In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it was clear that Albus Severus felt tremendous pressure to live up to his father's legacy.

There’s perhaps no one more misunderstood in the Harry Potter series than Albus Severus. His role in shattering the timeline in Cursed Child and disrespecting Harry in the story has led to Albus being considered as among the worst characters in the Harry Potter series, but the truth is quite the opposite.

As the son of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, Albus felt tremendous pressure to live up to his families’ names, yet most of these issues aren’t addressed both by fans and in-universe characters. It’s interesting just how much more sympathetic Albus appears when the sad aspects of his background are explored, and it’s worth understanding the tragic figure he is.

10 His Name Itself Placed Extreme Expectations On Him

Harry named his children after deceased people who made an impact on his life, but using the names of extremely popular figures in Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape was setting his son up for failure.

After all, Albus being namedafter two of the bravest headmasters meant he was always associated with their legacy. He was essentially the personification of what Snape and Dumbledore left behind, and not fulfilling those lofty heights took a huge toll on him. Entering Hogwarts not only as a Potter, but as Albus Severus, instantly turned the boy into a figure he could never hope to match.

9 His Elder Brother Relentlessly Teased Him

From what was shown between them, there wasn’t really any support from James toward Albus, as he kept mocking his brother in public. James had no sympathy toward Albus’ reservations about Hogwarts and chose to terrify him with false stories instead.

While Ron Weasley had also been teased by Fred and George, the latter two were also shown to be loving toward him when it counted. On the other hand, Albus could never turn toward his elder sibling for support and was left alienated as a result.

8 His Father Saw Him As A Disappointment To A Degree

Harry didn’t say it out loud, but Albus had an inkling his father was disappointed that he hadn’t met his expectations. When Albus angrily revealed he felt burdened for being Harry’s son and sometimes wished he wasn’t, Harry hit back that he felt the same way. 

This confirmed Albus’ fears that he failed his father, which contributed heavily to his identity crisis. Although Harry apologized for it, Albus now knew that Harry had held on to this disappointment in the back of his mind for a long time and that he was the black sheep of the family to an extent.

7 He Was Mocked For Being A Slytherin

The stigma around Slytherin only grew further after the Battle of Hogwarts, to the point where Albus was terrified to be placed there. Although Slytherin has many strong qualities, Albus wasn’t allowed to explore its potential as he was instantly mocked after he was chosen as a Slytherin.

He was also treated with hostile behavior by all the students in the three other Hogwarts houses, meaning Albus essentially had the majority of the school against him. This all happened within the span of a few moments after his sorting, resulting in an 11-year-old boy being victimized for doing nothing wrong.

6 He Lacked The Natural Talent His Family Had

Albus felt out of place because he was a normal boy amongst overachievers and special people. His mother, Ginny, was a renowned Quidditch player known for fighting in the war, while his father was Harry Potter himself.

Even Albus’ brother James was noted to be popular like their grandfather had been at school, while young Lily was the baby of the family. There wasn’t anything wrong with Albus, but being in the company of the kind of family he had made him feel insignificant, and he couldn’t find a way to voice this out to anyone.

5 He Was Judged For His Friendship With Scorpius

Not only was Albus ostracized for many reasons, but he was also belittled for liking the one person who accepted him as a friend. Due to Scorpius’ ties with Lucius and Draco Malfoy, he was also an outcast and his reputation caused Albus to be judged as well.

Albus was routinely humiliated for the company he kept, even though nobody else wanted to be his friend regardless of Scorpius’ presence. Unfortunately for Albus, having Scorpius around also caused people to judge him as betraying Harry’s legacy due to his father’s rivalry with Draco.

4 He Was Manipulated By Delphini Due To Wanting A Friend

The revelation of Delphini being the daughter of Voldemort changed the Harry Potter series forever, with Delphini also manipulating Albus to steal a Time-Turner. Albus was an easy target, as she appealed to him as a friend when he already had hardly any to spare.

Albus went on to destroy time itself, believing he was doing the right thing by preventing Cedric’s death for Delphini’s sake. However, he inadvertently became the villain by falling for Delphini’s trap, thus devastating him further as he realized he’d never had Delphini as a friend to begin with.

3 No One Understood His Pain At Being Bullied

As a result of being constantly bullied at Hogwarts, Albus took to acting out in front of Harry. He did things like burning his Hogsmeade letter and rejecting Harry’s childhood blanket as a way of showing his frustration with the fact that his father just wasn’t understanding his turmoil.

Harry began thinking that Albus was unappreciative of the love he was showing for his son, not realizing he didn’t stop to ask Albus what was troubling him. All of Albus’ rebellious antics were interpreted as him being entitled, but it was really just a cry for attention for his family to understand where he was coming from.

2 He Lost His Friendship With His Cousin

Rose Weasley was Albus’ first cousin and closest friend before they started at Hogwarts. Sadly, she phased him out of her life starting from the first year itself, as Rose’s reluctance to be associated with Scorpius and Slytherin was too great.

He was equally hurt upon realizing that Rose’s later attempts to reconcile were only because she was told to do so by Hermione. It’s understandable why Albus became so bitter in personality, seeing as his closest friend judged him the same way everyone else had for things he couldn’t control.

1 He Had To Helplessly Watch His Grandparents' Death

The climax of Cursed Child saw Harry take on the appearance of Voldemort in the past to capture Delphini, but he and Albus had to hide themselves when the real Voldemort arrived to kill James and Lily as it was meant to be.

This meant that the first and only time Albus saw his grandparents was when they were being murdered right before his eyes. He also had to witness death up close at a very young age, along with watching his father painfully relive his worst memory.

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