How Possible Is It For ‘Harry Potter And The Cursed Child’ To Sort Albus Severus Into Slytherin?

As the opening of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child draws nearer, producers have been delighting Potterheads with cast photos. While Draco Malfoy’s ponytail made headlines, some have noticed a detail that could be a spoiler for one of the play’s biggest shockers: Albus Severus Potter’s school robes.

Harry and Ginny’s son does not only look grim, but his school robes bear no visible colors of a known Hogwarts House. Did the costume team merely miss such detail or was it an intentional move?

Albus, after all, is no stranger to Slytherin inclinations. A passage from the epilogue confirms that Albus fears that he’ll be sorted into Slytherin but his father assured him. Harry had the same fear before the Sorting Hat did its work.

“‘What if I’m in Slytherin?’
The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.
Harry crouched down so that Albus’s face was slightly above his own. Alone of Harry’s three children, Albus had inherited Lily’s eyes.

“‘Albus Severus,’ Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, ‘you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'”

Since Albus is named after two renowned wizards, he might have the yearning to possess an identity he can call his own. He might not want to be known as just another boy who shares names with Dumbledore and Snape. That burning ambition is apparently a Slytherin trait.

J.K. Rowling likewise lauded Sam Clemmett for his acting skills. He wouldn’t garner such praise from the British author if he hadn’t shown prowess in difficult scenes.

“There’s much I could say about Sam-as-Albus, but we’d be into spoiler territory, so quickly I’ll just say we couldn’t have cast better.”

The plot of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child reveals that Albus is struggling “with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted.” Rowling’s works never really redeemed Slytherin, although Harry defended the house towards the end of the series.

Will the upcoming play manage to remove the stigma that comes with being a Slytherin? There are speculations that Albus and Scorpius might become best friends not only because they are in the same year, but to also provide some closure between Harry and Draco. The young wizards’ “bestfriendship” shouldn’t be difficult if they are in the same House.

One thing, however, can dispute the odds of Albus sorted as Slytherin. Clemmett said that his character looked stiff in the photos because his clothes were probably not his.

“This is what Albus wears at the start of the show. I had the idea he was wearing James’s — his older brother’s — hand-me-downs. So I wanted him to feel quite uncomfortable, and be able to play with his clothes.”

The Harry Potter and the Cursed Child page also captioned the photo, “Albus Potter, ready for his first day at Hogwarts.” It is possible that the photo shows Albus prior to being sorted because new Hogwarts students enter the school clad in unmarked robes from Diagon Alley.

The play will open on July 30 in London, and those who are unable to watch may purchase the scriptbook instead on July 31, Harry’s birthday.

Do you think Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is keeping his House under wraps?

[Image via Pottermore]