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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