The good Slytherin (Draco Malfoy)

[rbookworm46]

No: HPFGUIDX 131635

Betsy Hp:
In fact, IMO part of CoS was to show Harry that, as long as he let 
his Gryffindor side take lead, the Slytherin side of himself was a 
necessary and good part of him too. Dumbledore specifically lists 
Harry's Slytherin traits in a positive way while assuring Harry that 
he was indeed a Gryffindor.

Bookworm:
I always wondered what the Sorting Hat was going to say when Harry 
pulled it off his head while in DD's office.  IMO, it was about
to say that Harry would have done well in Slytherin, but that since 
Harry chose Gryffindor he had equal potential to do brave deeds.  As 
in, just because you are good at one thing, doesn't mean that you 
aren't as good as or better at another.

Betsy Hp:
Well, if at first you don't succeed.... <bg> Part of the reason I 
have hopes for Draco is that he strikes me as such a lonely little 
boy.

Bookworm:
Draco was the one who started the conversation with Harry in Madam 
Malkins.  And on the train, he approached Harry again and offered to 
help him. Unfortunately for him, his arrogance reminded Harry of 
Dudley, so his overtures were rejected.  I also suspect that his 
father told him that it might be beneficial for him to get to know 
Harry – at least until it was obvious that Harry preferred the 
Weasleys to the Malfoys.

Betsy Hp:
<snip> He's been truly obnoxious to Harry and friends, and he's said 
some incredibly hateful things to Hermione (at his father's bidding 
JKR has very carefully pointed out), <snip>

Bookworm:
Imagine what it would be like to live in Malfoy Manor with only his 
parents – such warm, loving people that they are – and the
house elves.  He is an only child who apparently does not live up to 
his father's image of what a Malfoy should be (as seen in Borgin
& Burkes).  Small wonder that half of what he says starts with,
"My father says..." as if he has been discouraged from
thinking for 
himself.

Betsy Hp:
Then of course, there's the neon flashing sign in the Sorting Hat's 
Song chapter in OotP where Harry tempts the gods with his 
flippent, "Friends with Slytherin? Never!" remark while looking 
Right. At. Draco. Do I smell foreshadowing? Oh yes I do!

Bookworm:
Actually, he looked at "the Slytherin table where Draco Malfoy
was holding court."  Subtle difference.  While I think you may be
right, subtlety *is* JKR's trademark. <bg>

Betsy Hp:
Throughout OotP Draco treated the changes going on at Hogwarts as 
some sort of lark. <snip> It wasn't until his father landed in 
Azkaban that things stopped being a school-boy game for him, I 
think. <snip> Draco had his father on a very high pedestal and the 
end of OotP rocked the foundations of Draco's world. I think he's 
going to go through some major changes in the upcoming book. Where 
those changes will lead him, I can't wait to find out.

Bookworm:
Neither can I.  Either he is going to be furious with Harry for 
knocking Lucius off that pedestal and go for revenge, or he will 
finally start to think for himself and realize that he really 
doesn't want to be like his father.  Or maybe both. ;-)

Betsy Hp:
And in that sense, I think Draco is *perfect* for the good Slytherin 
role, because to Harry, Draco *is* Slytherin. Of course, if Draco 
chooses the wrong path (because I'm hopeful, but not certain) than 
it will need to be another Slytherin who is *very* Slytherin to 
serve that role.

Bookworm:
JKR said on her website (Extras/Edits) "...Theodore is a clever 
loner ....  However, in this [deleted] scene.... we rarely see Draco 
talking to anybody he considers a real equal, and he is forced to 
see Theodore as such, because Theodore is just as pure-blooded as he 
is, and somewhat cleverer." 
(http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=5)

So Theodore is a loner and cleverer than Draco.  This is why I think 
the idea of Theodore Nott is so popular.  We don't know what he
is like yet, other than this quote, but his father *is* a Death 
Eater, so his support of the `good' side would mean a break
with his family – choice versus blood.  But you've made the
most logical explanation for why Draco might be the `good
Slytherin' that I've read.  Who knows, maybe it will be both
of them.  

Ravenclaw Bookworm