Draco the Death Eaters and Voldemort (was: Re: Draco's culpability...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 139751

Betsy Hp:

I'm responding to different posts, so this gets a bit long.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip> 
> > * Is Draco a Death Eater? *
> > <snip>

> >>Phoenixgod:
> <snip>
> Harry mentions that the ward which prevents anyone other than a    
> death eater from going up to the castle must be linked to the     
> mark. based on the wards actions that seems like a reasonable     
> assumption. Since Draco made it through, he must have the mark.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Aha! I have canon!  First, here's proof that Draco did not set off 
the Mark floating above the tower:

"One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the tower stairs --"
"To set off the Mark?" asked Harry.
"He must have done, yes..." (HBP scholastic hardback p.618)

And here's proof that Draco was on the tower *before* the barrier 
was set up:

"The Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the 
stairs...then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked 
the stair behind them with some kind of curse...." 
[...]
"...so what happened when he came back down?"
"Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half 
the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the 
stairs," said Lupin. (ibid pp.620-621)

This is two chances for JKR to make absolutely clear that Draco 
bares the Dark Mark: he sets off the Mark in the sky; he makes it 
past the barrier, either going up or coming down.  But JKR chooses 
to give Draco a pass both times.  I'm becoming more and more 
confident that Draco is not a Death Eater at the conclusion of HBP.

> >>Phoenixgod:
> <snip>
> also, guys get dressed around each other all the time. I can't 
> imagine Draco being able to talk up his actions as much as he did 
> without someone in Slytherin seeing. And being Slytherins, of     
> course they would need to see. they would never take his word for 
> it.

Betsy Hp:
I doubt the Dark Mark is on display 24/7, otherwise, why didn't 
Sirius know about it?  Also, Draco implies, in his conversation with 
his fellow Slytherins, that he's being set up for something *next 
year*, after he's turned 17. 

"I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year..."
[...]
"I might have -- er -- moved on to bigger and better things." (ibid 
p.151)

It sounds, IMO, like he's referring to a future event.

> >>a_svirn:
> Our discussion started when I wrote that Darco was "for all intends
> and purposes a Death Eater". Meaning not literally, but as good as.
> Well, the above quoted snippet from your post seems to point in   
> that direction too. But if you insist on the technicality let's   
> say, that he is a "Voldemort's man through and through". Just like 
> Harry who wasn't allowed to join the Order is Dumbledore's.       
> Personally, I don't see how it makes things any better for him.

Betsy Hp:
Yes, for this question I do "insist on the technicality".  It's a 
yes or no question, and though I agree that Draco is "Voldemort's 
man" at the beginning of HBP, I do not think he was a Death Eater.

It makes things better for Draco, IMO, for the same reason Draco not 
killing Dumbledore puts him in a better position.  Draco maintains 
his innocence.  It's a fingernail's grasp, I think, but by not 
joining a band of terrorists and by not committing murder Draco 
manages to get through his awakening by fire with his innocence 
intact.  It's something Snape and Regulus were unable to do, and I 
think Draco, in a sense, represents a second chance for the both of 
them.  If Snape can somehow keep Draco's soul intact, keep him the 
innocent Dumbledore pronounced him to be, perhaps that will help 
Snape along the road to redemption.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > * Is Draco a volunteer? *
> > <snip>
> > Did Draco ask for his mission? Was he given a choice?
> > <snip>
> > I cannot, for the life of me, imagine Draco eagerly volunteering 
> > to kill Dumbledore.


> >>a_svirn:
> You substitute one thing for another, Betsy. I never said that    
> Draco volunteered to kill Dumbledore. I maintain, however that he 
> did choose to serve Voldemort. Whereupon he got his first         
> assignment – to kill Dumbledore.
> <snip>
> So it is with Draco: first he committed himself to the service and 
> then tried to serve for the best of his ability. They are the two 
> different things and I don't understand why you are persistently  
> trying to confuse them. 

Betsy Hp:
Ahh.  Okay, I understand where you're coming from now.  And I really 
wasn't deliberately trying to be obtuse.  It just sort of happened.  
I'm gifted that way. <g>

My thought is that Draco never gets a chance to volunteer for even 
random service.  I think that Voldemort popped by and said "You will 
kill Dumbledore and Bellatrix will train you," and then he popped 
back out again.  Draco was never asked, nor given a chance to offer, 
to serve Voldemort, IMO.  As the child of Lucius it's expected that, 
when commanded, Draco will obey, so the question of "will he serve" 
was moot as far as Voldemort was concerned.  (In the end, I think 
this was a bit of luck for Draco.  With the choice taken away in the 
first instance, it opens the door for a choice to be given him in 
the second.)

> >>bboyminn:
> <snip>
> Ok, I'm extending this a bit beyond what is actually said, but I   
> think the implication is that, probably through intermediaries,   
> Draco told Voldemort that he has a way to get Death Eaters into   
> Hogwarts with out detection. Then explained about the cabinets.
> Again, I assume the initial contact was through go-betweens, but at
> some point Draco was brought before Voldemort who indicated he    
> liked the plan, and set Draco to the task. 
> <snip>
> Once in the DE's, Voldemort fully explained the task and gave Draco
> the further task, and very great honor, of being the one who got to
> kill Dumbledore. I don't think Draco counted on that, he simply   
> wanted to assist the DE in getting into the castle, and from that 
> point on let them do all the dirty work.
> <snip>
> So, Draco volunteered the Cabinets, but had the responsibility of
> Dumbledore's death thrust upon him.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
I don't think the time line bares this out.  I'm assuming the first 
three chapters of HBP occur on the same night.  Which means Narcissa 
desperately begs Snape to help her son only two weeks into the 
summer break (HBP 44).  I think it's safe to assume that the task 
Voldemort has set for Draco, the task that has Narcissa operating in 
a state of panic, is to kill Dumbledore.  

(If you substitute "fix the Vanishing Cabinet" into some of the 
sentences in "Spinner's End", it seems more than a little 
absurd.  "It is too dangerous to fix the Vanishing Cabinet!"  "If 
Draco succeeds in fixing the Vanishing Cabinet he will be honored 
above all others."  "The Dark Lord himself couldn't fix the 
Vanishing Cabinet." "The Dark Lord wants Draco to die trying to fix 
the Vanishing Cabinet!"  Okay, I'll stop now. <g>)

Montague gets transferred to St. Mungo's at the end of the school 
year in OotP, IIRC.  And I doubt he was up for conversation until 
after he recovered.  So I feel like Draco and friends don't have a 
chance to talk to him until sometime into the summer.  Therefore, I 
don't think Draco got his idea about the Vanishing Cabinets until 
*after* the events in "Spinner's End".

To back that theory up, I also point to the fact that Draco doesn't 
attempt to procure the second Vanishing Cabinet until the summer is 
nearly over.  It seems like an incredibly long time to wait to 
secure an item that may well be sold in the interim.

Therefore, I think things went down more like this: (okay, am I the 
only one getting flashbacks to the movie "Clue"?)

Voldemort pops by Malfoy manner and tells Draco, "Congratulations, 
you get to kill Dumbledore, great honor, you should be proud, etc." 
then pops away.  Bellatrix sticks around to continue the "laurels of 
glory, songs in your honor, statues galore" stuff, and succeeds in 
turning young, naive Draco's head.

Narcissa gets over her open mouthed shock and runs to 
Snape. "Spinner's End" occurs.  Vows are made, Bellatrix is both 
stunned and confused, and training commences.  Draco is psyched by 
the Dark Arts training and the chance to avenge his father, but I'm 
betting some doubts start to perculate.  

He, along with some other folks, visit with Montague (Moment 
of "awww" for the chummy Slytherins - do you think the entire 
quidditch team turned out?) and well into Montague's tale of defying 
death, Draco has a light bulb moment.  If he can get Death Eaters 
into Hogwarts that should improve his assassin chances immensly.  He 
does not tell his mother about his plan.  Does he tell Bellatrix?  
I'm not sure.  But first chance he gets, he goes to "Borgin and 
Burkes" and makes sure the second Vanishing Cabinet isn't sold to 
Mad-Eyed Moody or some other horrifying outcome.  He threatens Mr. 
Borgin with the scarest thing known to man-kind, werewolves, and 
thinks himself well on his way.

So, Draco never volunteers for anything, is assigned the task of 
killing Dumbledore, and decides furniture restoration is the new 
black for assassins these days.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > [It's interesting to me that Draco's major effort is fixing the
> > Vanishing Cabinet. It has nothing to do with killing anybody, but
> > that's the work he throws himself into.]

> >>a_svirn:
> Actually it has *everything* to do with killing anybody. As Draco
> knew only to well and we, readers, too know.

Betsy Hp:
Working Vanishing Cabinets *kill* people?  You'll have to explain 
this to me.  I do realize it's the first domino leading to the 
events on the Tower, but it's not, in and of itself, a lethal 
activity.  Like say, constructing a bomb or a deadly poison would be.

Betsy Hp