[HPforGrownups] Re: good and bad slytherins/Disappointment and Responsibility

[tenne at redshift.bc.ca]

No: HPFGUIDX 175047

> Magpie:
>> The Malfoys have been clearly independent underneath it all 
> throughout the series. They've never been Barty or Bellatrix. Lucius 
> was of course happy to shed his allegiance when Voldemort went down--
> he unfortunately also then thought he could hang onto the same 
> beliefs and pass them on to his son, giving him a completely wrong 
> idea of where those beliefs really led. They're punished throughout 
> canon enough and wind up in a position where they don't need to go 
> to Azkaban.
> 
I think that The Malfoys behaviour shows that they are true Slytheins, who know 
how to save their necks and run away when needed.  Just because their butts are 
in a different place, does not mean their hearts are.  Based on their behaviour 
in the past, the minute it was okay to torment muggles and try to murder them, 
the Malfoys would be on the new dark lords side in a second.
I guess it really comes down to the decision if one good act wipes the slate 
clean.  Yes, they helped Harry but to not go to Azkaban for all their other 
evil deeds strikes me as not very fair to the people they tormented. I guess in 
the WW, all it takes is one good thing to wipe out a life time of horrible.  
But then I've always been on the postion that tigers do not change their 
stripes, no matter how much make up they may use to conceal them.
terri