The Train Scene GoF...

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 162507

--- , "horridporrid03" <horridporrid03 at ...> wrote:
>
> > >>Betsy Hp:
> > > <snip>
> > > Because Draco is a massive wuss.  He's never (up 
> > > to this point) attacked any of these people 
> > > physically.  None of the Trio have ever hesitated 
> > > to respond to Draco (even physically) if they     
> > > thought it necessary, ...
> > > <snip>
>  
> > >>Dave:
> > I don't know Betsy. Draco does get Harry on the train
> > once and in the girls bathroom they are really trying 
> > to get each other. ...
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> Yes, but that was years later in HBP.  ...  At this 
> point in time though, Draco is not a physically 
> aggressive boy.  And since CoS Harry has stopped 
> treating him as a threat.  Harry doesn't *like* Draco,
> but he doesn't fear him.
>

bboyminn:

Oddly, this is one of those rare times when Betsy and I are
somewhat in agreement. Though, I'm not sure how long that
is going to last.

Let us start with a question; how do you stop a bully from
bullying you? Answer: Punch him in the nose, and kick him
when he is down. I know that seems completely counter 
intuitive, but it works. 

Notice that Bullies don't pick on each other. No, they
bully those they preceive as helpless and weak. They
bully particular people because they are convinced that
those people won't fight back. When the preceived weak
and helpless suddenly fight back, then what was preceived
as a safe sure action takes on a very noticable element of
risk. That is a sure way to gain a bully's respect.

So, why don't the kids who are being bullied go to an 
adult? Because the school is not ruled by teachers, 
administrators, or rules. It is ruled by the Code of the
Playground. The very fact the bullying thrives in a 
heavily supervised area like a school tells kids that 
the adults are not on their side. That going to a teacher
is more likely to get you in trouble than the bully, and
is certainly going to bring on a huge heap of inaction 
or at the most token action.

So, the choices are 'grin and bear it' or 'kick bully 
butt'.


> Betsy Hp:
> I'm not sure Draco *does* know this.  He, more than any
> other student I think, tends to resist the whole "Boy 
> Who Lived" cult of personality.  ...

bboyminn:

And that is precisely why Draco never learns his leason.
Why he never learns to leave well enough alone. Draco is
not your typical bully. He is not the biggest kid 
intimidating the little kids, that would be Dudley. Draco
is a bully because he is thoroughly convinced of his own
superiority. Note that Draco is not physically a big 
intimidating guy. His source of power is his social and
economic status, and as I said, the accompaning sense of
superiority. That's why he never learns. Though after the
last book, now that Draco is playing with the truly BIG 
BOYS, I don't think he feels so superior after all.

On the train, there is without a doubt a great deal of 
ego, pride, and even machismo involved. But what is 
really happening is, this is everyone's way of telling
Draco that they will not be cowed or intimidated. They
will not be bullied. They will not allow the memory of
Cedric Diggory to be scoffed at. Further in the great 
war ahead, they will fight with every resource they
have available, they will never surrender, they will 
never yeild, they will fight to the last man rather than
lose to Voldemort.

This is not an intimidation and threat that can be 
addressed by the normal rules of society because the
other side, whether Draco, Voldemort, or a schoolyard
bully, are themselves not playing by the rules. This is
the perfect place for 'schoolyard justice' because no
other source justice is able to hold sway.

Notice the circumstances on the train. Everyone react
independantly. This was not a calculated coordinated 
attack on Draco, this was a spontanious response to 
Draco's provocation at the most inopportune and unwise
time. Also, they didn't not use deadly or even dangerous 
curses against Draco, just as you would not use a 
gun or a knife against a common schoolyard bully.
Draco suffered great embarassement, but he suffered
no harm. All these spells can be resolved easily leaving
Draco perfectly normal and unharmed. 

We see from Draco's personality and from his action that
he is not a typical bully fashioned after Dudley. His
form of bullying and intimidation is motivated by 
different forces, and that leads to a different type of
bullying, and leads to Draco's chronic inability to learn
the lesson that it is far wiser to leave Harry Potter 
alone. 

Harry's message to Draco is 'bring it on' though I would 
prefer that you just left me alone. Yet, if you insist on
threatening, intimidating, and harrassing me, I will fight 
you to the bitter end. I will never yeild.

While by any standard of social behavior, Harry and the 
gangs actions were wrong, we can't really apply those 
rules because those are not the rules Draco is playing
by, and those rules will never be there to help when help
is needed. So, we revert to the only set of rules that 
are able to affect the situation, and that is 'The Code
of the Playground'. You duke it out regardless of the 
odds of winning because that is the only law that a 
bully understands.

You heard it here first ...or not.

Steve/bboyminn