Draco as Victim in GoF (was: Re: The Huge overreactions...)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 150288

Magpie:
<snip>
I really can't see how Snape could be the 
> agent of Draco redemption in a way that did not require Draco to be 
> the one making his own choices.  How do you see this playing out?

Carol responds:
As I said in different words in the post I'm snipping, I see Draco
teetering on the edge of a precipice: What his father stands for and
he has always believed in vs. the glimpse of another path offered by
"the stupid old man" he has been trying to kill all year. He has
committed a number of crimes that make him a wanted "man" in the WW
(two attempted murders, accessory to murder, letting murderers into
Hogwarts, as well as a possible Imperius Curse which, if he really
cast it, is enough in itself to send him to Azkaban for life). He's on
the cusp of what the WW considers to be adulthood (he turns or turned
seventeen on June 5, and I can't tell from the narrative whether
that's before or after the events on the Tower).

As I see it, DDM!Snape (and of course this scenario applies *only* if
he's DDM!) will consider himself still bound to protect Draco, whether
or not the UV still holds. This obligation could play out in two ways:
Either he returns with Draco to LV and convinces the Dark Lord that
Draco succeeded in his mission of bringing the DEs into Hogwarts and
should not be punished because without his efforts, DD would not be
dead, or he goes into hiding with Draco. I think the first is more
likely since where else could or would Draco go when he Apparated
except back to LV. (Alternatively, Draco could have run home to
Narcissa and Snape could have offered to find him and not returned.)

At any rate, if their story arcs are going to continue into Book 7 as
appears to be the case, neither of them is going to be killed by LV
after the events in Book 7, so as I see it, Snape's protection of
Draco must come into play in some form. Also, surely Draco must
realize, after having been saved by Snape twice (not counting the
hypothetical third time), that Snape is on his side and is not trying
to steal his "glory." So Draco has, IMO, three choices; 1) Stay with
Snape to be protected and guided by him (in which case, Legilimens
Snape has the perfect opportunity to indoctrinate him in the virtues
and benefits of being DDM! 2) Run home to mama and Aunt Bella to hide
in the room that Harry knows exists but Mr. Weasley has failed to find
(not a very promising or "manly" option and with little chance for
redemption unless the Malfoys and Madame Lestrange are caught there,
with Bella sent to Azkaban and the Malfoys hidden by the Order) and 3)
Claim that he's a "man" now and doesn't need adult help, in which
case, he really has nowhere to run except perhaps to Theo Nott (whose
DE father is in Azkaban with Lucius, who mercifully abandoned him to
his fate in OoP but Theo doesn't know that, and whose mother is dead).
Draco really has no other options that I can see. He certainly can't
return to Hogwarts or even walk openly in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade.
He has committed very real crimes and has a price on his head. 

The only adult who has any way of helping him is Snape, to whom he
owes his life whether there's a formal Life Debt or not (and I don't
think there is). If Snape is DDM!, and if he takes his obligation to
help Draco seriously (like a godfather, as I pointed out in another
post), he can help put Draco on the right path. Neither Narcissa nor
Bellatrix is likely to do that. So unless he turns himself in to the
Order, goes into hiding, and disappears from the story, he has to
either understand what Snape was really doing and why and accept his
values in place of loyalty to the undeserving Voldemort, or arrive at
those conclusions on his own despite being seventeen years old and a
wanted fugitive. Maybe he and Theo, who apparently has chosen not to
become a DE despite being in a situation very much like Draco's, can
figure things out together, but Theo is also seventeen and mentorless
and has not played a major role till now, whereas Snape is a major
character with strong bonds to Draco which the events of HBP ought to
strengthen, not, erm, sever.

It also seems to me that DDM!Snape (if and only if he's really DDM!)
needs a go-between to help him communicate wih Harry, especially if
his skill in combatting the Dark Arts is to come into play in
destroying the Horcruxes. While I would prefer that go-between to be
Lupin, I can see it being Draco, with whom Harry is beginning to
develop an understanding.

Carol, who still sees Draco teetering on the edge and not yet
converted to DDB!Draco