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It's interesting to look at the beginning of the story from Draco's point of view. Legolas Send a noteboard - 26/07/2010 03:08:38 PM
Draco:

The comparison to Dudley sets him up as distasteful. But it is strange to see how everything he says in the first meeting is so clearly just a repetition of what he has heard from others (his father, mainly, I suppose). He is saying "the right thing" based on the circles he is used to, and does not seem aware that it is not on outside of that circle. He is trying to bond with Harry and is rejected.

And then he is rejected again in the train, while his lackeys are standing by. Like what she does with Dumbledore, Rowling gives the character first, then the background information: Ron only tells us Draco's family is Bad after Draco has shown himself to be bad, or at least contemptible, on his own.


As you say, the things he's saying on the first meeting are just the things his parents have been telling him all that time. I wonder if he's met Crabbe and Goyle before? It's tempting to see his situation when boarding the train as really rather similar to Harry's - alone, in a large group of children that he's never really had any contact with, and looking to make friends despite the handicap of his background. Then he meets Crabbe and Goyle and that altercation with Harry, Ron and Hermione happens - but if he hasn't met Crabbe and Goyle yet, all Draco is really doing in that scene is try to show off to his new friends the way his father always does, because that's how he's been taught to act. Then his early associations and those of his father determine his later course in Hogwarts, largely thanks to the system with the four houses which encourages clique formation and rivalry and strife, and in the end the evolution to budding Death Eater is a fairly natural one. The way his father buys him a spot on the Quidditch team in Chamber of Secrets is lame and pathetic in the eyes of the protagonists, but it also tells us that Draco is under significant pressure from his parents, who are interfering more with his life at Hogwarts and with his friends than he might actually like. I think he's rather lonely, despite the appearances, from the start, not just in book six. His bought or wowed friends can't be much of a support, especially not in competitive and merciless Slytherin.

One of Rowling's greatest strengths, as has been mentioned in several posts here already, is to write a children's story that has additional layers for adults without giving the children the feeling they're missing anything. I suppose it could be the benefit of hindsight that creates most of the shades of grey in these earliest novels, but for both Draco and Snape there is some grey even in this book when viewed alone.
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1999 - 13/07/2010 09:03:03 AM 1781 Views
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Because they were tricked? They considered Peter and Sirius to be brothers. - 15/07/2010 07:05:27 AM 1791 Views
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Also - 16/07/2010 11:17:51 AM 2143 Views
You are correct! There is no inconsistency - 17/07/2010 04:17:35 AM 1846 Views
Huh? - 18/07/2010 05:57:58 AM 1719 Views
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Correction - 18/07/2010 10:58:59 AM 1834 Views
I'm fairly certain you guys have that totally wrong... - 18/07/2010 05:42:18 PM 1737 Views
Re: I'm fairly certain you guys have that totally wrong... - 18/07/2010 05:51:36 PM 1753 Views
Re: I'm fairly certain you guys have that totally wrong... - 18/07/2010 06:17:04 PM 2047 Views
Re: I'm fairly certain you guys have that totally wrong... - 18/07/2010 06:28:27 PM 1747 Views
That bothers me too. - 18/07/2010 07:17:14 PM 1818 Views
Re: That bothers me too. - 18/07/2010 07:20:44 PM 1691 Views
Yet... - 18/07/2010 07:47:56 PM 1762 Views
Re: Yet... - 18/07/2010 08:02:31 PM 1803 Views
To quote Dumbledore... - 19/07/2010 05:57:23 AM 1693 Views
Again... - 18/07/2010 07:35:10 PM 1989 Views
Re: Again... - 18/07/2010 08:00:55 PM 1779 Views
Re: Again... - 19/07/2010 06:33:13 AM 1980 Views
Re: Again... - 20/07/2010 04:45:16 PM 1801 Views
Yet another load of bosh. - 21/07/2010 01:00:14 AM 1780 Views
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My two cents - 19/07/2010 06:11:30 AM 1855 Views
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Re: It was just the sort of things these two daredevils would do... - 14/09/2010 09:20:46 AM 1687 Views
You have to wonder if that's actually true. - 26/07/2010 04:23:31 PM 1756 Views
Re: You have to wonder if that's actually true. - 26/07/2010 05:06:43 PM 1989 Views
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Since Lily and James were unable to leave the house - 18/07/2010 07:14:21 PM 1743 Views
Re: Since Lily and James were unable to leave the house - 26/07/2010 05:07:48 PM 2184 Views
^ And this, too, was me. - 26/07/2010 09:58:07 PM 1787 Views
Re: ^ And this, too, was me. - 26/07/2010 10:05:41 PM 1718 Views
- 26/07/2010 10:07:36 PM 1605 Views

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