Draco an underdog?

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 132051

> >>Phoenixgod:
> Draco picks every fight he gets in with Harry and then loses.
> <snip>
 
> >>Betsy Hp:
> No he doesn't.  Draco can't even win a quidditch match against    
> Harry. 

> >>Alla:
> I think Phoenixgod meant that Draco always picks up fights with 
> Harry, Harry only defends himself. Are you saying it is not so? If 
> yes, could you give me an example when Harry was the one to pick   
> the fight with Draco?
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
When Draco and Harry go head to head in their quidditch matches *no 
one* has "picked a fight".  It's an athletic contest, in which Draco 
is (for the most part) the underdog.

The times the boys engage in fisticuffs Draco has usually been 
saying something he shouldn't, but rarely does he attempt to take 
Harry on physically.  I'm not really giving Draco *too* much of an 
out here.  One of the prime lessons learned in the school yard is 
when it's best to keep your mouth shut.  But still, Draco is rarely 
the one who first comes out swinging.  Generally that role is filled 
by Harry.  And a few of his bigger friends.  So it's hard to argue 
that Harry is "defending" himself, IMO.  

> >>Alla:
> <snip>
> He CHOOSES to pick up fights with Harry. Now, despite that fact I 
> could have feel for him, IF he picked those fights with Harry for 
> the RIGHT reasons. You know, if Draco was doing it to fight the   
> bad guy. But Draco does it for all the wrong reasons, IMO. His    
> lack of morals is what does it for me.
> Now, you could argue that in Draco's mind  he IS doing it for the 
> right reasons, but to me as I said before definitions of "right" 
> and "wrong" in Potterverse very clearly defined whether we look at 
> it with Harry's eyes or not.

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I agree that Draco is no blushing innocent. He's quite the 
little trash talker, and he generally reaps what he sows. (Sometimes 
a bit more than he sows, IMO.)  The interesting thing to me, though, 
is that JKR deliberately gives Harry such huge advantages in his 
conflicts with Draco.  Why?  Why not have just Harry beat on Draco 
in OotP, instead of Harry and George?  Or why not have just Harry 
and Hermione and Ron take down Draco and Crabbe and Goyle in the end 
of GoF?  

And then, at the end of OotP, when Draco is acting with a more noble 
purpose than usual (avenging his father) why does she have *twice* 
as many members of the DA turn Draco and Crabbe and Goyle into snail 
sludge?  Why have Ernie *relish* seeing the look on Draco's mom's 
face when she sees what they've done to her son?  It hardly helps 
Harry appear heroic.  It certainly doesn't suggest Draco is pathetic 
(why can't Harry handle him on his own?).  What is JKR trying to 
accomplish here?

> >>Chris:
> Ok. One popint of contention here. If memory serves me correctly:
> In CoS, the match against the Slytherins, doesn't Malfoy have the
> better broom. As a matter of fact, the whole Slytherin team has   
> Nimbus 2001s. Oh, and there is that little matter about Harry     
> catching the snitch with a broken arm, AND a rogue bludger chasing 
> him. Who was the underdog then? Yet, Harry still bested Malfoy.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
I am *thrilled* you brought this up, Chris.  Because it shows us 
that JKR *knows* how to write a proper sports story.  Sure, Harry's 
proven himself to be a good flyer and Draco is untested.  But JKR 
gives us the twist of Slytherin's new brooms.  And Draco behaves 
with such unbecoming cockiness.  Gryffindor *is* the underdog.  Then 
she throws in Harry's broken arm.  Harry is flying through a haze of 
*pain*.  The grit! The agony!  AND to top it all off, the field is 
against Harry; there's a rogue bludger out to get him. (At this 
point Draco is the suspected culprit for all the shenanigans 
occuring at Hogwarts, so there's some extra boo and hiss moments 
there). How could Harry *possibly* win?!?  But with true stoic 
strength and heroic skill, Harry manages the impossible and pulls 
off a win right under Draco's nose.  The crowd goes wild!!

This is a perfect example of Harry being played as the underdog.  
And so when we leave Draco getting shouted at by his team captian 
our hearts are warm with the feeling that justice has been served. 

So why does JKR play the game so completely differently in PoA?  
Draco's cockiness is gone.  He's notably pale before the game.  Both 
teams seem evenly matched, there's cheating and penalty shots on 
both sides, and neither side appears to have an unfair advantage.  
Harry and Draco are both playing with the same level of 
concentration and intensity.  JKR gives us an excellent feel of what 
all the job of Seeker involves by showing Harry calculating when to 
catch the snitch, bluffing and marking Draco, and then she does 
something that struck me as strange.  

With all the concentration Harry's been putting into his job, he 
suddenly leaves his post as Seeker and goes to help Angelina score.  
Why?  Why does Harry suddenly decide to ignore his position?  Draco 
spots the snitch and goes after it while Harry's playing the hero.  
In this instance, Draco is being the better Seeker.  The *only* 
reason Harry is able to (barely) beat Draco to the snitch is the 
quality of broom he's riding.  If their brooms had been equal, Draco 
would have won because he played a better game.

And this would have been such an excellent opportunity to seal 
Draco's position as spoiled brat extraordinaire.  Why not have his 
father send him a brand new firebolt of his own so he and Harry are 
at least on equal footing going into the match?  Why have Harry beat 
Draco because *Harry* has the better toy?  It was an odd direction 
to take, IMO.  It leaves Draco in the position of underdog when he's 
*supposed* to be the spoiled little rich kid.  And it's little 
niggling things like this that lead me to suspect that there's more 
to Draco's character than has currently met the eye.

Betsy Hp, who's also thrilled she got to use the words fisticuffs 
and shenanigans all in the same post!