"It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and the father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where...
I was sent a question about the relationship between Albus and Scorpius in a private message and thought I should answer it in a small but separate post. In essence, they wanted to understand my intention behind not directly making them a couple.
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My first point is obvious, but I can restate it. This story is not about them. Albus and Scorpius are ancillary characters in a broader story about Harry. They are, of course, significant and their relationship is a point of conflict, but the details would only divert attention away from the immense story I was already in the process of telling (similar to how JKR left out much of what happened at Hogwarts during the events of the Deathly Hallows).
However, there is a bigger reason why I left things ambiguous.
One of the more contentious parts of the original script was the obvious queerbaiting between Albus and Scorpius. The writers spent most of the play shoving these two into one another's arms, only to spell it out very clearly at the end of the play that they were straight. This was polarizing for both sides of the fanbase — those who wanted them to just be friends and those who wanted them to be more.
I felt like it was important for me to address this in the MOD. I very intentionally crafted the story in a way that would leave the nature of their relationship completely up to you. Crazy idea, right? I never specified what was behind their connection, if anything, and allowed certain situations to be easily defined one way or the other — based on the preferences of the reader.
Look to the Ford Anglia scene in the Forbidden Forest as an example. Harry discovering them hiding out in the front seat of an invisible car late at night... when they should be in the castle... Take it however you like, but I left plenty of room for interpretation, which I believed most of you would appreciate based on your comments about the original script.
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Main point — this was something that frustrated the fans and divided us into two camps. In some, it made you irritated that they couldn't just be friends like Harry and Ron. In others, it brought on feelings of being segregated or a sense that you were forbidden to be a part of things because their story had to be tempered for other audiences.
Regardless of what side the majority of my readers were on, I felt it was my responsibility to provide a fix — a way that the story could be enjoyed by all. You may disagree, but hopefully, I handled this in a way that respected everyone.
