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

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 125424


> Betsy wrote:
> I've always thought the so-called resemblances between Draco and 
> Dudley was a red-herring.  Mainly because Draco and Dudley are 
> *opposites* if anything.  It seems to me that Dudley has a certain 
> contempt for his parents.  They do what he wants when he wants 
them 
> to, so they're useful tools, but he acts in a manner (street-hood) 
> they would totally be against. I seriously doubt Dudley quotes his 
> father at his school, or invokes his anger as the ultimate 
> punishment (wait until my father finds out!).  Dudley is a 
physical  bully.  His friends hang with him because he can beat the 
crap out  of anything.  He's not witty, he's not amusing, he 
wouldn't come up 
> with a clever song or catchy badge to intimidate his enemies, he'd 
> pound them.  And I've never gotten the sense that Dudley worries 
> about his academic ranking.
> 
> Draco, on the other hand, worships his parents, eschews physical 
> violence (please quote me an example where he and his gang beat up 
> on younger students for fun and entertainment, because I can't 
> recall any), and is academically competitive.  Draco is a 
perfomer.  
<big snip>

Hannah: Another eloquent argument :-)  Of course, it is Harry that 
first draws the parallel between Dudley and Draco, when he first 
meets Draco in Diagon Alley and is 'strongly reminded of Dudley.' 
But Harry's POV isn't terribly reliable.  I think that's the problem 
with any analysis of Draco's character - to support any argument - 
we have such a one-sided view of him.  You argue so convincingly 
that the boys are different that I am going to have to concede on 
that.  But just because Draco differs from Dudley, it doesn't 
necessarily mean his relationship with Lucius is as you see it.  

We don't know if Draco's gang beats up younger children or not.  
We've never seen it in canon, true, so maybe he doesn't.  But we see 
so little of Draco in canon that it's hard to know what he does with 
himself all day.  I would also say that we don't really know how 
academically competitive Draco is or isn't - there's not enough 
information.  But there's not enough in canon to say either way.

> Betsy:
> Thanks, Hannah :) Narcissa *is* the dark horse in this family 
> drama.  We know next to nothing about her.  It *looks* like she 
> cares for her son - at least according to Draco.  But again, Draco 
> is not above lying to maintain appearances, (maybe Durmstrang was 
> too expensive, or maybe no Black ever attended Durmstang, who 
> knows?).  The sweets from home could be from Narcissa (out of 
love, 
> out of appearances?), they could be from a house-elf.  We don't 
> know. (Though I will say I'm not sure that sending care-packages 
> from home to a child at boarding school are good examples of 
> *spoiling* your child.  Harry thinks so, but what does Harry know 
> about such things?) Plus, Draco's method of finding out who the 
Heir 
> was, was questioning his father.  He didn't go on any sleuthing 
> missions, that we saw anyway.  So I'm still pretty sure he was 
left 
> at Hogwarts to report back to his father.  

Hannah: We only see Draco once in the whole of that holiday, for all 
of about ten minutes.  He might have been doing *anything.*  And 
Lucius is a governor at the school - I don't think he needs Draco's 
input to be able to find out if anything major happens.  And for 
everything else heir-related he has Snape - who should be reliable 
from Lucius' POV on this matter.

I doubt the packages are from a house elf.  Dobby was the Malfoy's 
house-elf and at no point has he ever shown any interest in or 
affection for Draco.  I don't think that it's a case of poor-little-
Draco being looked after by the kindly elves.  Even if the elves 
make the packages themselves, it would be at the instruction of 
Narcissa, so she must have some interest in her son.  

> Betsy:
> I do agree that Lucius would not hesitate to use his son if he 
> thought there was *any* benefit for him.  (Though, I disagree with 
> Eustace_Scrubb that Draco is any good at using his father - I've 
yet 
> to see it happen, frankly.)  And I can see your arguments that 
> Lucius could see a benefit in wooing Harry Potter.  
> 
> Here are two counter-arguments:  1)In PS/SS Lucius is not trying 
to 
> accomplish anything. He's laying low under his Voldemort-victim 
> alibi, not rocking any boats.  It's not until CoS, when his home 
is 
> invaded, that Lucius starts re-entering the world of WW politics, 
> throwing around his money and cosying up to Fudge.  Befriending 
> Harry Potter would definitely rock some boats.
> 
Hannah:  We know nothing about what Lucius was trying to do in 
PS/SS, as we don't see him.  He is a school governor in CoS, and I 
suspect he was in PS/SS.  I doubt that he suddenly decided to enter 
politics at the start of CoS - I think he's been schmoozing his way 
in from the day he 'recovered from the Imperius Curse.'

Betsy:
> 2) If Lucius did try and approach Harry Potter there are several 
> Aurors that would find his motives *very* questionable.  It's a 
high 
> risk move, guaranteed to call attention to himself, and I'm not 
sure 
> what agenda Lucius could possibly have that would outweigh the 
> risks.  You all may suggest that if he worked through Draco, none 
> would be the wiser, but one thing we all know about Draco - the 
kid 
> ain't subtle.  And he's no good at keeping secrets, especially at 
> that age.  If his father suggested he should be friends with 
Harry, 
> I can easily imagine Draco saying, "My father thinks you and I 
> should be friends!  Oh, hello Professor Dumbledore!"

Hannah:  It depends how subtly Lucius has planted the idea into 
Draco's head.  By your own argument, I doubt Draco would do anything 
that he thinks his father would disapprove of.  
> 
Betsy:
> And I still think Lucuis *is* disappointed in his son, and not 
close  to him at all.  I think he acts like a parent who wants to be 
around  his child as little as possible.
> 
Hannah:  Yes, he may well be.  And maybe (probably) they're not that 
close.  But I can't see that he would have such an extreme adversion 
to Draco that he wouldn't be able to bear to spend a few minutes at 
least suggesting that he might want to get to know Harry Potter.]

Hannah