I wrote some time ago about Draco's redemption. I talked about the scene in Part 2 where Draco and two of his cronies (where's Goyle, by the way? or is it Crabbe who's missing? I can never tell them apart) catch Harry as he searches for the Diadem in the Room of Requirement (Room of Hidden Things version). Confronted, Harry asks Draco why Draco didn't identify him to Bellatrix back at Malfoy Manor (you remember, in Part 1).
The discussion makes it clear that Draco recognised Harry but refused to turn him over to the Death Eaters.
I thought perhaps that this was a sign of Draco's redemption. He couldn't kill Dumbledore. He couldn't turn Harry in. He was actually a decent sort after all.
So what do we make of the fact that, in the final confrontation between Death Eaters and Hogwarts defenders, Draco leaves his schoolmates and joins his parents on the side of evil? Is this simply an indication that Draco is evil but lacks guts? Is he only about saving his own skin?
And what about the fact that Draco and his parents actually abandon the scene even before the final battle plays out?
I can't figure it out. What do you think? Use the comments function to tell me how you interpret all this.
Draco just wanted to be with his family. What is wrong with that? He didn't come when his father called him but when his mom called him in that sweet voice, who could resist that? And he wasn't actually going over to the side of evil, his mom had already betrayed Voldemort and protected Harry in the Forbidden Forest.
ReplyDeleteCourage can take different forms. Remember Dumbledore said it takes more courage to stand up to your friends than your enemies. The Malfoys' betrayal of Voldemort is just as heroic as Harry and Neville doing what they were raised to.
My favorite scene in any of the films is when the Malfoys walk away from the battle. Everything else is just the story playing out the way you know it would from the first book ... Harry confronts Voldemort, good confronts evil, blah blah blah
ReplyDeleteThe Malfoys are some of the few characters who actually struggle with an internal conflict, and it is not at all expected prior to the 6th book. This scene shows them once and for all abandon the evil they were surrounded with for most of their lives.