Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Act Four

by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter now has children of his own, but when his son Albus begins school at Hogwarts, it seems that the past is returning to haunt them both.

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. reverberate
    ring or echo with sound
    The news reverberates around the room.
  2. solidarity
    a union of interests or purposes among members of a group
    Your solidarity is admirable, but it doesn’t make your negligence negligible.
  3. negligible
    so small as to be meaningless; insignificant
    Your solidarity is admirable, but it doesn’t make your negligence negligible.
  4. negligence
    failure to act with the prudence of a reasonable person
    Then it’s a negligence I too should face.
  5. cohort
    a company of companions or supporters
    HERMIONE looks across at her cohort—moved. RON joins them on the stage.
  6. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    ALBUS and SCORPIUS are looking at a STATIONMASTER, apprehensively.
  7. amend
    make revisions to
    He frowns and hands them an amended timetable.
  8. vanquish
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...”
  9. passive
    lacking in energy or will
    HARRY looks up at the portrait of DUMBLEDORE, his face passive.
  10. marshal
    make ready for action or use
    Marshaling forces to fight in the limited way we can fight.
  11. resentment
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    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 he’ll take years to understand—
  12. irreparable
    impossible to rectify or amend
    Of course I loved you...and I knew that it would happen all over again...that where I loved, I would cause irreparable damage.
  13. distasteful
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    DRACO walks hesitantly inside the room. He looks around distastefully.
  14. prototype
    the first functional model of some new design or product
    The Time-Turner the Ministry seized was a prototype. Made of inexpensive metal. It does the job—sure. But only being able to go back in time for five minutes—that’s a serious flaw—it isn’t something you’d sell to true collectors of Dark Magic.
  15. vanilla
    plain and without any extras or adornments
    He liked owning things that no one else had. The Ministry’s Time-Turners—thanks to Croaker—were always a little vanilla for him. He wanted the ability to go back further than an hour, he wanted the ability to travel back years.
  16. credence
    the mental attitude that something is believable
    Consider the alternative—consider if people had known that I had the ability to travel in time. Consider the rumor that would have been given increased—credence.
  17. frail
    physically weak
    We were capable of having children but Astoria was frail.
  18. malediction
    the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil
    A blood malediction, a serious one. An ancestor was cursed...it showed up in her.
  19. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    I never realized, though, that by hiding him away from this gossiping, judgmental world, I ensured that my son would emerge shrouded in worse suspicion than I ever endured.
  20. blight
    have a negative or detrimental effect on
    We’ve been so busy trying to rewrite our own pasts, we’ve blighted their present.
  21. alternate
    serving or used in place of another
    I was able to ask for help because I was in an alternate reality.
  22. pram
    a baby carriage with four wheels
    LILY exits the house with BABY HARRY in a pram, she carefully puts a blanket on him.
  23. occasionally
    now and then or here and there
    I think I’d like to tell him that I’m occasionally capable of more bravery than he might think I am.
  24. tincture
    a medicine consisting of an extract in an alcohol solution
    Well, it is said that if tincture of Demiguise and pearl dust meet...they burn.
  25. dismayed
    struck with fear, dread, or consternation
    He picks up the blanket. He discovers it has holes in it. He looks at it, dismayed.
  26. distinct
    easy to perceive; especially clearly outlined
    “Dad,” does it say, “Dad”? It’s not that distinct.
  27. thatch
    cover with roofing material made of plant stalks
    I can see why—look at the thatched roofs. And is that a farmers’ market?
  28. barb
    an aggressive remark directed at a person
    RON: Old times with a few unwelcome ponytails added to the mix.
    DRACO knows a barb when he hears one.
  29. unwavering
    marked by firm determination or resolution
    RON (hesitating in the face of her unwavering gaze): Fine. I, um, I think you’ve got really nice hair.
  30. introspective
    given to examining own sensory and perceptual experiences
    HARRY steps away, introspective.
  31. horrendous
    causing fear or dread or terror
    And the form of VOLDEMORT emerges from HARRY.
    And it’s horrendous.
  32. aghast
    struck with fear, dread, or consternation
    He looks around at his friends and family.
    They look back—aghast.
  33. imploringly
    in a pleading manner
    DELPHI looks at him imploringly.
  34. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    DELPHI speaks intently in Parseltongue.
  35. titanic
    of great force or power
    And HERMIONE, RON, GINNY, and DRACO emerge from the doors, and fire up their spells at DELPHI, who screams out in exasperation. This is titanic. But she can’t fight them all.
  36. lummox
    an awkward, foolish person
    Them Muggles are coming, yeh see, with their flashing blues and they won’t ’preciate a big lummox like me, would they?
  37. ethereal
    of heaven or the spirit
    As flashing blue lights fill the room giving it an almost ethereal glow—he lifts BABY HARRY gently into his arms.
  38. eventual
    expected to follow in the indefinite future
    But I asked her. I planted the acorn. The acorn that will grow into our eventual marriage.
  39. induce
    cause to arise
    I know, I think it’s a bonding thing or something similarly vomit- inducing.
  40. escapade
    a wild and exciting undertaking
    I don’t understand your head, Albus—actually, you know what, you’re a teenager, I shouldn’t be able to understand your head, but I do understand your heart. I didn’t—for a long time—but thanks to this—“escapade”—I know what you got in there.
Created on Thu Aug 25 11:51:51 EDT 2016 (updated Tue Jul 26 09:03:05 EDT 2022)

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