Is Draco Redeemable? (was Re: The Death of Cedric)

[Sister Mary Lunatic]

No: HPFGUIDX 11233

Is anyone else seriously bothered by the fact that Draco comes in to Harry's
train compartment at the end of GoF and actually TAUNTS him about the death
of Cedric?

Draco says:
"You've picked the losing side, Potter!  I warned you!
I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully,
remember?  When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts?
I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!"
He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. "Too late now, Potter!
They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back!
Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first!  Well - second - Diggory was the f-"

Is he a little psychopath, or what?  He still doesn't understand the
implications in Harry's escape -- Voldemort has failed to kill Harry for the
4th time (as a baby; as Quirrell; as Tom Riddle in CoS; and in GoF.  WAS
Cedric Diggory pureblood or mudblood?  How about Barty Crouch, Junior and
Senior?

In a realistic world, I would not expect Draco to return to Hogwarts for the
next year.  His father has been identified by Harry as an unrepentant Death
Eater.  Would you send your child to the enemy's stronghold for education?
Or maybe Lucius will USE Draco as a spy in Dumbledore's camp....

How's Draco going to feel about Voldemort if someone HE cares about gets
zapped by Lord V? What if Lucius starts getting grandiose ideas and
Voldemort squashes him?  (Don't really see that happening.)  What if
Crabbe's or Goyle's father were to cross Voldemort and get eliminated?

My prediction for the future is that at some point Harry is going to save
Draco's life, and Draco will be put into the same position as Snape --
hating a Potter, yet indebted to him.  I could see Draco reluctantly turning
away from The Dark Lord for some reason, yet resenting the reason why, for
the rest of his life.

I guess this whole Draco thing bothers me a lot because in fanfic, Draco is
never the little Nazi, like he is in the canon.  He's always (somewhat
reluctantly) on the same side as Harry.  While I have no problem with his
"conversion" if it's realistic (as in the stories by Lori and Cassandra
(PoU, TSNE, DD, DS -- see
http://www.yahoogroups.com/ParadigmofUncertainty ), I do wonder what JKR
herself has in mind for his "character development."

How many of you think Draco will come over to Dumbledore's side by the end
of Book 7?  Or will he die?  Or will he just become a second Lucius, biding
his time and plotting to become a Dark Lord himself?

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