Not My Canon!

WTF: Missing In Action

The Godson

Um, guys... Where's Teddy? You know, recent grad of Hogwarts and the only child of the late Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks? Because James saw him on the platform in Deathly Hallows. In fact, he was "sending off" Victoire, eldest of Bill and Fleur, with a kiss. Recall this moment from the Epilogue?

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al - Teddy could have my room!"

So, Teddy is that close with the Potters that they basically consider him family, and yet he had zero mentions in Cursed Child? Literally - ZERO. How is this possible after we had this scene from canon:

"Lupin," muttered Bill, and he ran to the door and wrenched it open.

Lupin fell over the threshold. He was white-faced, wrapped in a traveling cloak, his graying hair windswept. He straightened up, looked around the room, making sure of who was there, then cried aloud, "It's a boy! We've named him Ted, after Dora's father!"

Hermione shrieked.

"Wha -? Tonks - Tonks has had the baby?"

"Yes, yes, she's had the baby!" shouted Lupin. All around the table came cries of delight, sighs of relief: Hermione and Fleur both squealed, "Congratulations!" and Ron said, "Blimey, a baby!" as if he had never heard of such a thing before.

"Yes - yes - a boy," said Lupin again, who seemed dazed by his own happiness. He strode around the table and hugged Harry; the scene in the basement of Grimmauld Place might never have happened.

"You'll be godfather?" he said as he released Harry. "M-me?" stammered Harry.

"You, yes, of course -- Dora quite agrees, no one better -"

"I - yeah - blimey -"

Harry is Teddy's godfather! Which means that Harry was very likely an indispensable part of raising Teddy before James was born. As a father, let me tell you... that means something. And yet, TEDDY IS COMPLETELY MISSING FROM THE CONTINUATION OF HARRY'S STORY!!

Not only is Teddy absent from Cursed Child. But so is Victoire. For that matter, where did Young James and Little Lily run off to? They're basically non-existent, apart from the scenes on the platform. We see Rose a few times, but what about Ron and Hermione's other child, Hugo? He's mentioned twice in the entire play. Twice. And what the flip happened to George? Or Neville? Or Luna? Or any of their kids. And, I mean, much of the story takes place at Hogwarts, and yet we never see Hagrid? HAGRID! He only shows up in the past at the ruins of the Potter house, just to tug at the heartstrings of the audience!

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD focuses on Albus and Scorpius, but a large component of the story is about the stresses and failings of fatherhood. So... I got an idea for you, Jo. Maybe you scrap all the bombast about time travel and focus on the story that *wants* to be told here. Show us what it was like for Harry to help raise Teddy so soon after the Battle of Hogwarts! Teddy - the son he never chose to have - how that could've affected his relationship with Ginny, how his relationship with Teddy may have changed once Harry had his own children. UGH! Why did no one else point out the plot vacuum here? There was so much story that could've been told within those nineteen years.

Rather than forcing some bogus tale about Albus and Scorpius sliding into the DeLorean and hopping to 1955 so they could attend the Under the Sea blood ball, we could've gotten a realistic story about the struggles of average human life in a magical world.

Were I to do a complete rewrite, instead of a modification that considers the story points and themes of Cursed Child, I would be exploring this story instead.

#NotOurRon

Ron is just weird in this play. He works at the twins' joke shop and, at times, is written to sound like the twins (while lacking their charm, nuance, and wit). We'll be covering his poor characterization soon enough, but let's just jog over to the play and... flip to the appropriate section... and... there we are... when Ron gives his 14-year-old nephew a love potion as a back-to-school gift!

First of all, this is just bringing us right back to the epic level of creepiness that runs unchecked throughout this play, like a track of muddy paw prints across a living room rug. Buying a love potion as a teenage curiosity is one thing. Buying it as a gag gift for a friend is another. But getting a love potion from a middle-aged relative...?

Uhm... we're gonna be spending a little less time with Uncle Ron, kids.

You've already admitted to him being "very affectionate" during the role-played forceful kissing scene with Aunt Hermione, so... pardon the brashness of the expression, but the gift comes across a bit... date-rapey.

Sleaze aside, this decision encapsulates why choosing Jack Thorne to tell this story was a mistake. Being unfamiliar with the canon of the books can lead a writer to craft their narrative around a blatant flaw. Because Ronald Weasley, OUR Ronald Weasley, would never EVER consider sending his nephew such a thing. Why? Oh, I dunno, maybe because a love potion almost killed him when he was a student at Hogwarts!!!

Had Thorne been more aware of the canon, he would've recalled this sequence of events from Half-Blood Prince:

- All products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes were banned from Hogwarts. Some still made their way into the school, namely love potions.

- Romilda Vane gave Harry a box of firewhiskey-filled Chocolate Cauldrons that she had apparently gotten from her gran.

- Harry tossed the box into his trunk, realizing they were spiked with love potion. Then forgot about them.

- During a frantic search through Harry's trunk on Ron's birthday, the box fell to the floor and got mixed in with Ron's gifts.

- Thinking the box was just another birthday present, Ron offered some to Harry, who declined. He then proceeded to eat half the box.

- Learning that Ron was under the effects of Romilda's love potion, Harry rushed him to Professor Slughorn in the hopes that the new Potions Master could whip up an antidote instead of Madam Pomfrey, because of the ban on Weasley products.

- After administering an antidote, Ron was given a pick-me-up from a bottle of oak-matured mead that was meant to be given to Dumbledore for Christmas. The mead was from Rosemerta, who had poisoned the bottle while under the Imperius Curse.

- Ron nearly died from poisoning, saved at the last minute when Harry shoved a bezoar down Ron's throat - a tip he'd gotten from the Half-Blood Prince's book.

See? Ron almost died because of a love potion. He spent his first full day as a seventeen-year-old in the hospital wing, with a visit from his parents and twin brothers. Ron would never forget the seriousness of that day. Which means he would never send his nephew a love potion, especially as a gag gift.

This, whoever it is you've written, is not our Ron. Our Ron is missing from this play.