Is Draco worse than James Was? (was: Does SSthink of DMas the son he never had)

[marika_thestral]

No: HPFGUIDX 77681

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "princesspeaette" 
<princesspeaette at y...> wrote:

Margaret wrote:
I don't see Draco coming to any great spiritual epiphany, he seems to 
have pretty firmly chosen the dark side at the end of OoP. Maybe he 
will, I'm not saying it's impossible. Maybe Pansy Parkinson will get 
killed and he'll realize Voldemort is evil (and not in the warm fuzzy 
way). He seems to have been raised to follow the Dark Arts, and he 
doesn't seem to be rebelling like Sirius did. 

Marikas response:
Yes, Draco is raised to follow the Dark Arts. He keeps walking in his 
father's footsteps without trying to see things from different 
perspectives before he makes his choices. He obviously thinks very 
highly of his father and wants to please him. He knew from the very 
beginning (when he meets Harry at Madam Malkin's) that he wanted to 
be in Slytherin, like the rest of his family. He does what's expected 
from him. He trust his father to know what's best for him, because 
that's what matters to Draco - what's best for himself. Therefore I 
believe that if Voldemort turns out to be bad for Lucius, Draco might 
realize that Voldemort is bad for himself as well. So if something 
happens to Lucius (besides having to spend some time in Azkaban) and 
Voldemort is the one responsible, I can see Draco's image of the 
world (including what's right and wrong) collapsing.


Margaret:
C&G are too stupid to do any independent resoning of their own, they 
just do what they're told. 


Marika:
So it seems. But Draco is not stupid, so what on earth is he getting 
out of this friendship, besides always being backed up in whatever he 
says? 


Margaret:
About Snape: He may not have had the kind supportive friends that HRH 
provide for each other, but he did have some friends. Either Lupin 
or Sirius said in PoA that Snape was part of a gang of Slytherins 
that all became Death Eaters. It was after their O.W.L. exams, so it 
was their 5th year. If he was going to have a gang, he probably had 
some of them by then. 

Marika:
When it comes to Snape and friendship it's a bit tricky. In GoF (p. 
460 f) Black says, "Snape [---] was part of a gang of Slytherins who 
nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters." But what does it mean? 
There are so many possibilities. They might not have been his friends 
at all, but let him be a part of the gang because of his knowledge. 
Or, they might have been great friends who supported him all the 
time. Unfortunately they were not around every time Black and Potter 
wanted to have some "fun". Or, they were older than him and had 
already left school when Snape was in his fifth year.

Margaret:
I don't think James would have tormented someone like Neville. (I 
have a soft spot for Neville, which may be part of why I'm so anti-
Malfoy.) Sirius also said Snape was always following MWPP around 
trying to get them in trouble, even expelled. Makes Snape sound more 
like the bully than the victim, doesn't it? 

Marika:
I have a very soft spot for Neville myself, but that doesn't stop me 
from being empathic with Snape, who certainly doesn't treat Neville 
the way he should. About Snape following MWPP around - there might 
have been another reason for him to do so, besides the one Black 
suggested. And for Snape being a bully or a victim, why not both?

I really hope it doesn't sound like I'm supporting Draco, because I'm 
not. I'm just trying to see things from his point of view, and then 
he appears to be a mean bully with a big ego - like James Potter. 
Neither more, nor less :-)

Marika