13 new pieces of ‘Harry Potter’ canon introduced by ‘The Cursed Child’

Whether you loved or didn’t love Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it’s time to face the facts. Here are several new developments that are now canon in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World.

Obviously, major spoilers for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ahead!

Since much of the story takes place in the past — and all of the accidental changes by Albus and Scorpius (like Ron and Padma being together!) end up being repaired, our list of new Harry Potter canon does not include anything that happened during the Time Turning.

Ron has passed a Muggle driving test. Gone are the days of the hapless driving of the Ford Anglia. Ron can properly break Harry out of any house like a responsible, driving adult these days.
Harry Potter is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. But despite this important job, Harry’s surprised to learn that Time Turners and magic have evolved since he was at Hogwarts.
Hermione is the Minister of Magic. YES!
There were no more Triwizard Tournaments following the tragic events of Goblet of Fire. Believe it or not, before the release of The Cursed Child we didn’t know if Triwizard Tournaments continued.
The Trolley Witch is more than just a lady handing out sweets. Turns out the Trolley Witch, a familiar character we loved seeing in every book, was much more powerful than we thought, and is responsible for making sure the kids get to Hogwarts safely and without issue. Despite her solid track record, she failed at her job in The Cursed Child.
Ginny is an Editor at the Daily Prophet. She reiterates to Draco in Cursed Child that she is the Editor of the Sports section. She also has the power to send out extra editions of the paper in emergency situations.
Ron is so in love with Hermione that he wants to re-marry her. Ron, learning that he ended up with a son and married Padma in an alternate universe, proclaims his love for Hermione in one scene, saying he wants to re-marry her. Sadly, we don’t get to see this second marriage in the play.
Voldemort has a daughter with Bellatrix Lestrange. The heir of the Dark Lord (the Dark Princess?), is actually the daughter of Bellatrix. This revelation was arguably the biggest shock of Cursed Child. Though Delphi says she was born before the Battle of Hogwarts, we still don’t know exactly when Bellatrix and Voldemort did the deed. Delphi is respected by Voldemort’s former followers — she rounds them up to prepare for a battle of some sort.
Despite all the Time Turners supposedly being destroyed, new ones were developed and came into the possession of Hermione and Draco (the former’s was from former Slytherin student Theodore Nott). This was one of those plot points in the eighth story that felt unlike J.K. Rowling — Time Turners were wedged back into canon so this story could exist.
Draco’s wife, Astoria, died of blood malediction and gave birth so Draco would have a family following her death.
Delphi, Lord Voldemort’s daughter, is “far stronger” than Harry. Throughout the series, we get to know Harry’s incredible power as a wizard, and his ultimate defeat of Voldemort. But on page 190 of the Cursed Child script book, Delphi is described as “far stronger” than Harry. Hmm, do we really buy this? Per the book:
“He moves to attack her again. But she is far stronger. Harry’s wand ascends upwards towards her. He is disarmed. He is helpless.”
Scorpius wants to date Rose Granger-Weasley. Despite the clearly powerful, and what most thought were romantic, feelings towards Albus, it’s revealed that Scorpius actually has a crush on Rose. Rose, however, declines. So there’s still hope for #Scorbus.
Harry doesn’t like pigeons. Arguably the most important new detail we learned, Harry admits to absolutely hating pigeons.
HARRY: I don’t like small spaces and – I’ve never told anyone this, but I don’t much like (he hesitates before saying it) pigeons.
ALBUS: You don’t like pigeons?
HARRY (he scrunches up his face): Nasty, pecky, dirty things. They give me the creeps.
ALBUS: But pigeons are harmless!