On Draco

[Heidi Tandy]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Stacey" <staceypfan78 at h...>
wrote:
>  In reading some fanfics, I notice some people write Draco as
turning
>  over to the good side.  I personally don't think that would ever
>  happen and I don't enjoy reading them.  He's just TOO evil and
>  spoiled to ever go good.  He's been raised with and exposed to Dark
>  Wizards all his life and prejudices are not easy to get rid of,
>  especially if you hear about them your whole life.  I just don't
>  think it's realistic to have him be in a good role and to fall in
>  love with Ginny, Hermoine, etc.  Any thoughts?

Well, yes, there's been a number of thoughts about this, and I think
the discussion should probably go over to the main list, as this
isn't a fanfiction discussion, but rather a discussion of the
character of Draco - a main list subject if there ever was one.

Over the past three plus years, HPfGU and other sites have had many
discussions of Draco's character - parallels to Snape, and now
parallels to Sirius seem to abound! The most comprehensive post on
this on HPfGU was by Elkins about a year ago - you can read it here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/39083

You can also read what I consider to be a good sum-up of the
Draco/Hermione ship arguments in a dialogue I had onlist with Elkins
back in January - you can read it here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/50638.

Many of us who write about a Draco who isn't a happy little Death
Eater came to those conclusions and arguments based on analysis of
his character which draws entirely from canon and from extrapolations
of JKR's intent regarding the books - you know, choice and all that.
It's always felt to me that Draco hasn't really been given any
realistic demonstration of choices - and we don't know yet what made
Sirius turn away from the Dark Arts leanings of his family, or what
made Snape shun the Dark Arts that he likely practised or at least
saw as a Death Eater. Personally, I think it's important that JKR
show someone from the current generation make that choice - and no,
Seamus deciding to turn aside from his mother's entreaties isn't
quite the same kind of parallel - and Draco is the most logical
choice to do it, purely from a storytelling perspective.


--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" <jdr0918 at h...>
wrote:

>  While I agree that Good!Draco is a boring concept, OoP Evil!Draco
was
>  pretty shrill and tedious in his own right. (JKR has said that
Harry
>  and Draco will never side together.)

Actually, she didn't. In a chat about 3 years ago, someone asked if
Draco and Harry would *join together* to *fight evil* - and she said
that was a rumor. Given her 'red-herring' creation and the spins she
puts on comments about the books' future plots, I don't think that
can be redefined as "will never side together."
>

>  Finally, well, I don't want to start a fistfight, but I just can't
>  see Draco as straight. Some of the fanfiction that has Harry and
>  Draco, as the two most damaged psyches, getting together, come
across
>  as the most natural.

Agreed.


Heidi
http://www.fictionalley.org