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Draco
Apr 2, 2009 14:31:09 GMT -5
Post by vegablack on Apr 2, 2009 14:31:09 GMT -5
If the amount of mental energy expended on a character is any measure, Draco is one of the most important characters for Harry in the series. Draco is one of the first wizards Harry meets and Harry bases much of his first impressions of life in the wizarding world on Draco.
What do you think of JKR's development of Draco as a character?
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Draco
Apr 3, 2009 18:02:05 GMT -5
Post by Chocolatepot on Apr 3, 2009 18:02:05 GMT -5
You know, I really liked the way she sort of redeemed him without actually making him a good guy. I was always sort of bewildered at sympathetic portrayals of him in fic, because in every episode with him in books I - V he's quite nasty, and in a way that screams "Daddy buys me anything I want" and not 'Daddy beats and/or rapes me". I had no interest in him at all until HBP, when he was suddenly confused and vulnerable and under pressure. His being even more unhappy in DH pleased me. It was all much more realistic than any of the fics I'd read where Draco found out he had to help the Trio or needed them to save him or whatnot.
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Draco
Apr 7, 2009 18:11:58 GMT -5
Post by starsea on Apr 7, 2009 18:11:58 GMT -5
Chocolatepot, I completely agree, I felt the same way. In the same way that Harry became interesting to me in OotP, Draco became interesting in HBP. Draco's one noble act in the whole series was an act of doing nothing: i.e. not identifying Ron, Harry or Hermione when they were at Malfoy Manor.
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 15:15:40 GMT -5
Post by vegablack on Feb 12, 2010 15:15:40 GMT -5
Do you think Draco attended Hogwarts Seventh year? It isn't clear to me. Harry sees him in visions away from the school and meets him at home, though that could have been during holidays.
But we don't hear about him from Neville, just Crabbe and Goyle. There's no mention of him being there from anyone though he was an important figure to many of them.
In the Half Blood Prince he says, " I might have moved on to bigger and better things."
.....
"Do you mean Him?" [Pansy is speaking]
Malfoy shrugged.
"Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I don't see it as that important these days, I mean, think about it.... When the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s anyone's got? Of course he isn't .... It'll be all about the kind of service he received, the level of devotion he was shown."
Can we take this to mean that Malfoy might not have returned to school in book seven but spent his time at Malfoy manor or with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. He would have made a great hostage. Having him around would have helped control the Malfoys. We see him getting individual training from V. in Cruciatus.
I know all students were required to attend at Hogwarts, but perhaps he was Voldemort's personal special case. He seems to pay special attention to Draco.
(I'm sorry this is covering up the plot holes category. There's some interesting posts there. I recommend taking a look.)
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 15:40:38 GMT -5
Post by birdg on Feb 12, 2010 15:40:38 GMT -5
DH, pg 457
"Follow me," said Narcissa, leading the way across the hall. "My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know.
So, yes, it looks like Draco did attend Hogwarts that year.
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 16:09:26 GMT -5
Post by vegablack on Feb 12, 2010 16:09:26 GMT -5
How did I miss that? Thanks.
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 16:41:33 GMT -5
Post by birdg on Feb 12, 2010 16:41:33 GMT -5
Easy to miss, lot happening in the Malfoy Manor chapter.
One thing I've been wondering about Draco is how come he never tried to get into the Room of Requirement to find out what the DA was doing or to help capture Neville and everyone else who was hiding in there.
I doubt it's because he couldn't - Harry notes in HBP (when he's trying to get into the RoR to find out what Draco is working on) that Draco was able to do so when he figured out what they were doing in there in OOTP and Draco does so again in DH when he wants to follow the Trio as they search for the diadem.
So why doesn't he?
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 20:36:24 GMT -5
Post by MWPP on Feb 12, 2010 20:36:24 GMT -5
In general, Draco's not an especially brave person, which would make it sort of normal for him to not try too hard to find them. While he would have gladly accepted the kudos of successfully doing it, - he doesn't seem the type to take the initiative to really try to find out how - too much work. And, as he isn't the most creative person around, it wouldn't seem that he would put the effort into it that Harry did in HBP. He only got in eventually when Marietta told old toad-face how to do it in Book 5.
However, this would seem to support that he didn't go back to Hogwarts for Seventh Year because he could have easily let the Carrows into where Neville was hiding. Could he have gone to another school instead? There would have been lots of unpleasantness to face at Hogwarts that the Malfoys would probably have tried to shield him from. (or did JKR Flint us again?)
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 20:41:37 GMT -5
Post by birdg on Feb 12, 2010 20:41:37 GMT -5
Narcissa says he returned for the Easter holidays. I doubt he went somewhere else as... why? And unpleasant, yes, but he was a Death Eater by then. He would have been expected to help the cause and if that meant helping the Carrows at Hogwarts, so be it.
I think he's fairly creative, he did fix the cabinet and pen "Weasley is Our King" but fair enough.
However, as Hermione points out in HBP, he still did get in there because he knew why they were using it. He would have still known this in DH. Yet, it does not appear he tried to capture them even though it might have made Voldemort a little more happy with him if they were able to squash the DA.
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 20:55:23 GMT -5
Post by MWPP on Feb 12, 2010 20:55:23 GMT -5
I wonder if getting in is a bit like having a Secret Keeper. Draco knew how to get in to where Harry & crew were holding DA meetings via Marietta, but no one gave him the "key" to get in where Neville & crew were. With the way Seamus says that Neville "gets it (the RoR)", it is possible that Neville was able to block entry with the help of the RoR, the same way Draco did the previous year.
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Draco
Feb 12, 2010 21:05:11 GMT -5
Post by birdg on Feb 12, 2010 21:05:11 GMT -5
Very possible. Though I think with Harry in HBP, it was that he didn't know precisely why Draco was going in the RoR or what he was using it for. He only learns that it is also the Room of Hidden Things when he needs to hide the Potions' book.
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Draco
Feb 13, 2010 21:52:54 GMT -5
Post by vegablack on Feb 13, 2010 21:52:54 GMT -5
I agree with MWPP Neville had figured out away to block people from getting in. First I think it was open secret that they were hiding in the ROR probably known by the Carrows and other students. Once its presence was made known to Umbridge fifth year it had to have been widely known. It wouldn't take much to figure out that that was the only place so many kids could be hiding.
The fact that some people can keep others out of the room better than others is obvious from the fact that Draco can keep Harry out, but Harry couldn't keep Umbridge out. (Is that her name? I can't remember it.) All Marietta did was tell them where the students were. She didn't have a key or special knowledge to get them in.
Harry asks: "And the Carrows can't get in?"
"No," says Seamus Finnigan.... "It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stay in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open. It's all down to Neville. he really gets this room. You've got to ask it for exactly what you need -- like, "I don't want any Carrow suporters to be able to ge in' -- and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes! Neville's the man!"
So I think this means the Carrows wanted to get in, but Neville phrased his requests to the room carefully enough to keep them and Draco and students he didn't trust out. He had the benefit of Harry's past failure. He might have put some thought into why it failed. It also might be subject to personality and type of imagination.
The question for me about Draco is why he never told the Carrows about the DA coins. We know from HBP that he knew about them and used them to communicate with Rosmerta. Yet Neville claims that Snape (and by inference) the Carrows never found out about them and were frustrated by their ability to communicate. This is either a plot hole or an insight into Draco's feelings.
Personally I prefer to use it for the latter. He had no taste for torture. He didn't want to tortue Avery and he didn't want to turn in the trio in the manor. Perhaps his distaste for what would be done to the DA and Neville if they were caught in the ROR outweighed what he would gain if he turned them in.
His turning on Harry at the end could be a particular grudge against Harry or the result of further darker threats against his family or the product of very confused feelings and a twisted emotional state where he swings between wanting to hurt Harry and co. and wanting to be free of having to do so. I see Draco as very very confused and almost hysterical at this point.
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