HOGWARTS, PROFESSOR QUIRRELL'S OFFICE — YEAR 1
HARRY and HERMIONE enter a charmingly furnished office with many moonlit windows. There is a wall of bookshelves, a small desk, a cushioned chair with matching footstool, and a large circle rug with a cauldron at the center. A MOVING PORTRAIT of a young man with short blonde hair and brown robes is seen reading a book. HERMIONE checks the map while HARRY admires the room with an amazed expression. He runs his finger along the rim of the cauldron.
HARRY: Quirrell's office is surprisingly quaint.
HERMIONE lowers the map. She seems to be suppressing an impolite response.
What? It's nice.
HERMIONE (sighing): He's roaming the forest. We should be safe for a while.
MOVING PORTRAIT (excitedly): Greetings!
HARRY and HERMIONE jump. They spin in place. They hadn't noticed the painting.
HARRY (in a raspy voice): Dear god.
HERMIONE: His portrait. I'd forgotten.
MOVING PORTRAIT: I wasn't expecting guests. Are you both Hogwarts professors?
The figure in the painting pours itself a cup of tea.
Wonderful day we're having. All Hallows Eve comes but once a year.
He takes a sip. He sets the cup onto the saucer, pursing his lips.
I was not invited to the festivities. Much to my chagrin.
HARRY: That'll be enough, thank you.
HERMIONE: Seeing him without the turban — it's...
HARRY: I believe the word you're looking for is "unnerving".
They back away from the MOVING PORTRAIT of their former professor and approach the immense bookshelf.
HERMIONE: Search the bookcases. We need to find something on potion reversal.
HERMIONE scans the bindings.
This is a very impressive collection.
HARRY: There are some serious books here. Banned books. Cursed books.
HERMIONE: They are quite something, aren't they? Magick Moste Evile. Fifteenth-Century Fiends. Sonnets of a Sorcerer — that's not even allowed at the Ministry!
Beat, she's getting more eager by the second.
Shadows and Spirits. The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy. Most of these are illegal in the future.
HARRY: Were they ever legal?
HARRY reads the titles. Then he spots a book on the shelf that makes him frown.
The Imperius Curse and How to Abuse It. Bit obvious, that one.
HERMIONE (reading): The True History of the Opal Fire. This is fascinating. This is a find...
HARRY (reproachfully): Hermione...
HERMIONE: I know. I know.
HARRY takes the map from HERMIONE. He checks it before sidling to the next shelf.
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...
