Draco's intent, Dementors and Boggarts

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 101444

> Potioncat:
 Until today I never put Draco's prank and Sirius' prank together.  
Did either boy intend to kill the victim?  I don't know.  I don't 
 think so.  Would either have been held accountable if the victim 
had  been injured or killed?  I hope so.  
> 

I also put it together with Ron and Harry stealing the car in Book 
Two. Everyone thought they did it just to be cool.  Nobody could 
possibly have guessed the real reason without asking them.

However, the timing of Draco's prank  and the fact that his 
accomplices included Marcus Flint suggest  that he was mostly 
concerned to keep Gryffindor from catching the Snitch. As Wood 
told the team PoA ch 13, if they lost that game they were out of 
the running for the Quidditch cup.

 I don't think anyone was  seriously trying to murder Harry at this 
poin any more than Wood was trying to murder Cho when he 
ordered Harry to knock her off her broom if he had to. (PoA 13)

As for ditching their robes and disappearing in front of 800+ 
people, if Malfoy, Flint, Crabbe and Goyle can do that, they're 
better wizards than I thought. Marcus Flint might think  losing fifty 
points and doing detentions was worth it to keep Gryffindor from 
winning the cup. I doubt he would do anything to get himself 
expelled before he took his NEWTs.


Quite apart from plot considerations, there's an aesthetic angle 
to consider. Draco has always been reckless and malicious, as 
Darrin says, but not so as to do something that could 
get him expelled in front of a teacher, even at the end of Book 
Five. He is steadily getting bolder in his malice, but only at 
the end of Book Five does he make a personal threat against 
Harry. To have him attempting deliberate murder in the middle of 
Book Three makes no sense from a character development 
standpoint.

Of course some might say that Draco's character is meant to be 
static, but I don't think so any more than I think Slytherin House is 
the Hitler Youth. They do not wear Dark Mark armbands, march 
around singing "When Muggle blood spurts from the wand, then 
everything is fine," or even use the M-word except for Draco. 
Hermione was in her second year before she ever heard it, the 
Gryffindors were shocked, and Hermione had to have it 
explained to her (unlike the movie). 

Pippin