UnFunny Things; Perspective; Chapter 37 Comments - LONG

[Haggridd]

No: HPFGUIDX 16294

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., heidi.h.tandy.c92 at a... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Haggridd" <jkusalavagemd at y...> wrote:
> > I entirely agree with Naama.  In the canon there is precious 
little 
> > about Draco Malfoy that is good.  I can recall no saving graces, 
> and 
> > no setup foreshadowong any manner of redemption.  This is in 
> > contradistinction to many fanfics, where speculation is rife.  I 
do 
> > feel that some of the posters have been mixing apples with 
oranges, 
> so 
> > to speak.  I would be very interested in any citation in the JKR 
> books 
> > to the contrary.
> 
> There are citations to the books. They are veiled and subtle, but 
> there are places in the books that have been published to date
which 
> would support JKR if she does decide to have a manner of redemption 
> for Draco in future books. 
> 
> Doing this without the books (and without Cassie to call on for 
> assistance) - but here goes:
> 1. In all of PoA and GoF, when Draco comes into their compartment
on 
> the train, Crookshanks never reacts badly to him. Now, if 
Crookshanks 
> has *no* kneazle blood, this is clearly irrelevant, but if the car 
is 
> part kneazle and therefore in posession of "an uncanny ability to 
> detect unsavoury or suspicious characters..." then the lack of 
> reaction to Draco means he is neither unsavoury or suspicious. 
> 2. It is *arguable* that when he saw Hermione in the woods at the 
> World Cup, he was actually trying to warn her to get out of the way 
> of the Death Eaters. It's about as arguable and as supported by 
canon 
> evidence as any conclusion that Hermione likes Ron is. 
> 3. On the train on the way home in GoF, when he says some things 
that 
> are clearly, on the surface, very nasty, with regard to 
Muggle-borns, 
> he actually uses the sentence, "I warned you!" JKR could have just 
as 
> easily had him say, "I told you!" or "I said it, didn't I?" - but 
she 
> chose the word "warned..." Could that be foreshadowing? It's 
> impossible to know now....but it's impossible to know *for sure* 
> about almost anything in books 5, 6 and 7.
> 4. Professor Snape seems to trust him. In book 4, Snape accepts 
> Malfoy's statement about what happened when he & harry were trying 
to 
> curse each other. *IF* you believe that Snape has Dumbledore and
the 
> Old Crowd's best interests at heart, it is possible that he would 
> support a completely evil and unredeemable Draco, in the interest
of 
> getting Draco to change his ways and be on Snape's side, but it is 
> equally probable that Snape does not see Draco as being completely 
> evil and unredeemable *at this point*. If he's not unredeemable, 
then 
> it is possible that redemption and a turning away from Lucius and 
the 
> Death Eaters (tm) will happen in the future.

Subtle is right!  I would take issue with you that the evidence for a 
budding attraction for Hermione and Ron is less evident in the canon. 
The suppositon that Crookshanks is a kneazle is another example of 
taking an unsupported assumption and building upon it.  IMO the use
of "warned" by JKR is an attempt to show the malicious glee Malfoy 
has.  Draco is simply wallowing in it there.  I don't think that the 
other texts cited support any quality in Malfoy that he could
nurture into a redemption, nor do I see any foreshadowing of a twist 
in plot.  I have, however, been wrong before. *grin*

Haggridd