We know Harry, Ron and Hermione as well as we know our own friends. But Cursed Child also introduced us to a whole new generation of wizards and witches.
MILD SPOILER WARNING: For those who have not seen Cursed Child, you may not wish to step further into this article - just in case. Although if you wish to know more, be our guest!
Albus Severus Potter
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ epilogue, we meet a young, nervous Albus Severus, so named after the two Hogwarts professors Harry was inspired by. Albus serves as our hero in Cursed Child, unwittingly following in the footsteps of his famous father.
While Harry and Albus are seen not to get along in the play, Harry and his middle-son actually have a lot in common – particularly that they are both reluctant heroes.
Albus finds himself in Slytherin at Hogwarts – the house he had worried about being chosen for. After this moment, his Hogwarts journey is marred by self-doubt, which affects his magical abilities.
Albus has two other siblings: his older brother, the mischievous James Potter Jr. and his younger sister, Lily Potter Jr. – who both get sorted into Gryffindor.
Rose Granger-Weasley
Very much like her mother, Rose Granger-Weasley embodies all the same grace, wit and intelligence of Hermione. She also bears Ron’s cheekier side and glides into Hogwarts with immediate confidence.
Sorted into Gryffindor, Rose seems to excel in everything, and unlike Hermione, even has a knack for Quidditch, being chosen for her house team as a Chaser.
Despite a childhood friendship with Albus, and despite starting Hogwarts at the same time as each other, the pair start drifting apart in their earlier years at Hogwarts, with their separate Hogwarts houses not helping matters.
Scorpius Malfoy
Scorpius is the only-child of Astoria Greengrass and Draco Malfoy, and unlike Draco Malfoy, Scorpius seems very different to his father. Despite sharing the same physical attributes, such as the blond hair, Scorpius immediately displays an empathy his father did not at his age. He joins Hogwarts at the same time as Albus Potter, forming an unlike friendship on the Hogwarts Express. This grows when the two of them are sorted into the same house, Slytherin.
Unlike Draco, Scorpius focuses his Slytherin-like determination into his studies, being an avid reader. He’s also a self-confessed geek and adores sweets. Scorpius sadly loses his mother during the play and is shown lamenting her death with a heartrending speech.
Although nervous and jumpy, like Albus, at the start of his Hogwarts journey, the young student becomes more self-assured as his adventures with Albus go on, despite having to contend with a rumour that he is Lord Voldemort’s son.
Delphi (Delphini) Diggory
At first, Delphi appears to be a plucky, colourful-haired helper working at St Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards, who focuses her efforts on her ‘Uncle’ the bereaved Amos Diggory, father of Cedric. But all is not as it seems.
Despite not attending a wizarding school such as Hogwarts, Delphi is a smart and hugely talented witch with a penchant for Darker magic. She has a tattoo of an Augurey – a mournful, magical bird that symbolises death.
Albus Dumbledore’s portrait
We are certainly aware that Albus Dumbledore is not a new character! But his portrait, that hangs at Hogwarts, feels too much of a character in its own right not to include him here.
All departed Hogwarts headmasters sit for their magical portrait – so they may look over their beloved castle forever. They even offer sage advise to the new headmaster, unless your name is Phineas Nigellus. But, as the kindly portrait of Albus tells Harry, he is merely “paint and memory”, despite embodying all the same wisdom and insight his subject once did. Apparently, the longer a subject spends with their painting, the more personality they will have. And we can tell, from this one, that Albus Dumbledore spent a lot of time with his.
To learn more about how the Hogwarts portraits work, we wrote a guide on that too.
Hogwarts students
A special shout out to some of the new Hogwarts students we meet in the play, beyond the children of Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Yann Fredericks
Yann is a young Gryffindor in the same year as Albus, who, like many other Hogwarts students, can’t help but gawp when Albus joins the school. Commenting that he has “the same hair” as his dad, Yann seems like a bit of a gossip. He hangs out with Rose Granger-Weasley, and is shown to have an aptitude for flying in his first flying lesson.
Craig Bowker Jr
The story of Craig is a tragic case. A stickler for the rules (we see him chastising Harry for breaking into a school dormitory in the middle of the night) this Slytherin Hogwarts student is named as a “good boy”, as he is callously murdered during the play. By who, we will not say.
Karl Jenkins
Karl is a fellow student who cruelly dubs Albus the “Slytherin Squib”, due to Albus’s lack of confidence with magic, and seems to carry a bit of a nasty streak. He enjoys the rumours and gossip that surround Scorpius and Albus, and seems to be friends with...
Polly Chapman
Polly is a savvy student, also in Albus’s Hogwarts year, and joins in the gossiping about Albus when he arrives at school. She appears to have a biting sense of humour, saying of Albus: “even portraits turn the other way when he comes up the stairs”.
Scorpius Malfoy, at one point, seems to have a bit of a crush on her, but this is short-lived.
For more Cursed Child content, visit our collection page to learn all about the eighth Harry Potter story in more detail!
