[HPforGrownups] Apologia pro Draco (was Re: Wizarding Top Ten)

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 188480

Bart:
>>     I suspect you are forgetting that, when Harry was in the hands of 
>> the Death Eaters barely disguised, and Draco has the opportunity to say, 
>> "You idiots! You have Harry Potter right in your hands!", instead he 
>> pretends not to recognize him (albeit in a way that provides plausible 
>> deniability should Harry's identity be found out).
>>     
>
>   
Magpie:
> Why would I be forgetting it? It's exactly the type of thing I was referring to. He rejects the opportunity to identify Harry. But neither does he say, "That's not Harry Potter at all! On your way, three strangers I've never seen!" When his parents press him he says it could be, yeah, it is. He's putting up passive resistance, but doesn't actively step in and save him--and again, we know the circumstances that prevent it, but that's still the way it is.
Bart:
    There's the Slytherin cleverness coming in. If Draco had said that, 
the Trio would have still been kept prisoner, and, if they were found 
out (which was likely), then Draco would have been in major trouble. In 
other words, he did the maximum possible to help out the Trio, and 
managed to keep himself out of trouble at the same time. The thing is 
that he could have been the "hero" from the point of view of the DE's, 
and took a risk to help out the Trio.

    In a way, Draco was a lot like Snape; he enjoyed the attention and 
prestige of being tied to the DE's, but once the evil became a reality 
to him, rather than an abstract concept, he realized he was on the wrong 
side. The major difference was that he didn't have DD to turn to.

    Bart



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