Not a Dark Mark ?

[jjjjjuliep]

No: HPFGUIDX 139291

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "M.Clifford" <Aisbelmon at h...> 
wrote:

> Throughout HBP Draco starts to look more and more sickly. He keeps
> disappearing. In Borgin and Burkes he shows Borgin something that
> frightens him, Harry thinks its a Dark Mark, but how can we be 
> sure. Can we even really be sure that a Dark Mark would frighten
> Borgin? When Snape showed Fudge his burning Dark Mark, it didn't
> frighten him much, and there are many in the WW who don't even
> know what they are. Well it could be a Dark Mark, but since there
> *is* reason for doubt, then why don't we call it a Werewolf bite ?
> 
> John Granger, to whom the credit for this brilliant find belongs,
> has written about it on his site at this link.
> 
> http://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/home.php?
page=docs/AlchemicalThoughtsHP7&PHPSESSID=0a29d7aacd33a7a04a82c41a8fc9
ea3d
> 
> Thoughts anyone? Or are we all as dumbstruck as me?

First, he's not the first person to float this theory--it's been out 
there for a while now.

Second, you have to evaluate his theory *in the context of everything 
else he has in that "essay"*.  There are a number of factual errors 
on the part of this self-proclaimed Potter scholar (for example, he 
can't get Umbridge's name correct) and there are things he writes 
which completely fly in the face of what we know is true.

For example, he writes:

> Ms. Rowling says nothing in her Fantastic Beasts books on Veela 
> or Vampires and she has been positively vehement in recent
> interviews in her denials that Professor Snape is a vampire. This
> lack of information and truthful misdirection, of course, protects
> her story line, which she admits is her second priority in life
> after caring for her young family.

This set off all of my warning bells.  He purports to be a Potter 
scholar, but he thinks JKR outright lies to us in interviews? To 
assume she is lying when she has thoroughly discounted the entire 
Snape/vampire storyline is to read things that are not there into 
both the story and into her interviews. JKR plays fair. She may 
misdirect, but she does not lie.

This is why I have a hard time with most of the speculation in 
this "essay". (The alchemy stuff is fairly solid and standard, and in 
line with what I've been reading over the last few years. There is 
also Tarot/number stuff which ties in with all of this.)

Leaving aside the IMO nonsense about Snape being a half vampire b/c 
his father was a Muggle "with a blood disease" (the disease being 
being a vampire) and the whole misunderstanding on Granger's part 
about the difference between humans (Muggles and wizards) and non-
humans, we have this:

> blood lust and passions of a vampire subside. Count Sanguini is
> forced by his agent to eat such a treat at the Slughorn Christmas
> party. No doubt Severus Snape had some of these pasties on hand or
> knew the potion preparation well (one he taught to mom years ago).

Sounds compelling?  Well, there is zero evidence that there is any 
kind of anti-vampire potion. So how does it follow that there is "no 
doubt" Snape had them on hand?

Let's look at the actual text:

--------------------
...And all with very little effort on your part, I assure you — ask 
Sanguini here if it isn't quite — Sanguini, stay here!" added Worple, 
suddenly stern, for the vampire had been edging toward the nearby 
group of girls, a rather hungry look in his eye. "Here, have a 
pasty," said Worple, seizing one from a passing elf and stuffing it 
into Sanguini's hand before turning his attention back to Harry. "My 
dear boy, the gold you could make, you have no idea —" "I'm 
definitely not interested," said.
--------------------

Nowhere in this scene is Sanguini "forced" to eat anything. Nor is 
there any evidence that Worple is "Snape's agent". The scene IMO is 
played for comic relief--Sanguini is edging toward the girls and 
instead of blood, he is given something he can't use--a pastry.

Most of the theories about what will happen in the book *which are 
not tied to the alchemical story* exhibit, IMO, the same willful 
ignoring of what the text actually says.  Now on to the "Draco is a 
werewolf" theore.  He writes:

> One such turn-your-thinking-upside-down post came from Mary Ailes,
> whose idea was supported immediately by Laura Henderson (who had
> been working on parallel tracks simultaneously). Their theory is
> that the secret Moaning Myrtle wont tell Ron and Harry about Draco
> isnt his secret mission to kill Dumbledore or that he is a closet
> Death Eater. The secret she cannot tell them is that Draco is a
> werewolf.
>
> Now, before you run from Myrtles bathroom hooting, run this scene
> through your minds eye again. Were on the Astronomy Tower under 
> the invisibility cloak and immobilized with Harry. Fenrir Greyback
> appears and the nasty man-wolf is picking the flesh out of his
> teeth. Dumbledore is disgusted that Greyback is eating human meat
> out of his season,

I think Dumbledore's disgust is not because Greyback is hunting "out 
of his season". I think it is because Greyback *hunts children*.

> tells him so, and adds, tellingly:
>
> And, yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of 
> all people, into the school where his friends live.
>
> I didnt, breathed Malfoy. He was not looking at Fenrir; he did not
> seem to want to even glance at him. I didnt know he was going to
> come - (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 27, Scholastic p. 594)
>
> Step back for a moment (watch the Tower edge). Draco Malfoy has
> been working all year to kill Dumbledore with a certain disregard
> for the lives of anyone and everyone who might get in the way of 
> his Hail, Mary shots at the greatest wizard living. Dumbledore
> knows this and does not confront Draco only because he fears Dracos
> Occlumency is not good enough to shield himself from Lord 
> Voldemorts penetration.
>
> Knowing that Malfoy is acting with bizarre disregard for the lives
> of his friends in the erratic attempts on Dumbledores life, why is
> the Headmaster shocked that Draco invited a werewolf into Hogwarts?
> I think the reasonable answer is the Draco Wolfboy theory, that 
> Dumbledore knows Draco is a werewolf and tha Fenrir Greyback bit
> him on the arm on the Dark Lords orders to punish his parents.
> Dumbledore had to make the arrangements with the Potions master to
> make the Wolfsbane Potion Draco would need to get through the year
> (a thought that Draco or Horace perhaps does not guard at the
> Christmas Party, which explains the look of fear on Severus the 
> Legilimens face there).

First, and quite importantly, Draco's disregard for his fellow 
students most definitely does NOT extend to his Slytherin/Death Eater 
pals.  They are never, ever in danger from what he does.  He would 
not put his friends in to danger.  

Second, the "reasonable answer" is that Draco knows the Death Eaters 
who are with him there will only kill Dumbledore, the members of the 
Order of the Phoenix, and those students who have aligned themselves 
with the Order and who engage voluntarily in that battle. The 
children of the Death Eaters--that is, Malfoy's friends--are safe. 
Horrible though the DEs may be, they will not harm the children of 
their group.

Greyback, on the other hand, is under no such constraints. He kills 
willfully and for pleasure, and has a special fondness for children. 
He is the most truly despicable character in the books, and a true 
stroke of genius as written by JKR. He will not care if he kills and 
eats Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Huflepuffs, or Slytherins, including 
the children of Death Eaters. Draco knows this and that is why he is 
afraid--he is afraid that this truly evil creature, not bound at all 
by humanity, will kill his own friends.   THAT is why he is so upset 
to see Draco there.  He could care less about killing anyone outside 
of Slytherin.  But now, with Greyback on campus with his friends, and 
with flesh in his teeth, Draco finally begins to understand the full 
scope of the evil he has signed on with.  The glamour of evil, like 
the glamor of the veela, is now showing its horrible ugly underside.

More importantly, if Draco *were* a werewolf, why would he be afraid 
of Greyback? He's already a werewolf. Greyback can't do anything else 
to him (save kill him, and that's probably the least of Draco's 
worries at this time).

> The evidence put forth by Mary Ailes and Laura Henderson is
> compelling. You have multiple descriptions of Draco in Lupinesque
> condition, pale, haggard, sunken eyes (apparently this Wolfsbane
> Potion must be a little like chemotherapy). He is constantly 
> disappearing and in ill health. There is also the encounter in
> Diagon Alley in the robes shop and the overheard conversation 
> Borgin and Burkes.

But the course Voldemort has set for Draco requires a great deal of 
planning, patience, detail-orientation, and the most efficient use of 
time possible. How would he allow for the person to carry out this 
plan to be turned into a werewolf which would at the very least slow 
down the plans to the point where they could not be implemented 
before the school year ends (because of the time lost every month to 
the antidote), or at worst, completely upended because potion was not 
taken and Draco transforms into a werewolf and tips his hand? It 
makes no sense.

> Harry, of course, assumes the arm wound is the fresh tattoo of a
> Death Eater. Hermione is very skeptical throughout the book. When
> in doubt, whom do you trust? Hermione or Harry?
>
> I, of course, trust the Granger over a Potter every time.

In books 1-5, yes. In book 6--no. This is the book where Harry takes 
over. After Sirius's death and the revelation of the prophecy at the 
end of book 5, this is a different Harry. This is a Harry who no 
longer sees through a glass darkly. This book begins, for the first 
time, with 2 chapters not from Harry's POV. That is a sign that that 
things are being upended in the narrative. We hear Draco boasting on 
the train, and we know from the scene at Spinner's End that Harry's 
conclusions *are* true.

> Its a werewolf bite - and it scares Mr. Borgin, especially when
> Draco says Greyback is a family friend. Hell be dropping in to see
> you from time to time to make sure youre giving the problem your
> full attention (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 6, p.125). 
>
> Mr. Borgin probably knows, as Lupin tells us, that Greyback is,
> perhaps, the most savage werewolf alive today who regards it as 
> his mission in life to bite and contaminate as many people as
> possible and that at the full moon, he positions himself close to 
> victims, ensuring that he is near enough to strike. He plans it
> all. And this is the man Voldemort is using to marshal the
> werewolves (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 16, Scholastic, 
> pp. 334-335). Looking at Dracos bite probably has at least the 
> effect of seeing the Dark Mark tattoo Harry imagines is on Dracos
> arm.

Again, what purpose does this serve? It doesn't make any narrative 
sense to have someone threatened with a bite, when the entire first 
part of the book is devoted to telling us that both the wizarding and 
Muggle worlds now know that Voldemort is back. The whole point of the 
scene-setting in the first few chapters is to show the huge 
difference between the ostrich-like behavior of the Ministry in book 
5 and their scramble to action in book 6. The Dark Mark is the 
scariest thing you can see in a world beset by terror. It's much 
scarier than a werewolf bite. As gruesome and terrible as Greyback 
is, he is nothing compared to the Death Eaters. He is nothing 
compared to Voldemort. Greyback's retaliation is a threat, to be 
sure, but the scariest thing you can be threatened with is 
Voldemort's wrath. Borgin had to have remembered what was like during 
the first wizarding war. That is what spurs his fear--the threat of 
that coming home to roost on him and his family.

> But what is the meaning of Dracos being made a werewolf? What does
> it contribute to the story? It is, after all, not even mentioned 
> in the Half-Blood Prince story-line. Draco Wolf-boy simultaneously
> reveals the consequences of evil and makes the evil-doer more an
> object of pity than hatred or judgment.
>
> The Malfoys are horrible people, to cut to the quick, who are Pure
> -Blood Nazis and Death Eaters of the worst kind. They despise both
> Muggles and the Mudblood wizards born from this breeding stock,
> they treat their house-elves cruelly, and they conspire for the
> return and triumph of the Dark Lord in the hope that they will
> share in his power. Unfortunately, for them, Lucius failed the 
> Dark Lord, who visited the failings of the father on the son to
> torture the whole family. Draco is sent onto a suicide mission and
> made into a werewolf besides to show to the Death Eaters in the
> inner circle how severe the consequences of failure really are.

How can you create an entire backstory which is completely invisible 
in the text, and then insist it's really there? IMO it's one thing to 
so as a member of the online fandom, but to do so while also one is 
also representing his/herself as a scholar is very puzzling to me. A 
close textual analysis of the actual facts at hand supports no such 
contention.

I completely disagree with this scenario. The Malfoys are evil. 
Period. There's no additional torture of having their son made into a 
werewolf. It serves IMO no use in the plot. Draco is on a suicide 
mission. What is the point of also making him a werewolf? Narcissa 
knows her son is going to die. *That* is her punishment. That is the 
warning to the other Death Eaters--like the Pharaoh killed the first 
born sons to try to kill Moses, Voldemort will kill the children of 
Death Eaters who let him down. There's no need to add to that 
particular pain, or to the horror of that threat--killing children, 
or sending them to their eventual deaths, is more than enough. JKR 
writes with a lighter touch than many people in the Potterverse will 
give her credit for.

Furthermore, our pity for Draco, when Dumbledore tries to save his 
soul, in no way needs the added "knowledge" that Draco is a werewolf. 
It's a melodramatic, added plot point which is completely out of 
synch with JKR's style and plotting.

Plus, there already is one person bitten by Greyback: Bill Weasley. 
That is the bite that is 1. supported by text and 2. has the greatest 
impact. The pureblood Weasley family is now tainted. And their 
response is love. As is Fleur's, marking her as one of the Weasleys 
too.

jujube 
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