[HPforGrownups] Draco, Slughorn, and the HBP's book (Was: Was it Slughorn?)

Magpie belviso at attglobal.net
Wed Oct 12 03:51:28 UTC 2005


No: HPFGUIDX 141483

> Magpie wrote:

>> Actually, it's possibly even better that no matter how talented
> Draco is (and I do think he's always been good at Potions) he can't
> win Slughorn's favor, so he has to learn to be satisfied within
> himself instead of relying on outside praise.
>
> Carol responds:
> I agree that Draco is probably good at Potions (certainly better than
> Harry) and I would agree with the assessment in the second paragraph
> if it weren't for Draco's loss of interest in school in general in his
> sixth year (shown in his confrontation with Snape at Christmastime).
> He's a junior DE whose chief concern is carrying out LV's orders and
> surviving.

Magpie:

Just wanted to jump back in and agree with you--I hadn't realized how that 
sounded (like the implication that Draco was a great student being ignored). 
I don't think he is all that in the class; he seems competent enough, but 
not outstanding.  I meant that it seemed important that even if Draco was 
outstanding in the class it wouldn't matter given his father being a DE, and 
for Draco, who has been raised to put far too much stock in personal 
connections and the family name, it's maybe good for him to just be 
invisible so he can't even be tempted to try that route.  (He does try once, 
in bringing up his grandfather, and it gets him nowhere.)

That seems to be a sort of theme of his story in HBP anyway, the way he's 
cut off from all of his usual support systems.  I think that was really the 
only way to get him to even start to find out who he could potentially be.

-m 






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