Draco vs. Regulus, or vice versa (Was: Ginny Haters/ a bit of Draco)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 152177

Nick wrote:
> <snip> I think the double standard comes from the fact that Draco
did what he did under threat of death from Lord Voldemort.  This makes
him much like Regulus, no?
><snip>

Carol responds:
While I'm hoping for a redeemed Draco somehow brought over to the good
side with DDM!Snape's help, I agree with Alla (surprise!) that Draco
joined the Dark side of his own free will (in part, IMO, as an act of
vengeance against the people who brought about his father's arrest,
including Harry), and, as Alla notes, he was bragging on the train
about his mission for the Dark Lord, which included the murder of
Albus Dumbledore. Now granted, Draco didn't realize at that time that
he was in above his head, that he would be endangering innocent people
(other than Dumbledore), that LV would threaten to kill him and his
family, but nevertheless, he was plotting from the beginning to bring
Death Eaters into Hogwarts and to murder Dumbledore. Those plans are
not exactly innocent, nor was he aware at that time of any danger to
himself or his family. The only detectable emotion in the train
compartment scene, aside from his jealousy of Slughorn's attentions to
Blaise Zabini, is, IMO, self-importance. (Note that he is already
neglecting his Prefect duties as beneath him.)

That, IMO, is different from Regulus, who joined the DEs thinking they
were some sort of crusaders for pureblood rights (which is why his
parents thought he was "a right little hero" for joining up)--not
exactly a noble motive, but very different from Draco's awareness that
the DEs engage in Muggle-baiting for sport and many of them routinely
use Unforgiveable Curses. (Surely Draco knows about Aunt Bellatrix and
the Longbottoms, for example.) But when Regulus, in contrast to Draco,
was asked to do something overtly cruel or evil (perhaps "a spot of
Muggle torture," though we don't know what it was), he apparently
refused. I'm assuming, based on LV's usual treatment of his DEs, that
he was Crucio'd for his disobedience the first time, but instead of
being brought into line by his punishment, he became determined to
help destroy Voldemort by stealing his Horcrux (the only one Regulus
knew about), and destroying it if he could (IMO, he failed, as the
locket is still sealed shut), knowing that he would soon be dead--not
for the theft of the Horcrux, which LV wouldn't know about, but for
further refusal to follow LV's orders. (I have my own theories as to
how Regulus knew about the Horcrux, discussed months ago in a
different thread. And, of course, I'm taking for granted that Regulus
is RAB.)

So, yes, both Draco and Regulus discovered that being a DE wasn't what
they thought it would be, but their reasons for joining were
different, and Draco did not accept his assignment under threat of
death. Draco *volunteered* the information about the linked Vanishing
Cabinets as a way for the Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts, which
inevitably led to his assignment of repairing the broken cabinet. So
even if he hadn't been ordered to murder Dumbledore as well, he would
still have been voluntarily doing something very dangerous that could
well have led to the deaths of his fellow students. And he was
actually proud, not only of the assignment to repair the cabinet but
of the further mission to kill Dumbledore. Regulus, in contrast, not
only refused to obey Voldemort, for which he was ultimately killed,
but actively attempted to bring about the Dark Lord's destruction, as
his signed note plainly states.

Regulus, despite his pureblood ideology, really is "a right little
hero," or perhaps a martyr, who gave his life rather than do the Dark
Lord's bidding. Draco is just a boy with delusions of glory and
grandeur who learned the hard way that the Dark Lord is a cruel
taskmaster with no more love for his servants than for his enemies.

There is hope, IMO, for Draco's redemption, thanks to Dumbledore's
mercy and Snape's determination to prevent Draco from either killing
or being killed (the determination that led to his own entrapment in
the Unbreakable Vow), and I do feel some pity for Draco once he
realizes that his stupidity and pride have placed him and his family
in grave danger. But I doubt very much that Draco will sacrifice
himself as Regulus did in the hope of aiding the Dark Lord's
destruction, nor do I regard his actions in HBP as those of a (mostly)
innocent victim forced to do the Dark Lord's bidding against his will
(like Ginny in CoS). 

Carol, seeing Draco, Regulus, and Young!Snape as variations on the
theme of a young person whose delusions about the Death Eaters are
painfully shattered, in marked contrast to Barty Jr.