by Kena Worthen
HARRY POTTER: But the three of you, you were close?
SCORPIUS MALFOY: Close? (He scoffs) That is... no, that is not the way I’d describe it. Albus kind of, well he did, he shut me out. (Agitated) All he cared about in the end was snogging Cecilia and that stupid trinket.
HERMIONE WEASLEY: Sorry, what trinket?
DRACO MALFOY: Hello Scorpius.
SCORPIUS is horrified as DRACO enters.
SCORPIUS MALFOY: (Loud) HELLO. (Softer) Dad.
DRACO MALFOY: I am eager to hear your explanation as to why I’ve found you in this hospital, rather than at home, as I had instructed.
SCORPIUS MALFOY: Well. Actually, now that you’ve said it, there, it’s great, really, is a good explanation
HERMIONE WEASLEY: (Interrupting) I’ve asked him.
SCORPIUS MALFOY: (He is baffled as to why she is covering for him) She... did?
HERMIONE WEASLEY: As I’m sure you’re well aware, Draco, your son and my nephew were quite close. I felt Scorpius may have had information that would have proven helpful in ensuring Albus’s safe return.
DRACO MALFOY
Is it not beneath a Minister to interrogate children without the knowledge or consent of their guardian? (Beat) Scorpius, please wait for me outside.
SCORPIUS hesitates then, with a nod he exits.
DRACO MALFOY: I would appreciate it, Minister, if you would allow my son to learn from his own mistakes.
HARRY POTTER: Hermione was only attempting to afford him a kindness that he seems too often deprived.
DRACO MALFOY: You know nothing of Scorpius, and are in no position to tell me what he is lacking - the problems with your own son seem to be more than enough.
HARRY POTTER: Have you come purely to insult me, or just to make my life as miserable as you apparently make everyone else’s?
In GINNY’s room, ROSE has moved towards the door, preparing to exit, but pauses, eavesdropping on what the adults are saying.
DRACO MALFOY: Alas, I’m afraid that in that respect, you are not in need of my assistance. (To Hermione) That was quite a performance today. Tell me, was it your idea, or someone else’s, to ensure that the public remains in the dark to the identity of your missing nephews companion?
HERMIONE WEASLEY: I found it imperative that we not begin a witch hunt based on conjecture.
DRACO MALFOY: And that she stole a deceased child’s name? That the true Cecilia Sinclaire, Ilvermorny student, lay dead in St. Mungos, body found in a London bin? Surely there’s more than conjecture that points to her guilt?
HERMIONE WEASLEY: While I’d be interested to learn your sources, Mr. Malfoy, I can assure you that I am pursuing every investigative angle, and when the time is safe, the public will know. My only interest is ensuring the safe return of Albus... (Spying her daughter) Rose, love, is everything alright?
ROSE WEASLEY: Erm, yeah, I was just... Aunt Gin is fine, I just thought I’d go with dad. Is everyth
RON WEASLEY: It’s fine. Wait for me in the car, I won’t be a minute.
RON kisses ROSE’s forehead, and she exits, clearly troubled.
DRACO MALFOY: Driving, Weasley? Still Muggle loving as ever, I see. (He puts up his hands) Truthfully, I am not here to quarrel.
HARRY POTTER: If you’ve anything to do with this
DRACO MALFOY: Cease the baseless accusations, Potter. I’ve nothing to do with current state of affair. In my own selfish search, I have simply come across information that you may desire.
RON WEASLEY: Ah Draco, there you are.
DRACO MALFOY: Comforting, isn’t it, to know that not all of us have changed? Nevertheless-
GINNY POTTER begins to scream. RON and HARRY rush
to her side.
DRACO MALFOY: I believe this conversation is best held in private. I’ll be in touch.
He exits.
Blackout
Act 2 Scene 3
Offstage, we hear a scream. It is CECILIA. ALBUS covers his ears. Suddenly, she is thrown onstage, sobbing, tossed beside ALBUS like a rag doll.
ALBUS POTTER: Cecilia, oh Merlin, shh, it’s okay, I’m here...
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: (sobbing) They wouldn’t stop, they, they just kept, it burned, I can still feel it...
ALBUS POTTER: This is my fault. They keep asking about me, about my father, they’re hurting you to break me and I- (his voice falters)
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Albus, would you stay with me?
ALBUS POTTER: Forever.
She smiles. Her eyes are sinister
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Albus... (From her pocket, an old, ornate key) One of them got too close, I swiped it. Its a shot, a chance.
ALBUS POTTER: You’re brilliant.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Not just that, but when they had me in that... (she shudders) room, I saw the wand under his cloak. If we get that, we’re free.
ALBUS POTTER; We can go home.
He kisses her forehead. She pushes ALBUS into the shadows, waits a moment - then emits a loud, ear splitting shriek.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Help! Someone, please help! Help, please! I feel like I’m burning! The guard enters, panicked, unlocking the cell.
HENCHMAN 2: Ma’am, I didn’t, didn’t hurt you, against your
CECILIA sheiks again, cutting him off. The guard rushes her, she suddenly stops screaming. She uses wandless magic to choke him. The wand rolls out of his grasp to ALBUS.
HENCHMAN 2: I’ve been loyal, done everything you’ve
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Albus, now!
ALBUS POTTER: Petrificus Totalus! The guard collapses, frozen. She rushes forward to kiss ALBUS before quickly pulling away.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Albus... what’s wrong?
ALBUS POTTER: It’s, ah... nothing.
They exit. On stage, two hooded figures approach and remove their hoods and masks, revealing MCGUFFIN and an unknown person, (HENCHMEN !).
KERES MCGUFFIN: Finite Incantatem.
The figure on the floor unfreezes and gingerly stands.
HENCHMAN 1: Bloody hell, you’re useless. Where are they?
HENCHMAN 2: Gone. The lot of them ambushed me.
KERES MCGUFFIN: Excellent.
HENCHMAN 1: Do we go after them, then? Run them down?
KERES MCGUFFIN: No. We let it run it’s course, precisely as instructed.
The three exit. CECILIA and ALBUS enter once again; she is leading the way, holding the stolen wand before her.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: This wand really isn’t cooperative.
ALBUS POTTER: You never told me you knew wandless magic.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: (Cheeky) You never asked. (She shrugs) Ilvermorny requirement. We all take it, starting third year. (Beat) We don’t have to go back. Those guards, they’ll
be looking for us, maybe home isn’t the safest place.
ALBUS POTTER: I have to go home, my family, they’ve no idea whether I’ve lived or died and
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: And they’ll be innocent, kept in the dark. Albus, they’ve never cared. Your siblings pity you, your father wishes you weren’t even his. Rose is-
ALBUS POTTER: What did you say?
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Rose? That isn’t news, Albus
ALBUS POTTER: No. About my dad. How did you, I never told you he said that.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE
(Dismissive) Oh, no, I must’ve read about it in the paper
ALBUS POTTER: That wasn’t printed
CECILIA SINCLAIRE Your fight was all over the papers.
ALBUS POTTER: Yeah, it was. But not that.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Okay, so, I was on the platform, Albus, maybe I heard it, is that really the most important thing right now
ALBUS POTTER: But you weren’t. You told me you weren’t at 9 3/4 when it was attacked.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: I don’t
ALBUS POTTER
And that guard - he called you ma’am. It, it was like he was apologizing to you. He said he was loyal.That he’d done everything you’d asked.
CECILIA SINC
LAIRE: Right, that’s absolutely a logical conclusion.
ALBUS POTTER: Don’t patronize me.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: I’m not! Can’t you please, just let it go? It doesn’t matter what that guard said, or what happened between you and your dad. All that matters is we’re free, and I love you.
ALBUS POTTER: Stop. I need you to help me understand. Saying he was loyal, he seemed terrified of you and I
CECILIA begins to laugh with increasing spite and volume.
CECILIA SINCLAIRE
(British Accent) You just couldn’t leave well enough
alone, could you? A shame, truly.
ALBUS POTTER: What are you...? Wait, why are you talking like that... I thought
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: That I was American? No. The truth is so often... shocking. Imagine my shock that the famed son of the boy who lived is a useless, spineless, near squib of a boy.
ALBUS POTTER: You’re one of them, those people, in the cloaks. Do you answer to them?
CECILIA SINCLAIRE: Oh, no. (She smiles) They answer to me. Stupefy.
ALBUS collapses, unconscious. #
Blackout
Act 2 Scene 4
INT. Malfoy Manor. HARRY, RON, and HERMIONE are seated at an ornate table, uncomfortable.
RON WEASLEY: It’s strange, isn’t it? The last time we were here, the world was so different.
HERMIONE WEASLEY: The last time I was in this room, I was being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange.
RON WEASLEY: Bloody lucky that one never had offspring, innit? Could you imagine, if she and Mouldy Voldy
HARRY POTTER: You really never learned when to stop speaking, did you?
RON WEASLEY: It’s a gift.
DRACO enters, carrying a large file.
DRACO MALFOY: I trust you’ve made yourself comfortable?
HERMIONE WEASLEY: (Sarcastically) Exceedingly.
DRACO MALFOY: (Without looking at her, almost as an aside) I apologize, Minister, for the memories that my manor may hold. (Back on topic) Before we begin, I need to know that, despite our rather difficult pasts - that we speak of this to no one but each other.
RON WEASLEY: And why, exactly, should we trust you? You’re a bloody Death Eater, you were a monster, a complete cretin
DRACO MALFOY: I concur that yours is perhaps the last company I would seek. To put it frankly, you don’t have another choice. (Beat) And neither do I.
HERMIONE WEASLEY: Harry, what was it that was stolen, from the shop in Knockturn Alley?
DRACO MALFOY: A Bagglenox.
RON WEASLEY: How did you...?
DRACO MALFOY: My father, as you know, kept a certain, interest, in dark objects, one of the few commonalities we share. I’ve collected many over the years.
RON WEASLEY: Collected? Trinkets and treasures, all so that you can resurrect your Dark Lord again?
DRACO MALFOY: If you would muzzle your dog, Minister.
RON WEASLEY: Git.
DRACO MALFOY: I’ve kept tabs on pieces and their locations, should I wish to purchase them in the future. For the past six years, I’ve noticed a trend of shops, shops suited to the more darkly inclined, being robbed.
HERMIONE WEASLEY: Where is this headed?
DRACO MALFOY: It was... Random, hardly even to be noticed. After all, the items would go missing, and several months later, inexplicably appear in the very places from which they were taken.
RON WEASLEY: So we’ve got a thief, who isn’t a thief but really more of a Borrower, and
DRACO MALFOY: Minister, you’ve been devouring those pages before you. Care to enlighten the group?
HERMIONE WEASLEY: This is... far more information that we were able to find on our own. It’s complicated, terribly so but, according to this documentation... it’s little more than mind control... Harry, The other stolen items. They were the same, though less sophisticated versions.
RON WEASLEY: Bloody mind control?
HERMIONE WEASLEY: According to this, it requires two parties, a holder, and a wielder. The longer the holder has it within their possession, the more they’ll feel drawn to the wielder. According to this, eventually, separation from the wielder will cause...
DRACO MALFOY: Death.
HERMIONE WEASLEY: Harry, remember what Scorpius said at the hospital. That Albus only seemed interested in Cecilia and
HARRY POTTER: A trinket.
RON WEASLEY: (to DRACO) How would you even know Albus had the Bagglenox to begin with?
DRACO MALFOY: Certainly I didn’t, but I do speak to my son from time to time and he was troubled, quite a bit, by Albus behavior and his new obsession with a dusty token.
HARRY POTTER: Is my son going to die?
HERMIONE WEASLEY: If Albus has been affected by the bagglenox, which is pure conjecture, it does not spell certain death, but...
HARRY POTTER: If there is a way to save him, by Merlin, you cannot keep it from me!
DRACO MALFOY: Dark magic is a nasty business. For Albus to survive he must kill Cecilia.
HARRY POTTER: Whats your stake in this?
DRACO MALFOY: Wizards have been vanishing. Sixteen in the past fourty three days. When I first became aware of the disappearances, I employed McNair in what proved to be fruitless attempts at locating them.
RON WEASLEY: Walden McNair? The bloody Death Eater? You’ve got a Death Eater working for you, and you expect us to
DRACO MALFOY: I haven’t, actually. Walden McNair is dead. It was he who discovered the link between the missing wizards and the robbed shops, along with a more personal link. Minister, you said there had been sixteen deaths. Have you found anything that links them?
HARRY POTTER: It’s chaotic, entirely random. Different ages, sexes, social classes
DRACO MALFOY: You pay attention as well now as you did in potions, Potter. Hermione, what was it, that name that they called you?
RON WEASLEY: According to my memory, that was you.
HERMIONE WEASLEYL: Mudblood. (Realization) Blood. It was blood. They were all purebloods.
RON WEASLEY: You’re saying that someone’s running about, killing off the purebloods?
DRACO MALFOY: There were so many accidents, all of them too... convenient. Hardly noticeable, until my (DRACO cuts himself off) McNair was there, the night the Bagglenox
was stolen, and sent an letter to me detailing the event. Two days later, he was floating in the Thames for some muggles to find.
HARRY POTTER: None of this helps me to rescue Albus. This is my son’s life!
DRACO MALFOY: (Enraged) Yes, and mine as well! (Beat) There is someone, potentially the same someone, who is threatening them. My son should not bear the responsibilities of my actions nor should yours.
HERMIONE WEASLEY: But how do you know that McNair’s death was not a convenient silencing? That it had nothing to do with the previous deaths?
RON WEASLEY: Because, Hermione (He slides the paper he has been reading towards her) Four days before it was attacked, the pureblooded owner of that shop was killed.
HARRY POTTER: Why hadn’t you come forward with this sooner?
DRACO MALFOY: You’re entitled to your secrets, Potter, allow me mine.
HERMIONE WEASLEY
Regardless, we have this information now. We find the
girl.
HARRY POTTER
If, whoever she is, has done anything to hurt Albus
DRACO MALFOY: (Interrupting) By all assumptions, your son is quite important to her. If she wanted him dead, she wouldn’t have bothered with kidnapping him. It would have been his body found in the Thames rather than the American girl’s.
HERMIONE WEASLEY: We will find him, Harry.
HARRY POTTER: I will.
Blackout
Act 2 Scene 5
INT. MCGONAGALL’s office. MCGONAOGALL stands behind her desk, with NEVILLE standing near it’s edge.There is a knock from offstage.
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: Enter.
JAMES, ROSE, LILY and FRANK enter.
FRANK LONGBOTTOM: Y
ou asked to see us, Headmaster?
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: I did indeed. Mister Malfoy is not among you?
FRANK LONGBOTTOM: Julianne Rycroft said that Scorpius wasn’t feeling well.
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: Very well. You children have suffered a great ordeal, and it pains me that at such young ages, you have seen such great darkness. If there were a way for me to take on your pain, I would not hesitate.
JAMES POTTER: Thank you, Professor.
NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM: Your mother, is she...?
LILY POTTER: The same.
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: Words cannot convey the grief I feel when I look at the four of you. Your parents have all assured me that you are willing and able to return to your coursework, but if this is not the case, there is no shame is requiring more time away from the school.
JAMES POTTER: I mean no disrespect, Professor, but are we only here to talk about feelings?
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: Has anyone told you just how very like your father you are, Mr. Potter?
FRANK LONGBOTTOM: Once or twice.
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: As terrible as that night may have been, I hope that you have learned a lesson. A lesson that took your parents more years to learn than I am proud to admit.
NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM: Just to say, I didn’t have much to do with any of that.
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: Thank you, Professor. (To the students) What were you thinking, heading off into the forest alone
JAMES POTTER: I agree it doesn’t sound good
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: Determined to find something whom all of you believed, rightfully, might I add, to be dangerous? Your mother was cursed, and your brother was taken. (Beat) You’re right, Mr. Potter, it doesn’t sound good. Now, I don’t blame you, for going after Albus. I don’t blame you for what happened, and as your Headmaster, I will do all that is in my power to keep you safe.
ROSE WEASLEY: Professor, If I may
MINERVA MCGONAGALL: You may not. If Frank hadn’t alerted his father, you very likely would not have survived to have this conversation, Rose. (Beat) Now, however misguided your intentions may have been, they were honorable, and exceptionally brave. But I should also remind you that following in the vigilante footsteps that your parents so lovingly embraced is an ill advised venture. They, your father included, Frank, saw things that the four of you cannot begin to fathom. Terrible, nightmarish things that friends, very dear friends, of mine, of your parents, died to ensure that you would never live to see. A lesson your father, James, so often failed to heed is that however much bravery saves, it does not forgive stupidity.