#Ginny talking to Tom about her hair. Her clothing. The boy she likes and how cute he is (aka Tom's enemy)

[teddyniffler]

Every day I am reminded that Tom Riddle helped Ginny write that love poem to Harry.

Tom, bored of Ginny already and holding in his laughter: You could always compare his eyes to toads, they are green.

Ginny: His eyes are as green as ... a fresh pickled toad!

Tom, now crying with laughter: It's beautiful, Ginny.

Ginny: His Hair is as dark as a Blackboard. I wish he was mine...

(Tom: Kill me now)

Tom, oozing with hatred at Harry: How about 'He's really divine', as he must have god-like powers to stop You Know Who after all...

(Tom: I must know how he lived... how did he survive? I must meet this boy)

Tom, now seething in sarcasm: How about ending it with, something like, 'Hero who conquered the Dark Lord' that's a good ending.

(Tom: I wonder if anybody picks up on the Dark Lord part. I would love to get the girl's family framed for being my supporters...)

Tom, rolling his eyes: Okay Ginny, show me the finished poem please.

Ginny: His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad. His hair is as dark as a blackboard.I wish he was mine, he's really divine. The hero who conquered the Dark Lord. 🥰💝🥰

Tom, trying to rip out his own pages: Ginny, it's the best thing I've ever heard. He will just love it.

[diana-bookfairchild]

@ladiesofhpfest Sisters Before Misters, Daughters and Female Friendship

Ginny had often wished for a sister as a child.

She had an endless number of brothers, some of whom she could never recall permanently living at home. Bill and Charlie had been at Hogwarts before she had even been able to make proper memories. All she remembered of that time was a stark longing to follow them.

But there were the boys and then there was Ginny. The first Weasley daughter born in seven generations, according to Grandmother.

She didn’t particularly care for the symbolism or the arithmantic significance. All that meant to her was that she was alone in so many ways.

Alone in wanting to play with dolls. Alone in being forced into dresses by Mum (though she badgered Ron into switching clothes with her more often than not). Alone in wanting to stage her wedding to Harry Potter. Alone in wanting to fly but being forbidden to. Alone in getting new clothes (other than Bill, obviously). Alone in being made to learn cooking and kitting. Alone in being yelled at for cutting her hair rather than growing it. Alone in being scolded when she got dirt on her clothes. Alone in being coddled. Alone in having to combat expectations of being a housewife. Alone in wanting to scream that she was more than this.

(Maybe not as alone in the last one as she'd thought.)

It wasn’t, of course, that her parents loved her less. In fact, they sometimes seemed to love her more, probably inspiring Ron’s inferiority complex. But that love went from reassuring to smothering to suffocating a lot of the time, and she had no idea how to tell her mother that she wasn’t the ideal daughter she wanted.

It was at times like those especially when she longed for a sister. Someone who would understand what she went through. Someone she could teach or be taught by how to get through this. Someone she could laugh with about how mortifying Mum’s sex ed had been, like her brothers and Harry did about dad’s. Someone to grumble to about periods without them teasing or going pale and running off. Someone to commiserate with about how overprotective and, well – conservative her brothers were (especially Ron).

Someone to stop her feeling. . . so lonely. At least sometimes.

(She laughed until she cried when she realized how much Tom had taken advantage of that desire.)

(She dated more for the experience and the thrill and the personal contact than she did because she loved them.)

Hermione was lovely, a wonderful friend who advised and fussed over and giggled with her in equal parts, but besides being nearly as overbearing as mum, she was a part of the impenetrable Ron-Harry-Hermione Golden Trio. She’d be her sister when Ron eventually got his head on straight, but. . .

Luna was brilliant, but she was far away even when she was right next to Ginny, and it seemed so petty to talk about how she sometimes hated her Mum even when she loved her when her friend’s mother was dead. Luna always seemed beyond earthly problems.

Demelza and Angelina were great, but they were quidditch mates. They played quidditch together, argued strategy and trash talked each other. Her dormmates talked about Hogsmeade, boys, studies and the latest gossip – not their trauma and loneliness.

Especially after Tom, it seemed she was destined for nothing but loneliness. Darkness and betrayal and despair.

Then, eventually, love crept back into her life. Her parents, her brothers, her Harpy teammates, her sisters-in-law, Dumbledore’s Army, and, of course, Harry.

Harry, who understood and coddled her, all at once. It was a juxtaposition she would have thought impossible. It caused several fights until they learned to trust and choose and talk to one another.

He wasn't a sister, but he was Harry, and they had their family and that was good, too.

She was still alone in many ways, but not alone in so many more.

(When Lily was born, Ginny promised herself she would make her daughter feel only the best parts of the love Ginny had herself gotten from her mother, and none of the bad, especially since she was an only girl too. Still, she made sure her daughter had an excellent support system besides her parents, in her brothers, Hugo, Rose, Lucy and the rest of the family.

She would never long for or feel lonely the way Ginny had.)

[narukoibito]

St. Mungos, since feeling is first who pays attention and Muggle FWB for the WIP Game?

Thank you for the interest, Anon! This took a while because things in my personal life are in chaos, but thank you for the request.

St. Mungos

This is my Healer!Ginny story that has been lurking in the back of my brain since last year. I’ve written a good amount of words, but then an entirely different plot appeared and now I may have to rewrite most of it, hence it’s lack of progress. But I still really want to finish this one day.

Ginny is a Healer on the 4th floor of St. Mungos. Her first patient is someone named Harry Evans. (This is a Harry never to Hogwarts story.)

The first thing Ginny notices is his eyes. They’re the most vivid, bright green that she’s ever seen. It’s unnerving how unseeing they are. A pressure builds up in her chest, an aching pain and nostalgia she can’t place.

The morning light from the window washes over his face, dancing off these round wire-rimmed glasses. His dark hair (black like a blackboard) appears to be on some ineffable scale of entropy — tousled and pointed in every which way, yet somehow it’s charming and works well with his sharp, unconventional features. Some of that hair spills over a bandage wrapped around his forehead. 

But it’s also the pleasant, vacancy in those eyes that strikes her, like she’s looking at the embers of a once bright flame. He looks like an innocent, half-lost child, his lips curled in a ghost of a smile.

Her clipboard and supervisor tell her his name is Harry Evans. The name creates an itch at the back of her head, something she wants to scratch at, but the odd sense of nostalgia must be misplaced significance. He’s her first real patient. 

He must matter to someone important to have his own room on the fourth floor of St. Mungo’s Ward 49. Usually they lumped all the long-term spell damaged patients in one place, let them wander under the supervision of one Healer. But this room is spacious and private, protected by complicated wards and concealing charms. Someone really cares about Harry Evans, and for some reason it causes a subtle burning behind her eyes. Maybe it’s because he looks like a newborn fawn. 

Who wouldn’t want to protect him?

“You’re new, but he’s not difficult. It’s mostly maintenance,” her supervisor says. “He makes it easy, don’t you, Harry?”

Harry’s gaze drifts toward the window.

Ginny scans his file. It’s actually surprisingly thick, but a lot of it has been redacted. The summary page sums it up though: he’s twenty-one; he has been here for three years; the diagnosis is vague (severe curse damage); there’s a long slew of attempted cures, none of which were successful obviously; now it’s about making sure he’s comfortable whatever that means.

“All right, let me know if run into any trouble.” Her supervisor is already starting for the door.

“Um — what about — I know his treatment is maintenance, but can I…?” Ginny’s not sure what she’s trying to say exactly. Harry Evans has seen a lot of Healers if the list of attempted cures is any indication, but she gave up Quidditch to become a Healer in the long-term spell damage ward specifically because she wanted to do something.

Her supervisor gives her a rueful smile. 

“Stick to maintenance. Harry Evans is a special case.”

Ginny turns back to Harry, who is facing her again, looking painfully innocent.

Somehow she doesn’t need convincing that he’s special.

since feeling is first who pays attention

This was a gift for the Harry/Ginny Discord Incognito Elf exchange. I managed to finish in time to gift it, but I want to take some additional time to rework it before posting. It is missed moments over the years as Ginny and her feelings for Harry evolve.

Ginny presses her face against the wall, peeking between the stair spindles. Her bright brown eye lands on the two boys hunched over a chessboard. Her brother Ron and Harry Potter, who, despite appearing to be losing, doesn’t look the least upset.

Harry Potter. 

The Harry Potter is in her house. Looking comfortable on their couch despite the faded, mended cushions. His face crinkles in laughter at something Ron says, his green eyes bright with contentment. Ginny doesn’t miss the occasional look of awe at the things she’s always taken for granted. It’s almost as if he can’t believe he is really here.

He isn’t what she expected – isn’t what she imagined he would look like after all those years listening to Mum recite her favorite bedside story, about the heroic Savior of the Wizarding World. She had pictured neat hair, a dashing smile, someone who would recognize a comrade in her and take her on all sorts of adventures. He would be different, he wouldn’t discount her dreams of flying and doing everything her brothers could and more.

Instead, Harry Potter has the messiest hair ever, a sheepish smile, and clothes that he nearly swims in. Oh, and he has somehow missed the memo and found the comrade in her brother Ron instead. 

Her fingers curl around the spindle. Not for the first time, a spike of envy shoots through her. If only she were a little older or a boy. Then maybe she would be the one playing chess with Harry. Maybe she would be the one to hide under his invisibility cloak and battle trolls and face You-Know-Who with him.

Ginny presses her face a little closer and lets out a sigh.

But Harry Potter is kind. He ignores all the times she has made a fool of herself. And he has the greenest eyes she’s ever seen. They are as green as those glowing jars of pickled toads at the Potion ingredients store Mum had taken her to. Pretty and kind and not dismissive of her patched clothes or her glowing red face.

Harry Potter. If he likes Ron, if he looks like he actually likes the Burrow, if his face grimaces at the attention at Flourish and Blotts, could it be possible that one day he could like her too?

Muggle FWB

Hah, so this was the first idea that I rambled off to my beta, which ended up with long, long emails back and forth on this idea that I never wrote! Here’s a snippet of that exchange:

Harry thinks he only see Ginny as a little sister, so when she suddenly proposes that they become friends with benefits in uni, he’s floored and says they’re practically family. Blinded by her anger over the rejection, she kisses him so that he knows what he’ll be missing. Of course, he then realizes his attraction to her. As their physical relationship progresses, they develop feeeeeeelings (gasp!). But Ginny thinks she only wants a physical relationship and once they have sex, it'll get out of her system. Harry has to work to convince her that she actually wants more.

But the backdrop is that Ginny doesn't think she wants more than sex is that when she was 11, she was kidnapped by Tom Riddle for as a kid (they met at the park a lot, and none of her brothers/Harry/anyone realized he'd been "befriending" her). Kid Harry figures out where Riddle took her and saves her.

Ginny wasn’t molested but she/Harry/everyone else is deeply affected by this event even though they don't realize it. Ginny thinks she's overcome it, and she's still a BAMF some the books but she's not fully over it as shown by her fear of being emotionally involved with Harry. It's why Harry refuses for a long time to think of her anything else outside of a brotherly way. 

Ginny has a really bad sexual experience (though it doesn't go all the way), and as a result she's disgusted by men (not scared), but doesn't feel any revulsion with Harry. After not being able to get close to any boy for a long time, she decides to proposition Harry. Harry, being noble, absolutely refuses at first, but she kisses him, he's very attracted to her, and is convinced by her that he's helping her get over this tick. So it's FWB but it fits their personalities, and still stays true to the Ginny is subconsciously afraid of a real relationship/intimacy with Harry, who realizes he wants more but doesn't know if just getting to be physical is more than he'll ever deserve and he wants what he can get if not real love from her - until, of course, he realizes he can't do it anymore and she has to decide if she's brave enough to actually let herself feel.

HAHA omg I’m reading over my emails and I talk about getting into The Changeling and only sleeping 4/5 hrs a night and then the exchange ends with my coming up with my alternate dimension idea of Harry getting thrown into the BWL!Neville universe. So you guys can see why this story never went anywhere despite several thousands words between me and my beta.

–

Whew, long post. Hope that satisfied your curiosity! 

I’m honestly not sure there are any left, but let me know if you have any other wip asks! Though note that I will be rather absent in the near-future because of life.

[dramionediscussion]

I’ve never understood why so many fics portray Hermione as someone who never cares about her looks. I’ve seen countless stories where Hermione never tries to touch her hair or knows nothing about makeup. Ginny always came across as the more “tom-boyish” jock type. Hermione had plenty of girly moments in the books. I always imagined after the Yule ball she started wearing more natural makeup and maybe tried styling her hair. I never got the impression that she never liked getting dolled up.

I think that's a trope that authors use. You even see it in movies and novels. The main girl who has a hidden beauty. She doesn't know she is so beautiful! She doesn't care for her looks only books! And she is definitely not like all the other girls, which makes her so appealing to guys! I'm fed up with that trope to be honest. Why can't we have a girl who takes care of herself, likes girly things, and is a smarty pants? Why does it have to be one or the other.

In canon JKR does this though. She initially described Hermione one way, but then by year 4, Yule Ball, she talks about how pretty Hermione is now. So maybe authors base their Hermione on that? In the movies however, that Hermione never came across as though she doesn't like girly stuff/doesn't care for her apparence.

With respect to Ginny, I can see her being a tomboy. From the books and movies, we don't know. Nothing like this was described. But she is almost always portrayed in dramione fanfiction as a fashionista and she HAS to help Hermione with something we simple as choosing a dress for a date since you know Hermione is all about her work and books and is so helpless when it comes to clothes and boys. And as mentioned above, they use the you have to be one or the other trope. It's annoying really.

On a side note, why is Ginny Hermione's bff? When did that happen? Nothing in the books or movies mentioned that they were best friends outside of them just knowing each other because Ginny is Ron's sister and later dates Harry. Yes technically Ginny and Hermione would talk but like in all fanfiction, we see Ginny being very influential in Hermione's life. Why and how?

- Lisa

[potter-puff007]

Summary: This is PART 2 for the last post I made I hope you all enjoy the ending of this one it definitely will be a twist.

When a new girl comes to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons. Harry and Ron are tempted by her beauty. Will the boys be able to control their selves and not lose Hermione and Ginny or will the power of this new girl ruin everything?

Madame Maxime and (Y/N) head to speak with Professor Dumbledore about the situation that is unfolding before them hoping he could help them. So as they approach Dumbledores office door the nervousness starts to set in as the door starts to open. Dumbledore is sitting in his big velvet covered chair. He turns around to look who’s standing before him in his office. As he sees Madame Maxime he stands up to bow before her and walks around to kiss her hand out of kindness. “Hello Madame Maxime to what do I owe the pleasure of your appearance at Hogwarts.” Said Dumbledore with a clear kind tone in his voice. “Oh Dumbly-Dore we have a situation here at ‘Ogwarts with one of my fellow students” Madame Maxime says with a tremble in her voice as she spake. “What seems to be the problem with your student I’m sure there is a simple fix for her problem” said Dumbledore with such a positive mindset. “Well she is a troubled student at our school and is on lockdown and somehow escaped and made it here and come in contact with a few of your gentlemen callers and she has a rare magic power that is very hard to control and with this power she is able to manipulate the male gender to do whatever she wishes and also make them fall in love with her just by speaking to her.” Madame Maxime says in complete worry and scarceness. “Oh this is definitely a predicament you have caused here (Y/N). Well how do you impose we fix this Madame Maxime” Dumbledore says not sure of what to do “well the only way we can fix this is if we do this spell that takes me and another powerful wizard as yourself to reverse the spell on them but to be able to do it it will reverse the spell in her by possibly killing her.” Madame Maxime says with sadness and upset in her voice. Wow this could kill me I don’t know about this Madame Maxime should we do this? “Well if you want to undo what you have done we have to it’s the only way” She says with her head falling to the floor slowly. Oh wow. “Well we will set to proceed with this spell as soon as tomorrow breaks and we will have to make sure we can exclude the students from class to get this done” says Dumbledore with urgency in his voice.

The next day has come and (Y/N) is very disheartened by the situation and the possibility that this spell could reverse her power by killing her. (That’s a hard pill to swallow) thinks (Y/N) as she slowly moves out of the shadows of her bed curtains. Madame Maxime knocks on her door awaiting for (Y/N) to answer. Hello Madame Maxime. “ ‘Ello (Y/N) are you ready to reverse the spell on the gentlemen you put it upon today” she said with sadness behind her words fearing the worst would happen. No not really but maybe it’s for the best. You both start walking down the stairs and out of the common room to the main hallway and you tell Madame Maxime to head on you will catch up to her soon you had a few more things you wanted to see before your possibly demise. So you go out to the courtyard looking at all the beautiful flowers and you see someone standing on the other side of the yard but you can’t make out who is there all you see is a dark shadow of a figure start to walk toward you. The figure starts to speak to you in Posseltongue and that’s when you knew they couldn’t be anyone from there or that you knew or did you? “Hello my dear, I see you have a problem facing you soon and I want to help you.” Said the shadowed figure with a low drawn out voice still unsure of who they are. Hello who are you and how can you help me? “I am someone you know that no one speaks of, the sound of my name causes others skin to crawl, the sound of my voice causes coldness to run down ones spine, and to look upon my face is to see pure terror.” Said the figure causing knots to form in your stomach. Show yourself to me “I cannot I am too weak to present my face I am only a mere shadow as you see now” the shadow says with a weaker sound to their voice like the more he talks the weaker he gets. Ok well how can you help me with this I don’t see what I shadow can do. “(Y/N) I can give you a life to keep and more” the figure says with power behind more. How do you know my name hence me not telling you? With confusion you look to the shadow closer and realize this is no mere human the figure standing before you is none other than the murderous Lord Voldemort!!!!! You are... are... lor.. lord.... Vol.. then he interrupts you. “Yes my dear I am the fearful Lord Voldemort and I can give you more than you Hearts desire if you only let me help you my way” he says with dominance. What does that entail? “I can spare your life and keep you here and your powers while still saving the boys if you will give in to my power and help me kill Harry Potter in the process.” He says with a sudden energy and pep in his voice as if he is excited about this feeling. Woah I cannot kill Harry Potter. “I do not want you to kill him for me I want you to kill him inside to weaken him so I can come in to finish him myself.” Says Voldemort with a snarky sounding laugh protruding from his lips. So how do I do that and what does this give me by doing it? “Simple I will give you more power than you could ever imagine and it will give you a new outlook on life and you will weaken Harry by enhancing your power on him more to weaken him down to give me a clear entrance to kill him easily.” With a scaly apparatus protruding from his robe to grab your hand in agreement. “This is will spare your life and if you do this for me I will bring you to be part of my allegiance” Ok I will do it. With happiness behind him he grabs your hand and sudden power energizes your body and you feel a sudden change in yourself and your mind. You have become more powerful and for the wrong reasons.

Madame Maxime comes looking for you and sees you in the courtyard hovering with a light gleaming from you and she comes out only to see Lord Voldemort and she freezes with fear and cannot move. As she stands there Voldemort strikes her and she come to and she goes after Voldemort and he flees from her. As you come back down to the ground, Madame Maxime is very startled and confused. “What just happened did he hurt you what did he do to you” she says with such fear and horror in her eyes. He has given me power I could never understand and I am going to use it for his prophecy. “No what has he done you need to listen to me this is not you he has changed you we have to save the boys and you know that’s the right thing to do” says Madame Maxime hoping to snap you back to her but it did not work. You start to hover down the hall your whole appearance has changed your hair is dingy and your clothes are tethered you have a dark glow around you that strikes anything in its path and a sudden paleness to your skin you never had before. This has taken over your soul and could take over much more.

You approach Harry and Ron and Harry already knows what is happening because he was able to read Voldemort’s mind to know his plan to use you to weaken him for him to finish him, but Harry was not going to back down. For some reason the power you had over him is gone now wonder how? “I am no longer under your spell (Y/N) you have lost my soul to your evilness once you turned evil and joined he who will not be named, the goodness you had left and was no longer controlling me you need to stop this, this not what you want just let go of the power (Y/N).” Harry tries to bring you down back to your normal reality and it starts to work and then a being shows itself to you and changes your mind. (Don’t let him get into your mind don’t let him ruin our plans you want to live your life and have the power to move the people who doubt you out of your way do what I requested of you) the dark shadow says this through your mind and gets full control of you. You start to blast Harry and he pulls back to you and you have a hard time weakening him he is much stronger than you thought. You start again when he’s caught off guard and it’s a stronger hit he starts to lose power and next thing you know Madame Maxime steps in and blocks you from Harry. In shock, you resist and Jump back for a Second. “Stop this at once (Y/N) you need to stop before you hurt anyone or hurt yourself this is not what you are about you can control yourself better than this please!!” Madame Maxime pleads to you begging you to turn your evil ways. I want to have power I want people to understand me like he does he understand my powers and understands I’m an outcast and cannot be normal without his help I have to do this.

Harry sees that you are not going to make this easy so he steps in again starts casting against you. Madame Maxime gets cast out and was hurt and once you see she is hurt you snap out of your trans for a minute to see if she is ok. Madame Maxime!! Please be ok I am so sorry I should have never done what I did. Madame Maxime did not answer you. No it can’t be Madame Maxime please answer me!!! “I’m sorry my dear but she is dead you killed her” said the shadowed figure coming out of the shadows to show hisself as Voldemort. Noooo she can’t be I am so sorry please bring her back. You say with tears in your eyes. “I cannot do that my dear unless someone sacrifices their life to do so and my dear the only one here that can do that is Harry Potter” said Voldemort with snarled look on his face. “Ok Tom let’s finish this now” said Harry with complete confidence and power you could tell he didn’t know he had. Once Voldemort starts coming toward Harry Dumbledore steps out and casts against Voldemort. They cast back and forth with a force that is unimaginable. You can tell Dumbledore is gettin weak and Harry tries to step in and cant so you take it into your own hands. When the cast breaks you fling in between as Voldemort’s casts the Killing curse and it hits you and you fall to the ground. “(Y/N) nooo what have you done” says Harry as he runs to your side seeing your life has been cut short. Dumbledore weakens Lord Voldemort and he flees before anything else can happen.

Dumbledore comes to Harry and Ron as they stand around you upset by what has just occurred. “Do not dwell on things that cannot be undone keep pushing forward and know that the memory of your fellow friend will always live on through her sacrifice” said Dumbledore with a weakened tone. As Harry and Ron ponder on what he said they look at each other. “Harry so much happens here that does not make sense, but you know something don’t ever let me get in a trans again it never ends well” said Ron as he chuckled with Harry trying lighten the mood. Ginny and Hermione come over concerned with what has happened and Harry And Ron explain everything as the walk down the courtyard.

I hope you all enjoyed the ending to this twisted tale of Harry Potter and the mystery enchantress. I dealt enjoyed writing this let me know what you thought about it and maybe I’ll write more!!

@hufflepuffism @hufflepuffins @magicfolk @harrypotterhousequotes @potterdaily @harrypotterfanfiction--blog @hogwartsfansite

[dodolostinhell]

Harry Potter and the cursed child - the play, my opinion (+Scorbus)

(This is super long (3.5k words), but I marked the different topics in case you want to read about something specifically!)

I went to London two weeks ago and guess what: I was lucky enough to get tickets for the play!

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the play. Please note that this are my very subjective thoughts on the play and someone else who was in the same room as me could have thought something completely else about it. Also note that I am one of the very few people out there on the HP fandom who liked reading the Skript. So my opinion on the play may differ (although I highly doubt that anyone would dislike the actual play)

I LOVED IT. I loved it so much. I was shaking after part one and crying after part two. It was all too much to handle for my little heart. I hope I can somehow share my experience through sharing it here.

I want to start with some general thoughts and opinions and get more detailed later, where I want to talk more about the actors/characters and some of the relationships, ending with Scorpius and Albus‘s relationship in the play (spoiler: it was so gay). I won’t talk about the plot. Because that is obviously the same.

The theater was beautiful. The set and everything around it was so lovely. I actually had pretty good seets in the middle, looking down on the stage (I was in like the first balcony/dress circle). I could see the whole stage perfectly. I loved how they expended the set for some scenes, so it actually felt like you were in the middle of the action. You could feel the energy of the play way better that way. For example when the dementors flew through the air or at the end, when Voldemort steps from stage into the crowd and the other actors are looking at us, while reacting to Harry’s parents death.

The special effects were amazing! They were made so well and it really gave the play the magic it needed. Of course it’s different than a movie (or a book, where you see it perfectly in your head), but it didn’t matter. It worked brilliantly and made my mouth drop several times. Stuff like Draco and Harry‘s Duell looked very impressive and filled the whole room with energy and tension. I won’t be spoil how they did it, but I‘ll just say that they used light a lot and fire. Just one thing that I absolutely adored, that I need to talk about, is the effect while time-turning: when time settles lights were moved that way, that it seemed like the wall was moving like water or a wave. Like getting bigger and smaller in smooth movements. It looked so good.

The other normal props were okay. Sometimes I had hoped for more. For example the train scenes, where they just build seats with suitcases. But things like the moving stairs on the other hand looked really cool. But in general nothing special about it.

The costumes looked very good for the most part. (Exception is Ginny, more in her segment.). I don’t know why they changed the school uniform, but it looked really nice. Although you sometimes couldn’t see the house colors very well. I loved the school uniform in the Voldemort AU. It looked very elegant and reminded me of Draco in his sixth year. It also suited Scorpius so well. They also changed the wands of the people we already know. I don’t know the reason for that but it isn’t like you could see them very well anyway. I really like the wands of the next gen, whose we didn’t know. They look so pretty.

The actor‘s performances were brilliant! They gave those lines so much life and made the story appear very different a lot of times. They were the people who made it a whole different experience to reading the Skript. I think this would make it way more appealing to the people who didn’t like the Skript, because I think some lines work very differently played out by actors in comparison to reading them.

Now I will go into more detail about actors, relationships etc. (Things that always matter the most to me).

Let‘s just start with Harry Potter played by Jamie Ballard. I liked it. He is an amazing actor and portrayed Harry‘s feelings very well. Especially the scene where he watched his parents die was very impressive. The way he broke down really hit me. That scream at the end was nerve wracking and you could feel all the hurt inside him coming out.

Also the very controversial line „i wish you weren’t my son“ was delivered so well. It really came out of a place of frustration. You noticed throughout the whole scene how much he is struggling with being a good father for Albus and the hurt he is feeling when Albus rejects him: it all build up to that moment, where it all was too much.

I love how Jamie brought Harry‘s trauma to life. You could really see how Harry wasn’t able to get closure with his past.

Next is Hermione, played by Nicola Alexis. She was brilliant! It was 100% Hermione and she did a perfect job. All her mannerisms were on point and it really felt like Hermione. I loved how she interacted with Harry, in a kind of motherly way, but still as a friend. Especially when they were joking around. She had a really nice energy about her and can’t say enough how great she was (and I really don’t get how people were mad that she’s black. It didn’t matter at all and didn’t make her any less of a perfect Hermione.)

And the last one of the golden trio: Ron, played by Thomas Aldridge. He was a comedy figure throughout the whole play to lighten it up a bit. Thomas did a good job though. He was very funny and portrayed Ron’s strange humor and mannerisms really well. It still didn’t feel like Ron to me. I can’t really explain why, but I couldn’t quite see him as Ron. But his performance was still great.

My queen Ginny, played by Susie Traylling. She was a really cool mum. She was cool and badass just like she’s supposed to be. The only issue I had was her outfit: it was so ugly. She wore a horrendous long skirt and a weird wooly sweater. It just wasn’t Ginny at all.

Also sometimes she was softer, especially to Harry, and that never really felt right. Somehow there missed that sarcastic tone or something that alsways comes with her, but she was just this super caring and kind person in those scenes. She should have needed a bit more self esteem in those. But in general Susie did a good job (and it way better than movie Ginny, although that isn’t very hard).

And Harry and Ginny’s relationship kind of works. I liked there chemistry and how Ginny is kind of the boss of the family (because of course she is).

Rose, played by Helen Aluko. She gave Rose a very different touch to what I expected her to be. She’s energetic, has a shit load of self esteem and has quite some attitude but that becomes quite nice to the end of the play. At the start she’s just as irritating as I imagined her to be but by the end in her fourth year, she becomes kind of sarcastic and likes to joke around in here very own way, playing a lot with her attitude. I really liked her by the end, which I couldn’t in the Skript. Helen makes Rose appear so different to what I imagined her to be like are at the end, but I love it.

Young Harry by Tommy Bard was adorable. A brilliant performance for such an young actor. He really felt like Harry to me and he did an excellent job.

My boy Draco, played by James Howard. He was so sassy and I loved it. I was sceptical at first, because he seemed kind of arrogant, but you soon notice that it is a mask to protect himself and his son. After a while you could see the fear and emotions inside him. I liked how he gave Draco that three dimensional touch that he really needs. The only thing that irritated me a bit was his deep voice, I felt like didn’t suit Draco, but James’s performance absolutely made up for that.

Delphi played by Eve Ponsonby. She looked so good (I was kind of irritated at the beginning and than I realized how good Tom Riddle looked and it made sense). I loved her clothing style with ripped pants and a black jeans jacket. Also her colored light blonde hair with blue tips looked so cool. It just was very weird when she suddenly wore that jacket out of black feathers after her reveal. It made her flying around a bit too dramatic.

It came to a surprise to me that I really liked Delphi. She was someone I would like to spend time with myself (without the whole daughter of Voldemort thingy). She really felt like a energetic, self-confident young women, who’s very passionate. Also her revealed selve was very cool! Eve’s performance was brilliant. She was very evil but you could still sympathize with her at the same time. You saw how much she loved her father and how badly she wanted to see her dad. Not just as a partner in crime, but also as an orphan, who misses her father.

She’s also kind of the biggest Scorbus shipper (she absolutely knew that at least Scorpius has a huge crush on Albus) and the biggest cock block of all time (more about that later in the Scorbus segment).

I also loved how they hinted on Delphi being bad. In the way she talkes sometimes I could sense there was something shady going on. Or another example would be at the beginning in Harry’s house with Amos Diggory. You can see her carefully grabbing her wand when she sees Harry, but than deciding against it and leaving her wand in her pocket.

Hagrid was the only Performance I didn’t like at all. His costume was great, but everything else wasn’t Hagrid. He was too naive and wasn’t kind or empathetic (at least it didn’t feel like it).

Snape wasn’t very good either. He looked like Snape and killed Alan Rickman’s way of talking but his personality wasn’t right. He was purely a fanfic Snape and that isn’t how Snape really is: He’s an asshole and that doesn’t change in an AU. But instead he wasn’t mean at all. Instead more reserved.

Professor McGonagall played by Sandy McDade was brilliant. It was perfect. 100% McGonagall. She was sarcastic, sassy and so done throughout the play. She didn’t want anything to do with Harry’s shit. I loved how different her dynamic was towards her former students and her students now. And it was hilarious how she still had authority over the golden trio (+Draco) although two of them have super high positions in the Ministry (Hermione his the fucking minister of magic and still she’s intimidated by McGonagall. Genius)

Moaning Myrtle played by April Hughes. She was brilliant. My absolute favorite performance. It was absolutely perfect. Nicely uncomfortable but still funny. And the way she moved: so perfect! Aaand she changed her lines: Harry is canonly bi!

Let me explain: Myrtle is talking to Albus and Scorpius. While she talks it is obvious she sees their dads in them. She says so explicitly. They start talking about Cedric. She says it was such a shame that the pretty one had to die. She listened to so many people crushing on him. So many Girls and some boys. While she says that she looks more into Scorpius’s direction, but when she says “and boys” she turns to Albus, definitely thinking about Harry, and telling Albus (and us) that way, that Harry used to have a crush on Cedric. I was so happy about it.

Now finally the protagonists!

Albus Potter was played by Joe Idris-Roberts. I liked it a lot. Joe gave Albus so much personality I had a hard time finding in the Skript. He made him three dimensional and he really felt like a teen who is going through a lot.

My cinnamon roll Scorpius Malfoy played by Jonathan Case. Damn he looked good (the blonde hair suits him so well. He looked so handsome and adorable). It was perfect. Quirky, nerdy, socially awkward, enthusiastic, insecure, funny. Absolutely brilliant. I didn’t think I could love Scorpius more, but Jonathan did it. His mannerisms were brilliant and really portrayed his quirkiness. The way he presented the lines were creative, fitted perfectly and made them even greater as they were. Also so many layers to his presentation. There was never a scene were he was one dimensional and there always was something more going on with Scorpius. I loved just watching him and interpreting his performance and what Jonathan tried to show subtextually.

Now relationships! I touched some already but I wanted to talk about them a bit more.

I’ll start with Harry and Albus’s relationship. I touched this a bit in Harry’s segment already. They truely felt like father and son who have a very troubled relationship. You can see how they love eachother but they struggle to understand eachother. Especially with Albus being in the middle of puberty where you already have enough trouble understanding yourself. Until Godrics Hollow there is so much tension. When Harry decides that he must just be an authority to Albus and separates him from Scorpius really broke my heart and you could see how Harry didn’t know better and was frustrated. There was so much to it and so many unspoken words were between them. It worked brilliantly and they portrayed their relationship great.

I adored the shift in Scorpius and Draco’s relationship. You always saw how much they cared for eachother. But they didn’t know how to approach eachother. In Godrics Hollow everything turns and they have a adorable father-son relationship. You could see them in the background talking, both smiling at eachother. It warmed my heart.

Delphi’s relationship with Albus and Scorpius before here reveal was also very interesting. She actually was very nice to them, although she could get a bit too enthusiastic. Delphi saw that Albus and Scorpius need eachother to be stronger and therefore actually is a good friend to them and brings them back together. It’s also really clever how she separates them at the same time. While Scorpius and Albus are still together, she slowly loosens their relationship by making Scorpius very jealous. You could see how Scorpius dislikes her more and more the more the relationship between her and Albus grows. She’s excellent with people and therefore exactly knows how to play with those two so they do what she wants. Yes she looses at the end, but that’s because she didn’t manage to loosen Scorpius and Albus’s relationship after all.

So before I can get more into detail on what she did with the two I need to get started mit Scorbus!

Scorpius and Albus need and adore eachother. Their friendship helps them to get through some tough emotional stuff. But throughout the play I got the feeling that there was more. They both feel more than friendship for eachother and they truely love eachother. They don’t know that from the other and they try to hide it, but I saw something there.

It starts with the touchiness. There are loads of casual touches. More than I ever see with any of my friends. They need to be close to eachother.

And then there are Scorpius’s looks. Gosh that boy can look at Albus, it’s incredible. Almost all the time, when Albus isn’t looking at him, Scorpius looks at him with love and desire. The scene where it is the most obvious was when Delphi was Training Albus and Scorpius was getting closer to them to watched what going on. There was so much jealousy and hurt in his eyes. He was not only afraid he would loose his friend and be replaced, but also that Albus would have a crush on Delphi. Delphi sensed that of course and used this.

Another example is right before Delphi’s reveal. Scorpius and Albus sit very close next to eachother on the stairs at the owlery, talking what to do with the time-turner. Not only they sit very close and there’s lot’s of casual touching, they both make eyes at eachother. It seems like Scorpius isn’t even trying to hide what he is feeling, smiling so openly, warmly and loving at Albus. Albus is doing a better job at hiding it, but there also is some pain in his eyes, as if he is looking at Scorpius as if he will never be able to have him that way.

Then comes Delphi into the same scene. She goes and sit right between the two and separates them that way. You can see how Albus is looking apologetic into Scorpius’s direction, who is looking hurt and jealous. That look really made me sad. Delphi than changes from being the biggest cock block ever to being a shipper and ties Scorpius and Albus together on their hands, so they basically sit on top of eachother.

And finally the last scene Albus and Scorpius have together. In the Skript this scene made me very angry, because suddenly Scorpius needed to be straight again and have a crush on Rose, but the live performance changes it completely and is almost proof that there is more going on. The actors definitely didn’t care about Scorose and went full on Scorbus.

The scene takes place an a staircase. They stand in front of eachother, while Scorpius stands two stairs further down. Because of the hight difference it first seems like they don’t stand that close, but actually they stand pretty close to eachother. They talk about how they can’t believe Scorpius has asked Rose out. Scorpius genuinely didn’t look like he could believe it. As if he didn’t want to but now he was crazy enough to actually do it. Albus looks kind of sad when he says it. A little disappointed.

Scorpius starts rambling on how Rose and him will have a beautiful future together, but although his words should be hopeful, they came across as an act. As if his heart wasn’t at it. They both try not to look at eachother, because they have a sad look in their eyes. As if they were both hiding their true feelings.

Than Rose shows up. She greets Scorpius with Scorpius King with a sarcastic tone to it. She runs away laughing after that. In the Skript it sounded she actually liked Scorpius, but in the play she was just making fun of him. When Rose is pretending like she likes Scorpius for this few seconds, Scorpius looks shocked. I could practically see “oh no what have I done” going through his head. Albus also looked shocked. He never wished that Scorpius’s crush would be returned.

When they realize it was just a joke, they loosen up. And Scorpius hugs Albus. By far the most passionate hug of all. Especially because Scorpius is standing a little lower makes the hug even more adorable. Than Albus says he thought they agreed they didn’t hug. That made me thinking, why they would discuss that in the first hand. My idea is, that they are both scared that their crush would come out and they can hide it better, when they aren’t intimate that way. And then Scorpius says, that he thought they would do this in this new version he had in mind. This confuses me until the day of today, because this is an actual line in the Skript were Scorbus apparently isn’t a thing. But the only thing “a new version of us” could mean is in a romantic way. Everyone I spoke with agreed with me and were just as confused as me. I just believe that Scorbus is canon and that these two oblivious boys have huge crushes on eachother. That’s at least what the play told me.

I hope I could kind of share my experience and this didn’t end up being way too long for anyone to read. I can just say that I loved the play and I can absolutely recommend it to everyone. It was worth every pound.

[miscellaneousfanfictionslut]

Harry Potter Appearances 1 // By The Book

By The Book // Harry Potter Appearances 1

          I’m in a book club and we started talking about the problems of the Harry Potter movies and one of the main issues we all had was some of the appearances of the characters. Which gave me the idea to do this little thing called “By The Book” where I talk about how I envisioned characters based off of their book appearances. Marauders included.

Gryffindors

Harry Potter:

“ Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. … Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape... The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. “

I imagined Harry (in the first book) to be extremely small, almost as if he was a first grader and being very petite. His hair in my head would be like, three times the size of his head, and would be curly, jet black, and messy. His eyes were described as almost once so I thought of them like that and of course, bright green.

Further in the book, however, I imagined him a bit different. He kept his messy, wild, jet black curly hair but his wieght and height had changed. I think this is because characters is further books described him as “tall” so I imagined him as taller and more strong looking. Probably around 5′6 during his fifth year.

Ronald Weasley:

“ tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. firey red hair “

A lot of people say that Ron isn’t attractive, which with how people draw him I can see why. However, I always imagined him to be much more handsome than Harry. I imagined him very tall and lanky, small, and very boyish looking. His hands and feet were very large and freckles covered everything on his body. My favorite part of him was always his hair, because I took “firey red hair” literally and thus led me to think his hair was fire engine red.

His appearance never really changed much for me, he just got taller and his hands and feet just got bigger over the years.

Hermione Granger:

“ She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth. “

I think Hermione appearance was a major let down for me, as it was constantly said that she had bushy hair and large front teeth. If anybody is wonder why she didn’t have large front teeth it is because Emma could not talk well with them in, I imagine that was like having dracula vangs in.

Though back to the point, I imagined Hermione to have large, frizzy, bushy brown hair that was, like Harry, three times the size of her head. Her teeth I imagined weren’t very big actually, I don’t know why but I considered them normal, which now thinking about it was probably because my two front teeth are bucked. We don’t get much about her body size unlike the boys (tall, small, skinny, lanky, etc.) but I always seen her as more tall but on the heavier size.

When she was older in book four, I imagined her to not had grown much and her to be skinner than before.

Fred & George Weasley:

“ shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were both long and lanky fiery red hair, freckles “

I kind of ignored the book with their appearance and imagined them more like how they were casted. Taller and lanky like Ron, and they had the trademark freckles along with the feiry red hair I loved.

Something noticable that I changed and outcasted them from the Weasley family was their eyes, I imagined everyone in the Weasley family to have blue eyes except Fred and George.

Ginny Weasley:

“ a long mane of red hair and when her jaw sets her resemblance to Fred and George is striking “

I somewhat ignored the description we’re given. I imagined her to look much more girly, a very soft jaw with large light blue eyes. Less freckles than Fred, George, or Ron that just set over her nose. I still saw her with long, firey, silky red hair, however.

When she got older I imagined her to be very petite, I had an image set in my mind of her Quidditch gear being too big on her and falling off at times.

Lavender Brown:

We never really got a description.

Lavender had more personality than physiology. Over the time I read about her I did get an imagine in my mind as I obsess over details. I imagined her with a heart shaped face that had a very stuck out chin, long wavy ginger hair, big and round blue eyes, a small button nose, big lips, and tan skin. I don’t know where I got it but here were some of my reasons as a child (which is when I first read the books)

Lavender talked a lot so a big mouth went with the phrase “Lavender Brown has a big mouth.”

She often begged or got upset so puppy like eyes made sense.

I liked long hair, and I liked gingers.

Seamus Finnigan:

I could not find his description, if he had one it was most likely small.

I kind envisioned him to look like the dumb blond type and I for some odd reason always seen him as ugly. I might of thought that because I didn’t like his character though.

Neville Longbottom:

“ round faced short and plump and blond “

Neville wasn’t a character that stuck out to me until I reread the books as an adult. When I was a child I imagined him as like Dudley but more handsome. He had short blond hair, was short but taller than Harry, and plump. I saw him with freckles but when I reread the books I never imagined him like that.

When he was older I imagined him very tall, almost like Ron, his blond hair was longer and the freckles were gone.

Adult Gryffindors/ Marauders:

James Potter:

He was my first crush of the book series. I imagined him like Harry but always saw him as cuter. He was very tall and muscular looking, much like Harry was when he grew up. I saw him with a strong jaw and ocean blue eyes and of course, jet black messy curly hair.

I think a good way to describe his hair would be like young Tom Riddle (another crush of young me).

I would like to mention his Animagi form, I imagined him as a very large deer with horns the size of trash cans (sort of like Hagrids’ hands).

Sirius Black:

His appearance obvious changes a lot from his young self to Prisoner Of Azkaban self. So let us start with young Sirius, I imagined him to have long hair for what a guy would typically be considered. Probably to his shoulder and very black but not jet black like James. His eyes were almond shaped and light grey with playfulness in them. I imagined him to be one inch shorter than James, standing at 5′9 while James is 6ft.

Also, I had this strange fascination with him dressing in romantic goth styled clothing, I don’t know why but he gave me that vibe when he was young.

“ He had a gaunt, sunken face, waxy skin, yellow teeth, and long, matted hair. “

When we first see him I imagined him to be as he was described, very skinny with sunken face that brought out his high cheekbones (find the positives, Bella) his skin being waxy and looking tired. His teeth yellow and crooked from them being ground against and his once long, silky hair being to his waist and matted. I had this vision of him having scratch marks and scars all over his body, almost as if he was self harming.

Remus Lupin:

My favorite Marauder! I related to him the most out of the Marauders due to his mature and nerdy nature but onward to the appearance. Young Remus, I imagined him to be tall and lanky like Ron, I think he was the tallest. He has a thin face and a soft jar making him appear less manly than James and Sirius but more boyish like Peter. His hair would be a chestnut brown, soft and shaggy, with curls in it ending a little below his jaw. I always made his eyes chestnut brown with a hazel like ring around them. Also, his scars would be on his cheek, across his eye and through his eyebrow, and then another one starting at his chin and ending at his neck.

“ The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with grey. “

I imagined him a lot like how he was described. Wearing shaggy robes that were a leather like brown and had patches sewn into it, all of them being different colors and patterns. He loss that boyish look and looked much older than he was, probably due to me visioning him to have wrinkled or aged skin and bags under his eyes. His chestnut hair did have grey hairs scattered throughout and he had grew scruff that also had grew in it.

Peter Pettigrew:

People tend to make Peter ugly, which as his character is described (physically and personality-wise) but I always thought of the Marauders all being handsome or even a little pretty. While I envisioned him being the least attractive I never saw him as ugly. I pictured him, when he was young, being the shortest maybe even shorter than Harry. His eyes would be smaller than average but a pretty light green. His nose was pointed but long and his lips were small and thin. His teeth were much like Hermiones’ being bucked.

Lily Evans:

I always thought Lily to be the second prettiest girl in the Harry Potter franchise (my first being a certain looney Ravenclaw). I imagined her to be very petite but taller than Peter and shorter than Sirius. Her hair was medium and thick, it was auburn but had streaks of firey ginger highlights. Her eyes were almond shaped and bright green like Harrys, her skin was milky and clear.

When she got older I imagined her to be taller but the three boys still taller than her. Her auburn hair would be longer and often kept in a ponytail due to baby hair pulling on it, her green eyes still seeming perfect and full of life despite the bad circumstances. She would grow out of her petite form and have a curvier more woman like body.

Molly Wobbles Weasley:

“ short, plump, and kindly-looking woman sabor-tooth tiger when mad “

Molly was one of my favourite characters because of her nature, she reminded me a lot of my mother. I always pictured her as a short, plump, woman who had curly short firey red hair. Her eyes being a light, kind looking shade of blue with periwinkle specs. I always liked to picture her smile because I felt like she would have plump lips and nice white teeth and a kind smile.

“ June and August of 1995 she lost a good deal of weight and appeared paler, though she seemed to get a healthier look back by the next year “

After her wieght loss I still pictured her as plump looking woman but I did change some of her features that stayed the same. I pictured her with her hair much shorter almost to the end of her jaw and still curling up, I gave her straight bangs that were side swept onto both sides and gave her an age spot from the sun.

Authur Weasley:

“ Arthur had bright red hair, though he was balding by the early 1990s. He wore glasses and had blue eyes, and also possessed the tall, thin build inherited by his sons “

For some reason I made every son of his taller than him, I wanted him to be the same height of Molly. I made his eyes around light blue shade, his hair the same fiery red but thin and balding. I imagined his glasses to be thick and round.

In the later books I gave him a hunch back but kept his other features the same.

Did you not see a character you wanted to? Please know that this is just the first ‘By The Book’ I am sorting by houses as it is easier, I’ll eventually get to Professors, and more secondary characters. I will likely be doing Slytherin or Ravenclaw next so keep an eye out for that.

[aberorca]

Cursed Child 04/05/17 Part One review:

Disclaimer: this recap will involve a lot of gushing about James Le Lacheur. Second disclaimer: even though I tried to make some notes in the interval, there are so many things about this performance that stood out which I want to remember and write about but I know I won’t remember everything because there was just too much.

So, this week we have James Le Lacheur’s last hurrah as Scorpius (which is very sad but let’s not dwell on that but rather her sheer brilliance). I’m going to go ahead and say it - she’s my favourite Scorpius. Now, she and Anthony are both equally brilliant. They are superb actors. It so happens Anthony got the Olivier (and deservedly, too) but I firmly believe that if James had the role full-time, she’d have got the gong. She is superb. When she is on stage I find it difficult to take my eyes off her: her emotions and reactions (she seems much more overtly reactive) are captivating and she has a command and a presence that is really incredible given that she has so little time, relatively-speaking, over the course of the year to develop and mould the role within the show. She doesn’t try to be Anthony and I love that although Scorpius still shares some of the same quirks, such as fiddling with his clothes. I also find that James plays the comedy differently. Her Scorpius gets laughs where Anthony’s does’t, and vice-versa.

Anyway, here we go:

I love watching Harry and Ginny on the platform. I know I’ve mentioned this before but them standing there with their arms around each other gives me all the feels, especially as they get put to the test a lot in the story.

Cases/Trunks: I was in Row A for this show so I was able to see details I don’t normally see. I noticed that Rose has a big, shiny new case with “RGW” on it in huge bold letters. In comparison, Albus’s case looks small, old and battered and has “POTTER” stamped on it in peeling letters. It looks like it could be Harry’s old trunk. This is gloriously metaphorical. Lots of people have talked about how the suitcases carried around in the show are also used as gravestones in the final scene, each with the initials of a dead loved-one, and how the kids are literally carrying around the emotional baggage of their parents.  It’s basically the same here, whether Albus’s case used to be Harry’s or James’s, he’s carrying with him to his first year at Hogwarts someone else’s history and identity that he doesn’t want, and which he feels he can’t match with his own. In contrast, Rose is already brimming with confidence, and carries no one but her own person.

I was so happy to have Tom Milligan back. I love him, he’s perfect for James Sirius. His James is the best and I missed him two weeks ago and I’m going to miss him lots when he goes. When James makes the thestral joke, Ron hands him on the shoulder and grins, as if to say “Good one.” When Albus begins to express worries about Slytherin, Ron and James laugh. Ginny and Harry both swung their heads around at them. Ginny definitely had a glare on, but I couldn’t see Harry’s look though I suspect it probably wouldn’t be as stern. I think Harry has a secret soft spot for James Sirius’s jokester nature. When Harry tells him off for teasing Albus on the Platform at the stat of second year, it’s very half-hearted and he fails to hide a bit of a grin. James then playfully slapped Harry in the stomach with his “See you at Christmas, Dad” and the way he said it - I could tell he felt he wasn’t really being told off and Harry just grinned at him, he couldn’t help it. I imagine that James and Harry have a very easy relationship. James takes after his namesakes and has a lot of Weasley (notably Ron and the twins) in him too. I think Harry is really fond of his light-heated nature and secretly a little proud of the level of prankster that James is. He also loves that James carries the quidditch talent and I imagine that when James first got onto the team, Harry would try to make as many matches as he could. Harry, as he says, understands James because he’s seen so much of who James is before. He has seen James in Ron, he saw him in Sirius, he saw him in Fred. Albus, is of course, far more like Harry than James and in consequence Harry can’t understand Albus, because it would be like trying to analyse himself. Of course, the ease with which Harry and James rub together only aggravates Albus’s insecurities. I also think that Harry doesn’t entirely take James’s teasing seriously.  I think, when it’s about Slytherin, for example, something Albus is really insecure about, the teasing hurts him much more than Harry or James realise.

That being said, James allows himself to tease Albus but he doesn’t allow anyone else to do so. When Albus got sorted into Slytherin and Yann said “Maybe his hair isn’t that similar…” James hit Yann and gave him a very brief glare that plainly said “Shut up about my brother” and Yann (played by Josh Wyatt) retreated. I think James would have hexed an Albus bully so fast they’d never have seen it coming but the fact that James and Albus are in different houses and different years means that James isn’t in a position to protect Albus all the time. It would also possibly make the teasing worse - Albus would be teased even further for having to rely on older brother for his defence.

Speaking of different years, I can confirm that the school robe designs do vary among the different year groups (you can see this best during the First Task in the Twiwizard Tournament).

Within the first two years of school, James Le Lacheur talks in a higher pitch than he does in the rest of the play to emphasise that Scorpius is younger in these scenes. In third and fourth year her voice drops. I love that she added this detail. Also, she is so delightfully awkward and bumbling in the scene on the train (and in general) when Scorpius first meets Albus. So endearing.

On the platform for third year when Albus and Harry are at odds, a passer-by who was watching (played by Nuno) actually laughs out loud them, in a nasty way. Harry turns around and looks at the man. He was facing away from my direction to look at him, so I didn’t see the look he gave but I imagine that if looks could kill… I really liked this detail. One of the things overlooked in discussion of this part of the story, though not understated in the script, is that gossip dogs Albus as soon as he is sorted into Slytherin. Amos Diggory had “read about” Albus, the “Potter, who is in Slytherin”. Dumbledore hears gossip at the school and at the Ministry. I imagine Rita Skeeter had a field day when she first heard about Albus being sorted into Slytherin. Harry is used to gossip and rumours and I imagine he has a much thicker skin for it by now, but Albus is just a child, the child of the most famous wizard in the world, and not only does he have rumours within school, but outside of it. Every person he meets knows his name, not because they know him personally, but because they’ve read malicious rumours about him and it all comes down to the fact that he, in the eyes of others, doesn’t match his Dad, So Albus internally rationalises this into being all Harry’s fault. It’s hard enough to have a difficult relationship with your parent, but dealing with it in the public eye, with everyone guessing at things and spreading the guesses, must be absolutely awful and it’s bound to affect that status-quo of said relationship. It just makes it all ten times worse.

During the first EGM, I was able to see into the wings of the stage because my seat was at the far right of the aisle. Someone (Anabel, I think) was waiting just out of sight for the St. Oswald’s scene that followed, and her walking frame suddenly started to shoot toward stage far too early. She darted out to grab it before the EGM got interrupted by a walking frame. It didn’t get as far as on-stage so you wouldn’t have seen it unless you could see into the wings. General audience probably wasn’t aware but it was funny.

Ron and Ginny are both in the EGM and when Hermione mentions Harry’s scar, Ron approaches Ginny in the crowd and talks to her. It looked like a “Why didn’t you tell me?” type-thing.

Tom Milligan plays the carer who loses his trousers in the St. Oswald’s scene. He’s also one of the people who pushes the walk against Albus and Scorpius. This isn’t visible to general audience, but he’s still in his boxers when he’s pushing the wall.

I mentioned this two weeks ago but when Draco roars at Ginny after Albus and Scorpius go missing, Harry’s hand whips to his wand and he’s ready to curse the absolute shit out of Draco. The look on his face is murderous. I’d shit bricks if Harry looked at me like that. Of course, Ginny handles it herself because she’s awesome but Harry’s hand doesn’t leave his wand until Draco leaves. Now I’ve noticed this detail (only took me year - oops), I’m absolutely obsessed with it. All the Hinny feels, you guys. <3

More on Harry: Jamie’s waistcoat thing is quite well-known by now (and it should be) but another habit he has is taking his glasses off. He does it when he’s tired, or stressed, or frustrated or emotional. It’s as if he finds it too hard to look through his own eyes, as if it’s too tiring, too strenuous, to see what Harry Potter sees.

When Harry was ordering McGonagall to keep Albus and Scorpius apart, he normally slaps a hand down on the Marauders Map on McGonagall’s desk. It fell off, and he picked it up off the floor and slammed it down again. As a Harry fan, I find this scene really hard to watch because I don’t like his words and actions even if I understand his reasoning behind them. It’s the uglier side of his flaws. But of course, he recognises his mistakes later and makes up for them, because my boy is a heroic human being and that’s perfect example of a flaw and a strength.

When Albus leaves the hospital wing with Harry and meets Scorpius and tells Scorpius that “We’ll be better off without each other, OK?” James L stumbled back at these words, as if Albus had just run him through the gut with a knife. It was a perfect example of how she is so brilliant. She didn’t stay staring at Jamie as Anthony normally does but immediately crumbled to the floor as though in physical pain. Powerful stuff.

Hermione in the first AU: I love how Noma plays her in these scenes, it’s really beautiful. In particular, I love the manner in which she leaves the DADA scene. She walks off stage slowly, bringing the blackboard with her her hand. She’s half-commanding the blackboard but also half-steadying herself with it too. She walks off with such a straight back, her head held high, so dignified despite her personal internal pain. It perfectly exemplifies why Hermione is such a role model - not because she’s clever or becomes Minister for Magic, but because she’s brave and steadfast in her grievances and carries her burdens with grace and dignity, walking into and out of battles with her head held high. Another thing I love in these scenes is that when she and Ron meet on the staircase and he starts talking to her about Albus thinking they were married, she looks away from him and keeps facing away. I get the sense that as she’s hearing this, if she were to look at him, she’d break, because she loves him so much and it causes her such agony that they aren’t together. Having to look at this love of her life, whom she can’t be with, would just be too much for her composure.This scene is the most heartbreaking scene between them: it’s worse than the Dementor scene by far.

The library scene. Oh my, the library scene. It is nothing short of a privilege to see James do this scene. I remember the first time I saw her as Scorpius back in December and this was the stand out scene but this time around I was two rows closer and oh, my God. You could have heard a pin drop in the audience, she just floored everyone. I think I was sitting there with my mouth open, I was transfixed and I had no time to look at Sam, I just couldn’t tear my eyes from James. The way she screams out frustration with Albus, finally at the end of Scorpius’s tether and the way her body moved and twitched and curled, as if someone was performing the Cruciatus curse on her as she spoke about Astoria. The sobbing, the tears and the snot and everything. This was the most heartbreaking thing I’ve seen so far in this play, and that’s saying something. Honestly, I just can’t find words to express how powerful she was. It felt like the Earth had moved.

I love that Albus hands back the time turner when trying to get Scorpius under the cloak, it’s like a peace-offering and a gesture of trust. I love how James, when McGonagall left, sat so rigid and proud, her Malfoy showing, determined to be stoic and dignified after pouring her heart out but then when she admits that “I didn’t much like my life without you either”, the biggest smile split her face, as if Scorpius was for a moment, taken away and just living the pure happiness that Albus brought to his life. Albus then pulled Scorpius into a hug and Scorpius shrieked with shock as Albus did so which was funny and adorable; he’s just so uncomfortable with all this contact. James is a very shrieky Scorpius (which works brilliantly when Jamie plays Scorpius in the Polyjuice scene and gets all overexcited about the books). As I’ve said, James gets laughed where Anthony doesn’t and vice-versa. When Scorpius was talking about actions creating ripples and how they created “really bad ripples” the way she said those three words, so dramatic and dark, made the audience laugh out loud. I wish I could describe it, it was fantastic.

I always make these things too long! That’s all I can remember for now. Part Two in a few hours!