The Malfoys WAS: Wizarding kids and their parents

[Emily]

No: HPFGUIDX 183956

Mike wrote:> 
> Yeah, I know Hermione has to spend lots of time with Harry for the 
> story. Still, I agree with Marianne's assessment, she does seem to 
> shrug off her parents rather too easily.

Emily here (boy, it's been a loooong time!)
 
I think it's important to consider how increasingly dangerous it
became for Hermione's parents, as well as how much Harry depended upon
her.  She spends breaks from school with her family up until the
beginning of GoF.  She stays for the Yule Ball, like practically all
the upperclassmen.  At the end of the novel, however, comes one of the
major turning points:  LV is back.

Hermione isn't just some Muggle-born witch, she is one of HP's best
friends.  At the start of the summer break, the OoP don't know what LV
is up to.  I think at the same time DD is protecting Harry, the Order
is also sheltering Ron and Hermione.  Ron would be there anyway, but
could they really send Hermione back to her Muggle parents and let
Voldemort just pick her off?  Additionally, there is the matter of
protecting her parents.  Obviously the SoS wouldn't apply to them
knowing about the existence of wizards, but do they really need all
the grisly details about the wizarding war?  What would the DE's do if
they thought the Grangers had information about Harry or the Order?  I
think they are kept at a distance b/c that is where they are safe. 
The fact that we don't see a lot of Hermione fretting about this may
be b/c she's got so much else on her mind, or it could be b/c we see
most of the story from Harry's limited vantage point.  Also, she was
planning to go skiing with them, even though it's not really her
thing, so they could spend some time together, but then Harry has the
vision of Arthur being attacked and she goes to help him.

I think we see some of the great, unselfish love that Hermione has for
her parents when she reveals the measures she has taken to protect
them in DH.  She truly just wants them to be safe, and happy, so much
so that she's willing to remove her memory from them and send them
away so that hopefully they will be out of LV's reach.
> > 
> > One last observation.  I'd never thought the adult Malfoys,
> > especially Draco's father, capable of showing affection or love
> > until Narcissa begged Snape to protect Draco.  It never occurred
> > to me that they had that side to them.  Altough I'm ashamed to
> > admit it, I didn't think of them as parents, and love their child
> > as much as any other parents would.  I'd always had the impression
> > of them as being cold and cruel.
> 
> Mike:
> I don't think you're alone there, Marianne. Narcissa came across to 
> me as the spoiled, rich-girl, trophy wife that probably saw her 
> offspring once a day and relied on the nanny to raise the child. I 
> was surprised with her in Spinner's End. But then I do wonder how 
> much of that was Lucius being thrown in Azkaban. She seemed to take 
> over that family from that point on, and she seemed to have much more 
> compassion than Lucius did.

Emily:

Really?  I mean, yes, I saw Narcissa as a pampered rich girl, but
Draco always seemed to be her pet.  I know we get told at least once
that she is forever sending him packages of sweets and things; she
seems to dote on him.  We know that because of her fondness for him,
her somewhat selfish overprotection, she doesn't allow Lucius to send
him to Durmstrang.  So, I never saw her as the totally hands-off
mother you describe.  I'm sure she let the house elves change the
diapers, though ;)

  Draco had kind of a hero-worship for his father; he seemed to see
his father as a powerful man who could accomplish anything. Lucius, I
think, wanted his son to be just like him, and I think he was forever
disappointed.  Where Lucius was cunning and wily, Draco was mostly
whiny, due probably in large part to his mother's indulgence.  I think
Lucius wanted him to "be a man" in all the worst machismo essence of
the phrase.  Send him to Durmstrang, toughen him up.  While this is
probably misguided, it's still not cold and disinterested; Lucius did
want to see his son succeed, at least according to his definition.

I think it is probably one of the most difficult things ever for Draco
to see his father's downfall between OoP and HBP.  I really think
Draco didn't ever see that his father's power could fail.  I think
that right then the drive to do something, anything, to help his
father regain his position and priviledge became a prime object for
Draco.  I think his fear of LV is so real b/c of what has happened to
his father.  I wonder if perhaps, in DH, he might have tried
resisting, might have even tried joining Harry, if he thought he stood
half a chance against Voldemort, yet what was a teenage boy to the
wizard who could chasten the great Lucius Malfoy?

Emily