First Impression of Draco

[Goodasitgets]

No: HPFGUIDX 168380

Betsy Hp:

> This is fascinating to me because I had *such* a different first
> impression of Draco. My first thought was actually, "ah, here's
> Harry's soon to be best friend".

Lynda:

> Now, that's interesting. My first impression of Draco was..."Oh 
> these two are gonna hate each other..."



I think this, (Harry sizing up Ron and Draco, and knowing the one 
trustworthy as a friend), was one of the first times we see how 
important the choices a person makes are to who that person becomes. 
Depending upon a person's priorities one may have chosen Draco as 
friend to be...but Harry seems not to give Draco even the possibility 
of friendship. Draco shows his true colors, and I think his 
insecurities too easily. What Draco is offering doesn't interest 
Harry. For some people it might have been tempting, or even the easy 
choice, to pair up as buddies with the rich one who seemed to possess 
some power.

Maybe our impressions of JK's descriptions, of Ron and Draco as Harry 
first meets them, should tell us each something of what we value in a 
person...what would attract us to a friendship, what choices we make. 
(Did you follow a "pack" in school, or did you march to the beat of 
your own drummer?)  Harry makes another similar choice next when he 
pleads with the Sorting Hat not to make him a Slytherin. When Harry 
sees so many similarities between himself and Tom Riddle, when Harry 
learns that some of VM powers were actually transmitted to him on the 
night his parents were killed, and when he learns of the prophesy he 
questions if he really is who he has though himself to be, or if he 
was to have taken another path some where along the line. He thinks he 
may be a fake...that what he is trying to be was actually against
his own destiny. Dumbledore helps Harry realize that prophesy or not, 
knowing VM killed his parents would have been enough to make Harry 
want to choose to pursues the same direction that he would if it were
merely to follow the prophesy.  All along Harry makes choices without 
a thought that make him different from whatever he is "made of" 
thorough his connection to VM.  Many times he could have made a 
different choice.  
              
Goodasitgets