Lack of re-examination SPOILERS for Corambis and Tigana

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 186621


> a_svirn:
> Yes, that's a fine example of Dumledore's peculiar logic. Draco's attempts had been "feeble" only as far as Dumbledore was concerned. They had, however, proved to be very nearly lethal for two people and could have easily brought about more deaths. 

Pippin:
Yes, Draco recklessly endangered his fellow students. But that's pretty much expected behavior from any bright and powerful teenage wizard, never mind a frightened one.  In my culture, the parents would probably have to sign a release saying that they recognize that studying magic in the company of other teens is a potentially lethal activity.  

Dumbledore is not trying to release Draco from accountability, he's trying to get Draco to accept that it's his circumstances and *not* his personality that are driving him to kill. That's true whether you think there is such a thing as a killer at heart or not. But Draco was a juvenile at the time of the attacks, and thus not responsible for his circumstances, nor for deciding whether  his loyalties ought to lie with his headmaster or with the man his parents had taught him to revere above all others. 

IMO, it's obvious that Draco is not like Voldemort, or Fenrir or Bella, who all seem to kill without conscience.  But Draco did not know that - he thought he would find it as easy to kill as they do, and like you, he tried to use what had nearly happened to Katie and Ron as the proof. 

But those attacks were not well-thought out even as random attempts. They should have been stopped by the security measures already in place,  not to mention that had they succeeded against random targets, the school probably would have been closed and Draco's ultimate goal would have been even further out of reach.

A_svirn:
 And his work on the cabinet ... yes, brought about Dumbledore's murder. So judging by Dumbledore's own standards Draco put a lot of ingenuity in the task of murdering him. All of which would seem to point out that he was in fact "a killer at heart" even if he didn't kill in practice. 
> 

Pippin:
How do you reckon that? The only person who died as a result of the cabinet was an unnamed Death Eater.  Snape would have been forced by the vow and by his arrangement with Dumbledore to act whether Draco failed by being reluctant to kill after the cabinet was fixed or failed by not fixing the cabinet.

> a_svirn:
> I am not sure that sadism is an "addiction", actually. But even if we go by your analogy with alcoholism, do you think we should cut some more slack for a non-alcoholic who fought and killed someone while inebriated then to an alcoholic who did the same? 

Pippin:
No, but the most effective method of dealing with one might not be the same as for the other. 

Pippin