Draco is Evil and Lame

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 124785


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Arynn Octavia <arynnoctavia at y...> wrote:
> >Betsy wrote:
> But see, it does matter, because you are trying to say Draco is
> evil. And yet, he doesn't fit the discription. He doesn't actually
> *terrorize* the other students.<
>  
> Arynn:
> There have been kids here in America that have killed them selves and fellow students 
(e.g. Columbine) who were never physically attacked, but never the less vebally tortured. 
The schools could do something about fighting, but name calling falls under free speach 
(unless it's sexually or racially motivated.) 
>  
> Most kids can (and do) take some teasing, but if you are subject to it too often for too 
long, people can snap. "Terror" doesn't always mean "physical attack". 
>  
> But no, I do not think Draco is evil. I don't think humans can be evil. Some people make 
bad choices based on bad exprirences, but no one is inherintly evil. Some examples of 
"evil people"
>  
> Hitler's mother (speculated to be part Jewish) was abusive toward him. Once he was 
grown he wanted to be an artist and was kicked out of art school. After serving in WW1 he 
spent time in jail where he was first introduced (by a fellow inmate) to the "arian" 
mentality. There was no evidence before this time that he had any problem with Jews. (he 
was even staying in a Jewish run shelter for a while.)
>  
> Jeff Dhamer was repeatedly sexually abused as a boy.
>  
> Tom Riddle's father leaft his mother before Tom Jr was born because of his own 
prjudices. Jr's mother died when he was young and he spent his young life as an unwanted 
orphan. His whole existance has been built on hate.
>  
> No one is born bad. These previous men were put into bad situations and choose too be 
cruel later in life, but there are many people (myself included) that had it just as bad, and 
have never hurt anyone. I, luckily had some things in my life that I was able to depend on 
(my parents and my Buddhist faith)
>  
> Alla:
> <snip taling about Draco's treatment of his fellow students>
> Does he deserve to have the crap beaten out of him for THAT? Yes, you bet, he 
absolutely does to me. At the end of GoF Draco absolutely got what he deserved as far as I 
was concerned. I could do without people stepping over Draco when he was on the floor, 
but besides that...<
> 
>  
> Even if someone makes bad choices, they deserve the compassion that all living things 
are entitled to. No one (Draco included) deserve physical or verbal attack. Even if Draco is 
an instigator, he should not have been beaten up by Harry and George(or was it Fred?), nor 
was it okay for Harry and the other DA members to shower them with curses at the end of 
OotP. It is okay to defend yourself and others, but that went way overboard. As adults it is 
our job to teach kids that physical attack is NEVER okay. 
>  
> If everyone followed the old saying "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" the whole 
planet would be blind and toothless.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --Arynn Octavia (A Lupin Lover)


Antosh:

I'm a little perplexed by this whole conversation--and I say this as a life-long believer in 
the peaceful path and as a parent.

Here is the description of the actual dastardly attack on poor Draco, Crabbe and Goyle in 
the chapter, "The Second War Begins" in OotP:

The journey home on the Hogwarts Express next day was eventful in several ways. Firstly  
Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who had clearly been waiting all week for the opportunity to  
strike without teacher witnesses, attempted to ambush Harry halfway down the train as he  
made his way back from the toilet. The attack might have succeeded had it not been for 
the  fact that they unwittingly chose to stage the attack right outside a compartment full of 
DA  members, who saw what was happening through the glass and rose as one to rush to 
Harry's  aid. 

Now, there are a couple of things to remember here. First of all, Draco and friends have 
attacked Harry before, without provocation. Draco has just THREATENED Harry with harm 
for his part in Lucius Malfoy's imprisonment. The Malfoys, Crabbes and Goyles are all 
families that support LV and practice Dark Arts--the Prophet (and Harry himself) have 
been telling everyone how dangerous these people are. And it doesn't say they're 
threatening him here--they are seizing the "opportunity to strike."

Wands are lethal weapons. This is not a slap fight on the playground. Should the Junior 
DEs care to use them as such, this is a three-on-one attack with Uzis.

So it seems to me that not only is Harry justified in defending himself, but his friends are 
right to come to his defense.

Imagine a black student at a newly integrated high school in the sixties being threatened 
by three sons of prominent KKK members swinging chains and baseball bats. Are the 
threatened student and his friends wrong to treat the attackers with a certain level of 
emphasis and force? In this case (and in the previous year's train attack), I think the 
response is justified.

Now, mind, I don't think any of the DA members were aware what was going to happen to 
the three Slytherins when they all came out, wands blazing. It's the mix of jinxes and 
hexes that has such a... deleterious effect on Draco and Co.

I think JKRs point in this episode is three-fold: first, it's a reminder to Harry that he's not 
alone; second, it's evidence of cross-house cooperation, even if the Gryffindors, 
Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs happen to be countering a Slytherin attack; and third, it's a 
reminder of just what Harry was able to accomplish with the DA. Which I think will become 
an issue in HBP.

Antosha, who has taught his daughters never to use force to solve their problems but has 
enrolled them in Tai Kwan Do classes, so that they will be able to protect themselves if the 
necessity demands