help you get him back. AMOS (finally showing emotion): My son — my son was the best thing that ever happened to me — and you’re right, it was an injustice — a gross injustice. If you’re serious... ALBUS: We’re deadly serious. AMOS: This is going to be dangerous. ALBUS: We know. SCORPIUS: Do we? AMOS: Delphi — perhaps if you were prepared to accompany them? DELPHI: If that would make you happy, Uncle. She smiles at ALBUS, he smiles back. AMOS: You do understand even getting the Time-Turner will risk your lives. ALBUS: We’re ready to put our lives at risk. SCORPIUS: Are we? AMOS (gravely): I hope you have it in you.  ACT ONE, SCENE FIFTEEN HARRY AND GINNY POTTER’S HOUSE, KITCHEN HARRY, RON, HERMIONE, and GINNY sit, eating together. HERMIONE: I’vetold Draco again and again — no one in the Ministry is saying anything about Scorpius. The rumors aren’t coming from us. GINNY: I wroteto him — after he lost Astoria — to ask if there’s anything we could do. I thought maybe — as he was such a good friend to Albus — maybe Scorpius might want to stay over part of the Christmas break or... My owl came back with a letter containing one simple sentence: “Tell your husband to refute these allegations about my son once and for all.” HERMIONE: He’s obsessed. GINNY: He’s a mess — a grieving mess. RON: And I’m sorry for his loss but when he accuses Hermione of... Well... (He looks across at HARRY.) Oi droopy drawers, like I say to her all the time, it could be nothing. HERMIONE: Her? RON: The trolls could be going to a party, the giants to a wedding, you could be getting bad dreams because you’re worried about Albus, and your scar could be hurting because you’re getting old. HARRY: Getting old? Thanks, mate. RON: Honestly, every time I sit down now I make an “ooof” noise. An “ooof.” And my feet — the trouble I’m having with my feet — I could write songs about the pain my feet give me — maybe your scar is like that. GINNY: You talk a lot of rubbish. RON: I consider it my speciality. That and my range of Skiving Snackboxes. And my love for all of you. Even Skinny Ginny. GINNY: If you don’t behave, Ronald Weasley, I will tell Mum. RON: You wouldn’t. HERMIONE: If some part of Voldemort survived, in whatever form, we need to be prepared. And I’m scared. GINNY: I’m scared too. RON: Nothing scares me. Apart from Mum. HERMIONE: I mean it, Harry, I will not be Cornelius Fudge on this one. I will not stick my head in the sand. And I don’t care how unpopular that makes me with Draco Malfoy. RON: You never really were one for popularity, were you? HERMIONE shoots RON a withering look as she aims to hit him but RON jumps out of the way. Missed. GINNY hits RON. RON winces. Hit. A very solid hit. Suddenly an owl is in the room. It swoops in low and drops a letter on HARRY’s plate. HERMIONE: Bit late for an owl, isn’t it? HARRY opens the letter. Surprised. HARRY: It’s from Professor McGonagall. GINNY: What does it say? HARRY’s face drops. HARRY: Ginny, it’s Albus — Albus and Scorpius — they never made it to school. They’re missing.  ACT ONE, SCENE SIXTEEN WHITEHALL, CELLAR SCORPIUS is squinting at a bottle. SCORPIUS: So we just take it? ALBUS: Scorpius, do I really need to explain to you — übergeek and Potions expert — what Polyjuice does? Thanks to Delphi’s brilliant preparation work, we are going to take this potion and be transformed, and thus disguised we will be able to enter the Ministry of Magic. SCORPIUS: Okay, two points, one, is it painful? DELPHI: Very — as I understand it. SCORPIUS: Thank you. Good to know. Second point: Do either of you know what Polyjuice tastes of? Because I’ve heard it tastes of fish and if it does I will just vomit it back up. Fish doesn’t agree with me. Never has. Never will. DELPHI: Consider us warned. (She knocks back the potion.) It doesn’t taste of fish. (She begins to transform. It’s agonizing.) Actually it tastes quite pleasant, yum. It is painful but... (She burps, loudly.) Take it back. There is a — slight — (She burps again, she turns into HERMIONE.) Slight — overpowering — fishy residue. ALBUS: Okay, that’s — wow. SCORPIUS: Double wow. DELPHI/HERMIONE: This really doesn’t feel how I — I even sound like her! Triple wow. ALBUS: Right. Me next. SCORPIUS: No. No way, José. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it (he puts on a pair of familiar-looking glasses with a smile) together. ALBUS: Three. Two. One. They swallow. No, that’s good. (He’s racked with pain.) That’s less good. They both start to transform and it’s agonizing. ALBUS turns into RON, SCORPIUS into HARRY. The two look at each other. There’s a silence. ALBUS/RON: This is going to be slightly weird, isn’t it? SCORPIUS/HARRY(full of drama — he’s really enjoying this): Go to your room. Go straight to your room. You’ve been an incredibly awful and bad son. ALBUS/RON (with a laugh): Scorpius... SCORPIUS/HARRY (tossing his cloak over his shoulder): It was your idea — I be him and you be Ron! I just want to have a little fun before I... (And then he burps loudly.) Okay, so that’s utterly horrible. ALBUS/RON: You know, he hides it well, but Uncle Ron’s got a bit of a gut growing. DELPHI/HERMIONE: We should go — don’t you think? They emerge onto the street. They enter a telephone box. They dial 62442. TELEPHONE BOX: Welcome, Harry Potter. Welcome, Hermione Granger. Welcome, Ron Weasley. They smile as the telephone box disappears into the floor.  ACT ONE, SCENE SEVENTEEN MINISTRY OF MAGIC, MEETING ROOM HARRY, HERMIONE, GINNY, and DRACO pace around a small room. DRACO: Have we searched thoroughly beside the tracks... HARRY: My department have searched once and are searching again. DRACO: And the Trolley Witch is not able to tell us anything useful? HERMIONE: The Trolley Witch is furious. She keeps talking about letting down Ottaline Gambol. She prides herself on her Hogwarts delivery record. GINNY: Have there been any instances of magic reported by the Muggles? HERMIONE: None so far. I have made the Muggle Prime Minister aware and he is filing what is known as a misper. Sounds like a spell. It isn’t. DRACO: So now we’re relying on Muggles to find our children? Have we told them about Harry’s scar too? HERMIONE: We’re merely asking the Muggles to help. And who knows how Harry’s scar might be involved but it’s certainly a matter we’re taking seriously. Our Aurors are currently investigating anyone involved in Dark Magic and — DRACO: This is not Death Eater–related. HERMIONE: I’m not sure I share your confidence. DRACO: I’m not confident, I’m right. The sort of cretins pursuing Dark Magic now... My son is a Malfoy, they wouldn’t dare. HARRY: Unlessthere’s something new out there, something to — GINNY: I agree with Draco. If this is a kidnap — taking Albus I understand, taking them both...  HARRY locks eyes with GINNY, it becomes clear what she wants him to say. DRACO: And Scorpius is a follower, not a leader, despite everything I’ve tried to instill in him. So it’s undoubtedly Albus who got him from that train and my question is, where would he take him? GINNY: Harry, they’ve run away, you and I know it. DRACO notices the couple staring at each other. DRACO: Do you? Know it? What aren’t you telling us? There’s a silence. Whatever information you’re concealing, I recommend you share it now. HARRY: Albus and I had an argument, the day before last. DRACO: And... HARRY hesitates and then makes brave eye contact with DRACO. HARRY: And I told him that there were times when I wished he weren’t my son. There’s another silence. A profoundly powerful one. And then DRACO takes a dangerous step towards HARRY. DRACO: If anything happens to Scorpius... GINNY steps in between DRACO and HARRY. GINNY: Don’t throw around threats, Draco, please don’t do that. DRACO (roar): My son is missing! GINNY (an equal roar): So is mine! He meets her look. There’s real emotion in this room. DRACO (lip curling, every inch his father): If you need gold... Everything the Malfoys have... He’s my sole heir... He’s my — only family. HERMIONE: The Ministry has plenty in reserve, thank you, Draco. DRACO makes to leave. He stops. He looks at HARRY. DRACO: I don’t care what you did or who you saved, you are a constant curse on my family, Harry Potter.  ACT ONE, SCENE EIGHTEEN MINISTRY OF MAGIC, CORRIDOR SCORPIUS/HARRY: And you’re sure it’s in there? A guard walks past. SCORPIUS/HARRY and DELPHI/HERMIONE try to affect performances. Yes, Minister, I definitely think this is a matter for the Ministry to ponder at length, yes. GUARD (with a nod): Minister. DELPHI/HERMIONE: Let’s ponder it together. He walks on, they let out a sigh of relief. It was my uncle’s idea to use the Veritaserum — we slipped it into a visiting Ministry official’s drink. He told us that the Time-Turner had been kept and even told us where — the office of the Minister for Magic herself. She indicates a door. Suddenly they hear a noise. HERMIONE (from off): Harry... we should talk about it... HARRY (from off): There’s nothing to talk about. DELPHI/HERMIONE: Oh no. ALBUS/RON: Hermione. And Dad. The panic is instant and infectious. SCORPIUS/HARRY: Okay. Hiding places. No hiding places. Anyone know any Invisibility Charms? DELPHI/HERMIONE: Do we go... in her office? ALBUS/RON: She’ll be coming to her office. DELPHI/HERMIONE: There’s nowhere else. She tries the door. She tries it again. HERMIONE (from off): If you don’t talk to me or Ginny about it... SCORPIUS/HARRY: Stand back. Alohomora! He aims his wand at the door. The door swings open. He grins — delighted. Albus. Block her. It has to be you. HARRY (from off): What is there to say? ALBUS/RON: Me. Why? DELPHI/HERMIONE: Well, it can’t be either of us, can it? We are them. HERMIONE (from off): What you said was obviously wrong — but — there are more factors at play here than — ALBUS/RON: But I can’t... I can’t... There’s a small kerfuffle and then ALBUS/RON ends up standing outside the door as HERMIONE and HARRY enter from off. HARRY: Hermione, I’m grateful for your concern but there’s no need — HERMIONE: Ron? ALBUS/RON: Surprise!!! HERMIONE: What are you doing here? ALBUS/RON: Does a man need an excuse to see his wife? He kisses HERMIONE firmly. HARRY: I should go... HERMIONE: Harry. My point is... whatever Draco says — the things you said to Albus... I don’t think it’ll do any of us any good for you to dwell on it. ALBUS/RON: Oh,you’re talking about how Harry said sometimes he wished I — (he corrects himself) Albus weren’t his son. HERMIONE: Ron! ALBUS/RON: Better out than in, that’s what I say... HERMIONE: He’ll know... We all say stuff we don’t mean. He knows that. ALBUS/RON: But what if sometimes we say stuff we do mean... What then? HERMIONE: Ron, now’s not the time, honestly. ALBUS/RON: Of course it isn’t. Bye-bye, darling. ALBUS/RON watches her go, hopeful she’ll walk past her office and away. But of course she doesn’t. He runs to block her before she enters through her door. He blocks her once, and then blocks her again, swinging his hips to do so. HERMIONE: Why are you blocking the entrance to my office? ALBUS/RON: I’m not. Blocking. Anything. She again makes for the door, he blocks her again. HERMIONE: You are. Let me into my room, Ron. ALBUS/RON: Let’s have another baby. HERMIONE tries to dodge past him. HERMIONE: What? ALBUS/RON: Or if not another baby, a holiday. I want a baby or a holiday and I’m going to insist on it. Shall we talk about it later, honey? She tries to get into the room one final time, he blocks her with a kiss. It develops into quite a struggle. Maybe with a drink in the Leaky Cauldron? Love you. HERMIONE (relenting): If there is another stink pellet in there then Merlin won’t help you. Fine. We’re due to update the Muggles anyway. She exits. HARRY exits with her. ALBUS/RON turns towards the door. She reenters, this time, alone. A baby — OR — a holiday? Some days you are off the scale, you know that? ALBUS/RON: It’s why you married me, isn’t it? My puckish sense of fun. She exits again. He starts to open the door but again she reenters, he slams it closed. HERMIONE: I can taste fish. I told you to stay away from those fishfinger sandwiches. ALBUS/RON: Right you are. She exits. He checks she’s gone and the relief floods out of him as he opens the door.  ACT ONE, SCENE NINETEEN MINISTRY OF MAGIC, HERMIONE’S OFFICE SCORPIUS/HARRY and DELPHI/HERMIONE are waiting on the other side of HERMIONE’s office door as ALBUS/RON enters — he slumps, exhausted. ALBUS/RON: This is all too weird. DELPHI/HERMIONE: You were impressive. Good blocking action. SCORPIUS/HARRY: I don’t know whether to high-five you or frown at you for kissing your aunt about five hundred times! ALBUS/RON: Ron’s an affectionate guy. I was trying to distract her, Scorpius. I did distract her. SCORPIUS/HARRY: And then there’s what your dad said... DELPHI/HERMIONE: Boys... She will be back — we don’t have long. ALBUS/RON (to SCORPIUS/HARRY): You heard that? DELPHI/HERMIONE: Where would Hermione hide a Time-Turner? (She looks around the room, she sees the bookcases.) Search the bookcases. They start to search. SCORPIUS/HARRY looks at his friend, concerned. SCORPIUS/HARRY: Why didn’t you tell me? ALBUS/RON: My dad says he wishes I weren’t his son. Hardly a conversation starter, is it? SCORPIUS/HARRY tries to work out what to say. SCORPIUS/HARRY: I know the — Voldemort thing isn’t — true — and — you know — but sometimes, I think I can see my dad thinking: How did I produce this? ALBUS/RON: Still better than my dad. I’m pretty sure he spends most of his time thinking: How can I give him back? DELPHI/HERMIONE tries to pull SCORPIUS/HARRY towards the bookshelves. DELPHI/HERMIONE: Maybe if we could concentrate on the matter at hand. SCORPIUS/HARRY: My point is, there’s a reason we’re friends, Albus — a reason we found each other, you know? And whatever this — adventure — is about... Then he spots a book on the shelf that makes him frown. Have you seen the books on these shelves? There are some serious books here. Banned books. Cursed books. ALBUS/RON: How to distract Scorpius from difficult emotional issues. Take him to a library. SCORPIUS/HARRY: All the books from the Restricted Section and then some. Magick Moste Evile. Fifteenth-Century Fiends. Sonnets of a Sorcerer — that’s not even allowed in Hogwarts! ALBUS/RON: Shadows and Spirits. The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy. DELPHI/HERMIONE: They are quite something, aren’t they... ALBUS/RON: The True History of the Opal Fire. The Imperius Curse and How to Abuse It. SCORPIUS/HARRY: And lookee here. Whoa. My Eyes and How to See Past Them by Sybill Trelawney. A book on Divination. Hermione Granger hates Divination. This is fascinating. This is a find... He pulls the book from the shelf. And it falls open. And speaks. BOOK: The first is the fourth, a disappointing mark. You’ll find it in parked but not in park. SCORPIUS/HARRY: Okay. A book that talks. Bit weird. BOOK: The second is the less fair of those that walk on two legs. Grubby, hairy, a disease of the egg. And the third is both a mountain to climb and a route to take. ALBUS/RON: It’s a riddle. It’s giving us a riddle. BOOK: A turn in the city, a glide through a lake. DELPHI/HERMIONE: What have you done? SCORPIUS/HARRY: I, uh, I opened a book. Something which has — in all my years on this planet — never been a particularly dangerous activity.  The books reach out and grab ALBUS/RON. He only just eludes their grasp. ALBUS/RON: What is that? DELPHI/HERMIONE: She’s weaponized it. She’s weaponized her library. This is where the Time-Turner will be. Solve the riddle and we’ll find it. ALBUS/RON: Thefirst is the fourth. You’ll find it in parked, not in park. Ed — de — The books start to try to swallow DELPHI/HERMIONE. SCORPIUS/HARRY: The second is a disease of the egg, the less fair of those who walk on two legs... DELPHI/HERMIONE(effusively): Men! De-men... tors. We need to find a book on dementors. (The bookcase pulls her in.) Albus! ALBUS/RON: Delphi! What is going on? SCORPIUS/HARRY: Concentrate, Albus. Do what she said. Find a book on dementors and be very careful. ALBUS/RON: Here. Dominating Dementors: A True History of Azkaban. The book flies open and swings dangerously at SCORPIUS/HARRY, who has to dodge out of the way. He falls hard against a bookcase which attempts to consume him. BOOK: I was born in a cage But smashed it with rage The Gaunt inside me  Riddled me free Of that which would stop me to be. ALBUS/RON: Voldemort. DELPHI plunges through the books, back as herself. DELPHI: Work faster! She’s pulled back in, screaming. ALBUS/RON: Delphi! Delphi! He tries to grab her hand, but she’s gone. SCORPIUS/HARRY: She’d become herself again — did you notice? ALBUS/RON: No! Because I was more worried about her being eaten by a bookcase! Find. Something. Anything on him. He finds a book. The Heir of Slytherin? Do you think? He pulls the book from the shelf, it pulls back, ALBUS/RON is consumed by the bookcase. SCORPIUS/HARRY: Albus? Albus!! But ALBUS/RON is gone. Okay. Not that. Voldemort. Voldemort. Voldemort. He scans the shelves. Marvolo: The Truth, this must be... He pulls it open. Again it swings away, revealing a splintering light, and a deeper voice than previously heard. BOOK: I am the creature you have not seen. I am you. I am me. The echo unforeseen. Sometimes in front, sometimes behind, A constant companion, for we are entwined. ALBUS emerges from the books. As himself again. SCORPIUS/HARRY: Albus... He tries to grab him. ALBUS: No. Just — THIIIIIIINK. ALBUS is violently pulled back into the bookcase. SCORPIUS/HARRY: But I can’t... an invisible echo, what is that? The only thing I’m good at is thinking and when I need to think — I can’t. The books pull him inside them; he’s powerless. This is terrifying. There’s silence. Then BANG — a shower of books are released from the bookcase — and SCORPIUS reemerges. Smashing the books aside. SCORPIUS: No! You don’t! Sybill Trelawney. No!!!! He looks around, sunk but full of energy. This is all wrong. Albus? Can you hear me? All this for a frigging Time-Turner. Think, Scorpius. Think. Books try and grab him. A constant companion. Sometimes behind. Sometimes in front. Hang on. I’ve missed it. Shadow. You’re a shadow. Shadows and Spirits. It must be... He climbs up the bookcase, which is horrifying as it rises up at him. Grabbing at him with his every step. He pulls the book from the shelf. It comes out and the noise and chaos suddenly stop. Is that — Suddenly there’s a smashing and ALBUS and DELPHI fall out of the shelves and down to the floor. We beat it. We beat the library. ALBUS: Delphi, are you... ? DELPHI: Wow. Quite a ride. ALBUS notices the book SCORPIUS is holding to his chest. ALBUS: Is that? Scorpius? What’s inside that book? DELPHI: I think we should find out, don’t you? SCORPIUS opens the book. In the center of it — a spinning Time-Turner. SCORPIUS: We’ve found the Time-Turner — I never thought we’d get this far. ALBUS: Mate, now we’ve got this, the next stop is saving Cedric. Our journey has only just begun. SCORPIUS: Only just begun and it’s almost half killed us. Good. This is going to be good. Whispers rise to a roar. And we cut to black.  ACT TWO, SCENE ONE DREAM, PRIVET DRIVE, CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS AUNT PETUNIA: Harry. Harry. These pots aren’t clean. THESE POTS ARE A DISGRACE. HARRY POTTER. Wake up. YOUNG HARRY wakes to see AUNT PETUNIA bearing down on him. YOUNG HARRY: Aunt Petunia. What time is it? AUNT PETUNIA: Time enough. You know, when we agreed to take you in, we hoped we could improve you — build you — make you a decent human being. So I suppose it’s only ourselves we’ve got to blame that you’ve turned out... such a limp disappointment. YOUNG HARRY: I try — AUNT PETUNIA: Trying is not succeeding though, is it? There are grease smears on the glasses. There are scuff marks on the pots. Now get up and go to the kitchen and get scrubbing. He gets out of bed. There’s a wet smear down the back of his trousers. Oh no. Oh no. What have you done? You’ve wet the bed, again. She pulls back the covers. This is very unacceptable. YOUNG HARRY: I’m — sorry, I think I was having a nightmare. AUNT PETUNIA: You disgusting boy. Only animals wet themselves. Animals and disgusting little boys. YOUNG HARRY: It was about my mum and dad. I think I saw them — I think I saw them — die? AUNT PETUNIA: And why would I have the slightest bit of interest in that? YOUNG HARRY: There was a man shouting Adkava Ad-something Acabra — Ad — and the noise of a snake hissing. I could hear my mum scream. AUNT PETUNIA takes a moment to reset herself. AUNT PETUNIA: If you were really reliving their death, all you’d hear would be a screech of brakes and a horrific thud. Your parents died in a car accident. You know that. I don’t think your mother had even time to scream. Lord spare you the details more than that. Now strip those sheets, get in the kitchen, and get scrubbing. I don’t want to have to tell you again. She exits with a bang. And YOUNG HARRY is left holding the sheets. And the stage contorts and trees rise as the dream twists into something else entirely. Suddenly, ALBUS appears and stands looking at YOUNG HARRY. And then, right from the back of the room, Parseltongue whispers around everyone. He’s coming. He’s coming. Words said in an unmistakable voice. The voice of VOLDEMORT... Haaarry Pottttter.  ACT TWO, SCENE TWO HARRY AND GINNY POTTER’S HOUSE, STAIRCASE HARRY wakes in the darkness, breathing deeply. His exhaustion palpable, his fear overwhelming. HARRY: Lumos. GINNY enters, surprised by the light. GINNY: Okay...? HARRY: I was sleeping. GINNY: You were. HARRY: You weren’t. Any — news? Any owls or... ? GINNY: None. HARRY: I was dreaming — I was under the stairs and then I — I heard him — Voldemort — so clearly. GINNY: Voldemort? HARRY: And then I saw — Albus. In red — he was wearing Durmstrang robes. GINNY: Durmstrang robes? HARRY thinks. HARRY: Ginny, I think I know where he is...  ACT TWO, SCENE THREE HOGWARTS, HEADMISTRESS’S OFFICE HARRY and GINNY stand in PROFESSOR McGONAGALL’s office. PROFESSOR McGONAGALL: And we don’t know where in the Forbidden Forest? HARRY: I haven’t had a dream like it for years. But Albus was there. I know he was. GINNY: We need to get searching as quickly as possible. PROFESSOR McGONAGALL: I can giveyou Professor Longbottom — his knowledge of plants might be useful — and — Suddenly there is a rumble in the chimney. PROFESSOR McGONAGALL looks at it, concerned. Then HERMIONE tumbles out. HERMIONE: Is it true? Can I help? PROFESSOR McGONAGALL: Minister — this is quite unexpected... GINNY: That may bemy fault — I persuaded them to put out an emergency edition of the Daily Prophet. Asking for volunteers. PROFESSOR McGONAGALL: Right. Very sensible. I expect... there will be quite a few. RON bursts in. Covered in soot. Wearing a gravy-stained dinner napkin. RON: HaveI missed anything — I couldn’t work out which Floo to travel to. Ended up in the kitchen somehow. (HERMIONE glares as he pulls the napkin off himself.) What? Suddenly there is another rumble in the chimney and DRACO comes down hard, surrounded by cascading soot and dust. Everyone looks at him, surprised. He stands and brushes the soot off himself. DRACO: Sorry about your floor, Minerva. PROFESSOR McGONAGALL: I dare say it’s my fault for owning a chimney. HARRY: Quite a surprise to see you, Draco. I thought you didn’t believe in my dreams. DRACO: I don’t,but I do trust your luck. Harry Potter is always where the action is at. And I need my son back with me and safe. GINNY: Then let’s get to the Forbidden Forest and find them both.  ACT TWO, SCENE FOUR EDGE OF THE FORBIDDEN FOREST ALBUS and DELPHI face each other, holding wands. ALBUS: Expelliarmus! DELPHI’s wand flies through the air. DELPHI: You’re getting it now. You’re good at this. She takes her wand back from him. (In a posh voice.) “You’re a positively disarming young man.” ALBUS: Expelliarmus! Her wand flies back again. DELPHI: And we have a winner. The two high-five. ALBUS: I’ve never been good at spells. SCORPIUS appears at the back of the stage. He looks at his friend talking to a girl — and part of him likes it and part of him doesn’t. DELPHI: I was rubbish — and then something clicked. And it will for you too. Not that I’m a super witch or anything but — I think you’re becoming quite some wizard, Albus Potter. ALBUS: Then you should stick around, teach me more... DELPHI: Of course I’m sticking around, we’re friends, aren’t we? ALBUS: Yes. Yes. Definitely friends. Definitely. DELPHI: Great. Wizzo! SCORPIUS: What’s wizzo? SCORPIUS steps forward decisively. ALBUS: Cracked the spell. I mean, it’s pretty basic, but I was — well, I cracked it. SCORPIUS (over-enthusiastic, trying to join in): And I’ve found our way through to the school. Listen, are we sure this will work... DELPHI: Yes! ALBUS: It’s a brilliant plan. The secret to not getting Cedric killed is to stop him winning the Triwizard Tournament. If he doesn’t win, he can’t be killed. SCORPIUS: And I understand that, but... ALBUS: So we just need to mess up his chances supremely badly in task one. The first task is getting a golden egg from a dragon, how did Cedric distract the dragon — DELPHI puts her hand in the air. ALBUS grins and points at her. These two are getting on really well now. Diggory. DELPHI: — by transfiguring a stone into a dog. ALBUS: — well, a little Expelliarmus and he won’t be able to do that. SCORPIUS isn’t enjoying the DELPHI-ALBUS double act. SCORPIUS: Okay, two points, first point, we’re certain the dragon won’t kill him? DELPHI: It’s always two points with him, isn’t it? Of course it won’t. This is Hogwarts. They won’t let damage happen to any of the champions. SCORPIUS: Okay, second point — more significant point — we’re going back without any knowledge of whether we can travel back afterwards. Which is exciting. Maybe we should just — try going back an hour, say, first and then... DELPHI: I’m sorry, Scorpius, we’ve no time to waste. Waiting here this close to the school is just too dangerous — I’m sure they’ll be looking for you and... ALBUS: She’s right. DELPHI: Now, you’re going to need to wear these. She pulls out two large paper bags. The boys pull robes from them. ALBUS: But these are Durmstrang robes. DELPHI: My uncle’s idea. If you are in Hogwarts robes people will expect to know who you are. But there are two other schools competing at the Triwizard Tournament — and if you’re in Durmstrang robes — well, you can fade into the background, can’t you? ALBUS: Good thinking! Hang on, where are your robes? DELPHI: Albus, I’m flattered, but I don’t think I can pretend to be a student, do you? I’ll just keep in the background and pretend to be a — ooh, maybe I could pretend to be a dragon tamer. You’re doing all the spell stuff anyway. SCORPIUS looks at her and then at ALBUS. SCORPIUS: You shouldn’t come. DELPHI: What? SCORPIUS: You’re right. We don’t need you for the spell. And if you can’t wear student robes — you’re too big a risk. Sorry, Delphi, you shouldn’t come. DELPHI: But I have to — he’s my cousin. Albus? ALBUS: I think he’s right. I’m sorry. DELPHI: What? ALBUS: We won’t mess up. DELPHI: But without me — you won’t be able to work the Time-Turner. SCORPIUS: You taught us how to use the Time-Turner. DELPHI is really upset. DELPHI: No. I won’t let you do this... ALBUS: You told your uncle to trust us. Now it’s your turn. The school is close now. We should leave you here. DELPHI looks at them both and takes a deep breath. She nods to herself and smiles. DELPHI: Then go. But — just know this... Today you get an opportunity few are given — today you get to change history — to change time itself. But more than all that, today you get the chance to give an old man his son back. She smiles. She looks at ALBUS. She leans down and gently kisses him on both cheeks. She walks away into the woodland. ALBUS stares after her. SCORPIUS: She didn’t kiss me — did you notice? (He looks at his friend.) Are you okay, Albus? You look a little pale. And red. Pale and red at the same time. ALBUS: Let’s do this.  ACT TWO, SCENE FIVE FORBIDDEN FOREST The forest seems to grow bigger, thicker — and amongst the trees, people searching, looking for the missing wizards. But slowly people melt away until HARRY is left alone. He hears something. He turns to his right. HARRY: Albus? Scorpius? Albus? And then he hears the sound of hooves. HARRY is startled. He looks around for where the noise is coming from. Suddenly BANE steps forward into the light. He is a magnificent centaur. BANE: Harry Potter. HARRY: Good. You still recognize me, Bane. BANE: You’ve grown older. HARRY: I have. BANE: But not wiser. For you trespass on our land. HARRY: I have always respected the centaurs. We are not enemies. You fought bravely at the Battle of Hogwarts. And I fought beside you. BANE: I did my part. But for my herd, and our honor. Not for you. And after the battle, the forest was deemed centaur land. And if you’re on our land — without permission — then you are our enemy. HARRY: My son is missing, Bane. I need help finding him. BANE: And he is here? In our forest? HARRY: Yes. BANE: Then he is as stupid as you are. HARRY: Can you help me, Bane?  There’s a pause. BANE looks down at HARRY imperiously. BANE: I can only tell you what I know... But I tell you not for your benefit but for the benefit of my herd. The centaurs do not need another war. HARRY: Neither do we! What do you know? BANE: I’ve seen your son, Harry Potter. Seen him in the movements of the stars. HARRY: You’ve seen him in the stars? BANE: I can’t tell you where he is. I can’t tell you how you’ll find him. HARRY: But you’ve seen something? You’ve divined something? BANE: There is a black cloud around your son, a dangerous black cloud. HARRY: Around Albus? BANE: A black cloud that may endanger us all. You’ll find your son again, Harry Potter. But then you could lose him forever. He makes a sound like a horse’s cry — and then makes hard away — leaving a bewildered HARRY behind. He begins to search again — now with even more fervor. HARRY: Albus! Albus!  ACT TWO, SCENE SIX EDGE OF THE FORBIDDEN FOREST SCORPIUS and ALBUS round a corner to be faced with a gap in the trees... A gap through which is visible... a glorious light... SCORPIUS: And there it is... ALBUS: Hogwarts. Never seen this view of it before. SCORPIUS: Still get a tingle, don’t you? When you see it? And revealed through the trees is HOGWARTS — a splendid mass of bulbous buildings and towers. From the moment I first heard of it, I was desperate to go. I mean, Dad didn’t much like it there but even the way he described it... From the age of ten I’d check the Daily Prophet first thing every morning — certain some sort of tragedy would have befallen it — certain I wouldn’t get to go. ALBUS: And then you got there and it turned out to be terrible after all. SCORPIUS: Not for me. ALBUS looks at his friend, shocked. All I ever wanted to do was go to Hogwarts and have a mate to get up to mayhem with. Just like Harry Potter. And I got his son. How crazily fortunate is that. ALBUS: But I’m nothing like my dad. SCORPIUS: You’re better. You’re my best friend, Albus. And this is mayhem to the nth degree. Which is great, thumbs-up great, it’s just — I have got to say — I don’t mind admitting — I am a tiny bit — just a tiny bit scared. ALBUS looks at SCORPIUS and smiles. ALBUS: You’re my best friend too. And don’t worry — I have a good feeling about this. We hear RON’s voice from off — he’s clearly in close proximity. RON: Albus? Albus.  ALBUS turns towards it, scared. ALBUS: But we’ve got to go — now. ALBUS takes the Time-Turner from SCORPIUS — he presses down upon it and the Time-Turner begins to vibrate and then explodes into a storm of movement. And with it the stage starts to transform. The two boys look at it. And there is a giant whoosh of light. A smash of noise. And time stops. And then it turns over, thinks a bit, and begins spooling backwards, slow at first... And then it speeds up.  ACT TWO, SCENE SEVEN TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT, EDGE OF THE FORBIDDEN FOREST, 1994 Suddenly everything is a riot of noise as a crowd consumes ALBUS and SCORPIUS. And suddenly the “greatest showman on earth” (his words, not ours) is onstage, using Sonorus to amplify his voice, and... well... he’s having a ball. LUDO BAGMAN: Ladies and gentlemen — boys and girls — I give you — the greatest — the fabulous — the one — and the only TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT. There’s a loud cheer. If you’re from Hogwarts. Give me a cheer. There’s a loud cheer. If you’re from Durmstrang — give me a cheer. There’s a loud cheer. AND IF YOU’RE FROM BEAUXBATONS GIVE ME A CHEER. There’s a slightly limp cheer. Slightly less enthusiastic from the French there. SCORPIUS (smiling): This has worked. That’s Ludo Bagman. LUDO BAGMAN: And there they are. Ladies and gentlemen — boys and girls — I present to you — the reason why we’re all here — THE CHAMPIONS. Representing Durmstrang, what eyebrows, what a gait, what a boy, there’s nothing he won’t try on a broomstick, it’s Viktor Krazy Krum. SCORPIUSand ALBUS (who are really getting into playing the Durmstrang students now): Go, go, Krazy Krum. Go, go, Krazy Krum. LUDO BAGMAN: From the Beauxbatons Academy — zut alors, it’s Fleur Delacour! There’s some polite applause. And from Hogwarts not one but two students, he makes us all go weaky at the kneesy, he’s Cedric Delicious Diggory. The crowd go wild. And then the other—you know him as the Boy Who Lived, I know him as the boy who keeps surprising us all... ALBUS: That’s my dad. LUDO BAGMAN: Yes, it’s Harry Plucky Potter. There’s cheering. Particularly from a nervous-looking girl at the edge of the crowd—this is YOUNG HERMIONE (played by the same actress as plays ROSE). It is noticeable that the cheering for HARRY is slightly less than that for CEDRIC. And now — silence please, all. The — first — task. Retrieving a golden egg. From a nest of — ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you — DRAGONS. And guiding the dragons — CHARLIE WEASLEY. There are more cheers. YOUNG HERMIONE: If you’re going to stand so close I’d rather you didn’t breathe on me quite so much. SCORPIUS: Rose? What are you doing here? YOUNG HERMIONE: Who’s Rose? And what’s happened to your accent? ALBUS (with a bad accent): Sorry. Hermione. He’s got you mixed up with someone else. YOUNG HERMIONE: How do you know my name? LUDO BAGMAN: And with no time to lose let’s bring out our first champion — facing a Swedish Short- Snout, I give you — CEDRIC DIGGORY. A dragon roar distracts YOUNG HERMIONE, and ALBUS readies his wand. And Cedric Diggory has entered the stage. And he seems ready. Scared, but ready. He dodges this way. He dodges that. The girls swoon as he dives for cover. They cry as one: Don’t damage our Diggory, Mr. Dragon! SCORPIUS looks concerned. SCORPIUS: Albus, something is going wrong. The Time-Turner, it’s shaking.  A ticking begins, an incessant, dangerous ticking. It’s coming from the Time-Turner. LUDO BAGMAN: And Cedric skirts left and he dives right — and he readies his wand — what has this young, brave, handsome man got up his sleevies now — ALBUS (extending his wand): Expelliarmus! CEDRIC’s wand is summoned to ALBUS’s hand. LUDO BAGMAN: — but no, what’s this? Is it Dark Magic or is it something else entirely? His wand is flying away — Cedric Diggory is Disarmed — SCORPIUS: Albus, I think the Time-Turner — something is wrong... The Time-Turner’s ticking gets louder still. LUDO BAGMAN: It’s all going wrong for Diggors. This could be the end of the task for him. The end of the tournament. SCORPIUS grabs ALBUS. There’s a crescendo in the ticking, and a flash. And time is turned back to the present, with ALBUS hollering