Act Four, Scene 1 - 15
Wizards and witches cram into the Grand Meeting Room as Hermione takes the center stage. She informs them that the corpse of Craig Bowker Jr was found at Hogwarts. She has no information on the identity of the killer, but tells the crowd that they have discovered a brand new prophecy and that Lord Voldemort indeed has a child. Professor McGonagall is shocked and asks if this daughter of the Dark Lord was in custody. Hermione says no, because she has hidden in time with the help of an illegal Time-Turner that was stolen from her office. McGonagall begins placing the blame on Hermione, but Harry defends her and says the important thing is that they stop Delphi before she rewrites history and Lord Voldemort rules the Wizarding world.
Albus and Scorpius are at a train station, asking a Stationmaster for help. Through his thick Scottish accent, they understand that they are too late to catch a train. Albus looks at the timetable and realizes where they are: October 30, 1981, the day before Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter. Albus realizes Delphi’s plan. She wants Voldemort to kill Harry. Scorpius realizes that it was his fault, because he told her that prophecies can be broken. Albus and Scorpius rush to Godric’s Hallow before Delphi can succeed.
Albus and Scorpius walk around Godric’s Hallow. Scorpius is shocked to learn that Albus had never seen Godric’s Hallow; Harry tried to take him several times, but he refused. Scorpius shows him St. Jerome’s graveyard and points out where the statue of Harry Potter and his parents will be located. Then he shows him the house of Bathilda Bagshot, author of the book “A History of Magic.” Then Albus sees the house of Lily and James Potter. He sees his grandparents with a baby and moves towards them. Scorpius stops him, reminding him that he can’t be seen without damaging time. They start to develop a plan.
Dumbledore appears in a portrait in Harry’s office. While arguing with him, Harry tells Dumbledore that he is letting his son down the same way that he did with him. Dumbledore tells him to be true to the people that he truly loves. Then, Draco enters and tells him that he has in his possession the real Time-Turner from Theodore Nott, and the one that Albus is using is just a prototype. His Time-Turner does not have a time limit. He tells Harry that he was hesitant to admit he possessed it because it would mean that people would believe that Scorpius was indeed Voldemort’s son. He admits that his wife’s bloodline had a blood disease passed on to each generation, therefore he hid Scorpius and his wife from society, causing people to create the rumors. Harry tells him that they both tried to give their sons what they thought they needed, not what their sons themselves truly wanted.
Outside of James and Lily Potter’s home, Albus and Scorpius are thinking of ideas to send a message to Harry. They cannot talk to anyone or they will risk changing the future. Albus sees Lily wrapping Harry in the blanket and he remembers that his father always held the blanket on the anniversary of his parents’ death. However, Albus realizes that he did spill Ron’s love potion on the blanket, which creates a chemical reaction. He realizes that in order for Harry to get the message they have to write it with tincture of Demiguise which is known to cause a Chemical reaction with the pearl dust in the love potion. Conveniently, Batilda Bagshot has some in her home, and always leaves her doors unlocked.
Ginny finds Harry sitting on Albus’s bed at home, and he tells her that he hasn’t touched anything. He tells her that this is his second worst Hallow's Eve. He says that he shouldn’t have survived; he was supposed to die, and now it was all his fault that fifty people died trying to save him. Ginny tells him that Voldemort killed those people, not him. Harry looks at the floor and sees his blanket. He sadly mentions that it was all he had from his parents and now it was filled with holes caused by Ron’s love potion. Harry opens the blanket and Ginny notices the holes spell something out: “Dad. Help. Godric’s Hollow. 31/10/81.” Harry realizes that it's message from Albus telling where he is in time. Harry kisses Ginny and tells her to send an owl to Draco telling him to meet them at Godric’s Hollow with the Time-Turner. Harry sends Hermione an owl telling her the same.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Ginny arrive and walk around Godric’s Hallow in the present. Hermione remembers the last time she was there over twenty years ago. Ginny notices that it was filled with Muggles, because Godric’s Hallow has since become a famous location. The five start to break into a little fight over Draco's past grievances but Hermione reminds them that they are all on the same team now. Draco takes out the Time-Turner and it transports them back to Godric’s Hallows in 1981.
Albus looks up and sees his parents, his Aunt and Uncle, and Draco Malfoy. Albus is overjoyed his parents received his note and they hug. Seeing that, Draco tells his son that they could also hug, so they do, very awkwardly. Ron asks them where Delphi is, and Albus says that she is arriving soon. Hermione says that they should hide in St. Jerome’s Church, so that they don't attract attention.
Albus is sleeping when Harry express concerns to Ginny that he made Albus think he had to save the world, but Ginny corrects Harry, saying that Albus has, in fact, saved the world. She then tells him that after she opened the Chamber of Secrets, everybody ignored her once she got out of the hospital, except for him. One day he challenged her to a game of Exploding Snap in the Gryffindor Common Room and reminds him that sometimes people, including children, just need someone to see them. Harry asks what Exploding Snap had to do with him being a good father. She tells him that in that moment she felt the love from him and she is sure that Albus hasn’t felt that from him. He tells her that he’d do anything for him, but he would do anything for anybody. Albus needs to feel a specific love from him. He tells her that once he thought Albus was gone, he truly understood what his mother felt for him: a type of love that was able to repel the spell of death. In that moment, Ginny realizes that Delphi doesn't want Harry to be killed; she wants to stop Voldemort from killing him and causing his own demise.
The group's new mission is to ensure that Voldemort kills James and Lily Potter. No one knows the exact time that Voldemort visited Godric’s Hollow. Albus tells them that he is good at brewing a Polyjuice potion and that Bathilda Bagshot has ingredients in her home. What they need to do is get one of them to transfigure into Voldermort, luring Delphi. However, Ron tells him that they need a bit of Voldemort for it to work. Harry tells Hermione that they can transfigure into him manually, Ron volunteers first, then Draco and Hermione. Ginny does not since she knows what it’s like to have his voice inside of her head, but ultimately Harry decides that it has to be him. For the plan to work Delphi has to know that it’s him; she’ll use Parseltongue and Harry can speak it in reply. Hermione agrees, but Ginny and Ron reminds them that Harry could stay stuck as Voldemort forever. Harry agrees, saying that it’s the only way they can defeat Delphi. Hermione explains that the objective is to get Delphi to stand near him, so they can come out of the door and trap her. Draco looks for flaws in this plan, but Albus tells him to trust his father. Hermione and the gang join their wands and transfigure Harry into Voldemort.
Albus confesses to his mother that he was responsible for the whole time-traveling situation. Ginny believes that Harry was the one responsible. Ginny, Albus, Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Scorpius hide as Delphi enters the church. Delphi reveals herself to "Voldemort" as his daughter, and Harry acts the part well. However, Harry's disguise only lasts for only a short time and Delphi becomes suspicious. When she realizes she has been tricked, she and Harry engage in a battle. She locks the door by using a Sealing Charm, leaving Harry to face her alone. She is very powerful, and Harry is soon struggling to hold his own. Albus arrives through a vent and manages to get the doors open. The others rush in and quickly defeat Delphi. She pleads to just have a chance to see Voldemort. Harry refuses. She asks to be put to death and Harry refuses that as well, noting their commitment to always taking the moral road with their enemies. They hear Voldemort approaching and Draco flicks his wand and silences Delphi.
Harry watches Voldemort; he knows that he is going to kill his parents, but he can’t do anything. Draco tells him that he can do something, but Scorpius and Albus tell him that he can’t save them without messing with time. Draco considers his actions to be heroic, Ginny grabs Harry’s hand and tells him that he doesn’t have to watch. Harry tells them that he is allowing it to happen, so he has to watch, then they all agree to watch with him. Voldemort kills James Potter first, we hear the screams of Lily Potter begging for her life. A green light flashes, Lily and James are dead, and so is Voldemort. Harry and his family and friends return back to the future.
We flash back to the wreckage of James and Lily Potter’s house. Hagrid comes in and finds James and Lily’s corpse. He begins sobbing until he hears the sound of baby Harry. He takes him out of his crib and introduces himself telling him that they are going to be friends, whether he likes it or not. Hagrid takes baby Harry out of the house...and the rest is history.
Scorpius and Albus run into a classroom, and are both shocked that Scorpius asked out Rose. She said no, but Scorpius claims that he planted the acorn which will eventually grow into their marriage. Albus told him that he is being a fantasist, but Scorpius reminded him that Polly Chapman asked him to the school ball in the alternative reality where he was popular. Albus assures him that Rose hates him, but Scorpius corrects him: she used to hate him, but now she has pity for him. For him, pity is good since it’s the start of love. Albus thought he would be the first to get a girlfriend, so Scorpius tells him that he should date the new "smokey-eyed" Potions professor since he has a thing for older women, referring to Delphi. Then Rose walks in and says hi to Albus and Scorpius, and walks off after referring to Scorpius as the “Scorpion King.” Then Scorpius invites him to watch a Quidditch match; he's been training so that next year he can join the Slytherin team. Albus declines his invitation because he is going for a walk with his father. Scorpius seems to hugs Albus, although it's not totally clear.
Harry and Albus walk on the Hogwarts grounds. He asks his son if he is ready for his fourth-year exams—he remembers it was a big year for him—but then notices that is making it about himself, so he stops. Albus tells him that he saw his parents and that they were having fun together as a family. Harry would have liked them, and so would Albus and his siblings. Harry tells him that he thought that he lost Voldemort forever, but then his scar started hurting and he felt as if he had never truly gotten rid of him. Now Harry's priority is to be a better and more honest dad to his son. Harry reminds Albus that he once told him that he wasn’t afraid of anything, so he is going to tell him the truth. He is afraid of the dark, small spaces, and pigeons, but the thing that scares him the most is being his father. Harry does not have a role model to base himself off of as a parent, because he was an orphan. Albus promises that he was going to be a better son, but that he will never be like James and him. Harry tells him that James is nothing like him, because everything is easy for James, while Harry had a struggling childhood like Albus. But he says that Albus is more like his mother: bold, fierce, and funny. Albus reminds him that he almost destroyed the world. Harry tells him that he knows that his son is going to be a great wizard and Albus jokingly replies that he is going into pigeon racing. Harry grins and tells him that the names that he carries are not meant to be a burden: both Dumbledore and Snape were good wizards, but they also had their flaws. Albus looks around and asks why are they in a graveyard. Harry tells him that they are visiting the grave of Cedric Diggory. He agrees with Amos that Cedric was stolen from him and he feels guilty for getting him killed, so sometimes Harry pays a visit to his grave. Harry and Albus hug, look to the sky and agree that it is going to be a great day.
Analysis
The rules of the prophecy and the past are tricky. From our understanding, Delphi is thwarted when Cedric wins the Tri-wizard tournament. She is forced to recalibrate her plans to prevent the death of Voldemort by taking matters into her own hands, abandoning the prospect of fulfilling the prophecy. By going back in time and modifying the past herself, she prevents Albus and Scorpius from playing their role in the prophecy. By defying the prophecy, she ultimately sets herself up for defeat.
The exchange between Ginny and Harry is an important one for the father/son relationship. She successfully diagnoses the cause of tension between her husband and son; she alludes to a time she felt specifically loved by Harry, when she was feeling particularly vulnerable and he offered to play a game with her, as opposed to all of the other people who he treats well in general. She realizes that Albus needs to feel that Harry is tailoring his parenting to Albus's own needs, not just what Harry would have wanted for himself.
The climax of the play is a surprisingly touching moment that links the fate of two orphan children, when Harry's parents are about to be murdered by the father of the orphan Delphi. We see her desperation to know her father and have his approval as she talks to Harry disguised as the Dark Wizard, giving the final confrontation an unexpected parallel. Delphi moves heaven and earth to have the opportunity to meet her father, no matter what the casualties. The irony is that this puts Harry in a position where he is forced make the choice not to change history and prevent the murder of his parents. Instead, he chooses life as he knows it and watches—surrounded by the people who will become, in a sense, his surrogate family—his birth parents being murdered.
The theme of an orphan finding a family makes Delphi an interesting foil to Harry. Harry goes to Hogwarts and makes friends who eventually become his family (literally, in Ginny's case). The importance of those relationships stem from the fact that he has no one else as family. Delphi was raised by the Rowles, who never wanted her and never give her the chance to attend Hogwarts. Delphi was never given a chance to grow and develop relationships, therefore resorting to finding her family by changing the past.
The last moment of the play gives a happy ending to our heroes. Scorpius is trying (and in his mind, succeeding) at courting Rose and beginning to involve himself in extracurricular activities. Albus and Harry agree that they need to work as a team to improve their relationship, and demonstrate their commitment to bonding by spending quality time together at Hogwarts. Harry apologizes for everything that he said to his son, and beings to focus on the common ground between them. Harry also learns to be vulnerable, admitting to his son that he has fears for the first time, revealing his humanity and allowing his son to see him as a normal man with fears instead of a wizarding hero. Together as they mourn at the grave of Cedric, they express hope in the future of their relationships, buoyed by a better understanding of the other and seeing more of themselves in the other Potter.
