Before seeing ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,’ catch up on where things left off

When last we saw Harry Potter, our intrepid savior of the wizarding world and the boy who lived, he was standing on the platform at Kings Cross Station, watching the Hogwarts Express fade into the distance with his two sons on board, headed to another school year.

He touched his scar and we were told it hadn’t pained him in 19 years. All is well.

Which, of course, we had trouble accepting considering all that Harry had been through and how unpredictable the magical world can be. Was everything really all right, or was Harry about to feel a sudden, stinging pain in that old curse scar?

We get answers, of a sort, in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” but before you head off to the San Francisco production of the award-winning play (two, actually, presented as Part I and Part II), which opens Oct. 23 at the Curran theater, let’s bring you up to date about what’s happened in the world of Potter.

As you know, Harry is the son of James and Lily Potter, who were killed by the most evil wizard of all time, although Gellert Grindelwald might argue the point. Lord Voldemort, acting on a prophesy related to him, sought out the Potters and killed James before turning his wand toward young Harry.

Lily, wandless and alone, begged for her son’s life, and when Voldemort struck her down, her sacrifice ended up protecting Harry. Voldemort’s killing curse rebounded onto him, leaving him less than nothing. Harry was left an orphan with a lightning bolt scar that turned out to be much more.

Harry eventually learned he was a wizard and headed off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, under the direction of Albus Dumbledore, who some believe is the greatest headmaster the school ever had. There, Harry learns magic, but he also learns about loyalty, love and obligation.

After seven years, Harry and Voldemort faced off in a decisive battle that left Harry the victor.

When the Harry Potter books and movies ended — with that farewell scene on the train platform 19 years later — Harry had become the head of the aurors and married Ginny Weasley. Together, they have three children: firstborn James Sirius, middle child Albus Severus and their youngest, Lily Luna.

Ron and Hermione also married and had two children, Rose and Hugo Granger-Weasley. Ron had become an auror, then retired to help run Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes with his brother, George. Hermione is now the minister of magic. And the train is headed to Hogwarts.

While James and Lily seem well-adjusted, Albus apparently suffers from middle-child syndrome, complicated by the popularity of his older brother, the wizarding world’s adulation of his father, and his fear-come-true, being sorted into Slytherin House.

The divide between father and son increases, and when Albus and best friend Scorpio Malfoy steal a time turner, they end up changing the future in very significant and startling ways.

We won’t give away anymore of the “Cursed Child,” and will just wish you an exciting adventure back in the world of Harry Potter.