Draco and broomsticks and lines

[heiditandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 38173

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "uncmark" <uncmark at y...> wrote:
> Is Draco bright? Certainly by comparison to Crabbe and Goyle, but 
> considering he's the poster-boy of a House whose chief quality 
> is 'ambition', where does he he spend his energy?
> 
> In books 1 and 2, despite the MASSIVE amounts of time HRH spend in 
> the library researching both the Sorceror's Stone and Heir of 
> Slytherin, we never see Malfoy doing any sort of homework. His main 
> focus of energy in ChoS seems to be buying his way onto the 
Quidditch 
> team, but doesn't work at it that much once he's on it.

I still don't understand where people get this idea. In PoA, he's 
probably playing well enough to catch the snitch ahead of both Cedric 
<b>and</b> Cho - yes, it's possible that a team can lose if the 
opposing seeker catches the snitch when they're more than 50 points 
behind, but if that was the case, Hermione or Ron would've mentioned 
it, loudly so as to humiliate Draco, in GoF when Viktor did just 
that. So I think it's likely that Slytherin went into their PoA match 
with Gryffindor undefeated <b>because</b> Draco caught the Snitch in 
teh matches against Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Does that mean he's an 
excellent player? Not necesarily, but it also means that there's no 
canon evidence for the claim that he "doesn't work at it that much 
once he's on it..."

> 
> In PofA, Malfoy puts more energy into faking his injury than 
getting 
> good marks 
Again, I don't know where there's any canon evidence for this. We 
don't know what his marks were like, other than to know that in first 
year, they weren't as good as Hermione's. We only see him in two 
classes - and it feels like COMC is a pass/fail class, at least as it 
regards the Flobberworm Exam. 

> Hermione's high marks are by no means a given conclusion. Whenever 
we 
> see her, she is reading and doing EXTRA work. Caould you picture 
> Draco doing extra work for ANYTHING? His ambition seems to be to 
> buully his way through on his father's name, not through any effort 
> of his own (but than hard work is the Ravenclaw ideal, isn't it.)

But he also seems to have an ambition to please Lucius or at least 
defend family honor - hence his fight with Harry in GoF and the 
embarrassment he expresses in the shop in CoS. If the way to please 
Lucius was by getting good marks, he probably would work to do it. 
Also, in the first flying scene in Book 1, the Harry-perspective pegs 
Draco as able to fly well (with a note that he wasn't lying in that 
brag) - flying seems to be instinctive for Harry, but on this, Harry 
is unusual, as Professor McGonnagal says to Oliver Wood in that same 
book. It's implied that unless you're Harry, flying and controlling a 
broom are things that you have to learn to be good at. Even if 
Draco's been flying for years, it's something that he's become good 
at - good enough so that in PoA, had Harry not been on the Firebolt, 
Draco probably would've caught the Snitch.

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "lucky_kari" <lucky_kari at y...> wrote:
<good example snipped>

> That is crossing the line, in my opinion. That is evil. 

I guess it depends on which definition of "evil" you're using. It 
sounds like you're using the "morally reprehensible" definition, 
whereas I am using the "causing harm" definition (and actually, the 
causing physical harm subdefinition at that). I agree that such a 
statement is morally reprehensible (in that disaproval thereof should 
be voiced). I just don't see Draco's statements in either CoS or GoF 
as "causing harm" to anyone, at least not physically. And my 
*personal* definition of *evil* is one where physical harm is 
involved. Advocating that someone who can *actually do physical harm* 
to another person *should do so* does count, but so far, we haven't 
seen him do even that. 

> 
> Now, it puzzles me that Draco redemptionists don't really want him 
to 
> have anything to be redeemed from. 


I think he's been nasty, mean, destructive, prejudiced and 
occasionally violent. He's played dirty and been malicious and 
spiteful.

I also think, in degrees, that Ron's been mean and destructive and 
certainly prejudiced ("Get away from me, werewolf!"; house elves like 
work; giants are "not very nice".) . Hermione's engaged in at least 
one act of violence - slapping Draco. Harry's played dirty in 
Quidditch to some degree and been destructive (admittedly when 
provoked) at the Dursleys'. And let's not even talk about Snape. 

And I do think that if he doesn't get a good sharp shock, he's going 
to meander behind Lucius in perpetuity and never think for himself or 
do anything that's a result of his own conclusions, rather than his 
father's. And that's what I mean when I say that his characterisation 
is set up for a redemption - because it's a fascinating way to show 
how important thinking for yourself and making a choice, even if that 
choice goes against what you've been raised to do, as long as that 
choice is to do the right thing. 

heidi