The DADA curse and Draco's Childishness (or Not)

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 164235

va3h:

Can I just say that I absolutely *hated* the notion of the DADA 
curse. As an unfortunate coincidence that potential teachers imagined 
was a curse, it was a humorous little detail. Having each teacher 
leave for different, yet each entirely valid reasons, was a good plot 
device for bringing new characters into each book. 

But turning it into an actual curse was just...hackneyed. It goes 
against what she has already written (PS strongly implied that 
Quirrel was not in his first year of teaching) and it just wasn't 
necessary. That DADA professors began leaving Hogwarts under unusual 
circumstances beginning the year that Harry started school is 
perfectly plausible, given that Harry's re-entrance into the 
wizarding world caused so many other disruptions in the "force", for 
lack of a better word. And, IMO a better way to go with the story. 

But enough of that rant!



bboyminn writes:

I see Draco as being very childish, independant of his
apparent single-minded purpose. He strikes me as someone
who thought he could /play/ at being a Death Eater. He
strikes me as someone who thought he could ingratiate
himself to Voldemort and his own Father, and just bask
in the glow of that appreciation.

He thought he could just dip a toe in the DE waters, and
quickly found himself being suck into the quicksand that
is service to Voldemort. No guts or glory, just obedience
or death.

va32h here:

I see a slightly different take on Draco. He seemed proud to have 
been given his task while on the Hogwarts Express. And he doesn't 
have any aversion to violence, as seen by his bullying ways the past 
several years (although he does like to have his minions do his 
bullying for him). 

I do think Draco was eager to put far more than a toe in DE waters. 
But being young and foolish, he didn't have any idea of what it would 
really mean, how it would feel, to kill someone. Growing up with his 
father, he surely heard all kinds of tales about DEs power, but Draco 
himself grew up during a time of peace. 

Adults are constantly telling the trio that they can't understand 
what it was like during that time, and the same is true for Draco. 
And Lucius is not the type to sit down with his son and discuss any 
guilt or regrets that he (Lucius) may have had.

I think that Draco imagined himself killing Dumbledore and being 
heaped with praise and glory, but when the school year began and he 
actually had to find a way to do it, he found himself unable. His 
first two attempts, the necklace and the poison, were passive ones. 
They might kill Dumbledore, but at least Draco would not have to be 
there to watch. And Draco could rationalize his guilt away. "Well I 
sent him the poison, but he didn't have to drink it." or "I sent him 
the necklace but he didn't have to touch it." That's adolescent 
logic. 

Even his final attempt involved getting a bunch of other DEs into the 
castle, who might do the job for him. Focusing on fixing the 
Vanishing Cabinet was a welcome distraction, it allowed him to stop 
thinking about what he would have to do after it was fixed. It also 
postponed his unpleasant task...much the way children decide to take 
up a lengthy task shortly before bedtime. The inevitable will come 
anyway, but to the childish mind, delaying it for even a few minutes 
is worthwhile. 

Of course Draco is also worried about his parents' lives and his own 
life, but those are largely at risk because he is reluctant to do 
what he has been charged to do. When he is crying in the bathroom, I 
think his frustration is not only about not being able to fix the 
Vanishing Cabinet but also disgust with himself for not being evil 
enough to kill. 

This is probably just a longer version of what bboyminn said, but I 
do think Draco was not playing at being DE - he *wanted* to be a DE. 
He just didn't realize what being a DE really meant. 

va32h/Barbara