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harry potter - Did Draco Malfoy Demonstrate Any Level of Redemption By the End of the HP Series?


REPHRASED: J.K. Rowling has said that "all of her main characters, except for Voldemort, can be considered redeemable." Based on the following examples, was Draco Malfoy redeemed in the series, either fully or partially? Supplemental information about Draco can be reviewed at Accio Quote (a quick read).


Consider:



  • Draco spends the first five books regurgitating Death Eaters propoganda striving to become one; once he becomes a Death Eater at sixteen, a new reality sets in for Draco, and he finds he can't handle it (not unlike Regulus Black). At the end, he is not seen supporting Voldemort, but rather sitting with his parents in the Great Hall.


  • Draco spends all of year six attempting to kill, or figure out how to kill, Albus Dumbledore, on the orders of Voldemort; he ultimately chooses not to kill Dumbledore, even though Voldemort has threatened to kill Draco and his family if Draco fails to perform the task.

  • Draco facilitates the entry of the Death Eaters into Hogwarts; however, when talking with Dumbledore on the ramparts of the Astronomy Tower, he expresses upset that Fenrir Greyback was given passage into the school, where his friends reside.

  • Draco is seen in one of Harry's visions torturing fellow Death Eater Rowle; however, Harry notes how "gaunt and fearful" Draco appears while doing this, and hears Voldemort telling Draco to perform Cruciatus (I'm assuming it's Cruciatus) on Rowle or else face Voldemort's wrath himself.

  • In Deathly Hallows, when the trio is captured by Fenrir Greyback and the Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor, Draco does not identify Harry to Bellatrix, Lucius, or the other Death Eaters. It seems logical Draco knew it was Harry, as Ron and Hermione were with him, undisguised and not under the effects of a stinging jinx, as Harry was.

  • In Deathly Hallows, Draco hunts down Harry in the Room of Requirement as Harry is looking for the Ravenclaw diadem Horcrux and holds Harry at wandpoint, demanding return of Draco's hawthorn wand that Harry took from Draco before escaping Malfoy Manor; on the other hand, he attempts to prevent Crabbe from trying to kill Harry.

  • In Deathly Hallows, the Malfoy family is ultimately seen abandoning Voldemort's side and seemingly just pull out of the fight altogether.

  • In the epilogue scene of Deathly Hallows, Harry and Draco give one another a tacit nod, but do not speak.


Draco Malfoy did horrible things; he also seemed to re-think some of his choices. Do the above canon-based examples demonstrate no, partial, or full redemption on Draco Malfoy's part?



Answer




Redemption: The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.


Lets take a look a the the progression of Draco Malfoy throughout the books:




  • Books 1 - 5 : Ignorant, bigoted, selfish, spoiled. Draco lives a life of no consequences, anything he does wrong will be corrected by his father's money and / or influence.




  • Book 6: Suddenly his father is in prison. The protective bubble of a consequence-free life is shattered, and he is given a seemingly impossible task which will literally destroy his family if he fails. He is afraid of this new world.





  • Book 7: Things are becoming worse and worse for the Malfoys. It becomes obvious to Draco that Voldemort doesn't care about anyone. He begins to realize his family (and friends) are important to him, and that they won't be safe under Voldemort. Therefore he starts to change, he doesn't reveal Harry Potter, he tries to save his misguided friend (Crabbe). At the end the Malfoys defect from Voldemort's army, choosing family over (assumed) power.




I think this illustrates a lot of growing up that Draco experienced in his last two years in the books. He realized that friends and family (relationships) were important, at least important to him, and were more important than the supposed power under Voldemort.


Voldemort had no concept of family, friends, or love. All of his associates (with perhaps the exception of the insane Bellatrix) followed him out of fear, not out of admiration or affection. How long til Voldemort saw his lieutenants as potential threats? Along the same lines is a quote from Gandalf:



[Speaking of Sauron]...and he does not share power.



Draco and his family realized there was no future in Voldemort's world (a world of perpetual evil). So they had to turn away from it.


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