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This book, the script for a play, follows Harry Potter’s son Albus in his adventures as a teenage wizard at Hogwarts. Albus and Harry are a study in contrasts. Harry was a Gryffindor, Albus is a Slytherin. Harry was skilled at spellcasting and Quidditch, while Albus is not a talented wizard and has no aptitude for broomsticks. Harry’s school-age enemy was Draco Malfoy, while Draco’s son Scorpius is Albus’ best friend. Albus tires of constantly being compared with his father and feels that everyone sees him as a poor copy. He works to distance himself from his father and everything associated with him.
In Act 1, Scene 5, we learn the Ministry of Magic has secured a time-turner. An old man, Amos Diggory, shows up at Harry’s house to demand that someone use the time-turner to go back and rescue his son Cedric from being murdered by Voldemort during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. When Harry refuses, Diggory’s pretty niece, Dephi, recruits Albus and Scorpius to steal the time-turner and save Cedric.
The boys obtain the time-turner and go back to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but their heroic plan does not go the way they imagined. The two set off a chain of events that drastically alters their world. Alone, Albus and Scorpius have to figure out how to stop an evil villain and save the people they love.
Though this wasn’t written by Rowling and doesn’t have “the Rowling magic,” as I have heard some say, I still enjoyed the book. It’s not as detailed or complex as the Harry Potter books, but it has its own unique charm. I enjoyed the themes of friendship and parent-child relationships that are explored in the play and the ending is a real tear-jerker.
Rated: Mild, for seven instances of profanity. There is one magical murder in the book, but no graphic violence, and there is no sex.
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