Draco an underdog?

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 131927

> >>Betsy Hp:
> As to Harry, yes, sometimes his popularity sours, but he's got a    
> strong crowd around him (the Weasley twins support should never be 
> sneered at) and even when he at his lowest his fame is strong. (A 
> good example of that is the DA) 

> >>Alla:
> Sometimes his popularity sours? I would say that whole school turns 
> against him  with  the first possibility.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
That is the downside to fame.  And I'm not trying to argue that Harry 
has an easy way of it.  But even when many at the school think he's 
evil (CoS -- parselmouth) he's got powerful allies (the Weasley twins 
were great), or when half the school thinks he's crazy (OotP) he's 
still got enough popularity to pull together a subversive club.  
Could Draco do any of that?  I doubt it.  He just doesn't have that 
kind of pull.

> >>Alla:
> If you are evaluating Harry status as "Golden Boy" by the fact that 
> he has TWO closest friends and two or three Gryffs who are faithful 
> to him, then Draco can also be called a "Golden boy" because he at 
> least has as many close and not very close but faithful friends as 
> Harry has.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
As to Draco's friends, we really know nothing about them or their 
loyalty.  Draco can entertain a crowd, but when the chips are down 
will anyone stand with him?  Frankly, I don't think canon tells us 
either way.  It will be interesting to see where Draco stands in his 
house in HBP.

But as to Harry as golden boy -- no, he's not a true golden boy (like 
Sirius or James) because Harry *really* doesn't like the spotlight.  
But like it or not, it's on him.  The girls do swoon, the boys do 
envy, and he's got the coolest stuff (rare and expensive invisibility 
cloak, best quidditch broom on the market).

> >>Betsy Hp:
> Draco doesn't have the headmaster in his back pocket like Harry    
> does.

> >>Alla:
> OK, I really would like more proof that Harry has  "headmaster in 
> his pocket", if you don't mind.

Betsy Hp:
Come *on*, Alla.  What other students get the sort of attention from 
Dumbledore that Harry does?  Does Dumbledore routinely visit *their* 
bedsides when they're sick?  Or return invisibility cloaks lost while 
breaking school rules?  Does Dumbledore love the other students like 
he loves Harry?  Do you think Draco got called into the headmaster's 
office to get a comforting talk about how it's terrible that he's 
lost his father, but Dumbledore will be there for him?

Of course, Harry doesn't have Dumbledore wrapped around his finger 
(or at least, I don't *think* he does).  But he is definitely 
something special to Dumbledore.  To try and protest otherwise is... 
well, I think it's an uphill argument.  You at the very least have to 
twist some canon.

> >>Alla:
> <snip>
> I guess the first incident of Dumbledore's favorable treatment of 
> Harry was when he left Harry to grew up with Dursleys.
> The second one would be when Headmaster happily allowed three      
> eleven year olds to go on the quest to face the Dark Lord. 
> <snip> 
> What else? Oh, another example of favorite treatment would be 
> sending Harry and Hermione on the quest to save Sirius and the list 
> goes on and on...

Betsy Hp:
The list of *twisted* canon goes on and on.  But you're arguing for a 
cruel and manipulative Dumbledore, a cold-blooded Dumbledore, which 
*might* be true (I personally doubt it) but is still merely a 
theory.  As per cold, hard, canon Dumbledore has involved himself in 
Harry's life far more than in any other student's.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> Draco's name couldn't open every single door in the WW like Harry's 
> can.
 
> >>Alla:
> Huh? Draco's father name indeed can open any door in WW for him,   
> IMO at least.

Betsy Hp:
Erm... where do you get that idea?  Seriously, point out some canon.  
Because yes, Malfoy is rich and using his gold to influence *Fudge* 
but as Neville pointed out in OotP, Malfoy's family isn't all *that* 
connected. (The bit about knowing the OWLs judges.)  When the Malfoys 
were in the bookshop with Harry and Lockhart, Lockhart pulled *Harry* 
into a picture with him.  He didn't grab Lucius.  I don't recall 
strangers coming up to shake *Lucius's* hand.  When it comes to fame 
in the WW Harry has the Malfoys beat.  Every piece of canon points to 
that fact. 

> >>Alla:
> As I said, I will not ever see Draco as underdog. There is way too 
> much " he got himself into that situation" in any of Draco's loses 
> for me to ever feel sorry for him.
> There is also this thing  that I consider Draco's to be objectively 
> bad guy, regardless of POV and I don't like voting for bad guy. Bad 
> guy with a heart of gold , maybe, but not a villain or candidate   
> for villainhood, which all Draco is for me now.

Betsy Hp:
But neither of those things have anything to do with being the 
underdog.  It doesn't matter how a situation comes about or who's the 
good guy or bad guy.  All you have to do to be the underdog is to 
have less going for you than the other guy.  And in every single 
conflict between Harry and Draco, Harry has the advantage.

Betsy Hp