[HPforGrownups] Re: Why did Draco do it?

[James Lawlor]

No: HPFGUIDX 125420

> Now Ginger:
> Good stuff, all of you!
> 
> There is one more thing that Lucius would have going for him if Draco
> befriended Harry:  Harry at his disposal.

James:

I quite agree - very good stuff! This isn't necessarily a direct
response to the above quote, but I wanted to ground this post
somewhere in the thread and this seemed to work.

I've thought of a third reason for Lucius to want Draco to befriend
Harry Potter (aside from wanting information or wanting easy access to
kill Harry/the ability to prove to the WW that he wasn't on
Voldemort's side after all).

Lucius could have been setting himself up to be in the good graces of
the next Dark Lord. Now, we don't know what Lucius knew about the
prophecy, or whether or not he knew more than any of the other Death
Eaters. But if he knew about the possibility that Harry or Neville
could have the power to overthrow Voldemort (or even deduced this
himself after the fact - knowing that Voldemort wouldn't go after a
baby himself without sufficient reason) he would certainly begin to
wonder about this power. He would probably see the possibility of
Harry being Voldemort's successor and not his mortal adversary.

I think it would be obvious to Lucius that Harry was a very powerful
wizard and would soon be very important. Had Harry befriended Draco,
who do we think would be *so* generous, and *so* helpful? Perhaps he
would even seem kind and loving and fatherly. He would want to be
Harry's advisor, someone who Harry trusts more than anyone else.
(Certainly if Lucius acted like that, Draco and Harry wouldn't trust
each other for very long - although I doubt that Draco trusts any of
his friends in the way Harry trusts Ron and Hermione).

However it works out, Lucius can only benefit from being close to
Harry Potter. Friend to the WW's Savior, ready to present Harry's head
to Voldemort, or Mentor to the Next Dark Lord - Lucius would want to
be any of these, because it would guarantee his being in the good
graces of whoever held the most power in the WW.

- James Lawlor
jlawlor at gmail.com