The Cabinet Plan...again (was:Re: The UV (was ESE, DDM, OFH, or Grey?)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 162894

Carol:
I'm going to jump in here, belatedly because I've been away from the
list all weekend (Christmas preparations!) before the conversation
drifts away from the points I want to make.

Magpie:
> > I think that's why Dumbledore can't be meaning what you are saying
he means (and why I disagree with all interpretations that say that 
Draco didn't feel anything about Katie and Ron--if he almost-killed 
from a slight distance with no problem, I'd need more explanation as 
to why he couldn't kill Dumbledore). Dumbledore is throughout the 
scene, imo, saying that Draco did have a problem with murder, period.

Carol responds:
Dumbledore is using psychology on Draco and taking advantage of his
hesitation at actually being face to face with his intended victim.
But I see no indication that Draco feels any remorse about the
near-deaths of Katie and Ron. His reaction after Katie is sent to St.
Mungo's (I doubt he knows that Snape, whom he's talking to, saved her)
is "That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about" (HBP Am.
ed. 322). Not a drop of remorse, not even an admission of guilt,
certainly not an "I'm sorry I almost killed the wrong person."
Granted, he thinks that Snape is a DE who's only worried about Draco's
getting caught, but he could at least have said, "I'm sorry I was so
careless." Instead, all we get is defiance and denial. 

And Draco doesn't say a word (that we know of) about Ron as victim of
the mead intended for Dumbledore. His tears in the bathroom/restroom
are over death threats and failure to do what the Dark Lord expects.
("I can't do it" clearly relates to the cabinet--which he later is so
happy to have repaired that he whoops in joy and triumph--not to the
inability to kill a man face to face, which he isn't ready to think
about yet.)

 When Dumbledore mentions that Draco almost killed Ron and Katie,
Draco ignores that part of DD's remarks and merely protests
"vehemently" that his heart *has* been in the attempt to kill DD and
that he's been working on it all year (585). When DD again brings up
the necklace and the mead as "crude and badly judged" attempts that
could easily go astray (desperation measures that Draco resorted to
when he feared that he couldn't fix the cabinet), Draco sneers, 
Yeah, well, you still didn't realize who was behind that stuff, did
you?" (587). And though Draco has looked at certain points as if he's
going to vomit, his wand is still pointed at Dumbledore's heart. 

On the last reference to Katie, DD is sliding down the wall and barely
manages to figure out that Draco's accomplice is Rosmerta, who has
been Imperio'd, Draco taunts, "Got there at last, have you?" (588).
Draco's hand is starting to shake when he realizes that Dumbledore
really did know about those attempts and when he explains about the
enchanted coins, but there's still no sign of remorse, only what
appears to be fear, and a contortion of his mouth "as though he had
tasted something very bitter" when DD points out that Draco could have
AK'd him at any time (590)--he's just now realizing that he can't do
the job the DEs and Voldemort expect him to do. The fear comes out
into the open when DDD says that they should discuss Draco's options
and Draco says, "I haven't got any options! I've got to do it! He'll
kill me! He'll kill my whole family!" (591). His wand at this point is
"shaking very badly indeed"--from fear of being murdered if he fails.
In all this conversation, Draco expresses only pride at having figured
out the cabinet plan and the means of communicating with Rosmerta,
which he borrowed from "the Mudblood Granger." Not an iota of remorse
for having nearly killed the "Mudblood's" friends.

Magpie:
> > Poisoning and planning for others to do the job was not any more
in his line than killing Dumbledore himself is--not because he didn't
almost do just that, obviously, but because of the way it affected
him. <snip>

Carol:
As noted above, I don't see any evidence that it affect4ed him at
all--and plenty of evidence that it didn't. Granted, he has not yet
realized that he's not a killer. It takes the whole long conversation
with Dumbledore (eight pages) before Draco appears (in Harry's view)
to lower his wand a "fraction" (592).

Magpie:
> > What he's going over underlines the fact that he's making his 
choice from a position of strength and actually giving up what he had
valued so much before. Dumbledore was at his mercy, he'd proved
himself more than anyone thought he would, and yet he would not have
killed Dumbledore. 
> 
> a_svirn:
> Except that Dumbledore himself said that Draco got it all wrong and 
> it was Dumbledore's mercy that counted. And only after Dumbledore 
> pointed that out, did Draco start to lower his wand. Because he 
> finally acknowledged that he would find neither glory, nor mercy
from Voldemort's hands. 
> 
> 'No, Draco,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'It is my mercy, and not
yours, that matters now.' 
> Malfoy did not speak. His mouth was open, his wand hand still 
trembling. Harry thought he saw it drop by a fraction - 
 
Carol:
Right. Let's look at this quote. Draco does *not* lower his wand.
Harry *thinks* he sees it "drop by a *fraction*. Nor does Draco
*choose* not to kill Dumbledore. He can't make himself do it, even
when the DEs arrive, but his wand, though it's shaking "so badly that
he could barely aim," is still pointing his wand at DD when Snape
enters and pushes him roughly aside (595). Far from having chosen to
do anything, Draco stands irresolute, avoiding a choice until the
choice is made for him.

Carol, who hopes that Snape will help Draco to make the right choice,
or aid him after he's made it, in the next book