Not My Canon!

Act One Summary - 1

The next handful of posts will summarize the original play in long form to refamiliarize you and "set the stage" for what's to come. If you haven't bought the script, I'm going to suggest you do - legally, I feel it would be irresponsible of me otherwise. That said, I can't control what you read.

Much of this summary was collected from online sources that were uninterested in showing a negative slant toward continuity issues. It has been edited for readability and word count.

SPOILER ALERT -- -- Obviously.

The play begins with the epilogue from HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, when Harry and Ginny drop their children off at the Hogwarts Express. Harry's eldest son, James, is taunting his eleven-year-old brother, Albus Severus, suggesting that he might be sorted into Slytherin, which is said to be the house of evil wizards like Lord Voldemort. Albus stares at platforms Nine and Ten, before his parents tell him to walk straight into the wall and not to fear. The Potters run onward, transporting themselves.

Platform nine and three-quarters is filled with Hogwarts students and their families. Harry's daughter, Lily, joins Ron Weasley, her favorite uncle, who shows her a lame trick from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where he works. This causes Ron and Hermione's daughter, Rose, to feel embarrassed. Before boarding the train, Albus asks what his father would think if he were to be sorted into Slytherin. Harry reassures Albus that he was named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of whom was a Slytherin. But if Albus was worried, he could always ask the Sorting Hat to place him in Gryffindor, as Harry had done his first year at school. Relieved, Albus boards the train. Harry shares his son's worries with Hermione. She tells him that Rose is busy thinking about breaking Quidditch scoring records and wondering how early she can take the O.W.L.s.

On the way, Rose suggests that Albus ignore the Trolley Witch and concentrate on making friends, like their parents had done on the first trip to Hogwarts. Albus opens a compartment door to find a blonde boy, Scorpius, sitting alone. The boy offers them a place to sit and some of the sweets he'd bought from the trolley. Albus accepts, but Rose is eager to leave the compartment. Scorpius is a Malfoy, and his father, Draco, was a Death Eater. Furthermore, the rumor was that Voldemort was his true father, that his parents could not conceive a child, so Draco and Lucius Malfoy used a Time-Turner to send Draco's wife, Astoria, to the past, where she became pregnant with Voldemort's heir. Despite the rumor, Albus stays behind. Scorpius says thanks, but Albus playfully tells him that he only stayed for the sweets.

The new students enter the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony and notice Albus, happy to have a Potter in their year. Overhearing, Rose Granger-Weasley proudly claims Albus as her cousin. The Sorting Hat places Rose into Gryffindor, like the rest of her family. Then it calls Scorpius Malfoy and sorts him into Slytherin, like those in his family. Lastly, it calls on Albus Potter, only the hat takes longer. It sorts him into Slytherin.

The students are shocked. Albus nervously joins the Slytherin students to find Scorpius excited.

A montage speeds up the passage of time. The scene transitions to Madam Hooch's flying lesson. The students are ordered to yell "up" to lift the brooms. On the first try, Rose and others succeed. Albus completely fails. Classmates see him as a disgrace to the family name.

The scene changes to platform nine and three-quarters. It's a year later. Albus tells Harry to keep his distance. He doesn't want people comparing them. Harry asks if it might help to find some friends like Ron and Hermione. Albus says that he already has a friend, Scorpius, and departs.

Draco Malfoy appears and tells Harry to release a statement from the Ministry of Magic that all of the Time-Turners were destroyed during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Harry explains to Draco that he needs to allow the rumor about his son's parentage to die on its own. Apparently, Scorpius isn't the first to be accused of being Voldemort's child.