Draco and Harry

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 147193

First, a disclaimer. There have been many messages about Draco and 
Harry in the last few days, often under different thread titles. If I 
repeat ideas which have already been aired on the group, my apologies.

First, one or two comments on recent posts.

In message 147122, Gerry wrote:
"So because Draco accidentally insulted Harry's mum he should be 
excused?
The only accident here is Draco not verifying thoroughly enough that
Harry was the right kind. <sarcasm> Poor Draco, messed up his chance
to be friends with Harry Potter because he accidentally let slip how
much he despises people like Harry's mum.</sarcasm>"

I shall say more about this point later in my message but I think it 
ought to be remembered that Draco does not have the monopoly of 
insulting parents. Harry had either insulted or been in a 
confrontation with Narcissa Malfoy on at least two occasions:

`"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry – both he and Hermione 
had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him launching himself at 
Malfoy – "That expression she's got, like she's got dung under her 
nose? Has she always looked like that or was it just because you were 
with her?"
Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink. "Don't you dare insult my 
mother, Potter?"
"Keep your fat mouth shut then," said Harry, turning away.'
(GOF "Mad-Eye Moody" p.180 UK edition)

`Narcissa Malfoy strolled out from behind the clothes rack.
"Put those away," she said coldly to Harry and Ron. "If you attack my 
son again, I shall ensure that it is the last thing you ever do."
"Really?" said Harry, taking a step forward and gazing into the 
smoothly arrogant face that, for all its pallor, still resembled her 
sister's. He was as tall as she was now. "Going to get a few Death 
Eater pals to so us in, are you?"
Malkin Malkin squealed and clutched at her heart.
"Really, you shouldn't accuse – dangerous thing to say – wands away,  
please!"
But Harry did not lower his wand. Narcissa Malfoy smiled unpleasantly.
"I see that being Dumbledore's favourite has given you a false sense 
of security, Harry Potter. But Dumbledore won't always be there to 
protect you."
Harry looked mockingly all round the shop.
"Wow.. look at that... he's not here now! So why not have a go? They 
might be able to find you a double cell in Askaban with your loser of 
a husband!"
Malfoy made an angry movement towards Harry but stumbled over his 
overlong robe. Ron laughed loudly.
"Don't you speak to my mother like that, Potter!" Malfoy snarled.'
(HBP "Draco's Detour" pp.110-11 UK edition)

OK, I accept that Harry has been provoked but he has allowed himself 
to reply in kind and descend to the juvenile level of insult that 
Draco has used. Following on from that, in message 147151, RB wrote:

"So yeah, while Draco undoubtedly has the foulest mouth in Hogwarts, 
is mean and ill-spirited, I just can't call him a 'bully' with a 
straight face. Judging from the fact that Draco keeps pestering the 
three people who'd given him hell time and again, I really doubt he 
goes after those who he knows are weaker than him (that's how Dudley 
works), I think he goes after those he really dislikes. Not saying 
that makes him an angel, of course :-D"

I don't look on Draco as either a classical bully or foul-mouthed. It 
has been pointed out that Draco does not bully smaller students but 
confrontations are usually with guys in his own year. He does not 
indulge much in direct physical violence. This ties in with my second 
point, that he is not foul-mouthed. One of the strengths of JKR's 
writing which has caught my notice on many occasions is that she 
writes fiction which holds her readers without using bad language. 
One of the annoying things about the films (Shhhh, don't tell the 
elves I used that word!) is that Ron, in particular, is often free 
and easy with his language. No, Draco is not foul-mouthed. He has an 
acid tongue and can be bitingly sarcastic which will wind people up 
but I cannot recall stronger words from him.

Gerry, in post 147171, comments:

"Draco, who had six years of Hogwarts in when to know differently, 
did not change
one bit. So I think it will take a huge amount of self-examination 
and courage for Draco to change. Now I do think Draco may change but 
it needs to be well written to be believable."

This leads me on to the main thrust of my argument. Many group 
members seem to be dropping into a pattern of describing our two 
protagonists as Harry "best thing since sliced bread"  Potter and 
Draco "puer horribilis" Malfoy.

I have written posts on several occasions in which I have set out my 
own view that Harry is someone I can identify with strongly because 
he reminds me of myself when I was going through my teenage years and 
also my view that Draco is not beyond redemption yet, 

>From a real world point of view, it is sad that Draco and Harry got 
off on the wrong foot when they met for the second time on the train. 
They were very young and the impact the meeting had was to sour their 
relations and harden the hostility between them until at least the 
end of HBP. Obviously from the dramatic perspective of the story, it 
had to happen. I can recall when I about 10 or 11, confrontations in 
the school playground could sometimes lead to the sort of childish 
rudeness we see: "My dad's bigger than your dad so there!" "Well, 
your mum stinks so there." It was the language of children. As time 
goes on in the real world, guys in their mid to late teens will get 
involved in group altercations where boasting or threatening is part 
of the keeping face aspect of being a member of a group. But they are 
not one-sided; both sides will instigate this behaviour on occasions,

Harry is usually fairly affable because Hogwarts to him is the only 
home he has really known. He has a group of friends around him who he 
first met there and who have grown up alongside him, but he can be 
rash and unthinking in his actions. His biggest example in this field 
is probably using the Sectumsempra spell on Malfoy. The spell was 
clearly marked "For enemies"; he doesn't know what effect it will 
produce neither does he know a counter-spell. And, again, his temper 
and !Capslock outbursts in OOTP seem to have become legendary among 
his peers.

Draco on the other hand comes from a different direction but not 
necessarily a hugely happier one than Harry. From canon, I see that 
Narcissa, at least, is very fond of her son – and probably loves him. 
On the other hand I get a feeling Lucius only fathered him in order 
to have an heir. He seems distant, hypercritical and dismissive of 
Draco. He is also a single child and I suspect has a lot of time on 
his own at home; I cannot see Crabbe and Goyle coming over to spend 
time with him. From an early age, he has been schooled in the fact 
that he is a pureblood and that his family are quite something in the 
Wizarding World. And, up to the age of about sixteen, he has had it 
presented to him that being a Death Eater and enjoying the patronage 
of Voldemort is a prize above everything. He likes to be seen to be 
moving in the top echelons of wizarding society, to be name dropping. 
Aren't we all like this? As an example, I have at home a photograph 
of myself at teacher training college standing within about a yard of 
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. I used to take great pleasure in 
getting this out and passing it round to visitors. We all like to 
feel wanted and important. But, in HBP, we see the gilding beginning 
to come off the image. No longer can he imagine a world of leisure, 
money and power without strings. Initially we see him at the 
beginning of HBP full of the fact that he has been given a special 
job to do and relishing the awe being shown by his sycophantic gang. 
But as the book continues, we see him looking ill and drawn, crying 
in the bathroom and then racked with doubt as he apparently cannot 
bring himself to complete the task of killing Dumbledore.

I believe that there is no one on our group who is either totally 
good or totally evil. We all lie somewhere in between; some of us lie 
more to one side than others. Draco starts out perhaps more to the 
evil end of the spectrum than Harry but I think of him as more 
malicious than evil. What he does has often been influenced and 
channelled by others round him. So I would agree with those who feel 
that there might be some sort of rapprochement between our 
two "friends";' probably not the back-slapping familiarity which we 
see between Ron and Harry but certainly a lessening of the acrimony 
and a move towards cooperation in order that both of them might keep 
themselves – and indirectly the Wizarding World - intact.