Draco a coward? WAS: Re: The Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 150743

> Magpie:
<SNIP>
> I agree--and actually, here is where I may see something different 
in Draco 
> or at least something that hasn't been discussed. It connects to 
why I don't 
> use the word "coward" in discussing his story.  <snip> It seems 
like many people completely reject that way of looking at things 
> for Draco since after all, he's trying to murder a good, innocent 
person in 
> the service of an evil man with a plan for ethnic cleansing.  But 
for me it 
> still exists even as I acknowledge that killing Lucius Malfoy is 
not the 
> moral equivalent of killing Albus Dumbledore.    He's a boy 
dtrying really 
> hard to do something dangerous and scary on his own.  It may be in 
the 
> service of something evil, but I think he is drawing on courage 
throughout 
> the year.
<SNIP>

Alla:

You know, if we were in the different story, I would totally see 
your point about Draco trying to do something dangerous and scary on 
his own and look at it as courageous, etc. But I just don't see ( 
remembering very old and long debate I had with somebody about 
related subject) a  lot of "morals are relative" in Potterverse, I 
just don't.

IMO JKR views courage as POSITIVE virtue, as you mentioned yourself 
she values  courage beyond anything else, therefore I just don't see 
her viewing assasination attempts as courage.

You brought an example with Ron, well , yes, of course, it is a 
mirror situation to Draco's, but as you said yourself  in 
Potterverse killing Lucius Malfoy is so NOT a moral equivalent to 
killing Dumbledore. IMO of course.

The best example to me of how morals are NOT relative in potterverse 
would be of course Snape switching sides. That is if he genuinely 
switched sides, of course.

If we look at what Snape did from DE POV view, he is a stinking 
traytor, nothing more, probably he betrayed a lot of his friends, 
no? Nevertheless, if Snape genuinely turned he would be viewed as 
someone who committed courageous act of returning to the Right side, 
no?

Therefore to me Draco does not just does something dangerous and 
scary on its own, he tries to do something EVIL, very evil on his 
own, I just don't think at all that JKR would view it as courage

 So yes, I view Draco's actions as coward way to do things, not just 
in HBP by the way, but throughout the books.

I have a feeling that if Draco TURNS, then for the first time in the 
books he will be praised for courage. As of today, I would be hard 
pressed to remember Draco doing one courageous thing through the 
books, be it running his mouth at Hermione in CoS, or sabotaging 
Harry as "dementors" in POA ( as Mcgonagall correctly called them 
cowardly ways), or lying about his injury to such Hagrid and 
Buckbeak, or of course coming to Harry's compartment with Crabe and 
Goyle, or for that matter taking Crabb and Goyle everywhere with him.

I think courageous is another objective that Draco will have to 
earn , personally.

JMO,
Alla