Draco and Lucius (was: Harry and starvation)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 123936


>>Magda: 
>Yes, they're definitely different; personally I think Lucius' best 
moment in the series comes in COS when they're in Borgin's shop and 
he shoots down all Draco's whining complaints with the practiced ease 
of a man who's heard it all (too many times) before.< 

Betsy:
This scene caused me to have great pity for Draco.  As Geoff pointed 
out in his post, there doesn't seem to be a lot of love there.  
Lucius pretty much sets it up that if Draco does anything right, it's 
not because Draco has skills, it's because of his blood, and he 
should be the best.  But if Draco messes up, than he's a big failure 
and is letting down his entire family line.

Though I agree that Lucius has probably had to hear a lot about Harry 
Potter favoritism. :) 

>>Magda: 
>Notice that Draco often quotes Lucius as "my father says....".  
Not "my father told me that...."  Sounds to me like Draco spends a 
lot of time around the manor listening in on Lucius' conversations 
from hiding places.  Does he go back to Hogwarts and brag to Snape 
about everything he knows?  Bet you anything he does.<

Betsy:
Yeah, I've wondered if Spy!Draco won't be making an appearance.  Of 
course, sometimes it's hard to recognize if you're (and by you, I 
mean me <g>) being unduly swayed by fanon.  Especially with a 
character like Draco who gets little play in the books and *so* much 
play in fanfic.

>>Magda: 
>And of course, even though Draco is normally as dumb as a box of 
rocks, he'd be one of the first customers of those Extendable Ears 
that George and Fred were selling.<

Betsy:
Oh yes, Draco is a wonderful little eavesdropper!  But I'm not sure 
about dumb.  He's not very political, but again based on the Borgin's 
shop scene, Lucius says that Draco gets beaten by Hermione on every 
exam. (So much for Snape's bias!) If she's the *only* one who beats 
him, than Draco must not be too dumb. Of course, you could read the 
scene to mean that Draco does poorly and doesn't it suck that a 
Muggle-born has top marks when Draco should be making them. (And very 
tacky of Lucius to upbraid his son in front of a stranger.)  

>>Geoff:
<snip>
>An interesting point came back to me after reading Magda's comment
above about Malfoy's references to his father. It has been commented
on that there seems to be only one place in the whole of the books
where he refers to Lucius as "Dad". It happens when he confronts
Harry in the Entrance Hall at the end of OOTP.

'"You think you're such a big man, Potter," said Malfoy, advancing
now, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. "You wait. I'll have you. You
can't land my father in prison -"
"I thought I just had," said Harry.
"The Dementors have left Azkaban," said Malfoy quietly. "Dad and the
others will be out in no time..."'

(OOTP "The Second War begins" p.750 UK edition)

That is most interesting. He always refers to his father almost
distantly as "my father" but here, suddenly, "Dad" pops out which is
most un-Draco-ish. As Mr.Ollivander would say, "Curious". I wonder
what our tame psychologists can make of that?<

Betsy:
Not a psychologist - tame or otherwise - but I've never let lack of 
expertise stop me! :)  I do think Draco is a performer, and I think 
he's usually performing in front of Harry (and his friends for that 
matter).  So he declaims a lot, and it sounds much more dignified and 
proper to say, "my father."  But I think Lucius being imprisoned has 
really shaken the foundations of Draco's world, so real unfiltered 
emotion regarding his father pours through.

What I'm quite curious about is what direction will Draco fall?  Will 
he fall in with Death Eaters and join Voldemort to bring sweet, sweet 
revenge on Harry?  Or will a better influence (Snape?) encourage 
Draco to slip from his father's grasp and do the right thing?  I know 
what I *hope* will happen, but I honestly cannot make a prediction.

I know there must be a "good" Slytherin, to cleanse the house and 
reunite Hogwarts and possibly the WW.  I think the Slytherin does 
need to be a peer of Harry's, but I just don't know if Draco will 
fill that role.  I think JKR has done a fairly good job at riding the 
edge with Draco.  I'm eager to see how his story finally ends.

Betsy, who's quite sure this has been discussed to death on this 
list, and so apologizes for boring everyone! :)