Draco's redemption---one point not yet made

[ftah3]

No: HPFGUIDX 32034

Eric Oppen wrote:
> One thing that may well be a factor in Draco's behavior is that he 
honestly
> _fears_ not seeming to be sufficiently loyal to his daddy's warped 
views.

Where have you seen fear, in the text?  I can recall no canon 
indication that he fears his father, or his father's 
views/association with the Dark Arts/Death Eaters.  Any time he talks 
of the above, it's with an air of superiority and/or certainty.  Any 
defiance is directed at authority figures who do not align with daddy 
or daddy's views (Dumbledore, Moody, Hagrid).  Fear is directed at 
people and situations his daddy cannot save him from (detention in 
the Forbidden Forest, Mad-eye Moody).  In fact, his father's physical 
presence finds Malfoy at his most confident.    

You could speculate that this hides fear, but I have seen no canon 
evidence that it actually does.  Of course, I have a tendency to 
blink and miss things, so I'm open to being proved wrong!  
Additionally, would any psychologists out there like to take a shot 
at interpreting Draco's actions/words against signs of 
abuse/repression/paternal fear?  My extremely dilettante knowledge of 
child psychology has me thinking that Malfoy doesn't show any of the 
signs, but what I know of child psyche and indications of abuse 
barely scratches the surface, so.

> We don't know much about life _chez_ Malfoy---but I wouldn't give 
much for
> the chances of a Malfoy scion who went against Malfoy _pere's_ 
notions about
> the Right Way To Be.  

Yes, probably true, but what are the chances of this happening?  I 
don't think it's something Malfoy Sr. has to worry about, because at 
this point, Malfoy Jr. hasn't shown the least indication of such 
verboten notions.
 
> There was a fanfic once about what happened to Draco's little 
sister, who
> was a Squib...the scary thing was that I could easily see this 
happening.
> Nothing in the fic was OOC.

What is OOC?  

Mahoney