My choice in the poll of who I think will die

[feumindra]

No: HPFGUIDX 46199

Well, I didn't think my name would be shown, but as it is, I guess I 
will have to explain myself! lol

Before I do though, I wanted to say that I am very intrigued by what 
pippin_999 had to say about the Slytherins...you put it together so 
much better than I could have!  But I was having relatively similar 
thoughts.  

You said:
<i>What blinds them cannot be ambition.  They would get far more 
glory and respect for their House by ceding the Cup than they 
could ever win by claiming it. That may be a bit sophisticated for 
eleven year old Draco to grasp, but the older Slytherins should 
be able to understand this. Krum would. Or Lucius, certainly. 

I  think it's something else, something that reveals the peculiar 
nature of Slytherin House. It is not ambition which is the ruin of 
Slytherin, nor the desire for power in itself, nor is it some unique 
susceptibility  to evil.  What Slytherins are susceptible to, I
think, is *addiction.*  

The Sorting Hat holds the key: power*hungry* Slytherin, Harry's 
"nice thirst" to prove himself, Harry, released to Gryffindor 
because he said no.  It seems that what Slytherin was looking 
for in his pupils, besides cunning and resourcefulness and that 
certain disregard for rules, was an addictive personality</i>

EXACTLY!  That is more on the money of what I had been picking up on 
Malfoy.  JKR has let the reader believe that Malfoy is the 'given' 
leader of the Slytherins and he seems inordinately obsessed with what 
Harry does, an 'addiction' to being Potter's nemesis.  This backs up 
my hypothesis that he is the 'special fan' that JKR mentioned as being 
the 'big death.'  

I knew a Malfoy-type person growing up...he was NOT pleasant and 
seemed to delight in making me as uncomfortable as he could...BUT, for 
the most part, he did not seem to be THAT interested in every little 
thing I did.  He had a life and agenda of his own.

Malfoy, however, ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE WATCHING Potter.  At least, it is 
only those times when JKR wants to include him in the story...the only 
time she ever shows Malfoy doing something other than ticking Potter 
off is in CoS...and even THEN he is on and on about what Potter is 
doing.  

Finally, I was particularly struck by his words to Harry in the final 
chapter of GoF.

"You picked the losing side, Potter!  I warned you!  I told you you 
ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? ((who but a fan 
would remember things like that???))..."  

As far as I can recall, Draco doesn't ever say *he* personally will 
come after Potter.  The scene that really has me wondering is at the 
beginning of GoF, where he warns off Harry, Ron and Hermione.  

I guess I should save the question of why for another post, but those 
are just some thoughts I had that have given me reason to think that 
maybe the death she is speaking of is Draco's.  JKR seems to have set 
him up as a character that approaches Harry with the intent to really 
mess things up, but actually spurs Harry on to discovering things 
about himself or key clues on problems he is looking to solve.  Draco 
is one of three types of characters 1) disposable in that JKR has no 
further plans for him in Harry's world other than the 2-dimensional 
foil or 2) a tragic character who has the potential of changing, but 
because of Slytherin tendencies, can't or won't; or, finally, 3) the 
'replacement' bad guy for Voldemort in Harry's generation.  JKR has 
already quashed the idea that Draco will join Harry in the fight 
against Voldemort...so where else has the character to go?

Best, feumindra