I think part of it for me is if Hagrid (for instance) is a moral lesson he's a moral lesson that I don't really buy. The original essay was about how you have immediate reactions to characters that are instinctual and color the way you respond to them in canon. Maybe to me a lot of times it's not so much Draco being petty but others getting a bit insufferable and pompous. When you've got people who constantly see themselves at the heart of a great battle between good and evil so that everything in their life takes on major importance everybody seems--not petty, to me, but refreshing.
That's why, I think, it seemed so fitting to me that in OotP when everthing got very serious and dark and Harry, in particular, started seriously angsty I was always so happy when Draco would come skipping in as this other boy who had become that much more silly about everything. Really, that was a big part of my impression of Draco in OotP--he was in Fake!Dementor mode for much of the book.
There's an element of him that's like Phineas, who was probably my favorite new character--and I don't think it's a coincidence that they're all Slytherin. JKR seems to associate Slytherin with a certain type of humor when they have humor at all, but to me it's sometimes just the humor or perspective needed in the scene. Like, if Phineas' first line is from that blank portrait in the Black House there's Harry trying to talk himself out of the horror of not being prefect and Phineas says, "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." Madness being something Draco's always on about too, particularly with regards to Harry. Harry just ignores him (taking the high ground) while the portrait snickers, but you can sort of see why that would make Phineas want to bug him even more.
Like, with Hagrid the situation is kind of insane. If Hagrid's teaching us about minorities...I don't know if Draco's ever gone after him for that. Usually it's more that he's an oaf and a bad teacher and maudlin, which just makes me laugh because he's the one stuck in this ridiculous situation and that's what I'd do in it, probably: "Okay, great, yes. Violent animals? Lovely. Oh, you'll be there to protect us? Well, we're safe as kittens now. It's not like anyone's ever gotten hurt on your watch." Like with the monster book--every single one of these kids must have battled with those things. Harry's all, "Oh, don't say anything because Hagrid will feel bad." But that's Harry being a bit ridiculous. Let's all laugh our asses off that the school stuck us with this guy--if we're not supposed to laugh because he's a minority that's not a very good message. Are there no half-giants who have a realistic sense of danger?
What I think I even warm to more is that rather than Draco imperiously accusing Hagrid of putting him in danger, he realizes sarcasm is what's called for here. Pretending that Hagrid's class is perfectly normal is what makes it seem so bizarre--asking blunt questions, kicking himself for not doing the obvious thing and stroking a book that's snapping at him, admiring Hagrid's fine choice in pets. And what's great is there's really nothing Harry can do about it--he'd let half the class be eaten before he'd even think of hurting Hagrid's feelings that way, so he just gets more and more rigid and convinced he is The Better Person.
I mean, I can see why he reminds Harry of Dudley but to me what's important is how he isn't like Dudley. Probably the first line Draco has that makes me really like him is where he says he'll "probably bully his parents" into buying him a broom. That line makes me easily see how it could be fun being friends with Draco Malfoy. He's a spoiled little rich boy, yes, but he's also made a joke about just that. Did JKR mean us to take this seriously somehow, so that Draco wasn't actually poking fun at himself and his parents? Odd choice of words if he's supposed to be Dudley there. I think that, and also the fact that Draco's life has been such a series of personal disasters for 5 years always makes me think that he can probably be quite fun in the Slytherin common room.
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That's why, I think, it seemed so fitting to me that in OotP when everthing got very serious and dark and Harry, in particular, started seriously angsty I was always so happy when Draco would come skipping in as this other boy who had become that much more silly about everything. Really, that was a big part of my impression of Draco in OotP--he was in Fake!Dementor mode for much of the book.
There's an element of him that's like Phineas, who was probably my favorite new character--and I don't think it's a coincidence that they're all Slytherin. JKR seems to associate Slytherin with a certain type of humor when they have humor at all, but to me it's sometimes just the humor or perspective needed in the scene. Like, if Phineas' first line is from that blank portrait in the Black House there's Harry trying to talk himself out of the horror of not being prefect and Phineas says, "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." Madness being something Draco's always on about too, particularly with regards to Harry. Harry just ignores him (taking the high ground) while the portrait snickers, but you can sort of see why that would make Phineas want to bug him even more.
Like, with Hagrid the situation is kind of insane. If Hagrid's teaching us about minorities...I don't know if Draco's ever gone after him for that. Usually it's more that he's an oaf and a bad teacher and maudlin, which just makes me laugh because he's the one stuck in this ridiculous situation and that's what I'd do in it, probably: "Okay, great, yes. Violent animals? Lovely. Oh, you'll be there to protect us? Well, we're safe as kittens now. It's not like anyone's ever gotten hurt on your watch." Like with the monster book--every single one of these kids must have battled with those things. Harry's all, "Oh, don't say anything because Hagrid will feel bad." But that's Harry being a bit ridiculous. Let's all laugh our asses off that the school stuck us with this guy--if we're not supposed to laugh because he's a minority that's not a very good message. Are there no half-giants who have a realistic sense of danger?
What I think I even warm to more is that rather than Draco imperiously accusing Hagrid of putting him in danger, he realizes sarcasm is what's called for here. Pretending that Hagrid's class is perfectly normal is what makes it seem so bizarre--asking blunt questions, kicking himself for not doing the obvious thing and stroking a book that's snapping at him, admiring Hagrid's fine choice in pets. And what's great is there's really nothing Harry can do about it--he'd let half the class be eaten before he'd even think of hurting Hagrid's feelings that way, so he just gets more and more rigid and convinced he is The Better Person.
I mean, I can see why he reminds Harry of Dudley but to me what's important is how he isn't like Dudley. Probably the first line Draco has that makes me really like him is where he says he'll "probably bully his parents" into buying him a broom. That line makes me easily see how it could be fun being friends with Draco Malfoy. He's a spoiled little rich boy, yes, but he's also made a joke about just that. Did JKR mean us to take this seriously somehow, so that Draco wasn't actually poking fun at himself and his parents? Odd choice of words if he's supposed to be Dudley there. I think that, and also the fact that Draco's life has been such a series of personal disasters for 5 years always makes me think that he can probably be quite fun in the Slytherin common room.