Draco the Dragon

[rbrown at cp.tamu-commerce.edu]

No: HPFGUIDX 124640


There are some interesting things in the canon of Draco.
Like Harry, he is an only child.
Like Harry, he is well off.
Like Harry, he is powerful.
Like Harry, he is an alpha male.
Like Harry, he is well known due to a powerful family.

So why did JKR include Draco into the story?


I agree with the comment that much to do with the sex appeal
of Draco has to do with the movies, and Tom Felton who is
really attractive and charming in reality. In the books he
is the one you hate (like Snape) without question for being
pure evil and because of how he treats Harry and company.

JKR said herself that Draco is pure evil. She did this on
purpose.

Draco is Harry's first arch-nemesis: his opposite and his
enemy
Peer that developed due to Harry's rejection of Draco in
the beginning and it was magnified in the movies with the
staircase scene (that isn't in the book). 

Draco brings to the story complexity of ethics, angst, and
drama. He is the symbol of pureblood vs. muggleblood racism,
a central theme in JKRs storyline. Who better to give us the
perspective of the dark side of the wizard world but an
anti-matter Harry opposite the same age and social equal
status? This is Light vs. Dark, and all that.

What child or adult cannot relate to a bully to deal with?
The secret to successful fiction to me includes making a
story believable, even in a make believe wizard world-we
still need cornerstones of reality to make it seem real
enough to stay interested and involved.

Harry is perceived as a hero character without question
BECAUSE Draco is (by reflection)
a villain. You can't have one without the other thus
character development in a delicate, sharp and raw
ongoing balance between the two.

This is just one more example of the genius of JK Rowling in
action.
Yes, Harry has to deal with evil adults from the start;
however, he learns how to deal with evil from his peers-i.e.
"Draco and company".
This theme is so central to the storyline, and the amount of
Harry/Draco shippers there are in fan fiction slash written
by
mostly 99.9% teenage girls out there is my final example of
the inspiration and imagination Rowling's character calculus
created.

Way to go Jo!
~bob