So you thought we’d come to the end of the Harry Potter story…well, think again. JK Rowling, with some help this time, has written another instalment. This one takes place 19 years after the events of the last Potter book, and the plot revolves around Harry’s second son, Albus Severus Potter. (Note: I’m writing this on the assumption that the readers are familiar with the Harry Potter books/movies.)

Harry, now an employee in the Ministry of Magic, has a difficult relationship with Albus, who doesn’t want to be the son of a famous father, especially as he feels he could never live up to him. Not only does he have Harry Potter for a father, but he is named after two men whom Harry admired—so no pressure there! On his first train ride to Hogwarts, Albus meets Scorpius, the son of Draco Malfoy. The two not only become friends but the Sorting Hat puts Albus in (gasp) Slytherin! There are rumours that Voldemort had a child, and some suspect that child is Scorpius. Then Albus decides to travel back in time with his friend to put right something his father did. But you cannot change something in the past without it having ripples in the present…

My frustration with this book was the first 30 pages felt very fragmented, as we are rushed through a bit of background. I felt like I couldn’t settle on anything because I was hurried on to the next scene. It settles down eventually, but the play still felt like there was a book trying to get out. And a novel would have done justice to the story—because it is a good story. That is something you can rely on Rowling for, with or without co-authors. Maybe it works on stage but as a book, I could have done with more depth and detail.

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