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BOOK REVIEW

By S.Z
Fri, 08, 16

You know, I don’t agree with most social media posts that my friends share, but there was one I was in no hurry to forget: “seeing someone read a book you love is seeing a book recommend a person”.

Did Harry Potter end well?

You know, I don’t agree with most social media posts that my friends share, but there was one I was in no hurry to forget: “seeing someone read a book you love is seeing a book recommend a person”. A character’s name, a favourite scene; for me, ‘Harry Potter’ series did the job. Pictures, TV interviews, celeb spotting, random articles, I would read (or see) them if it concerned the aforementioned – actor/character didn’t matter.

So, when it was announced that the series, in fact, was going beyond “All was well”, I could feel my heart pounding again. “The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years”; naturally, I was intrigued as to what this new plot could offer, what could trouble the ‘cursed child’? It was the past, the family legacy, which Harry and Albus (father and son) struggled with as became apparent after the official synopsis. If I was waiting like crazy the whole year, it was nothing to the week following the release date of the play when a certain publisher receiving pre-orders ran out of stock and forced customers to wait, to dodge the spoilers on the internet that began appearing.

I was warned it was not a long read. Other people’s disappointment over the fact that it did not read like a novel and over the shared authorship did not affect me much. Like I’ve already told you, I was biased in favour of the character. And last week, when I finally had my hands all over the glossy, skimmed the flap copy, and started Part One, Act One, Scene One, I was actually reading it with some expectations of my own. I wanted to see how the trio had aged – professionally and personally. At 40, Harry is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Ron runs the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, Hermione’s Minster for Magic, McGonagall’s Headmistress of Hogwwarts; most importantly, they are all parents now.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is, as far as the series go is definitely not my favourite book. There are loopholes in the plot that leave much to be desired. Of all the things he could have chosen, Albus’ obsession (before his infatuation with Delphi) to set the wrong his father did in Triwizard Tournament seems a bit off. Delphi as progeny of Voldemort is even more difficult to fathom even if time lapses as suggested by her birth and the return of Bellatrix’s husband in sequence could be accepted due to script format.

The plot begins with Albus’ decision to befriend Scorpious, which can be interpreted two ways. One, good parenting to not shun a person simply because they are different (a Slytherin, Malfoy - Deatheater’s child if not Voldemort – Dark Lord’s). Two, a teenager’s rebellion against his father’s advice in attempt to shun his legacy, stares and whispers included. Seeing the boys grow close together, one wonders again how Harry would have fared in his own time at school had the likes of Draco, Snape and even Dumbledore been given similar chances, a different destiny.

In the events that follow at Hogwarts and in the outside world, especially after the boys decide to steal a Time Turner from Ministry of Magic and go back in the past, is a fight yet again between good and evil, right and wrong. And we see friends, family, colleagues, stand together with the ones they love as another prophecy claims Voldemort’s return to power while The Boy Who Lived dies. A bit more of Snape’s good side, moments wherein Cedric prepares for the three tasks, and Harry finally understanding how his mother’s love saved his life all those years ago in Godric’s Hollow are some treats worth picking up this book for. Victory does not come easy. Each of them has to overcome their fears and petty rivalries if they are to defeat the common enemy, especially when stakes are high. Seems like life is a constant struggle even if you are a powerful wizard or witch “an’ yer gonna need friends.”