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

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 152206

 Magpie:
> We don't know what Regulus was ordered to do and refused.  For all
we know he'd killed other people and then was assigned to kill Sirius
and balked at that.  All we know, imo, was that Regulus ultimately
decided that Voldemort was wrong and took action to bring him
down--something Draco has never done.
> But we don't know that early Regulus before he made that decision,
was so different from Draco.

Debbie:
Actually, I'm surprised we haven't spent more time speculating on the real
reason why Regulus balked at his task, and, indeed what that task was.  Are
we giving too much credit to Sirius' biased view, or is it not that
important?

I agree that it's quite likely the suggestion that what put Regulus over the
edge was the suggestion that he kill his own brother.  JKR's comparison of
Draco and Regulus supports this.  Had Draco's task been to kill some
nameless muggle, he might have overcome his issues.  But he was commanded to
kill the headmaster of his school.  While Draco certainly wasn't a fan
of Dumbledore and his civil rights agenda, that doesn't necessarily
translate into wanting to kill him (though he evidently imagined that he
did).  Similarly, just because Sirius was a blood traitor who had been
disowned by his parents doesn't necessarily make fratricide easier --
especially when the killing is coolly planned in advance.

Who's to say Regulus didn't join the DEs in part as a way of proving to big
brother that he wasn't "soft" or an "idiot" who "panicked" when the going
got rough.

Carol again:
Granted, JKR herself makes a comparison between Regulus and Draco:

"JKR: That doesn't necessarily show that Voldemort killed him,
personally, but Sirius himself suspected that Regulus got in a little
too deep. Like Draco. He was attracted to it, but the reality of what
it meant was way too much to handle."

So, yes, we can definitely say that Regulus refused to do something
that he found repugnant, and a boy (he was a teenager) who would
murder a Muggle or a stranger would not balk at killing his blood
traitor brother who also happened to be a member of the Order of the
Phoenix.  Also, as DD tells Draco, "Killing is not nearly as easy as
the innocent believe" (HBP A. ed. 586). Regulus, who "panicked and
backed out," must have found murder as difficult as Draco did. I
seriously doubt that he ever committed it. Had he done so, he would
probably have become fanatically loyal to LV as Barty Jr. did rather
than stealing and intending to destroy a Horcrux.


Debbie:
We, of course, don't know whether Regulus "panicked" as Sirius suggests or
whether he made a calculated decision that he could not continue to support
Voldemort, given the terms (and length) of the engagement.  If R.A.B. and
Regulus are indeed the same person (and I will certainly eat crow if they're
not), then the evidence certainly suggests that he didn't simply panic; he
went to a great deal of trouble to do what was within his power to thwart
Voldemort and left a note indicating that he was willingly facing
death.  JKR suggested that Regulus and Draco trod the same path and both
found what was expected of them as DEs "too much to handle", but
R.A.B.'sactions are courageous, whereas what we saw of Draco on the
Tower was only
cowardice.  For there to be a true parallel, Draco will have to do some
growing up in Book 7.

My view is that JKR's insistence on talking about Regulus in the
Melissa-and-Emerson interview was her way of bringing Regulus to the
forefront and suggesting to fans that this would be a fruitful subject for
speculation.

Carol:
So Regulus, having been taught from birth to believe in pureblood
superiority, almost certainly joined the DEs with no clear idea of
what he would be asked to do. And once he learned the truth, he stole
a Horcrux, knowing that he would be murdered soon whether the theft
was discovered or not. (See RAB's note, which I won't quote here.)

Debbie:
"Voldemort's true colors" could just as easily mean his equal disregard for
his followers as well as his enemies.  The DEs are not connected to one
another by ideology, but solely by commitment to Voldemort's cult of
personality, with no duty but to obey Voldemort.  Forever.

What of the possibility that Voldemort sets each new DE a particularly
odious task to prove the DE's loyalty to himself above all?  What better
task for Regulus than to kill his blood-traitor brother, now an Order
member?


Carol:
Draco, in contrast, knows what the DEs are all about and has no qualms
about using an (admittedly thwarted) Unforgiveable Curse on Harry (HBP
Sectumsempra chapter), whom he blames for his father's imprisonment:

"'You're going to pay,' said Malfoy in a voice barely louder than a
whisper. 'I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to my father
. . .'" (OoP 851, ellipsis and italics in original). IOW, Draco
intends to get revenge on Harry, and it sounds to me as if he intends
to do so by taking his father's place as a DE. Rather different than
merely joining up to support the pureblood ideology, which Draco
surely knows is only one component of DE life, which also involves not
only the three Unforgiveable Curses but other forms of Dark magic
(which Draco is under the delusion that "we" need no protection from,
HBP 324).

Debbie:
While it's interesting that JKR draws a direct parallel between Regulus and
Draco, I'm not sure there's much of a difference between Regulus'
expectations and Draco's.  Not because Draco was sheltered, but because the
killings that took place in VWI must have been reported in the Daily
Prophet.  (Otherwise, why would the public have known or cared what Barty
Crouch Sr. was doing about it as head of Magical Law Enforcement?)  Regulus
was even younger than Sirius, who was maybe 20 when Voldemort lost his
powers.  VW1 had been going on for 11 years by then.  Surely Regulus was
aware that the DEs killed to achieve their ends.  It must have been
something else that he refused to do.

Debbie


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