"And what’you boys want with that miserable old sod?"
-- an old woman in the St Oswald's Home (CC1.13)
Having jumped off the Hogwarts Express near Upper Flagley, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy arrive at the St Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards. They find that the old people there are allowed to go a bit “wild” with magic. Asking for Amos Diggory causes the room to go quiet (CC1.13).
Timeline Notes
Occurs during the afternoon of 1 September 2020: after Scorpius and Albus jump off the train but before their parents find out they are missing that evening.
Commentary
Notes
We don't previously see many older people or pensioners together in the Harry Potter books. The stage directions for this scene read:
This is chaos. This is magic. This is St Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards and it is as wonderful as you might hope.
Zimmer frames are conjured into life, knitting wool is enchanted into chaos, and male nurses are made to dance the tango.
These are people relieved of the burden of having to do magic for a reason – instead, these witches and wizards do magic for fun. And what fun they have. (CC1.13)
Many wizards and witches seem to live a very long time - a function of the magic perhaps? You do wonder what causes some to be living in a home and others to go on teaching or working for decades.
From the Web
Pottermore: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
The theatre production opened in the West End of London at the Palace Theatre on 30 July 2016: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
