HERMIONE: Well... there's something about him, isn't there?
RON: Do you mean the dodgy bit? Where he's a bloody impostor?
HARRY: He does have a charming smile, Ron.
RON: Ugh...
HARRY and HERMIONE smile at one another. It's fun to torture RON.
HERMIONE: Now, keep your voice down. We need a plan of attack to get him away from those feathers. Some sort of distraction.
She points and a halo of light accents the extra feather quills behind the counter, each with a shining silver cap, arrayed on a bed of silk in forget-me-not blue.
RON: Oh, no — duck!
RON pushes their heads down as a SHORT WIZARD turns his large camera to the crowd. He takes a photograph. The intense flash was followed by a puff of smoke.
HERMIONE: Good reflexes, Ron.
RON: We might have to do this another time.
HARRY: There's no turning back now. And Lockhart stops signing when I come into the shop, remember?
RON: But we can't run the risk of having a camera taking our picture in the past.
HARRY: No. One camera isn't enough.
HARRY looks around himself. He spots two more REPORTERS with cameras and leads RON and HERMIONE over.
If I've learned anything about fame, it's how to use reporters to my advantage.
HERMIONE: I see where you're going with this.
RON (annoyed): Well, I don't.
HARRY positions himself casually beside the REPORTERS in the crowd.
HARRY (excitedly, to HERMIONE): Have you heard? Harry Potter is on his way over to the shop.
The two REPORTERS overhear this. They lean back to eavesdrop on HARRY, RON, and HERMIONE.
HERMIONE: Is he? I heard Gilderoy Lockhart is making an announcement this afternoon.
The REPORTERS lock eyes.
Could one have anything to do with the other?
HARRY: I wish I knew.
RON nods, eager to join in on the ruse.
RON (in a whisper): Oh, look! There's the Potter boy now.
The REPORTERS gather their cameras and shove themselves into Flourish and Blotts.
REPORTER 01: Out of the way, there. This is for the Daily Prophet!
YOUNG VOICE: Big deal.
RON's eyes widen. He speeds after the REPORTERS. HARRY and HERMIONE follow.
RON: That was me...
RON stops and stares, admiring the sight before him. HARRY smiles. The crowd blocks the audience from being able to view what our heroes are seeing, but it's obvious.
Look at us, Harry. We're so young.
HARRY: And so confident.
HERMIONE: Look at your parents.
RON gasps.
HARRY: What is it?
RON: Fred... It's Fred...
YOU ARE READING
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (The M. Clifford MOD)
Fanfiction"It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and the father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where...
Act 4: Scene 1
Start from the beginning
