ALBUS runs to SCORPIUS, who is sitting on his case - numb to the world.

(Delighted.) Scorpius . . . (Concerned.) Scorpius . . . Are you okay?

SCORPIUS says nothing. ALBUS tries to read his friends eyes.

Your mum? Its got worse?

SCORPIUS: Its got the worst it can possibly get.

ALBUS sits down beside SCORPIUS.

ALBUS: I thought youd send an owl . . .

SCORPIUS: I couldnt work out what to say.

ALBUS: And now I dont know what to say . . .

SCORPIUS: Say nothing.

ALBUS: Is there anything . . . ?

SCORPIUS: Come to the funeral.

ALBUS: Of course.

SCORPIUS: And be my good friend.

And suddenly the SORTING HAT is center stage and were back in the Great Hall.

SORTING HAT:.

Are you afraid of what youll hear?

Afraid Ill speak the name you fear?

Not Slytherin! Not Gryffindor!

Not Hufflepuff! Not Ravenclaw!

Dont worry, child, I know my job, Youll learn to laugh, if first you sob.

Lily Potter. GRYFFINDOR.

LILY: Yes!

ALBUS: Great.

SCORPIUS: Did you really think shed come to us? Potters dont belong in Slytherin.

ALBUS: This one does.

As he tries to melt into the background, the other students laugh. He looks up at them all.

I didnt choose, you know that? I didnt choose to be his son.

ACT ONE, SCENE FIVE.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC, HARRYS OFFICE.

HERMIONE sits with piles of paper in front of her in HARRYs messy office. She is slowly sorting through it all. HARRY enters in a rush. He is bleeding from a graze on his cheek.

HERMIONE: How did it go?

HARRY: It was true.

HERMIONE: Theodore Nott?

HARRY: In custody.

HERMIONE: And the Time-Turner itself?

HARRY reveals the Time-Turner. It shines out alluringly.

Is it genuine? Does it work? Its not just an hour-reversal turner - it goes back further?

HARRY: We dont know anything yet. I wanted to try it out there and then but wiser heads prevailed.

HERMIONE: Well, now we have it.

HARRY: And youre sure you want to keep it?

HERMIONE: I dont think weve a choice. Look at it. Its entirely different to the Time-Turner I had.

HARRY (dry): Apparently wizardry has moved on since we were kids.

HERMIONE: Youre bleeding.

HARRY checks his face in the mirror. He dabs at the wound with his robes.

Dont worry, itll go with the scar.

HARRY (with a grin): What you doing in my office, Hermione?

HERMIONE: I was anxious to hear about Theodore Nott and - thought Id check whether youd kept your promise and were on top of your paperwork.

HARRY: Ah. Turns out Im not.

HERMIONE: No. Youre not. Harry, how can you get any work done in this chaos?

HARRY waves his wand and the papers and books transform into neat piles. HARRY smiles.

HARRY: No longer chaotic.

HERMIONE: But still ignored. You know, theres some interesting stuff in here . . . There are mountain trolls riding Graphorns through Hungary, there are giants with winged tattoos on their backs walking through the Greek Seas, and the werewolves have gone entirely underground - HARRY: Great, lets get out there. Ill get the team together.

HERMIONE: Harry, I get it. Paperworks boring . . .

HARRY: Not for you.

HERMIONE: Im busy enough with my own. These are people and beasts that fought alongside Voldemort in the great wizarding wars. These are allies of darkness. This - combined with what we have just unearthed at Theodore Notts - could mean something. But if the Head of Magical Law Enforcement isnt reading his files - HARRY: But I dont need to read it - Im out there, hearing about it. Theodore Nott - it was me who heard the rumors about the Time-Turner and me who acted upon it. You really dont need to tell me off.

HERMIONE looks at HARRY - this is tricky.

HERMIONE: Do you fancy a toffee? Dont tell Ron.

HARRY: Youre changing the subject.

HERMIONE: I truly am. Toffee?

HARRY: Cant. Were off sugar at the moment. (Beat.) You know, you can get addicted to that stuff?

HERMIONE: What can I say? My parents were dentists, I was bound to rebel at some point. Forty is leaving it a little late, but . . . Youve just done a brilliant thing. Youre certainly not being told off - I just need you to look at your paperwork every now and again, thats all. Consider this a gentle - nudge - from the Minister for Magic.

HARRY hears the implication in her emphasis, he nods.

Hows Ginny? Hows Albus?

HARRY: It seems Im as good at fatherhood as I am at paperwork. Hows Rose? Hows Hugo?

HERMIONE (with a grin): You know, Ron says he thinks I see more of my secretary, Ethel, (she indicates off) than him. Do you think theres a point where we made a choice - parent of the year or Ministry official of the year? Go on. Go home to your family, Harry, the Hogwarts Express is about to depart for another year - enjoy the time youve got left - and then come back here with a fresh head and get these files read.

HARRY: You really think this could all mean something?

HERMIONE (with a smile): It could do. But if it does, well find a way to fight it, Harry. We always have.

She smiles once more, pops a toffee in her mouth, and leaves the office. HARRY is left alone. He packs his bag. He walks out of the office and down a corridor. The weight of the world upon his shoulders.

He walks, tired, into a telephone box. He dials 62442.

TELEPHONE BOX: Farewell, Harry Potter.

He ascends away from the Ministry of Magic.

ACT ONE, SCENE SIX.

HARRY AND GINNY POTTERS HOUSE.

ALBUS cant sleep. He is sitting at the top of the stairs. He hears voices below him. We hear HARRYs voice before hes revealed. An elderly man in a wheelchair is with him, AMOS DIGGORY.

HARRY: Amos, I understand, I really do - but Im only just home and - AMOS: Ive tried to make appointments at the Ministry. They say, "Ah, Mr. Diggory, we have an appointment for you, lets see, in two months." I wait. Very patiently.

HARRY: -and coming to my house in the middle of the night - when my kids are just getting ready for their new year at school - its not right.

AMOS: Two months pass, I receive an owl, "Mr. Diggory, Im awfully sorry, but Mr. Potter has been called away on urgent business, were going to have to shift things around a little, are you available for an appointment in, lets see, in two months time." And then it repeats again, and again . . . Youre shutting me out.

HARRY: Of course Im not. Its just, Im afraid, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Im afraid Im responsible - AMOS: Theres plenty youre responsible for.

HARRY: Sorry?

AMOS: My son, Cedric, you do remember Cedric, dont you?

HARRY (remembering Cedric hurts him): Yes, I remember your son. His loss - AMOS: Voldemort wanted you! Not my son! You told me yourself, the words he said were, "Kill the spare." The spare. My son, my beautiful son, was a spare.

HARRY: Mr. Diggory, as you know, I sympathize with your efforts to memorialize Cedric, but - AMOS: A memorial? I am not interested in a memorial - not anymore. I am an old man - an old dying man - and I am here to ask you - beg you - to help me get him back.

HARRY looks up, astonished.

HARRY: Get him back? Amos, thats not possible.

AMOS: The Ministry has a Time-Turner, does it not?

HARRY: The Time-Turners were all destroyed.

AMOS: The reason Im here with such urgency is Ive just heard rumor - strong rumor - that the Ministry seized an illegal Time-Turner from Theodore Nott and has kept it. For investigation. Let me use that Time-Turner. Let me have my son back.

Theres a long, deadly pause. HARRY is finding this extremely difficult. We watch as ALBUS moves closer, listening.

HARRY: Amos, playing with time? You know we cant do that.

AMOS: How many people have died for the Boy Who Lived? Im asking you to save one of them.

This hurts HARRY. He thinks, his face hardens.