Coddling

[R. Penar <rpenar@gorbyreeves.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51675

 > I can't imagine that Lucius was coddled in his 
> > youth the way he coddles Draco.  As a result, Lucius comes away 
> >with a much thicker skin, and Draco knows of no other method of 
> >exerting power than tantrum-throwing.
> 
> Heidi asked:
> 
>  
> > Coddled? Where? 
> 
> And then reviewed the interactions between Draco and Lucius.
> 
Cindy: 

> Personally, I wouldn't choose "coddled" as the best way to describe 
> Draco's upbringing in canon.  I would go with "indulged."  
> And "privileged."  And "elitist."  But I think "indulged" works 
> best, and "indulged" really is just a stone's throw from "coddled."

Now me:

How many times do we hear "When I tell my father...." or "my father 
says...". We know that Lucius filed a complaint against Hagrid and 
Buckbeak due to Draco's "injury". We know that Lucius bought brooms 
not just for Draco, but for the entire Slytherin team. 

Sure, the face-to-face interactions may be different and include a 
sense of disapproval or disdain from Lucius towards Draco (I'm 
thinking of the line where Lucius tells Draco he should be ashamed to 
be getting worse grades than Hermione), but since Draco is not face-
to-face with Daddy for most of the year, we must rely on Lucius' 
*actions* rather than *interactions*. His actions seem to be of a 
coddling nature, i.e., pampering or babying.

I like to think that if Lucius had been there for the 
Buckbeak "attack" on Draco, he would have thought Draco deserved it 
or at the very least, he would not have filed a complaint. When 
Malfoy fell off his broom and Daddy was at the Quidditch match, 
nothing came of that. If Daddy hadn't been there, what would have 
happened? Draco would send an owl "Daddy, daddy, that Harry Potter 
knocked me off my broom and Madam Hooch didn't call the foul and we 
lost the match!" Perhaps Lucius would have sent a nastygram to Madam 
Hooch demanding a rematch or something. Would this have 
been "coddling" Draco? Sure!

Where it gets a little muddy is when you look at Lucius' motives for 
his actions. Did he file the Complaint against Hagrid and Buckbeak 
out of concern for Draco? Or was it because of his anti-giant 
prejudice at having Hagrid teaching at Hogwarts? When he buys the 
brooms for the entire team, is it because he loves Draco so much and 
wants him to do well, or is it because he was a Slytherin and wants 
the house to win and knows that Draco alone can't win the Quidditch 
matches?

<snip discussion about material things compensating for emotional 
support>

> > We do know that Draco stays at school during CoS's Christmas 
break,
> > which can certainly be read as evidence of *lack* of coddling. 
> 
> That's a tough one.  I'm not sure we can draw many conclusions from 
> whether students go home for Christmas or opt to stay.  After all, 
> the Weasleys didn't go home for Christmas in CoS because they 
didn't 
> wish to travel to Egypt with their parents, which I would say is no 
> reflection on the level of emotional attachment in the family.  
> Hermione goes home for Christmas in PS/SS but not in the other 
three 
> books IIRC, but I don't think Hermione is coddled or indulged.
> 
> Yeah, I'm thinking Indulged!Draco sounds about right, dangerously 
> close to the line of HoldingHisBreathUntilHeTurnsBlueToGetThings!
> Draco.  ;-)
> 
> Cindy

I don't think that just because Draco stays at school, he can't be 
coddled by his father. Remember, look at actions, not interactions.

Becky