Where It All Goes Down
Hogwarts, modern day and the past
'Warts and All
We're not exaggerating when we say that Hogwarts saved Harry Potter's life. Can you imagine how terrible his life would have been without the great wizarding school? We don't want to.
But just because the great Harry Potter was king of Hogwarts doesn't mean everyone else has the same positive experiences. Take Harry's son, for example. He's a fraction as popular as Harry was. And by fraction, we mean about 1/85947215967th as popular.
Albus hates Hogwarts…and he's sick of his dad talking about how amazing it is. It's as if his dopey old dad thinks if he keeps saying "Hogwarts is amazeballs," then Albus will suddenly become a popular Quidditch star.
That's not how it works.
Albus tries to tell Harry this, saying,
ALBUS: For you, it's the greatest place on earth. I know. The poor orphan, bullied by his uncle and aunt Dursley… (1.7.30)
Yes, Albus is being snarky here, but he's also spouting some wisdom. Part of the reason that Hogwarts was so great for Harry was because it was such a stark contrast to his life under the staircase.
Scorpius, though, was "desperate to go" (2.6.8) to Hogwarts. This also puts him at odds with his father, Draco, who hated his Hogwarts experience.
The different in Draco's and Harry's parenting becomes clear here. Draco wants his son to have the experience he never had. Harry wants his son to have the exact same experience. But both boys need to be able to define their Hogwarts experience on their own terms.