The GoF Train Scene (was:Re: Humanity, Kant, Caricatures, and Draco)

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 146666

> Betsy Hp:
> I'm going a bit back in time to bring this forward.  I ignored 
> SSSusan's post when it first came out because it branched off from 
> the point I was trying to make at the time, but this is interesting 
> to me because I recall my reaction being quite different.  Rather 
> than anger, I felt pity for Draco in that scene.
> 
> I think Draco was (is) going through something that I can only 
> compare to students at West Point at the beginning of the US Civil 
> War.  People he admired are suddenly enemies.  And people he 
> disliked are suddenly allies.
> 
> Draco *liked* Cedric.  I don't want to overstate it; they weren't 
> best friends or anything.  But Cedric went up against and actually 
> managed to (at times) beat Harry Potter.  Draco, I'm sure, cheered 
> for Cedric during the triwizard tournament.  He even made buttons 
> for Cedric.  Yes, part of that (the greater part, I'm sure) was to 
> get at Harry.  But Draco deliberately sided with Cedric, and now 
> suddenly Cedric is dead and he's the enemy.
> 
> Draco liked Krum.  I imagine his hero worship was on par with 
> Ron's.  Ron certainly intimates as much when he accuses Draco of 
> sucking up to Krum.  When Draco wasn't cheering for Cedric, I'm 
sure 
> he was cheering for Krum.  And it may have had nothing to do with 
> Harry.  But then Krum was attacked and used by a Death Eater.  So 
> now, Krum is the enemy.
> 
> Draco *hated* Fake!Moody.  And at first that was fine with Draco's 
> world view.  Aurors are barbaric and evil.  Except Fake!Moody turns 
> out to be a Death Eater, so suddenly the man who tortured Draco, 
the 
> man who attacked and used Krum, the man who helped kill Cedric, is 
> an ally.
> 
> What must Draco have been going through?  He's not had a chance to 
> speak to his father.  He's only just found out that those he 
admires 
> are the enemy, those he hates and fears are his friends.  The only 
> thing he can do is put a good face on it and fall back on his usual 
> bluster.  And Harry and friends come through like aces and reassure 
> Draco that yes, the enemy are dishonorable and brutal.
<snip>

Alla:

Hm, I am not going to touch on Draco's confusion about whether Fake!
Moody is a friend or an enemy, others did it quite well, but I would 
like to know where in canon you found that Draco actually liked 
Cedric or Victor as PEOPLE, that he was actually seeking their 
friendship or something like that, as opposed to simply cheering them 
as someone who can beat Harry ( and sure those guys could have done 
that, no question about that).

You acknowledge that at least in part Draco's liking of Cedric and 
Victor was to get at Harry, right? But where do you see that other 
part that Draco liked them for themselves?

I don't buy Draco liking Cedric at all, IMO. One possibility why 
Draco could have liked Cedric was after observing him on Qudditch 
field, but Cedric plays the exact opposite of what Slytherin play - 
honesty and fairness. Why would Draco like him for that, if 
Slytherin's philosophy in Qudditch seems to be " cheat, cheat and 
cheat again"? IMO of course.

Do you remember accidents of Draco and Cedric spending time together? 
because I honestly don't.

In any event even though I don't buy at all that at the end of GoF 
Draco's world was shaken that badly ( I think Harry is the one who 
suffered trauma and shock, not Draco), let's suppose for the sake of 
argument that I buy it and at the end of GoF Draco is very 
emotionally distraught.

I am not sure why because of that he needs to be pitied for what he 
DID while coming uninviting to Gryffs apartment and starting to make 
a mockery of Cedric's death. Does his action start to be less cruel 
because of him being distraught?

Now, if Gryffs were seeking poor Draco out in the corridors and beat 
him up unsuspected, yeah, I would agree with you - BAD, very BAD.
But Gryffs were minding their own business at that point.

I don't find responding to provocation to be dishonorable action. 
But that is just me of course.

JMO,

Alla