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

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 41594

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "marinafrants" <rusalka at i...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "serenadust" <jmmears at c...> wrote:
> 
> > Apart from Snape sucking up to him from time to time, I haven't 
seen 
> > any evidence of brilliance from Malfoy in books 2 - 4, other 
than a 
> > real talent for snide remarks and insults.  His performance with 
the 
> > Hippogriffs in PoA is downright stupid, and he was lucky he 
didn't 
> > get injured seriously (although, his acting skills were 
apparently 
> > quite impressive). So I'm really interested in knowing why he is 
> > thought to be a good student.
> 
> I don't see much evidence for Draco's intelligence, either. We see 
him
> do a whole lot of stupid things, but I can't think of a single 
Draco
> action that made me go "wow, that's smart!" He does however, seem 
to
> be quite good at charms and hexes.  In the Duelling Club, all his
> spells work the way they're supposed to, and he's able to cast
> Serpensortia (which appears to be an advanced hex) on the first try
> after Snape prompts him for it.  In GoF, he's the one who enchants 
the
> "Support Cedric Diggory" badges to say "Potter Stinks."  In 
general,
> when we see him cast a spell, it works.  This is not an indication 
of
> intelligence, of course, just a talent for charms.  But I know have
> this amusing mental picture of Draco as Flitwick's star pupil. :-)
> 
Thanks Marina, those are good points showing that Malfoy has some 
magical talent (at least more than Lockhart, but then who doesn't?
<vbg>). He's also apparently very good at flying, although I don't 
know if that's an academic subject for which they receive marks.  If 
it were though, he probably would out-perform Hermione who seemed 
pretty lacking in broom-handling skills. However, since Lucius says 
she outperformed him in every exam, it doesn't seem likely that 
flying skill counts as academic performance.  I'm still wondering 
about why people think he's an especially good student, though.

Jo S.