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

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 183923

Lynda wrote:
> 
> Do we really learn so much more about Draco's family life than we do
Hermione's, though. We know from the text that Hermione has two loving
parents, who, although unfamiliar with the WW join their daughter to
buy school supplies. Hermione vacations with them in the summer in the
earlier books. They are both dentists. They do all they can to support
and protect her, as she does them. With Draco, we learn that he has
two parents who love him dearly. They are both powerful within the
wizarding world and raised him in a way they thought was proper for
their protection and the perserverence of the WW. He also has an aunt
who will do anything to support LV including putting her own sister
and nephew in jeopardy.  That's not really all that much more.
 <snip>

Carol responds:
The difference is that we're *told* what little we know about
Hermione's parents. (We don't even know their real first names.) they
appear in only two scenes, at Diagon Alley in CoS and at King's Cross
in OoP, and they don't have even one line in either scene.

In contrast, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy are *shown* through action,
dialogue, and description. We know what they look like, we know their
beliefs and values, we know where and how they live (we're actually
brought inside Malfoy Manor in DH). We hear their speech patterns; we
see how they act in a crisis (Narcissa's behavior in "Spinner's End,"
"The Dark Lord Ascending," and "The Flaw in the Plan" is especially
enlightening.) We see Lucius Malfoy's fall from power to disgrace.

Nothing of the sort happens with the Grangers. We're only told that
their daughter has altered their memories, given them new names, and
convinced them (presumably through a Confundus Charm since she claims
never to have cast a Memory Charm) to immigrate to Australia.

The Malfoys are characters, more complex than they seemed to be when
they were introduced, and capable of of family affection and other
(limited) virtues despite being DEs (or associate DEs, in the case of
Narcissa, who probably wouldn't mar her lovely white skin with a Dark
Mark).

The Grangers aren't even cardboard cutouts. We learn *about* them
through exposition, not the narrative strategies of action,
description, and dialogue. They exist in the background, like the
scenery, to help round out *Hermione* as a character. What do they do
when they're not worrying about their daughter, filling patients'
cavities, or depositing their paychecks? Do they read? Hermione thinks
they'd never have heard of Nicolas Flamel, a real-life medieval
alchemist (although that might be an example of twelve-year-old
Hermione's lack of information). They have money enough to vacation in
France, they know how to ski, and they understand what a Prefect is,
but that gets us no lcoser to their personalities and values. Hermione
clearly has never discussed the WW with them because she considers it
beneath their comprehension. Is it? Probably not. But we'll never
know, because Dr. and Dr. Granger aren't characters at all. Even
Seamus's mother, Mrs. Finnegan, has a more clearly depicted character
than they do.

Carol, fearing that only Mr. Weasley would find them interesting, and
only because they know about plugs and "eckeltricity," not because
they're human beings like himself