Draco's Redemption/Sirius Black

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 23846

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Margaret Dean <margdean at e...> wrote:

> I know that most people feel that when Draco tells Harry (who 
> doesn't know what the heck he's talking about, at that point),
> "If it were me, I'd want revenge!" he's just trying to egg Harry 
> on to do something dangerous (go after Sirius Black). 

That reminds me of something I've been puzzling over lately (for the 
sake of a fanfic): at that point in the book, supposedly everyone 
except Sirius himself and the rat believes that Sirius betrayed the 
Potters, killed all those Muggles, and was a valued servant of Lord 
Voldemort. It would be in character for Draco, believing that and 
being at that time an ignorantly enthusiastic follower of the Dark 
Lord, to regard the Dark Wizard Black with admiration and envy, 
daydreaming of the day when he, too, can do a great service for the 
Dark Lord and kill so many Muggles with one curse, but be clever 
enough not to be captured by MoM. Altho' being the only person ever
to escape from Azkaban makes up in adventure & heroism for having 
been caught. (I am not deliberately copying Jeralyn from ASA!)

By the end of GoF, not only Remus, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and 
Dumbledore know that Sirius was innocent, but so do Snape, assorted 
Weasleys, and presumably McGonagall as well, and apparently 'the old 
crowd' is about to find out. When will it become more or less common 
knowledge that Dumbledore believes Black was innocent? At that point, 
will Draco (if still Dark) assume that Sirius has succeeded in 
deceiving Dumbledore, thus adding to his admiration? When will Draco 
learn that Sirius really was on the Light Side all along, and how 
will he adjust his attitude toward Sirius?