Oh, I completely understand the frustration. It's just how I feel! And you're right, this sort of thing does seem to require actual characterization instead of the kid getting trotted on a few times a book to say lines he could have said years before!

Heh--but then, this is somebody who claimed the Ginny we saw in OotP was completely foreshadowed by Ron's one line in OotP, so perhaps if Draco wound up eating spiders and swinging from the rafters in the great hall she'd point to some other throwaway line of Ron's as proof it was there all the time!:-)