Draco and Daddy (was: Why did Draco do it?)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 125389


>>Betsy:
>One thing I'm sure of: Lucius didn't give Draco any advice in PS/SS 
on whether or not befriending Harry Potter was a good idea<

>>SSSusan:
>Hmmmm.  I'm curious why you're so sure of this.  We *have* seen 
Lucius make a remark which shows that he expects more from Draco and 
isn't afraid to note it in public.  OTOH, we have also heard Draco 
say he thinks he'll go bully his dad into buying him what he wants. 
I don't think that's all huff & puff.  And Draco *does* end up with 
those brooms, does he not?<

Betsy:
Draco gets his broom one year later at the proper age and when he's 
planning on trying out for the Slytherin quidditch team.  I'm quite 
sure he got a good broom because it would be unacceptable for a 
Malfoy to fly school brooms when it's no longer a school 
requirement.  

I can't point to specific canon to show why I'm so sure Lucius has 
little to do with Draco.  It's more a feeling I get based on what 
Draco says, how he acts, and the few times we see the two interact.

Draco is not pampered by his parents.  When he is introduced, he's 
been left alone in a shop while his parents split up to get the 
other shopping errands done (including buying his wand, which I 
thought was an Ollivander no-no). This is not the actions of people 
thrilled and excited about their only son's upcoming trip to 
Hogwarts.  It's what people do when they want to move as quickly as 
possible to get an annoying job done.

In CoS, Lucius acts like he's been *burdened* by his son's company. 
(Maybe because they're going to have to buy him a broom for 
quidditch?  Maybe because Lucius knows this is his one opportunity 
to slip the diary to a Weasley child?)  And he interacts with Draco 
as little as possible.  Also in CoS, Draco is left at Hogwarts for 
Christmas.  This after mocking Harry's lack of loving parents the 
Christmas before.  I'm sure Lucius was looking for updates on the 
Chamber Monster situation (and way to worry about his son's safety, 
by the way) but none the less, Draco is not brought home for 
Christmas.

Whenever Draco quotes his father, it sounds like pronouncements made 
from on high, not shared wisdom from private conversations.  In GoF, 
when Draco talks about his father wanting to send him to Durmstrang, 
it sounds more like Draco either overheard the conversation or it 
was talked about over his head at the dinnertable.  I don't get the 
sense that Draco's input was asked for or allowed at all.

At the World Quidditch Cup, Draco doesn't have a friend along with 
him.  He sits between his parents, and Harry doesn't hear from him 
again.  Was he even allowed to cheer during the game?  When the 
Hogwarts train arrives and leaves the London station, we never have 
any mention of Draco being met or dropped off by his parents.

The only person who talks about the closeness of the Malfoy family 
is Draco, and after a little while it seems to become a case of 
protesting too much.  At least in my opinion.

>>SSSusan:
<snip>
>I could quite easily imagine a scene, prior to school's starting, 
when Lucius suggests it might be WISE of Draco to introduce himself 
to Harry Potter, see what the kid is like, see how he behaves.  In 
fact, I can't imagine any reason *not* to imagine a scene like that.<
<snip>

Betsy:
It's near impossible for me, because I just don't see Lucius 
interacting with his son at that age.  I think Draco sat with his 
parents at meal times (possibly only dinner with Lucius), to better 
learn proper table manners, but I think he was expected to keep 
quiet.  When Lucius *does* suggest to his son that it might be wise 
to appear to be Harry's friend, in CoS, it sounds like this might be 
the first he mentioned it.

I can imagine as Draco gets older, and less childlike, Lucius may 
start having more conversations with him.  But I imagine they'd be 
fairly stilted and one sided.  Lucius passing down Malfoy wisdom, 
not getting to know his son.  Again, there's no specific canon for 
this, so I doubt I'm persuading anyone, but this is how I see it.  
And it's so clear to me, that it would be very hard for someone 
(barring JKR) to get me to see it differently.
  
>>Hannah:
>I always think the easiest way to decide how Lucius
would have acted in a certain situation is to ask 'what would be in
it for him?'
<snip> 
>I think that Lucius almost certainly did try and influence Draco on
the matter of befriending Harry. Not because it may benefit Draco,
but because it would benefit Lucius.<

Betsy:
I'm not sure if Lucius would see that Harry Potter being attached to 
his family would be a good thing.  For one thing, Harry's the enemy 
of his master.  For another, unless Lucius has knowledge of the 
prophecy (which I don't think he had in PS/SS), he would see Harry 
as being famous for something he *did* not for power he'll have in 
the *future*. 

I would say that the WW is full of political families who see the 
benefit of powerful friends.  The only people who really reached out 
to Harry were the Weasleys (totally non-political, except for Percy) 
and a Muggleborn who has no knowledge of Wizard politics.  I think 
it's safe to assume that most of the WW, while grateful to Harry and 
fascinated by him, did not see him as a future power broker or even 
a pawn.  Not in the beginning, anyway.

As to curiosity (which I think was mentioned by SSSusan, and I think 
I snipped a little too eagerly), we're forgetting one thing.  The 
best source of information on Harry Potter that Lucius has is 
Severus Snape.  We, the readers, know that Snape is Dumbledore's 
creature, but Lucius is not aware of this.  And who better to tell 
him all about a student at Hogwarts than one of the Hogwarts' 
professors?  Snape would certainly have a clearer view of Harry than 
a boy of eleven, and Snape could share the latest staff-room gossip 
about Harry.

No, I'm quite sure that Draco's interest in Harry is influenced only 
by Draco.  Lucius had nothing to do with it.

Betsy