[HPforGrownups] Re: Malfoy's Redemption

[Margaret Dean]

No: HPFGUIDX 25346

While in real life I'm not in the habit of considering anybody
"irredeemable" (especially children), in the fictional context of
JKR's world it is indeed difficult -- so far -- to envision where
Draco's redemption would come from, what might motivate that kind
of about-face for him.  All of the redemption scenarios people
have come up with depend on events that haven't yet occurred,
mostly on the order of Draco entering into a new relationship
with an existing character (e.g. making friends with Harry,
falling in love with Hermione or Ginny); in other words, they
can't currently be classified as anything but wishful thinking. 
Up till now JKR has laid no foundations for any of them.  (This
is not to say she mightn't in future books -- we have three
volumes to go, after all.)

It's all very well to compare Draco to Snape, but in fact we know
a heckuva lot more about Draco's background than we do about
Snape's.  That's easy because we know practically zippo about
Snape's before he came to Hogwarts.  About all we have is Sirius'
remark about him knowing lots of curses.  But is Snape
Muggle-born, half-blood, or pureblood?  From a well-off family or
a poor one?  Does he (or did he) have surviving parents?  How
about siblings?  Who brought him up?  We can make guesses about
some of these, but JKR gives us no hard information.  In Snape's
case we're working backwards in our speculations from the =fact=
of his redemption as revealed in Book IV.  In Draco's case the
background is established and we have to work forward from it. 
And so far his background plus his words and actions don't
suggest any "handles" that might pull him over onto the good
guys' side.

I'm not saying it can't be done.  All I'm saying is that if JKR
is planning to do it, she hasn't started work yet.


--Margaret Dean
  <margdean at erols.com>