Analyzing Draco (Was: Re: Dark Book - Blood and Cruelty)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 177323

> Magpie:
> No, he wasn't. It's easy not to be clear on this because he's there 
> when they go, but Narcissa says he's there during Easter break. I 
> was confused about this too, but it appears that Draco was actually 
> a student at school during the year--I kept thinking he was at the 
> Manor and then would realize I was wrong!

Jen: Draco attending school went completely over my head.  I didn't 
catch that because Draco's not mentioned by Neville or noticed by 
Harry in the Great Hall scene.  The three of them are in the Great 
Hall, right?  Crabbe says, "We 'ung back, Potter.  We decided not to 
go..."  I thought Crabbe meant he and Goyle (and now I'll add in 
Draco) hung back during the evacuation.  I guess they could've hung 
back from going to the Great Hall but that reads like a hole to me if 
none of the teachers noticed a known DE student and his two friends, 
who are proficient at torturing, didn't appear.  More of a hole than 
Harry not making mention of them in the Great Hall anyway.  

Now I can't picture what Draco was doing at school.  He's 
shown 'terrified' to be torturing for Voldemort; I can't imagine him 
taking any pleasure or interest in using Crucio against his fellow 
students although it would be expected of him.  This leaves a blank 
as to how Draco handled his time at Hogwarts.  He's still sympathetic 
to me but it would have been more interesting to read how Draco 
worked out his mixed feelings about having to appear as a DE when he 
no longer wanted that life.  

Magpie
> That line you quoted always stuck with me, with Draco being cut off 
> about the diadem, I guess because I was confused as to what exactly 
> he was up to and it just seemed like I couldn't be sure what he 
> really thought about the diadem either.
> 
> If you look at his lines I *think* most of them *on the surface*
> are in-line with Harry, even though presumably he's there working
> against him. I mean that if you look at what he's saying 
> it's "Don't kill him/no no no/you might hurt the diadem..." The one 
> pro-Voldemort thing I remember is "The Dark Lord wants him 
> alive..." which explains how he could protect him and be following
> LV, but the only other DE who's focused on keeping Harry alive is
> Snape--and we know by now that Draco isn't a "true" DE by that
> point anyway. He also physically keeps Crabbe from cursing.

Debbie:
> I think one of the problems with the scene is that it's difficult 
> for us to adjust our own expectations of Draco's actions, so our 
> first reaction is to take statements such as Draco's admonition to
> keep Harry alive for Voldemort at face value. 

Jen:  I caught the similarity between what Draco said and Snape, and 
I believe he's there to keep Crabbe and Goyle from torturing or 
killing.  I didn't read he's *really* there to take Harry to 
Voldemort since he seems to be attempting to get away from LV 
himself.  Now that I know Draco was at the school observing 
Crabbe/Goyole, it's more clear why he would see them as a legitimate 
threat to the Trio.  Mostly I don't understand how to fit the diadem 
in the picture.  Draco's interested in it, wants to tell Crabbe 
something and is cut off.  

Debbie:
> I think Draco decided not to leave Hogwarts with the Slytherins for
> fear that he would be led right back to Voldemort, and he clearly
> wanted out of the DE agenda or he would not have hesitated to make
> identifications at Malfoy Manor. 

Jen:  I agree with all you're saying.  Again for me it's how to fit 
the diadem in the Draco story.  

What about this option?  Draco is trying to get away from LV and the 
only way he can do so is to pretend he's on this mission with 
Crabbe/Goyle.  He's trying to run interference in the ROR, keep 
Crabbe/Goyle from actually doing any damage without blowing that he's 
no longer a real DE or Voldemort sympathizer.  So he seizes on the 
diadem thing in the hopes of distracting Crabbe from what appears to 
be *his* mission - capture or kill Harry.  It's not really something 
Draco wants for himself or to take back to LV, he doesn't know what 
it is, but it's a diversion at least.  Draco's typically portrayed as 
quick on the uptake when it comes to sussing things out.  

Magpie: 
> It seems like JKR sees Draco worthy of some forgiveness--I haven't 
> read The Little White Horse for a while, but I have this vague idea 
> that he might be somebody like the dog Wiggins in that book who's 
> kind of dreadful but basically just a silly dog. I will just
> forever be confused as to this scene (though generally I was always
> a bit confused when Draco showed up in DH) since she just showed us
> a scene where Draco is in the exact same situation, where turning
> Harry over to LV will save his family, and he won't/can't do it
> himself. 
<snip>
> He's not *compeltely* self-preservation based, or he'd have run out
> of the RoR with Crabbe. So I can imagine that he felt both pushed
> to follow Crabbe due to his current trait for two reasons: a) the 
> former "spoiled child" has lost a lot of his ability to assert 
> himself against Voldemort, and if Crabbe pointed out that a real DE 
> would follow Harry to get him he might follow b) he *might* have a 
> problem knowing what Crabbe and Goyle might do, both because
> killing Harry would get his parents in trouble and because we know
> he doesn't want Harry dead.

Jen:  An idea is forming that I want to try out, especially if Draco 
saw the diadem as a way out, a much lesser offense than abducting or 
killing Harry.  

Say JKR's going for the idea that each generation does a little more 
than the one before.  The Marauders and Snape didn't ever come to see 
each other in a new way before all died, and Lucius wasn't capable of 
defying Voldemort until after he'd participated in some really bad 
stuff and the tide change placed him out of Voldemort's favor.

Harry and Draco appear to have more sympathy for each other at this 
point than James and Snape ever had (course there's not a girl in the 
middle of it), and Draco didn't go very far down the road as a DE 
before realizing it was a horrible life.  He'd already surpassed 
Lucius on the tower as the 'better man' and like you said, showed 
more than self-interest in the ROR.  By 17 or 18, Draco's already 
aware that while he can't get out of the life he's in, he doesn't 
have to go along completely.  He's much more like Narcissa in that 
respect.  After his lifetime of programming that's a pretty big leap 
imo.

Plus, I'm noticing some similarities to the Prank now on the outside 
of that scene.  Draco's ostensibly following Harry to get him into 
trouble and Harry ends up saving Draco's life.  But that's where any 
possible parallel ends because Draco's not looking for a way to seek 
revenge on the Trio and instead seems to be there to save Harry's 
life or prevent something bad happening to him at least.  And Harry's 
saving him only because Draco stops to try to save Goyle and gets 
stuck; Draco could have saved himself and gotten out of the room.  
These two are doing a much better job as individuals and with each 
other than James and Snape were capable of imo.  

One last thing, this moment really moved me for a reason I can't 
quite sort out yet:

"I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year," said 
Malfoy, his voice brittle.  "I know how to get in."

I think it had to do with Draco's 'brittle' voice.  It's not 
Draco 'triumphant' over Harry or angry with Harry or Harry-focused at 
all, which was his primary role in the story until HBP.  HBP's still 
the story when Draco turned the tables on Harry, the story when Harry 
became the one obsessed with Draco for the first time.  Draco's the 
one who had to grow up fast, first, before Harry realized what was at 
stake.  Harry's still playing out their old roles in the ROR 
scene, "he could not believe that he was this close, and was going to 
be thwarted by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle." (chap. 31, p. 629)  Draco's 
the one who's actually changed in the scene, you know?  I think 
that's what struck me about that moment.  

Jen