[HPforGrownups] Re: Draco's alleged dark mark/The Train Scene

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 162637

> Carol:
> I do think that Draco had a Dark Mark (which he showed to Borgin) and
> that it was still painful. After all, the Dark Marks appear to be
> *burned* into the DEs' skin. (If the Borgin and Malkin incidents were
> red herrings, we'd have some other explanation for them.) But I don't
> think he could have concealed it if he wanted to.

Magpie:
Draco's Dark Mark is a weird thing for me, because it seems perfectly 
logical and I can see lots of reasons he has one...yet I find it impossible 
to just take it for granted. In the next book I can't imagine Draco will be 
able to get through the whole thing without showing his Mark if he has one, 
so I'm willing to just wait for confirmation, but here's the reasons that 
after HBP I can confidently say he might have one, but just don't feel 100% 
sure yet.

First, I was probably pre-disposed to be skeptical about it because when I 
read the book the first time, when Harry said Draco "jumped a mile" when 
Malkin tried to touch his arm I thought it was classic Rowling misdirection 
since Harry didn't remember that Draco had said he was stuck with a pin--and 
he'd been complaining about the pins already. I can't remember feeling like 
it was written in a way that indicated Draco was covering (like he jerked 
his hand away and then came up with the pin story).  Fandom makes more 
allowance for the pin by saying that the Dark Mark is tender and so Draco 
actually was hurt when she got near it. Harry, iirc, only thinks he didn't 
want Malkin to see it (though he pulls off his robe a moment later). Canon 
seems to show the Dark Mark hurting only for Voldemort related reasons, and 
JKR shows these dramatically by Snape clutching his arm.

So I was kind of waiting for Harry to be wrong on that. Then there's the 
Borgin scene, and I figured that would be wrong too.  Only the Borgin scene 
is never given any other explanation and Harry isn't proven wrong about the 
Mark. So maybe Harry was right and I should just take the ultimate 
revelations about Draco in the Tower as confirmation of the Mark as well.

I think the only reason I still waver is that it seems very unRowling to not 
actually make it part of the revelation. She surely could on the Tower. I 
would think if Draco had the Mark it would be a character thing there--he's 
talking about Voldemort's hold on him, etc. Harry could easily actually see 
the Mark at this time so we'd know he was right. It just doesn't seem like 
the kind of dramatic reveal JKR would forget about.

But it is forgotten about. After the Borgin scene I don't think there's a 
single reference to whether or not Draco has the Mark. We know Draco's 
acting as a DE from chapter two, before Harry, but that's it. Draco doesn't 
show the Mark to his friends to prove he's telling the truth, and never 
touches his arm when thinking about his being chosen. Is that just so that 
it's still a mystery? If so, why not eventually show the Mark? And is it 
really that much of a mystery since we the audience know long before Harry 
that Draco is working for Voldemort and so working as a DE?

The trouble, of course, is if he isn't marked then what's up with the Borgin 
scene? What did he show him? Since there's no other explanation given it 
seems like maybe I should just take that one for granted and assume that for 
some reason JKR dropped the ball on showing the actual mark. Or maybe she's 
waiting until the next book because it's first appearance will mean 
something. But since I'm already waiting for that I can't help but think 
it's possible that it was Draco showing something to Borgin that was the set 
up for the next book and that it will be revealed as something else, while 
Draco's lack of Mark will be the surprise.

So I'm stuck feeling like I should assume he's got the Mark, but still 
having something that keeps me back from assuming it. There just seems 
something, well, *sloppy* about the way it was brought up and dropped and I 
don't think JKR is sloppy about things like that. If it turns out I should 
just take HBP as having confirmed that Harry was correct and Draco had the 
Dark Mark and that's what he showed to Borgin my hesitation will have been 
wrong-headed, but it will probably still stand out in my mind as a strange 
fumble for JKR.

Steve:
> Personally, I don't think I am reluctant because the Twin
> are cool kids just like me (stop laughing!). I think as
> bad as some of their joke are, they just lack the
> viciousness of Draco, and they don't concentrate strictly
> on the weak and helpless. The Twin are equal opportunity
> jokers.


Magpie:
I think the issue for some with the Twins-and I don't hate them myself but I 
do feel this-is that however we feel about them they really don't stand out 
as being the bullies who lack viciousness, don't go after the weak and don't 
cause real harm. Which is not to say they are Draco Malfoy. But I think this 
is the type of thing JKR seems to be aware of in her writing. I don't know 
whether she's always seeing the same easy distinctions between bullying as 
her characters see and sometimes enjoys having the "fun" bullying turn on 
the bullies as much as the bad kind of bullying. I find it hard to believe 
that I wasn't supposed to react to Harry's saying that the Marauders in the 
Pensieve were "like the Twins" by saying, "Aren't they?" even while seeing 
the differences in the characters.

-m