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

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 177333

Jen:
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.

Debbie:
I think it's conceivable that the three of them were there, but that Draco
was more or less hiding behind his friends.  However, I think it's more
likely they didn't show up in the Great Hall in the first place.  Slughorn's
earlier comments to McGonagall implied that he was still terrified of
defying DEs ("I'm not at all sure whether this is wise, Minerva.  he is bund
to find a way in, you know, and anyone who has tried to delay him will be in
most grievous peril").  Slughorn was the least likely of all the heads of
house to follow through to ensure that all his students went to the Great
Hall, especially sons of DEs who had demonstrated an enthusiasm for the
Cruciatus Curse.  So, while canon doesn't tell us, I'm assuming that MCG did
not show up in the Great Hall.

Jen:
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.

Debbie:
Draco could hardly avoid using Crucio, but I doubt he had to use it
frequently.  Headmaster Snape finagled easy punishments for Neville, Ginny
and Luna, and I'm sure he was looking out for Draco as well and made sure he
didn't spend a lot of time on Crucio duty.  Heh, if Draco had been standing
by when Voldy killed him I'd bet he'd have turned over a mostly different
set of memories, full of conversations with Dumbledore on how to protect
Draco in addition to the ones he showed Harry.

Jen:
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.

Debbie:
I'm with you here, although if Harry is the prey I'm not sure how the diadem
will distract them.   but for the life of me I can't figure out what Draco
was going to say about the diadem.  I've checked the canon and there's
nothing to suggest he knew that Harry was looking for anything, so he must
have made something up.

"'Potter came in here to get it,' said Malfoy with ill-disguised impatience
at the slow-wittedness of his colleagues, 'so that must mean -- '"

(a) . . . that it's really powerful and we should find it and use it?
(b) . . . that the Dark Lord would want it, and bringing it to him would
cover us in glory?
(c) . . . that if Potter wants it, we should find and destroy it
immediately?

Crabbe's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's sharp enough to know
that Potter is the prize, and though he doesn't know it, burying the diadem
is exactly what Voldemort would want.  However, I think Draco is getting
desperate, as he's aware that his plan may go awry and most likely he will
either be squeezed out or held liable for Potter's death.

Jen:
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.

Debbie:
Very true.  What really strikes me about Draco in DH as a whole and this
scene in particular is the challenge he faced growing into his new role as
an opponent of the DEs.  I believe, as you suggest, that the correct
parallel is Snape.  Having decided he doesn't want the DE life, he continues
to have to live it outwardly, one of the toughest jobs ever.  He's clearly
not as good at it as Snape, because unlike Snape, Draco's not much of an
actor.  He wears his heart on his sleeve always, first in parroting the
philosophy of his loving parents, then in doing their will in seeking out
Harry Potter as a friend, in challenging the Trio -- for years! -- after his
overture of friendship is rebuffed, in stepping up to the plate after his
father is imprisoned, and finally in accepting on the Astronomy Tower that
he is not a killer.

Draco's job in DH is very tough, and he improves at it, but only in the RoR
scene do we see echoes of how Snape would have acted, both in trying to
thwart Crabbe and Goyle to protect his parents and in trying to save his
friend at all costs.  As it turns out, Draco is a fool who loves, and this
is the biggest surprise of DH.  Draco wasn't redeemed because he was a
coward, but because, like Snape, he had the capacity to love.

Debbie
who once speculated that Draco could not be redeemed except through his
cowardice


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