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Part 1, Act 2, Scene 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Parenthood
Time, Mistakes, and the Past
Friendship, Family, Love, and Bravery
Reputation and Expectation
Death and Sacrifice
Summary
Analysis
As Harry leaves the Hospital Wing, Albus jumps out of bed and follows after him. Albus insists that he will run away if Harry tries to separate him and Scorpius. Just then, Ron approaches, looking much more serious than usual. Albus is grateful to see Ron, hoping that he can lighten the mood with one of his jokes. But Ron gets confused, saying that he doesn’t know any jokes. He brought quills from Padma—she thought it would be practical. When Albus asks who Padma is, Ron gets even more confused, saying that Padma is Ron’s wife—Albus’s aunt.
Albus starts to understand the massive impacts that meddling with time can have. Because of his actions, though it’s not fully explained exactly how the changes have come about, Ron and Hermione are no longer married. This drastic impact on Ron and Hermione’s life suggests the dangers of fixating on or trying to change the past.
Themes
Albus is stunned, saying that Ron is married to Hermione. Ron is shocked, and Harry also comments that Albus forgot he was sorted into Gryffindor. Albus asks how that happened, and Ron says that his son Panju bet Albus that he couldn’t get into Gryffindor if his life depended on it, and so Albus chose to be in Gryffindor to spite him. None of this makes any sense to Albus.
This story illustrates how adjusting the past can create ripples in time for decades. Because Padma and Ron had a son who made this bet with Albus, Albus is also no longer in Slytherin. Additionally, the fact that Albus was able to choose Gryffindor when he really wanted to perhaps implies that he also had some choice in choosing Slytherin. This suggests how important his friendship is with Scorpius, in that their bond on the train may have changed Albus’s path completely.
Themes
Harry concludes their discussion by saying that Albus has a choice: either stay away from Scorpius or get into much deeper trouble. Just then, Scorpius appears and Harry walks dismissively past Scorpius with Albus in tow. Albus stops briefly and asks if their plan worked, and Scorpius says no. Harry then tells Albus to stop talking to Scorpius, and Albus informs Scorpius that they can’t be friends anymore. Albus walks away, leaving Scorpius heartbroken.
Scorpius and Albus’s mutual devastation when Albus says that they can’t be friends anymore highlights how important their friendship is to each other, and how without that friendship, they are severely isolated and weakened.
Themes
