Draco won't be a DE/You so sure about that?

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 41578


> First of all, I must admit I believe that it is possible for Draco 
to 
> be redeemed.  That does not mean I think he'll become a sweet and 
> caring young man by the end of book 7.  He'll always be a git, but 
he 
> won't necessarily become a DE.


Right, I don't think he'll be a DE either. :) Look, I don't think 
Snape is redeemable if the definition we're using is "sweet and 
caring." 

Actually, I don't think Snape is redeemed yet. We don't know what job 
he has to do, and frankly, we don't know if he'll be successful at it.

To have a chance to be redeemed, Draco must make a conscious choice 
to turn away. Nothing in his character, as of yet, shows he will make 
that choice. Yes, in the next three books, he could, but what I'm 
disputing is the "clues" pro-Draco folks are putting forward now.


> Peter Pettigrew put himself in the position of serving Voldemort.  
Can you see Draco Malfoy scurrying around to do errands for anyone?  
I can't.  I don't even see Draco kissing Snape's ass.  He just 
happens to be the favorite kid in the Potions class.
> 
> Another thing that has been discussed is that Draco may think very 
> differently about the DEs if he ever sees his father kissing the 
hem 
> of Voldie's cloak the way he did in the graveyard.  Draco thinks 
his 
> father is the best; how might he repsond to seeing his father in a 
> subordinate position?
> 

Draco wants power, just like his father does. If he believes 
Voldemort will give him power, I think he'd kiss a few robes. He is a 
bright kid -- perhaps second only to Hermione in top marks -- and 
therefore knows what the teachers are there for. He's got the rich 
kid's mentality toward teachers, which I'm sure you've seen.

But there is a difference between Snape and Voldemort. Voldermort is 
power, evil power. He is the Satan-figure in the books and strong men 
throughout literature have sold their souls to Satan for power.

Lucius Malfoy strikes me as a character that made his choice. We 
don't know how they got rich -- maybe they inherited it -- but I 
could see Lucius as the one who built whatever method of earning 
money they enjoy. He's got some ruthlessness to him, and expects more 
from Draco than to be a spoiled little brat. His scene where he 
chastises Draco for not doing better at school and refuses to accept 
his whining about Potter tells me Lucius sees Draco as PERHAPS being 
worthy of following in his footsteps.

Or perhaps not. Maybe Draco just isn't good enough and Lucius knows 
that. Maybe Draco knows it too and overcompensates, leading to scenes 
like the train scene in GoF or the CoS scene where he openly taunts 
Muggle-borns after Filch's cat gets petrified.

If I'm right, Draco is going to get WORSE, not better. 

But this willingness to please could put Draco in the position of 
being like Voldemort. Draco would love to be a DE, I think, but V-
Mort might not think he's got what it takes. THAT describes 
Pettigrew, and I think Draco, if it meant pleasing his father, would 
do it.

> I see so many scenarios when it comes to Draco, I think it really 
is 
> anybody's guess as to what might become of him.  What if Voldemort 
> does away with Lucius?  What if Lucius himself treats Draco badly 
in 
> the presence of Voldemort?  What if Draco finds out his mother died 
> and Voldemort and the DEs played a part in it?  What if, for any of 
> these reasons, Draco decides to turn against the DEs?  He could 
very 
> well develop into a cruel and frightening man, but he could also 
shy 
> away from the reality of life as a DE and a Voldemort follower.  
It's 
> hard to say.


Again, all this is in the future and possible. But I don't see it in 
Draco's nature to say: "You know, Potter, I was wrong, forgive me." 
He's a spoiled rich kid who might not meet his father's standards.

The day might come when he decides his father's standards aren't 
worth following, more because he can't meet them than because he 
realizes they are wrong, and then turn. Maybe Draco will become 
Voldemort's Pettigrew in another way. Maybe he'll be the one who 
turned on V-Mort out of cowardice, the same way Pettigrew turned on 
the Potters out of cowardice.


> 
> --jenny from ravenclaw, who enjoys darrin's sarcasm, but I am a New 
> Yorker, after all  ****************


Darrin
-- I will conduct a public burning of the books if the Draco/Hermione 
thing comes to pass. Tickets will be available on e-bay.