Harry Potter and his son

Nineteen years after he saved the world from Voldemort, Harry Potter, married to Ginny Weasley, has three children:  James, Lily, and Albus Severus. The latter was named after Harry’s mentor Dumbledore, the former head of Hogwarts, and his supposed nemesis Snape, former adviser of Slytherin who eventually turned out to be a hero.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

Having defeated Voldemort, Harry, who became an Auror of the Ministry of Magic, should have been leading an uneventful life, except for two things:  Voldemort seems to be coming back, no thanks to his long lost daughter; and Albus seems to be Harry’s exact opposite, an apparent disappointment to his famous father.

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is not a novel but a play, written not by J. K. Rowling but by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. Reviews have been mixed, but I find fascinating the complex, realistic interplay of the relationship between Harry and Albus, familiar to many founders and heirs in family businesses.

Not my son

Like any ordinary father, Harry tries his best to communicate with his son, but magic does not work here.  On the eve of Albus’ departure for Hogwarts, Harry helps him pack.

Harry:  I always loved packing.  It meant I was leaving Privet Drive and going back to Hogwarts … I know you don’t love it but …

Albus:  For you, it’s the greatest place on earth … The poor orphan, bullied by his Uncle and Aunt…

Harry:  Albus, please—can we just—

Albus:  —traumatized by his cousin … saved by Hogwarts … Blah blah blah … The poor orphan who went on to save us all—so may I say—on behalf of the wizarding kind, how grateful we are for your heroism.  Should we bow now or will a curtsy do?

Harry:  Albus, please—you know, I’ve never wanted gratitude.

Albus: But right now I’m overflowing with it … What did you think would happen?  We’d hug. I’d tell you I always loved you. What?

Harry:  I’m done with being made responsible for your unhappiness. At least you’ve got a dad. Because I didn’t, okay?…

Albus:  I just wish you weren’t my dad.

Harry:  There are times I wish you weren’t my son.

Harry immediately apologizes, but Albus leaves, angry and hurt, setting off consequences neither he nor his best friend Scorpius, son of Draco Malfoy (Harry’s old enemy) can ever have imagined.

Founders and successors

How many times have fathers in family businesses, particularly the proud and strong founders, secretly or not-so-secretly wished their sons were more like them? Successful founders often fit the stereotype of persevering, resilient, dominant figures, taking problems in stride, rising from poverty, bankruptcy, war, discrimination.

We listen to founders’ stories and we marvel at their shrewdness:  They started their businesses using small shoe stores, food carts and one textile machine, but now they control retail, manufacturing and financial empires.

Their successors appear to be lesser figures: toeing the line, taking little risk, living perpetually in their shadow—or they fritter away family money and fall prey to the generational curse.

Like Albus, some successors tread a third path, forging their own identity.  When parents try to protect them, they see it as suffocation; when parents try to connect, they condemn it as fake.

Ginny tries to mediate, but at one point, her relationship with her husband becomes strained when she blames him for their son’s troubles.

Through the intervention of friends Ron, Hermione, Prof. McGonagall, Draco and a Dumbledore painting, things eventually turn out fine.  But the only way for Harry and Albus to reconcile is for the father to accept that the son has his own traits, hopes, and choices; and for the son to realize that the father loves him so much that he wants to protect him from all pain, even if this is impossible.

Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the Board of Directors of Ateneo de Manila University’s Family Business Development Center.  Get her book “Successful Family Businesses” at the University Press (e-mail [email protected]).  E-mail the author at [email protected].