[HPforGrownups] Why redeem Draco?

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 59993

An interesting discussion:

>Dimitar asked, regarding Draco:
>**there is nothing in the four books to
>suggest that he has the slightest inclination to do that. The
>comparison with Snape doesn't work because he saved Harry in the
>first book which showed us that there is more to Snape than meets
>the eye, with Draco there is nothing of the sorts.**
>
>There actually is one clear thing in book 4 to suggest that Draco is not as 
>inclined to wander down the Path of Evil as one might think on first glance 
>- it happens in the woods at the World Cup where, instead of handing the 
>trio over to the death eaters, or even just waylaying them or otherwise 
>hindering them, he tells them how to get out of the way of the marauding 
>death eaters.
>
>Where's the personal gain to him in this? What benefit can he take from 
>doing something that helps them? He doesn't even gain a smidge of trust or 
>appreciation from them. And I doubt he expected to - so it's likely not 
>that...
>
>And that's apart from the fact that jkr's given him a father who is, at a 
>minimum, psychologically abusive, as well as a teacher who's physically 
>abusive to him in a way that even other teachers are horrified by. Why 
>would she set up any sympathy for him over the course of the books unless 
>she wanted to leave a door open to him being Something Other Than Evil?
>
Draco is a braggart and a bully, one who uses others to do his "muscle" work 
on him and seems to derive his pride and self-image from material 
possessions, place in society, and a lineage that's been drummed into him 
since childhood.  He's got *something* on the order of charisma - although 
it may just be the miasma of social success that clings to him now and makes 
him appealing to the likes of Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle.  I don't know that 
that sort of thing will withstand any real test of loyalty - but I don't 
think it's because there are the seeds of decency inside Draco either.  I 
think that ultimately what will decide what Draco will do and which 
direction he goes will simply be who he thinks is likely to be the winning 
side, and what he will get out of it.  I think it's highly possible he will 
lend unwilling aid to the Trio and the "good guys" simply because they look 
likely to win and his own comfortable previous existence will have somehow 
been ruined for good anyway (Narcissa killed, left, Malfoy urging him to go 
into exile with him in some improbable place...)

Felinia

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