Draco

[meira_q]

No: HPFGUIDX 47455

Chris:   [snip] I do not believe that he is as important a person as 
most of us and he himself seems to think.

Me:  He certainly has a not-so-healthy overdose of ego and 
confidence, but I do not think that JKR would have made his character 
such a central one (compared, for example, to Cho Chang) if he didn't 
have a very important place in the Grand Scheme of Things.

Chris:  I see Draco as simply a bully and malicious troublecauser. We 
have no hint that he has a deeper character than simple racism 
(mudbloods) and hiding behind his two companions. 

Me:  Those are the few glimpses on Draco that we get in Cannon.

Chris:  He is so desperate for success and fame that he uses his 
father's money to buy his way on to the quiddich team and is spiteful 
enough to try and get Hagrid fired for his own mistake.
His big mouth gets him into trouble more than once, he can't keep 
secrets (note how he hints about the tolement in GOF and 
Black's 'murder victims' in POA) and he's more than willing to spill 
dirt on Harry to Rita.

Me:  I agree with that, but I don't think he did those things because 
he is desperate for success and fame. Those events reinforce my 
opinion that JKR will write in one of the next books about Draco 
having to help Harry or something like that, and these events are 
there (among other reasons, such as character development) because 
then Ron and Harry will start saying: "Ewwwww... Malfoy? The amazing 
bouncing ferret? The one guy that would see Hermione dead? Yadda, 
yadda, yadda..."

Chris:  While it is commonly supposed that Draco will join the DEs, I 
don't think that will happen, although for a surprising reason. I 
can't see LV wanting him too much, what does he bring to the DEs? He 
may be cunning, but he can't keep his mouth shut and he has a knack 
of making enemies out of people. 
Personally, I think Draco is an inflated person.

Me: I don't commonly suppose that Draco will join the DE's. He might, 
and then again, he might not.  

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  [snip] I do tend to believe that he won't be a 
DE or the next Big V, but I think there is a lot more to his 
character than just he "is an inflated person" [snip]
Why racism exists and how people deal with it is one of the definite 
themes throughout HP. JKR has approached racism from several 
different angles, Draco being one of them.

Me:  but she only talks about it from Harry's point of view. Even 
when at the beginning of GoF she talks about Voldie, Wormtail, Frank 
Bryce and Nagini at the Riddle House, she talks about it from Frank's 
PoV, and then we see Harry waking up from a very vivid dream that was 
exactly what has happened in the Riddle House. 

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  I'd say his not so well formed racist beliefs 
are pretty important things to think about. For example, how does he 
really feel about Hermione? Is he simply lashing out at her because 
he is jealous, as was clearly established at the beginning of CoS?

Me:  Could be.

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  Is he possibly attracted to her and trying to 
deny it?

Me:  As much as I'd like to see a Slytherin/Gryffindor romance in 
Cannon, I doubt that we will see such a pairing (any Slyth/Gryff 
combination) outside the pages of fanfics *sad sigh*.

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  Or is he not even thinking about what it means 
to call someone a Mudblood, but has heard the term so many times at 
home and thinks it is okay to say?

Me:  I think that that would be a correct assumption. Even though he 
might turn out to be a DE, at 12 or 13, kids usually reflect their 
parents ideas and opinions.

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  There is definitely "a deeper character" to 
Draco, IMO. I'd like to see him stray from his father. How might he 
react to seeing Lucius kissing the hems of Voldemort? What if he 
decides to disagree with his father? Or what if Draco is rejected by 
the DEs? The possiblities plot-wise are amazing. The relationship 
with his father goes way beyond anything typical, as we've seen so 
many people discussing... for several years now! Whether or not Draco 
is abused is only one of the things I'd like to see JKR explore in 
relation to Draco.

Me:  I don't think that he's abused by his father. At least not in 
the way of being hit by him, or neglected. 

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  In fact, I think the fact that he is a bully 
shows us that something wrong has gone on. Most kids are not bullies 
and do not look to victimize others. Why is that something Draco 
seems to get pleasure from? 

Me:  Perhaps this is what he has been taught to do, how he has 
learned to act. Seeing that his father (putting it mildly) doesn't 
like muggles and mudbloods, is it a wonder that Draco acts the same 
way?

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  I even find it interesting that he has chosen 
two large and practically mute Slytherins as his friends. Doesn't he 
want friends he can talk to? Laugh with? What does he feel about 
himself that he only chooses the company of morons?

Me:  I think that Draco didn't actually `choose' Crabbe and Goyle as 
his friends. It is a possibility that since Crabbe's, Goyle's and 
Draco's parents were (are) DE's, they would have been a group 
of `friends', and would spend a lot of time together. Draco probably 
knew Crabbe and Goyle his whole life.

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  I'm not asking these questions because I am 
looking for answers here, as many of these things have been discussed 
many times on this list,...

Me:  I bet they have, but I'm posting my 2 knuts anyway *g*.

Jenny from Ravenclaw:  but I think Draco is anything but two-
dimensional. Just because he is a snotty, snobby, elitist, spoiled 
and materialistic kid, he is certainly not boring or unimportant. 
There will be plenty more of Draco Malfoy ahead - I'm sure of it.

Me:  Amen to that! :)

Meira