SCORPIUS: Hello, Mr. Stationmaster. Mr. Muggle. Question: Did you see a flying witch passing here? And by the way, what year is it? We just ran away from Hogwarts because we were frightened of upsetting things, but this is okay?

ALBUS: You know what annoys me most of all? Dad will think we did it deliberately.

SCORPIUS: Albus. Really? I mean, really really? Were - trapped - lost - in time - probably permanently - and youre worrying what your dad might think about it? I will never understand the two of you.

ALBUS: Theres a lot to understand. Dads pretty complicated.

SCORPIUS: And youre not? Not to question your taste in women, but you fancied . . . well . . .

They both know who hes talking about.

ALBUS: I did, didnt I? I mean, what she did to Craig . . .

SCORPIUS: Lets not think about that. Lets focus on the fact that we have no wands, no brooms, no means of returning to our time. All we have is our wits and - no, thats all, our wits - and we have to stop her.

STATIONMASTER (in very strong Scots): Ye ken th auld reekie train is running late, boys?

SCORPIUS: Sorry?

STATIONMASTER: If youre waiting oan th auld reekie train, youll need tae ken its running late. Train wirks oan th line. Its a oan th amended time buird.

He looks at them, they look back bewildered. He frowns and hands them an amended timetable. He points to the right bit of it.

Late.

ALBUS takes it and examines it. His face changes as he takes in enormous information. SCORPIUS just stares at the STATIONMASTER.

ALBUS: I know where she is.

SCORPIUS: You understood that?

ALBUS: Look at the date. On the timetable.

SCORPIUS leans in and reads.

SCORPIUS: The 30th October, 1981. Day before Hallows Eve, thirty-nine years ago. But - why is she? Oh.

SCORPIUSs face falls as he realizes.

ALBUS: The death of my grandparents. The attack on my dad as a baby . . . The moment when Voldemorts curse rebounded on himself. Shes not trying to bring about her prophecy - shes trying to prevent the big one.

SCORPIUS: The big one?

ALBUS: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches . . ."

SCORPIUS joins in.

SCORPIUS and ALBUS: ". . . born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies . . ."

SCORPIUSs face falls with every word.

SCORPIUS: Its my fault. I told her that prophecies can be broken - I told her the whole logic of prophecies is questionable - ALBUS: In twenty-four hours time Voldemort curses himself trying to kill the baby Harry Potter. Delphi is trying to prevent that curse. Shes going to kill Harry herself. We need to get to Godrics Hollow. Now.

ACT FOUR, SCENE THREE.

GODRICS HOLLOW, 1981.

ALBUS and SCORPIUS walk through the center of Godrics Hollow and its a bustling, beautiful little village.

SCORPIUS: Well, theres no visible signs of attack that I can see . . .

ALBUS: This is Godrics Hollow?

SCORPIUS: Your dads never taken you?

ALBUS: No, he tried to a few times but I refused.

SCORPIUS: Well, theres no time for a tour - we have a murderous witch to save the world from - but regard: The Church, St. Jeromes . . .

As he indicates a church becomes visible.

ALBUS: Its magnificent.

SCORPIUS: And St. Jeromes graveyard is supposedly magnificently haunted, (he points in another direction) and thats where the statue of Harry and his parents will be - ALBUS: My dad has a statue?

SCORPIUS: Oh. Not yet. But he will. Hopefully. And this - this house is where Bathilda Bagshot lived, lives . . .

ALBUS: The Bathilda Bagshot? A History of Magic Bathilda Bagshot?

SCORPIUS: The very same. Oh my, thats her. Wow. Squeak. My geekness is a-quivering.

ALBUS: Scorpius!

SCORPIUS: And here it is - ALBUS: The home of James, Lily, and Harry Potter . . .

A young, attractive couple leave a house with a baby in a pushchair. ALBUS moves towards them, SCORPIUS pulls him back.

SCORPIUS: They cant see you, Albus, it might damage time, and were not doing that - not this time.

ALBUS: But this means, she hasnt . . . Weve made it . . . She hasnt . . .

SCORPIUS: So what do we do now? Get ready to fight her? Because shes pretty . . . Fierce.

ALBUS: Yes. We havent really thought this one through, have we? What do we do now? How do we protect my dad?

ACT FOUR, SCENE FOUR.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC, HARRYS OFFICE.

HARRY is hurriedly going through paperwork.

DUMBLEDORE: Good evening, Harry.

A beat. HARRY looks up at the portrait of DUMBLEDORE, his face passive.

HARRY: Professor Dumbledore, in my office, Im honored. I must be where the action is tonight?

DUMBLEDORE: What are you doing?

HARRY: Going through papers, seeing if Ive missed anything I shouldnt have. Marshaling forces to fight in the limited way we can fight. Knowing that the battle is being raged far away from us. What else can I do?

Pause. DUMBLEDORE says nothing.

Where have you been, Dumbledore?

DUMBLEDORE: Im here now.

HARRY: Here just as the battle is lost. Or are you denying that Voldemort is going to return.

DUMBLEDORE: It is - possible.

HARRY: Go. Leave. I dont want you here, I dont need you. You were absent every time it really counted. I fought him three times without you. Ill face him again, if needs be - alone.

DUMBLEDORE: Harry, dont you think I wanted to fight him on your behalf? I would have spared you if I could - HARRY: "Love blinds us"? Do you even know what that means? Do you even know how bad that advice was? My son is - my son is fighting battles for us just as I had to for you. And I have proved as bad a father to him as you were to me. Leaving him in places he felt unloved - growing in him resentments hell take years to understand - DUMBLEDORE: If youre referring to Privet Drive, then - HARRY: Years - years I spent there alone, without knowing what I was, or why I was there, without knowing that anybody cared!

DUMBLEDORE: I - did not wish to become attached to you - HARRY: Protecting yourself, even then!

DUMBLEDORE: No. I was protecting you. I did not want to hurt you . . .

DUMBLEDORE attempts to reach out of the portrait - but he cant. He begins to cry but tries to hide it.

But I had to meet you in the end . . . eleven years old, and you were so brave. So good. You walked uncomplainingly along the path that had been laid at your feet. Of course I loved you . . . and I knew that it would happen all over again . . . that where I loved, I would cause irreparable damage. I am no fit person to love . . . I have never loved without causing harm.

A beat.

HARRY: You would have hurt me less if you had told me this then.

DUMBLEDORE (openly weeping now): I was blind. That is what love does. I couldnt see that you needed to hear that this closed-up, tricky, dangerous old man . . . loved you.

A pause. The two men are overcome with emotion.

HARRY: It isnt true that I never complained.

DUMBLEDORE: Harry, there is never a perfect answer in this messy, emotional world. Perfection is beyond the reach of humankind, beyond the reach of magic. In every shining moment of happiness is that drop of poison: the knowledge that pain will come again. Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe.

HARRY: You said that to me once before.

DUMBLEDORE: It is all I have to offer you tonight.

He begins to walk away.

HARRY: Dont go!

DUMBLEDORE: Those that we love never truly leave us, Harry. There are things that death cannot touch. Paint . . . and memory . . . and love.

HARRY: I loved you too, Dumbledore.

DUMBLEDORE: I know.

He is gone. And HARRY is alone. DRACO enters.

DRACO: Did you know that in this other reality - the reality Scorpius saw into - I was Head of Magical Law Enforcement? Maybe this room will be mine soon enough. Are you okay?

HARRY is consumed in his grief.

HARRY: Come in - Ill give you the tour.

DRACO walks hesitantly inside the room. He looks around distastefully.

DRACO: The thing is, though - never really fancied being a Ministry man. Even as a child. My dad, its all he ever wanted - me, no.

HARRY: What did you want to do?

DRACO: Quidditch. But I wasnt good enough. Mainly I wanted to be happy.

HARRY nods. DRACO looks at him a second more.

Sorry, Im not very good at small talk, do you mind if we skip on to the serious business?

HARRY: Of course. What - serious - business?

Beat.