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

Geoff Bannister gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk
Sat Jan 21 15:40:39 UTC 2006


No: HPFGUIDX 146801

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "quick_silver71" 
<quick_silver71 at y...> wrote:

Quick_Silver:
> I disagree. There seems to be a view in fandom that Draco is 
somehow 
> in really big trouble with Voldemort and that his life is going to 
> be in danger. Everyone, including Draco's own mother, didn't think 
> that he'd be able to complete his task yet Draco basically did 
> complete it. He got a group of Death Eaters into Hogwarts and 
> managed to get Dumbledore at the mercy of his wand. These are 
hardly 
> insufficient tasks that Draco completed in the service of the Dark 
> side. Voldemort may have wanted Draco to fail so that he could 
> punish Lucius but instead Draco did something even better...he 
> eliminated Dumbledore (or caused the situation that led to 
> Dumbledore's death). 

<snip>

> I could be completely wrong and Draco could be in huge trouble from 
> Voldemort but IMO there's just as likely a chance that we'll see 
> Voldemort pinning medals on Draco's and Snape's chests in book 7 
for 
> a job while done.

Geoff:
My interpretation of canon goes against your suggested view.

Looking at the scene at Spinner's End, we see the following clues:
'"That's why he's chosen Draco, isn't it?" she (Narcissa) 
persisted. "To punish Lucius?"
"If Draco succeeds," said Snape, still looking away from her, "he 
will be honoured above all others."
"But he won't succeed!" sobbed Narcissa. "How can he, when the Dark 
Lord himself-?"
Bellatrix gasped; Narcissa seemed to loe her nerve. 
"I only meant... that nobody has yet succeeded..."'
(HBP "Spinner's End" p.38 UK edition)

'Snape caught hold of her wrists and removed her clutching hands. 
Looking down into her tear-stained face, he said slowly, "He intends 
me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco 
should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, 
I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my 
useful role as spy."
"In other words, it doesn't matter to him if Draco is killed!"
"The Dark Lord is very angry," repeated Snape quietly. "He failed to 
hear the prophecy. You know as well as I do, Narcissa, that he does 
not forgive easily."
(ibid. p.39)

I thikn this, plus the fact that Snape takes the Unbreakable Vow to 
protect Draco from harm, suggests that there is cause for concern 
regarding Draco.

Again, Draco himself is fearful for his life:
'Draco Malfoy was standing with his back to the door, his hands 
clutching either side of the sink, his white-blond head bowed.
"Don't," crooned Moaning Myrtle's voice from one of the 
cubicles. "Don't... Tell me what's wrong... I can help you..."
"No one can help me," said Malfoy. His whole body was shaking. "I 
can't do it... I can't... it won't work... and unless I do it soon... 
he says he'll kill me..."
(HBP "Sectumsempra" p.488 UK edition)

Now this might refer to Malfoy repairing the Vanishing Cabinet and 
getting the Death Eaters into the school rather than killing 
Dumbledore but Draco is obviously in fear of his life. He is shaking 
and crying.

This hardly suggests that Voldemort will be pinning medals on Draco 
since he really only completed half his task. Snape - for whatever 
motive - completed Draco's task as he had promised Narcissa at 
Spinner's End.

I have on more than one occasion said that I do not believe that 
Draco is irredeemable. That, by the way, does not mean that I 
necessarily think he /will/ be redeemed because if a person refuses 
to hear or see what is to be done for redemption, then ultimately 
they reach a point of being unable to see or hear anything. Again, I 
have more than once pointed members to the fate of the dwarves in 
C.S.Lewis' "The Last Battle" which chronicles the end of Narnia when 
they refuse to believe in the existence of Aslan.

Anyone, however, wicked  has an opportunity to be redeemed. It is in 
the very central core of Christianity. When considering Draco, I 
sometimes find myself thinking of Saul of Tarsus, before he went to 
Damascus. He was a man who had set his mind like flint against the 
early Christian church, who rooted out believers and dragged them off 
to prison, who consented in the stoning of Stephen, standing by and 
holding the coats of those who hurled the rocks. And then, possibly 
with the foundation of his enmity being undermined by the way in 
which Christians responded to persecution, his meeting with the risen 
Christ on the Damascus road completed the rethink. And from this came 
St.Paul, possibly the greatest of the early missionaries.

Of course, much depends on Draco's whereabouts now. If he has been 
hauled off to Voldemort, he could well be in extreme danger. On the 
other hand, if Snape /is/ Dumbledore's man (and for me the jury has 
been out for years on just what to decide about him), he may well 
have spirited our young friend off to a safer place - if that exists 
in the troubled Wizarding World.







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