MALFOY MANOR, EXTERIOR —
YEAR 1/YEAR 7

The imposing facade of Malfoy Manor looms tall on the stage. It is a calm and sunny afternoon. The front door is ajar. A short house elf with long ears and bandaged hands sweeps the front steps. He is dressed in a filthy sack.

HARRY and HERMIONE enter and hide within the tall hedges. They see the elf and marvel at him. It is DOBBY.

HARRY (hushed): Hermione. It's Dobby.

HERMIONE: He looks miserable. Are those... Did they iron his hands?

HERMIONE clenches her jaw. She wipes at her eyes.

HARRY (consolingly): He only has to endure it for another year.

HERMIONE: All the same, remind me to come back and pay them a visit once I've perfected the Bonegrowl Curse.

Indecipherable yelling is heard from off. DOBBY stiffens.

DOBBY (in a high, trembling voice): Dobby is coming, Master. Dobby was merely sweeping the stoop again as promised and —

There is more indecipherable yelling.

Right away. Dobby is infinitely sorry for betraying your trust, sir.

DOBBY leans the broom against the wall and hastens up the steps. The broom slides down. He nervously readjusts it with wandless, unspoken magic before entering the house and closing the door.

HARRY: That's where Draco was raised. In that environment. (beat) Something tells me he would've preferred sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs.

HARRY notices the distress on HERMIONE's face.

Sorry — I can't help but see this through the eyes of a father.

HERMIONE: Well, I've seen enough. Can we use the Time-Turner, please?

HARRY takes out the Time-Turner. It spins and reacts more violently than usual, as if it knew this was the last step in their journey.

The usual bursts of light and booms of tumultuous sound are replaced by flashes of lightning and thunder — so real, it seems to be coming from storm clouds hidden within the auditorium.

It is no longer a calm and sunny afternoon. The sky overhead is depressingly gray. White albino peacocks stroll across the lawn, unaffected by the rolling thunder. There is a general feeling of unpredictability in the air. HERMIONE examines the clouds as HARRY pockets the Time-Turner.

HARRY: Just like that. From first year to seventh.

HERMIONE: A storm is coming. It's going to rain soon. What time are the boys arriving? Did Draco give you any indication?

HARRY: Only that they walk over from the bridge to avoid being seen.

HERMIONE: So, we wait.

The thunder rumbles on. HARRY and HERMIONE smile awkwardly. With a Time-Turner in their possession, they are unaccustomed to waiting. HERMIONE scouts past the hedges. She waits a moment then does it again.

HARRY: Hermione...

HERMIONE: I know. It's just — everything hinges on this. If we stop the boys from getting inside, we're guaranteed to change the future. They don't try to kill Delphi. Albus never thinks he succeeded — never puts himself in Azkaban.

HERMIONE pauses, adding emphasis to her next sentence.

He won't become Pariah Prince.

HARRY: That act alone won't stop The Tempest.

HERMIONE: No, but it will save your son. And, in all probability, your wife.

HARRY: How do you plan on stopping them?

HERMIONE: I was considering the charm that Fleur used in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. When you were facing the dragons.

HARRY: You saw it, I didn't. They made me wait in the tent with Viktor Krum, remember?

HERMIONE: Oh. I don't know the proper name. Always heard the charm referred to as Flitwick's Forty Winks. It should put Al and Scorpius in a sort of trance. Like they're asleep — only temporarily.

HARRY: Long enough to take them back to the present.

HERMIONE: Yes, but we'll need to move quickly. I'll use their Time-Turner. And, when the job is done, you'll use...

HERMIONE hesitates. She glances down at HARRY's robe.

...the other one.

HARRY: It's the same one. Just from another point in the future.

HERMIONE: Right.

HERMIONE checks for the boys once more as HARRY touches the pocket of his robe where Dumbledore's Time-Turner is hiding. Based on his reticent posture, HARRY seems to realize that HERMIONE has somehow learned about the second device. HARRY looks up at the house.

HARRY: She's in there. Right now.

HERMIONE faces him, her expression faltering. He holds his gaze.

It's because of her. Delphi is going to kill my wife and son —

HERMIONE: Not yet, Harry. Right now, she's just a baby.

HARRY: Al was right. Delphi can't be raised to become the heir of Lord Voldemort.

HERMIONE: Your son brought her out into the light and you found a way for us to stop her.

HARRY (distantly): The pressure he must've felt in that moment.

HARRY is wrestling with his thoughts.

What do you do when you're unable to enter the bedchamber? When you believe that child will have to die to save the world?

HERMIONE: Albus was too young to understand. When there is something you could do — to stop her — but you don't. That's heroic.

HARRY: I liked her, Hermione, you know that? I really liked her — Delphi. (beat, he looks disgusted) And she was — Voldemort's daughter?

HERMIONE: That's what they're good at, Harry — catching us in their web.

HARRY: And then — when I faced her at the Ministry — I wanted to kill her.

HERMIONE: But she's a murderer, and we're not. We carry the day because we are better than them.

HARRY: Are you so sure? I tried to kill her, but it didn't work. 

HERMIONE: Yes, Harry. The curse failed because you didn't actually want her dead. You didn't mean it.

HARRY: Sorry, Hermione. You're wrong. Delphi was immune after surviving the killing curse as a child...

He looks differently at the house.

...later today.

HERMIONE: You were confused.

HARRY: No, I wasn't. Not then. Not anymore.

HARRY stares off blankly. His voice goes cold.

You know, I thought I'd lost him — Voldemort. I thought I'd lost him — and then my scar was hurting again and the dreams returned — and I started to feel like I'd not changed at all — that he'd never let me go. And yet it was a trick. The part of me that was Voldemort died a long time ago. But it wasn't enough to be physically rid of him — I had to be mentally rid of him. And that — is a lot to learn for a forty-year-old man.

HERMIONE: Albus Dumbledore had his trials, too — and Severus Snape. They were men with huge flaws, and you know what — those flaws made them great... in the way they needed to be. The connection you once had to Voldemort — overcoming that shouldn't be a burden. It is a source of strength.

HARRY: I — know what it is to feel — like him. I know what it is to be him. To understand his motives.

HERMIONE: But I understand your heart. You are not Lord Voldemort.

There is an uncomfortable pause. HERMIONE tries to sound more uplifting as she changes the subject.

HERMIONE: Really, I wonder why you couldn't just walk into the house. The barrier of protection is against anyone who is there to cause harm to those inside. If anything, you're removing her from harm.

HARRY (softly): I couldn't take a chance.

HERMIONE looks unconvinced.

HERMIONE: Listen, you know that Delphi is the Augurey now. Assuming we've done everything to the letter, and the boys are safe, you could just handle her in the present. Are we absolutely sure —?

HARRY: I'm sure.

Another uncomfortable pause.

HERMIONE: Harry. All of this — everything we've done — it's so you can take her out of that house and bring her to an orphanage, right? Somewhere they wouldn't go looking?

HARRY: Of course, Hermione.

HARRY absently scratches the back of his left hand.

HERMIONE: I'm beginning to think we should do this together.

HARRY: Your solidarity is admirable, but it doesn't make sense. We can't both be Draco, can we?

HERMIONE nods. She takes heavy, unsteady breaths.

HERMIONE: For this plan to work, you can't be seen with Delphi. And it's difficult to cast a spell beneath the cloak, especially with a child in your arms. If I wait outside, the two of us could —

HARRY: Your concerns are valid, but...

HERMIONE: I don't mind —

HARRY (seriously, without hesitation): It has to be like this.

He finally makes eye contact.

It has to be me.

Thunder rumbles the stage, followed by a distant fork of lightning. HERMIONE doesn't turn away. HARRY doesn't either. Then HERMIONE looks off. She tenderly smiles. Then it gradually becomes a frown.

HERMIONE: I'll never forget the end of fourth year. The final task of the Triwizard Tournament, Cedric's death, imagining all that you experienced during Voldemort's rebirth. It's burned into my memory, those last few weeks. Just there, waiting for me to access them whenever I'd like.

HERMIONE pauses. Her expression softens.

But there's one thing, in particular, that's stayed with me every day since.

HARRY: What's that?

HERMIONE: Something from the conversation you overheard between Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge when you were in the hospital wing.

HARRY: It was more of a duel than a conversation.

HERMIONE: You remember, then?

HARRY: Dumbledore knew that Voldemort would soon rise in power and Fudge was pushing back on reaching out to the giants for help because people hated them. Sounds like something that would inspire The Tempest.

HERMIONE: Yes. Dumbledore called him blind. And can you recall what he said next?

HARRY shook his head.

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." (beat) If there is one thing I learned while running my department, it was that blood — whether pure or common — whether evil or good — does not define you. Judging someone based on their blood is the very essence of hate. The greatest weapon you have is a power Voldemort never understood, Harry. Love.

HARRY: Now you're starting to sound like Delphi. She thought I loved her.

HERMIONE: Is she wrong? Removing her from this house, from the grips of the Death Eaters... that is an act of love. A different wizard would've just burned the place to the ground.

HARRY: Who says I haven't thought of that?

Off her look of contempt, HARRY slumps his shoulders with exasperation.

Hermione, come on. You know me.

HERMIONE: I do. Which is why I feel safe leaving you to finish the job. (beat) Besides, I won't know the difference in the end. You'll be the only one to remember any of this. My memories will be altered the moment you change the past. That means you alone will have to live with the outcome of this undertaking. It may be a blessing. Perhaps a curse. But it is yours. Can you handle such a burden?

HARRY: Were there an alternative, Hermione...