To a point--I mean, she's a little too willing to sacrifice her sister's kid to Voldemort, but then, that in itself could be a strange and wonderful story as well. If Bellatrix has been teaching Draco Occlumency and thinking that here she's got the son she never had. Weird.
I read an essay the other day that made an interesting point on this aspect of Spinner's End:
When Bella was sent to Azkaban, Draco was 1. And she probably only saw him shortly after his birth before being swept up in that reign of terror Voldemort and the DEs went on in the year before the Potters' deaths. So Draco is, for all intents and purposes, a stranger to Bellatrix at the point of Spinner's End. But then we're told she spent the summer teaching him Occlumency, which, if the Snape-Harry lessons in OotP are any indication, are something of a bonding experience (assuming the two people can actually work together, which Snape and Harry couldn't but Bella and Draco could since Draco actually *learned the skill*). It would be interesting to see Spinner's End set at the *end* of that summer; I suspect that, devotion to the Dark Lord or not, Bellatrix wouldn't have been nearly as blithe about sacrificing her sister's kid to him. Because at that point, he's not just her sister's kid any more. He's become *her* nephew. I mean, Bella obviously cares for/connects with Narcissa; I find it hard to believe she wouldn't come to eventually do the same on some level for the child who's an extension of the sister she obviously loves and, necessarily (by being her sister's child), something of an extension of herself as well.
no subject
I read an essay the other day that made an interesting point on this aspect of Spinner's End:
When Bella was sent to Azkaban, Draco was 1. And she probably only saw him shortly after his birth before being swept up in that reign of terror Voldemort and the DEs went on in the year before the Potters' deaths. So Draco is, for all intents and purposes, a stranger to Bellatrix at the point of Spinner's End. But then we're told she spent the summer teaching him Occlumency, which, if the Snape-Harry lessons in OotP are any indication, are something of a bonding experience (assuming the two people can actually work together, which Snape and Harry couldn't but Bella and Draco could since Draco actually *learned the skill*). It would be interesting to see Spinner's End set at the *end* of that summer; I suspect that, devotion to the Dark Lord or not, Bellatrix wouldn't have been nearly as blithe about sacrificing her sister's kid to him. Because at that point, he's not just her sister's kid any more. He's become *her* nephew. I mean, Bella obviously cares for/connects with Narcissa; I find it hard to believe she wouldn't come to eventually do the same on some level for the child who's an extension of the sister she obviously loves and, necessarily (by being her sister's child), something of an extension of herself as well.