re: Official Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II Reaction Thread

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They knew he was cruel, but they never expected they would receive that cruelty as well.

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so they were morons?

that's the only way to make this point of view credible IMO

Have you read the books? Just curious.

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insecure bully is not a character description - it is a judgment of external behavior

I wanted a character developed... doesn't seem too much to ask for in a minor foil for the series major character

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Draco certainly developed. He was no longer a bully at the end of the series and likely had some of his anti-Muggle born prejudices taken away from him since he was treated just as badly as they were during most of the Second Wizarding War. He learned what evil truly was and learned what type of person he really was and tried to change.

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Have you read the books? Just curious.

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yes, as stated earlier - and as stated earlier I did not have a strong enough interest to go back and re-read when I remember being annoyed by the Malfoy characters in the books as well

To me Draco was put in there originally as a sloppy "cookie cutter" bully character and never developed past that point - perhaps because JK didn't really empathize with his character as much as she may have with the other prominently featured characters

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I just don't understand this argument

because harry turned himself over - Vold would not care about being lied to RE: his death?

that seems highly illogical

the likely expectation would certainly have been that Vold would punish the whole family severely for with-holding this type of information

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You misunderstood. I was just saying that Voldemort would not have rewarded the Malfoys for telling him the truth and not betraying him. Their life would have remained the same and they wanted it to end.

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You misunderstood. I was just saying that Voldemort would not have rewarded the Malfoys for telling him the truth and not betraying him. Their life would have remained the same and they wanted it to end.

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right

but the thing you (IMO) have strangely repeatedly failed to consider - is that withholding vital information from Vold would lead to massive retribution

I am not claiming they had to be motivated by the hope of a reward - I'm saying they should have been motivated by a fear of punishment

If you want to argue they were withholding the information because they were taking HP's side - then that makes some sense... except that the movie seems to undermine that argument in the scene that follows

If you want to argue they were withholding the information because they were just scared and looking for an opportunity to run? I have trouble with that because lying about Harry being alive does them no apparent good - but puts them at serious potential risk

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If you want to argue they were withholding the information because they were just scared and looking for an opportunity to run? I have trouble with that because lying about Harry being alive does them no apparent good - but puts them at serious potential risk

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anything to find Draco and keep him safe. That's the only thing motivating either character. It's all either parent is concerned with during the battle, and in Narcissa's case we see how important he is to her in 6 when she is so upset about Draco's task to kill Dumbledore.

My big problem with this point in the book is that Voldemort even sent Narcissa in there to ask Harry in the first place. If i've spent 17 years trying to kill one kid and I've failed nearly 10 times I'm giving him the Zombieland style double tap FOR SURE.

All of which goes back to OML's point that Voldemort is a grade A bonehead sometimes.

I agree that Draco developed over the course of the novels -- there was fear and cowardice, but also an increasing sense of disgust at the overt evil inherent in Volde. He nor his parents could hang with it. They were jackasses, but not insane.

I liked his character arc, although it was not given a ton of attention. I don't think he was supposed to remain a foil for Harry. Maybe at first, but Harry was always meant to go up against Volde. If anything, comparison to Draco shows how Harry ramps up throughout the series -- from being schoolyard rivals with a Death Eater's bully son to taking on the Dark Lord.

I think his parents really did care for him very much, and they eventually placed the sanctity of their family unit above all else. That is a redemptive quality in all of them. This is most evident in Narcissa's "betrayal" of Volde in lying about Harry's death. She just wanted to get to Draco.

Lucius was truly wretched from the perspective of discrimination against half-bloods and Muggle sympathizers. He and Narcissa were incredible snobs, and raised their child the same way. As previously mentioned, they cast their lot with Voldemort because he was vocal and active towards their cause of furthering purebloods (altho, ironically he was half blood himself). As the evil escalated, it just got to be too much crazy and too big a risk to their family unit. They saw their son being used with no regard for his safety, and were quite aware of the proximity to death at any moment with Volde. None of them were interested in becoming martyrs. Their hides were more important to them than any cause. Having them run away from Hogwarts in the movie may have been more appropriate than the book's ending for them.

I would like to think that Draco benefited from being at Hogwarts under Dumbledore, and by coming up short in comparison to Harry in some situations. I mean, thinking Dumbledore was a weak, Muggle-loving sucker was a damn sight better than thinking you were going to get AK'd by Volde at any given moment. Basic good v. evil.

I thought the movie was handled well. I wish the battle scene had hung a little closer to the book in some ways. Did not like the epilogue. I am just thankful Snape got his due in the movie.