Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Rewrite

ACT ONE, SCENE TEN

THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS 

ALBUS walks quickly along the train. 

ROSE: Albus, I've been looking for you . . . 

ALBUS: Me? Why? 

ROSE isn't sure how to phrase what she has to say. 

ROSE: Albus, it's the start of the fourth year, and so the start of a new year for us. I want to be friendsagain. 

ALBUS: We never were friends. 

ROSE: That's harsh! You were my best friend when I was six! 

ALBUS: That was a long time ago.He makes to walk away. She pulls him into an empty compartment. 

ROSE: Have you heard the rumors? Big Ministry raid a few days ago. Your dad apparently was incrediblybrave. 

ALBUS: How do you always know about these things and I don't? 

ROSE: Apparently he — the wizard they raided — Theodore Nott, I think — had all sorts of artifacts thatbroke all sorts of laws including — and this has got them all gooey — an illegal Time-Turner. Andquite a superior one at that. 

ALBUS looks at ROSE, everything falling into place. 

ALBUS: A Time-Turner? Dad found a Time-Turner? 

ROSE: Shh! Yes. I know. Great, right? 

ALBUS: You're sure. 

ROSE: Entirely. 

ALBUS: Now I have to find Liv. 

He walks down the train. ROSE follows, still determined to say her piece. 

ROSE: Albus! 

ALBUS turns decisively. 

ALBUS: Who's told you that you have to talk to me? 

ROSE (sprung): Okay, maybe your mum owled my dad — but only because she's worried about you. And Ijust think — 

ALBUS: Leave me alone, Rose. 

OLIVIA is sitting in her usual compartment. ALBUS enters first, ROSE still tailing him.

OLIVIA: Albus! Oh hello, Rose! 

ROSE (ignoring Olivia): Albus, I'm here, okay? If you need me. 

ROSE walks away, shaking her head. M 

ALBUS: I've been looking for you everywhere . . . 

OLIVIA: And now you've found me. Ta-da! I was hardly hiding. You know how I like to — get on early.Stops people staring. Shouting. Writing "daughter of Voldemort" on my trunk. That one never gets old.  

ALBUS hugs his friend. With fierceness. They hold for a beat. OLIVIA is surprised by this.

Okay. Hello. Um. Have we hugged before? Do we hug?The two awkwardly dislocate. 

ALBUS: Just a slightly weird twenty-four hours.

OLIVIA: What's happened in them? 

ALBUS: I'll explain later. We have to get off this train. 

There's the sound of whistles from off. The train starts moving. 

OLIVIA: Too late. The train is moving. Hogwarts ahoy! 

ALBUS: Then we have to get off a moving train.

TROLLEY WITCH: Anything from the trolley, dears?

ALBUS opens a window and makes to climb out. 

OLIVIA: A moving magical train. 

TROLLEY WITCH: Pumpkin Pasty? Cauldron Cake? 

OLIVIA: Albus Severus Potter, get that strange look out of your eye. 

ALBUS: First question. What do you know about the Triwizard Tournament? 

OLIVIA (happy): Ooooh, a quiz! Three schools pick three champions to compete in three tasks for oneCup. What's that got to do with anything? 

ALBUS: You really are an enormous geek, you know that? 

OLIVIA: Ya-huh. 

ALBUS: Second question. Why has the Triwizard Tournament not been run in over twenty years?

SCORPIUS: The last competition included your dad and a boy called Cedric Diggory — they decided to wintogether but the Cup was a Portkey — and they were transported to Voldemort. Cedric was killed.They canceled the competition immediately after. 

ALBUS: Good. Third question: Did Cedric need to be killed? Easy question, easy answer: No. The wordsVoldemort said were "Kill the spare." The spare. He died only because he was with my father andmy father couldn't save him — we can. A mistake has been made and we're going to right it. We'regoing to use a Time-Turner. We're going to bring him back. 

OLIVIA: Albus, for obvious reasons, I'm not a massive fan of Time-Turners . . . 

ALBUS: When Amos Diggory asked for the Time-Turner my father denied they even existed. He lied to anold man who just wanted his son back — who just loved his son. And he did it because he didn'tcare — because he doesn't care. Everyone talks about all the brave things Dad did. But he madesome mistakes too. Some big mistakes, in fact. I want to set one of those mistakes right. I want us tosave Cedric. 

OLIVIA: Okay, whatever was holding your brain together seems to have snapped. 

ALBUS: I'm going to do this, Liv. I need to do this. And you know as well as I do, I'll entirely mess itup if you don't come with me. Come on. 

He grins. And then disappears ever up. OLIVIA hesitates for a moment. She makes a face. And then hoists herself up and disappears after ALBUS.