Draco...Interesting?

[Katie]

No: HPFGUIDX 176993

 Pippin:
>  It's clear that something had a life-changing
> > effect on him.  I didn't really get that it was the dementors, 
> > but for the sake of the narrative all Harry needs to know is that
> > people *can* change. Putting in how it happened would shift
> > the emphasis from judging people by their choices to judging
> > them by what's happened to them, which is not what JKR wants,
> > IMO. It's Harry who's the essentiallist, not her, IMO.
> 
> Magpie:
> I think Harry and JKR are together on this. I think Dudley and 
Draco > turned into exactly the person they always were, and their 
life-experiences didn't make them who they were but showed who 
> they were. Dudley liked Harry when Harry saved his life. I don't 
> think he changed much beyond that. Even when Harry's pleased by 
> Dudley's change of attitude about him he's still Dudley--"He 
didn't thank me" etc. The last thing I would take away from this 
series is the lesson that people can change. There are some changes 
for plot's  sake, sometimes people take a while to show who they 
really are, but I think JKR was quite serious when she referred to 
her characters as  chess pieces. I think they have their signature 
move and that's who  they are.

***Katie:
I don't think either Harry or JKR is an "essentialist". Their 
opinions on people change, and people really do change. Now, I agree 
with Magpie that Draco's character did not change as much as was 
expected based on HBP. However, I disagree entirely that "Dudley 
liked Harry when he saved his life."

Dudley didn't just like Harry in that moment that Harry saved him, 
and then go back to being the way he always was, and he didn't only 
like Harry because he saved him. The dementor attack brought on a 
change of attitude and POV from Dudley. Dudley realized - probably 
in a very shocking and difficult moment - that Harry is a different 
person than Dudley had always supposed him to be. Dudley had a 
epiphany. He realized that Harry was not weak, but strong. Not 
wimpy, but brave. Not selfish, but selfless. Not worthless, but 
inherently full of worth. It was Dudley's wake-up call. It was a 
profoundly changed Dudley who put that cup of tea outside of Harry's 
door, who shook his hand before the Dursley's left. Dudley realized 
he could be wrong, Dudley realized his parents could be wrong, and 
he realized that the world is bigger than himself and Little 
Whinging. I liked, very much, the Dudley who I saw in the beginning 
of DH, and I would never have said that about him in the first 4 
books. 

And as for people changing - I can't think of books where characters 
grow and change MORE than they do in HP.

Harry - Wimpy, frightened, abused child who is completely unsure of 
himself turns into brave, heroic, powerful wizard who battles dark 
forces. 

Harry again - Close-minded, prejudiced teenager turns into a man who 
understands that everyone is an individual and that he shouldn't 
judge a book by it's cover.

Hermione - Haughty, obnoxious know-it-all turns into helpful, kind, 
thoughtful and motherly witch who selflessly takes care of her 
friends. (I know many will disagree with this...just IMO)

Just a few examples. My point is, whatever your opinion of their 
ultimate incarnations, people do very much change in HP. Whether you 
like them or not is a different issue, but they do change.

Katie