[HPforGrownups] First meetings HP/DM, JP/SS was Re: Always bothered me

[Kelly Grosskreutz]

No: HPFGUIDX 71316


> Kelly:
>
> > I apologize if my tone seems somewhat snippy.  I just get irritated
> when people read things into what I write that aren't even there and
> that I never tried to imply or wanted to imply.  I just like to look
> at things from other people's points of view.
>
> My apologies, then. I clearly read the idea that Draco couldn't help
> himself as a minor indictment of Harry and I should not have. I think
> others will see it as such, but I should not have done that to you.
>
Apology accepted.  On with the discussion!

> We have seen this scene through Harry's point of
> > view.  We look at it with our own points of view as well and our own
> > experiences.  I feel pretty much everyone on this list would agree
> with Harry's view.  I just wanted to look at how Draco might have
> perceived it, and then analyze why he might see it that way and why
> it might not have worked for him that don't have to do with Harry
> specifically.
> >
>
> I don't give Draco all that much credit, obviously. :)
>
> I think we agree Lucius would have encouraged such a friendship, for
> his own purposes, which might have included weakening Harry, or just
> being able to say, "See? I'm not all bad! My son is friends with the
> Boy Who Lived!"
>
> As for Draco, though, I think once he found out Lily was a Muggle-
> born, he'd have ditched Harry and then been the BMOC for being the
> guy that ditched Harry Potter.
>
What does BMOC mean?  As for ditching Harry, he might have, but then again,
he *would* have been able to claim he was best friends with the great Harry
Potter.  But I can see it degenerating from a friendship based on some form
of equality to one where Draco thinks he's better than Harry but willing to
condescend to be his friend.  You know, having the attitude that he's doing
Harry a favor by being his friend.  If he had ditched Harry completely, that
would have shown he was capable of thinking his own thoughts instead of
parroting Daddy dear.  Of course, this is all moot, since Harry wisely chose
another path altogether.

> And I don't see Draco, in the robe shop, so much as trying to make
> friends than in making conversation. I also think Draco as socially
> inept is not a slam dunk, because it is possible he would have also
> learned from his father, or maybe his mother, the art of flattery. He
> uses it on Snape easily enough.
>
It could have been making conversation as well.  As for socially inept, this
is one case I know I didn't word it the way I wanted to, because I'm not
quite sure how I want to word it.  I think part of what I'm trying to say
here is that Draco is very egocentric and can therefore not see anything
except through his own eyes.  This would make it harder for him to win over
people unlike himself (Harry, for instance).  As for flattery, I get the
feeling he is better at practicing it on adults.  For some reason, I see
Draco as a child having been exposed more to adult circles.  He knows how to
comport himself around adults in the types of circles his father hangs
around in.  I do question how much interaction he has had with other
children his own age (not counting the moronic Crabbe and Goyle).  With this
kind of background, he would know how to use flattery on Snape, who we can
surmise either thinks somewhat along the same lines as Draco on at least
some issues and/or is acting like he does in his undercover role.

> It is also possible that Draco was playing to his boys as much as
> wanting Harry to be his friend when he approached Harry on the train.
>
Oh, I'm sure some of it was for show.  He could impress Crabbe and Goyle by
having Harry side with him over Ron.  I say that Draco might have been a
little hurt at Harry's rejection.  Let's also add potentially
embarrassed/humiliated to the list.  Yet more things to make him angry with
Harry and hate him forevermore.

Kelly Grosskreutz
http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova