Hagrid and Draco

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 168702

> >> Alla:
> > <SNIP>
> >  At the same time I wish I could feel more for Hagrid's anquish   
> > over Bucky's possible execution. Strangely, on the hurt comfort   
> > level his anguish is a bit blah for me. Wierd. <snip>

> >>Carol:
> Maybe because Hagrid is *always* shedding tears, so his anguish is 
> old hat by the time of PoA? He blubbers like a child over his      
> monsters from SS/PS (Norbert) onward. Anyway, that's how I feel     
> about it.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
I agree.  For hurt/comfort to work, the hero needs to bear his hurt 
with a bit of dignity.  Something Hagrid doesn't have much of, 
unfortunately.  Rather than dealing with adversity in a manly way, he 
deals with it in a childish way.  Which is why it's believable that 
Hagrid actually *needs* the help of three fourteen year old children 
(with zero experience dealing with the MoM) to help him save his pet, 
and why it's believable that he flubs it anyway.  (I wonder why 
Dumbledore doesn't assist Hagrid here as he assisted Harry?  Not 
willing to spend the political capital, maybe?)

IMO, this is why Hagrid's biggest fans tend to be very young, and 
it's why Harry et al start moving away from him as they get older.  
Hagrid is, has been, and apparently always will be, a burden on the 
Trio, someone for *them* to look after.  He's very rarely a help.

Draco, on the other hand, does a pretty good job at the hurt/comfort 
thing.  Which is part of the reason I question the easy dismissal of 
his injury.  He may well be unable to cut his own roots, but he's not 
going to cry about it to Harry.  (At least, not outside the more 
maudlin fanfics anyway. <g>)

> >>Magpie:
> > I also don't have a big problem, it's true, with Malfoy having an
> > opinion about Hagrid before he met him--it happens all the time. 
> > <SNIP>

> >>Alla:
> Right, and I have huge problem with it. That is how I started 
> despising Malfoy on the spot.

Betsy Hp:
Hee! And see, that was one of Draco's faux pas that I *totally* 
related to.  When I was around ten or eleven or so I once tried to 
impress an older girl by saying that a certain boy looked like a cow 
(it seemed very witty to me at the time).  Unfortunately for me, he 
was her brother.  I can say it's very hard to put a positive spin on 
looking like a cow, and insulting someone's little brother is not a 
good way to impress anyone. <g>  So lesson learned and all that, but 
I totally wince in sympathy whenever a child makes a similar 
mistake.  (Just as I winced in sympathy when Ron bad-mouthed Snape 
while Snape was standing right behind him.)

Honestly, JKR never did write anything that encouraged me to despise 
Draco.  In fact, I think she rather cleverly cut Draco's nastier 
issues off at the knees so that even while disliking what he was 
doing, I felt for him anyway.  And I think, especially after HBP, 
that she did so quite purposefully.

Betsy Hp