Delphini Diggory

Delphini, known as Delphi, is the primary antagonist of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. She is the powerful, clandestine daughter of Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange, conceived in secret at Malfoy Manor before the Battle of Hogwarts. Raised in isolation after her parents' deaths, she becomes fanatically devoted to her father's ideology. Posing as the niece of Amos Diggory, she manipulates Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy in a complex plot to alter history using a Time-Turner and resurrect Lord Voldemort. Note: The character of Delphini and all related events and details originate from the stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and do not appear in the original seven novels.

Delphini was born in secret at Malfoy Manor between late 1997 and early 1998 to Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Shortly after her birth, both of her parents were killed during the Battle of Hogwarts, leaving her an orphan. She was taken in by Euphemia Rowle, a former Death Eater, who raised her out of a sense of duty (and for a significant amount of gold) but showed her no affection (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Delphini stated she did not attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and grew up in relative isolation (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). After Bellatrix Lestrange's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, was released from Azkaban, he found Delphini and informed her of her true heritage and a prophecy he believed she was destined to fulfill: “When spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children murder their fathers: then will the Dark Lord return.” (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). This revelation set her on a path to restore her father to power.

In the 2020s, Delphini put her plan into motion. She placed Amos Diggory under a Confundus Charm, convincing the elderly wizard that she was his niece, Delphini Diggory. Together, they approached Harry Potter, now Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, to demand the use of a newly seized Time-Turner to go back in time and save Cedric Diggory (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). When Harry refused, Delphini overheard his son, Albus Potter, arguing with him. She befriended Albus and his friend Scorpius Malfoy, manipulating them into stealing the Time-Turner from the Ministry of Magic to save Cedric. Her true intention was not to save Cedric, but to ensure his humiliation during the Triwizard Tournament, believing that this would cause him to become a bitter and cruel Death Eater, who would then serve and empower Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Her manipulations led Albus and Scorpius to create two alternate timelines. In the first, Cedric's humiliation led to him murdering Neville Longbottom during the Battle of Hogwarts, allowing Nagini to survive and Voldemort to win the war. In the second, Albus ceased to exist entirely in a world where Voldemort reigned and Dolores Umbridge was Headmistress of Hogwarts (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).

After Albus and Scorpius realized her deception and the true meaning of the prophecy, Delphini revealed her identity as Voldemort's daughter. She murdered fellow student Craig Bowker Jr., who had become suspicious, and took the boys hostage, using the Time-Turner to travel to 31 October 1981, the night her father was defeated at Godric's Hollow (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Her goal was to warn her father not to attack the infant Harry Potter, thus preventing his downfall. Realizing they were trapped in the past, Albus and Scorpius sent a message to their parents by magically burning a message into Harry's baby blanket. Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy used the Time-Turner to travel back and confront her. In a fierce duel at a church in Godric's Hollow, Harry, transfigured to look like Voldemort, tricked and eventually subdued Delphini with the help of his friends and son. She was subsequently arrested and sentenced to life in Azkaban (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).

Delphini is described as a young woman in her early twenties with distinctive silvery hair with blue tips (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). On the back of her neck, she has a tattoo of an Augurey, a creature whose cry was once believed to be an omen of death. This earned her the moniker “The Augurey” among Voldemort's remaining followers (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). She is highly intelligent, manipulative, and deceptive, capable of convincingly portraying a kind and caring individual to win the trust of others. Beneath this facade, she is ruthless, cruel, and deeply devoted to her father's dark legacy. She shows a capacity for violence, torturing Scorpius Malfoy with the Cruciatus Curse and murdering a fellow student in cold blood. Her actions are driven by a profound loneliness and a desperate desire for the love and approval of the father she never knew (Harry Potter and a Cursed Child).

Delphini is an exceptionally powerful and skilled witch, despite not having attended Hogwarts.

• Dark Arts: She is highly proficient in the Dark Arts, capable of expertly casting the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Parseltongue: She inherited the ability to speak to snakes from her father. She used this skill to reveal a hidden chamber where she held Albus and Scorpius captive (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Unsupported Flight: Like her father, Delphini is capable of flying without the aid of a broomstick or any other magical support (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Dueling: She is a formidable duelist, able to fight on equal terms with an adult Harry Potter, who was a highly accomplished Auror at the time (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Wandless Magic: She demonstrated the ability to perform powerful magic without a wand, such as magically locking doors (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).

• Wand: Delphini possessed a wand, but its core, wood, and length are unknown (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Experimental Time-Turner: She manipulated Albus and Scorpius into stealing a powerful, but flawed, prototype Time-Turner that could travel back years rather than hours. She later took possession of it to execute the final stage of her plan (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).

• Lord Voldemort (Father): Delphini never met her father but idolized him. Her entire existence was dedicated to honoring his memory and fulfilling the prophecy she believed would bring him back. She expressed a deep, albeit twisted, love for him, begging the transfigured Harry (whom she believed to be Voldemort) to acknowledge her (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Bellatrix Lestrange (Mother): She also never knew her mother but inherited her talent for cruelty and her fanatical loyalty to the Dark Lord.
• Rodolphus Lestrange: Bellatrix's husband and Delphi's stepfather by marriage. He was loyal to her as Voldemort's heir, revealing her heritage and guiding her towards her perceived destiny (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy: Delphini initially targeted them as pawns, exploiting Albus's strained relationship with his father and their shared desire to do something heroic. After revealing her true nature, she became their captor and tormentor (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
• Harry Potter: As the man who vanquished her father, Harry was Delphini's ultimate enemy. She saw him as the final obstacle to her father's return and was ultimately defeated and captured by him (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).

• Delphini: The name is likely a reference to the Oracle of Delphi, the most famous prophetess in ancient Greece. This aligns with Delphini's role as the central figure of a prophecy that dictates her actions. It could also refer to the constellation Delphinus (the Dolphin).
• Diggory: This is an assumed surname adopted as part of her disguise to manipulate Amos Diggory. Her true surname is never stated but would logically be Riddle (from her father) or possibly Gaunt (from her paternal grandfather).

• Delphini is a major character created for the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016), written by Jack Thorne based on a story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne. She does not exist in the original seven novels.
• The revelation of Voldemort having a child has been a topic of considerable discussion among fans, with some questioning the timeline and character motivations established in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
• In the original West End stage production, the role of Delphini was originated by actress Esther Smith (Play).