Draco's Hand of Glory (was: Re: Half-Blood Prince)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 183918

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > I was reading to see what happened to Draco.  But that's not the 
> > audience JKR was writing for. (OotP had me worried, but I got    
> > suckered in by HBP, I'll admit.)

> >>Carol responds:
> I know how you feel, Betsy. Snape didn't go the direction I wanted 
> him to go (redeemed and alive and less of a Lily worshipper). 

Betsy Hp:
Oh, Carol...don't even get me started on Snape's story.  It's just 
all too depressing! ;)

> >>Carol:
> JKR had plans for both Snape and Draco. They just weren't the plans 
> we were hoping for.
> That aside, I think that Draco *is* a major character in the series 
> as a whole, but his arc climaxed at the end of HBP. The rest is    
> falling action, working toward the denouement.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
And very little action, at that.  One of the most interesting stories 
in the series (for me, at least) and it fizzled away to 
nothing. ::sigh::

> >>Carol:
> Draco is neither a hero nor a martyr, only a chastened boy who has
> learned a bitter and valuable lesson.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Which could have been a cool way to go, except even all that occurs 
off-page.  As you said (in the part I snipped, because I snipped to 
quickly, sorry), we don't get to see the fall out.  How does Draco go 
on from this?  What is his philosophy now? 

> >>Carol, who thinks that Draco is much more than a plot device,
> important both in terms of theme and character

Betsy Hp:
I think he *was* but, like Snape, his role was seriously reduced in 
DH.  Which was too bad, especially considering the way I was reading 
the series. ;)

> >>Alla:
> <snip>
> But I believe that JKR was primarily concerned with telling Harry   
> and Voldemort's story and every other character's story was moving 
> around that.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I think you're totally correct about that.  The only characters 
that mattered were Harry and... (actually, I think the only important 
character was Harry; Voldemort was more the storm Harry was fighting 
than a fully formed character in his own right).  It just sucked for 
me because I wasn't that interested (especially towards the end) in 
Harry.

Betsy Hp