Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | (October 2016 Meeting)

Author: J.K. Rowling

One-sentence summary: Harry and Ginny’s son, Albus, comes into contact with a time-turner with almost disastrous results.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: It’s a Harry Potter story. The End. (Just kidding – we really did like the plot and further exploration of the characters.)

Our least favorite thing about it: The painful father/son dynamic that Harry and Albus had to work through.

Main Topics of Discussion: Fathers/Sons, Time Travel, Plays vs. Novels, Various Harry Potter characters (almost all, but notably Snape and Dumbledore)

Our favorite quote: “In every shining moment of happiness is that drop of poison: the knowledge that pain will come again. Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe.”

Notes: It was really fun to discuss a Harry Potter book (even though it was a play) with each other. We loved that it was a play, too. It took some of the pressure off of the story for it to be a different format than the original 7 novels and it was fun to read a play for the first time as a group. Other things we discussed:

• We thought it was so interesting seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione not only as adults but as parents. We resonated so much with their thoughts and feeling as parents since we are obviously parents as well. But it was also interesting to get a glimpse into their futures and what they were doing as well as glimpses into their alternate futures when Albus used the time turner.
• We thought the unfortunate father/son relationship between Harry and Albus was sad, but realistic. And it made us think about how Harry didn’t really have a father figure as an example for himself. And it also made us think about the fact that we all make mistakes as parents – even Harry Potter!
• We loved how we got to see more of Dumbledore’s wisdom - and just to see him again. We felt the same about Snape. It felt to us like closure to have more dialogue with him in this play.
• The issue of time travel and time turners was, as always, an interesting plot device. Of course it brought up so many fascinating what-ifs in the world of Harry Potter. The alternate pasts were really fun to see even when they were not as they should be.
• We loved the humor and the exploration of humanity and relationships that J.K. Rowling sneaks into all of her works. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Memorable Meeting Moments: Dara decked out her house in Harry Potter decorations for our meeting. So fun! And we had a traditional English Pub meal as if we were dining at The Three Broomsticks or The Leaky Cauldron. And we celebrated Lindsay's birthday with birthday cards and books...AND a balloon drop!

What We Ate: Onion crostini, Bangers and Mash, and Butterbeer Cupcakes…and Butterbeer and Hot Pumpkin Juice