TBAY: The Malfoys meet Solzhenitsyn's Russia meeting the Wizarding World

bluesqueak <pipdowns@etchells0.demon.co.uk> pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk
Mon Feb 24 21:03:50 UTC 2003


No: HPFGUIDX 52784

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Eileen <lucky_kari at y...> wrote:

Eileen is sitting contemplating her recent conversation with Elkins, 
when her thoughts are interrupted.

"Oh, hello Pippin," said Eileen.

"Eileen, you know that Pippin wears black clothes, black sunglasses 
and black hat. That's because she is a vampire."

The stranger whipped out a minature tape recorder.

"Right," said Eileen, pointing at the tape recorder. "That means 
you're Pip. And you're wearing the black coat, black sunglasses and 
black hat because ..."

"... I'm a spy. Right. Why does everyone find it so hard to tell 
myself and Pippin apart?"

Eileen shrugged.

"Anyway," said Pip, "Can I just play you back this recording of part 
of your and Elkins' conversation about the Crouchii? It brought up 
some thoughts I'd like to discuss." She switched the recorder 
to 'playback'.

> "No," says Eileen. "I've always imagined that he would
> have absolutely worshiped him."
> 
> "Did you?" asks Elkins. 
> 
> "Yes, I can imagine that he would have been an
> absolutely intolerable kid when he first came to
> Hogwarts. "My father" this and "my father" that, I
> imagine. There's a trace of it left in the Pensieve
> scene, I think, where he seems so shocked his father
> isn't going to get him out of this one. Barty Crouch
> Jr., as I see him, was the sort of person who needs
> someone to worship." Eileen pauses. "I am feeling so
> warm towards him right now, Elkins."

"You know who Barty Crouch Jr reminds me of, when you put it like 
this, Eileen? There's another character in the Wizarding World who 
is always saying "My father" this and "my father" that." And it's 
canonical that he was pretty intolerable when he first came to 
Hogwarts."

"You mean Draco Malfoy," said Eileen. "He's still absolutely 
intolerable."

"He seems to have a pretty serious case of father-worship, don't you 
think? And how does his father respond? He complains about Draco's 
school marks in front of Mr Borgin."

"The last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any..." 
said Eileen thoughtfully.

"Right. Whose father complains to the Ministry when he's injured. 
Whose father buys new brooms for the team he's on. Whose father 
makes huge donations to charities, which probably helped get Lucius 
off his Death Eater charges. Draco has been brought up to believe 
that his family name and his family money can get him out of 
*anything*."

Eileen stared. "Such as taking part in Death Eater activities? Such 
as torturing people like the Longbottoms?"

"Uh, huh," said Pip. "And if Draco got caught, and Lucius didn't 
want to get dragged in? If Draco didn't fit in with his plans for 
ruling the WW? What do you think? Another trial scene with another 
father saying 'You are no son of mine?' "

"Another secret rescue from Azkaban?"

"Possibly. There's another parallel between Barty Crouch Jr and 
Draco Malfoy, as well. They even *look* alike; pale, with blonde 
hair."

"That doesn't look good for Draco, does it?"

"It depends on which parallel is being set up," said Pip

"What do you mean."

"Whether the Malfoys will parallel the Crouches because the father 
condemns the son, or whether the parallel is that the son turns 
against the father."

Pip






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