[HPforGrownups] Draco and Lucius

[Kate Harding]

No: HPFGUIDX 110508

Thanks, Geoff, for reposting that discussion - I found it really 
fascinating. Thoughts follow.


Geoff:
He obviously wanted, for some reason or
another, to befriend Harry right at the beginning but managed to mess
this up in no uncertain terms because of his arrogant approach and
that has coloured their relationship ever since. <snip>
I've known people who have wanted to make friends with someone who
hasn't responded and it can produce all sorts of mixed reactions
which leads me to my next thought..


psyche:
I completely agree. My interpretation was that Draco has been so cruel to 
Harry largely because of this incident - because it really kicked him where 
it hurts (for Draco). My impression of Draco is that he has no sense of 
self worth beyond what others say about him - the result of conflicting 
messages and lack of real affirmation from his parents. In his mind, he's 
only as valuable as Lucius (in particular, but insert other names here) 
thinks. His pride is overblown because of this, and he would naturally take 
rejection unusually badly. I think he genuinely wanted to befriend Harry: 
partly because he thinks that as a Malfoy, the most famous kid in the world 
should naturally be his best friend, and partly because Harry's friendship 
would make him feel valuable. He just hadn't grasped that Malfoy-stylee 
sneering wasn't the best way to make friends, most of the time. It seems to 
me that he's not equipped to deal with the pain of rejection, so tried to 
convince himself and everyone else that it wasn't a rejection, because 
Potter's not worthy of his friendship anyway.

I'm waffling now, I think, and perhaps I've read too much Draco/Harry slash.


Berit:

On pages 749-751 (British Version)
Harry bumps into Draco in the Entrance Hall. To me this little
incident describes a "new" Draco, a much more dangerous Draco. <snip>
But the most
significant sign of Draco's change of attitude is the way he talks
about his father. In the previous books he has always referred to him
using the more formal "Father", but now he even calls him "Dad". Now,
that's significant if you ask me :-)

My two knuts: Harry's in deep trouble. Draco dormiens nunquam
titillandus...


psyche:
Wow. That's really interesting. I hadn't noticed the use of 'dad'. It 
sounds part 'this time it's personal' and part 'I want my daddy' - an 
interesting combination. I guess the removal of Lucius from the picture 
could both force Draco to take an adult role, try to fill the gap in the 
family, if you like, and perhaps reveal some of what he really thinks and 
feels instead of the Malfoy party line, which I would love to see.

This scene gave me hope that we might get something more interesting out of 
Draco than mudslinging and cringing, and now I'm even more hopeful. Up 
until now, all Harry's significant enemies have been adults, and very 
mighty ones at that. Draco has been way under the radar. I would love to 
see him go on to be a real factor in Harry's life, instead of the 
mosquito-level annoyance he has been a lot of the time.

psyche

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