Anatomy of a Murderer

There's a certain view of the Draco storyline in HBP that's often described as going against the "too-fluffy fangirl version." Basically that version goes like this: We didn't learn much about Draco in HBP, and there wasn't much new here. He was useful as a plot device doing what he always did on a bigger scale: he talked big and then he chickened out at the end and was too much of a coward to either kill Dumbledore or switch sides. Oh, and he also almost killed Katie and Ron and that isn't made up for by him being too chicken to kill Dumbledore when he had to look him in the eye and Dumbledore was still tougher than he was. We see him vulnerable crying in the bathroom because he's tired and stressed.

This is just not what I think the point of his story is--in fact, I really can't imagine JKR wasting that much page time on that story. I certainly can't imagine she'd waste Albus Dumbledore's death scene and very last words of wisdom on it. When I first read spoilers about Draco's being coerced into doing something, the most I hoped for was a storyline not much bigger than the one's he's had before, but with a little twist to make Harry think about it, sort of like learning about Neville's parents. That's not what I got here, in my opinion. I think JKR went to the trouble of creating an arc here for Draco and let Harry see enough signs of it that a reader should be able to put it together, because it ties in to what Dumbledore stands for, and so some of the main themes of the book. Those themes and how they play out are, in my opinion, probably why she was so pleased with the book.

First I think it's important to remember that in this universe murder is not an act of bravery. Killing is sometimes necessary, but murder, especially the murder of an innocent, defenseless person, is wrong. Harry's killing Voldemort is not murder because it's not only revenge; Voldemort is hurting and killing others. Killing Peter was wrong, even if he was also guilty of James and Lily's death. And speaking of Peter, fandom argues over whether his acts are brave or cowardly, but I think we can all agree that canonically they are not supposed to be admirable. Draco's killing Dumbledore in that scene really would not have made him a badass any more than it makes Peter one. Really, the one chance for Draco to not become a coward, in my opinion, is clearly in resisting Voldemort, not finding it in himself to kill for him. And btw, let's remember this book is also about Tom Riddle, who's the one who can kill.

There's something about Draco that's been stressed over and over in previous books: Draco is a boy to whom death is unreal. Every single book has a reference to this, sometimes many references. One of the first things he does to annoy Harry is reply to Harry's line that his parents are dead by saying, "Oh, sorry," in a way that "doesn't sound sorry at all" to Harry. Now, I've always thought Harry was a little silly in that reaction, because what reaction did he want? Draco's polite, if automatic, response was perfectly appropriate. Now I see it was more than that. It's stressed that he doesn't sound sorry, which Harry takes as insulting, because it's the first sign that Draco really has no reaction to the idea of death. Harry might as well have said, "My parents are bankers." Draco knows what the appropriate response is supposed to be and gives it, but Harry is right that he doesn't feel anything, not even what a stranger who has some idea of death would feel. It's completely unreal to him. On the train, later, he throws James and Lily's death in Harry's face and sounds chilling and inhuman threatening him with the same fate--he understands it logically, but it's not real.

In CoS (which HBP harkens back to it in so many ways) we have Draco crowing over the petrifactions (CoS being another book full of near deaths where someone comes close to the line but remains innocent), wishing he could help the Heir and picking out which Muggleborns he'd like to see go first. He knows a Muggleborn died the last time this happened, and that means maybe he wouldn't have to see Granger anymore. It's unreal as actual death.

In PoA he flirts with death again in the Buckbeak storyline, taunting the Trio and Hagrid with the fact that this animal is going to be executed for slashing him. Again he's saved from really causing a death when the execution is stopped.

In the fourth book he mouths off about Cedric Diggory, though once again cluelessness is at work. Much is made of his taunt that "Diggory was the first" but I think from his point of view he's stating a fact. Harry should have chosen the right side, and Cedric's death is only proof of that, not a "real death" that he understands. I don't think Cedric's death, as an event in itself, even registers with him.

The fifth book introduces Thestrals, which Draco responds to with a bored, "What are we supposed to be seeing?" He can't see what's in front of him; he claims to be unimpressed. In fact, when Ron expresses surprise that three people in their one class have seen death Draco suggests that perhaps if Ron himself "saw someone snuff it" he'd be able to see the Quaffle better. He's completely unaffected by the class. Death=being able to see some stupid animal Hagrid likes, a reason Harry should have taken his hand on the train, a way of getting back at Hagrid and the Trio, a way of getting rid of people he doesn't like. It has no power whatsoever in itself for Draco...up until the sixth book.

In HBP he's asked to murder someone and responds as always--it will get him glory, it's an honor, it makes him cool. There's so many echoes of CoS in this book, and the main one is that Draco has now gotten his wish: he is helping the Heir. So when does this start to go wrong? Well, many pointed out that Draco may not kill Dumbledore but he almost kills Katie and then Ron, so people should not dismiss this. The thing is, not only should we not dismiss it, I don't think we should assume that Draco dismisses it. The accidents with Katie and Ron must occur for plot reasons--we can't know there's a murder plot without murder attempts. But I think they are also important for Draco's arc in the story. I said that CoS was a book full of almost-murders committed with the help of still-innocent Ginny Weasley. HBP has Draco's plot on Dumbledore, and also Harry's duel with Draco. I'm going to have to talk about that duel for a second to get to what I mean.

Harry is horrified by the results of the Sectusempra spell, which tips Snape off to Harry having his old book with extra results that Levicorpus wouldn't give. Harry almost kills Draco there just as surely as Draco almost kills Katie and Ron. I think there's a reason Rowling used a spell that was so Muggle-ishly messy. This isn't AK that simply removes life from a person cleanly. Harry literally rips Draco open. There's tons of blood and white hands scrabbling at his chest--not to mention Draco shaking uncontrollably. Afterwards Ginny and Hermione argue over this, though both of them are still innocents compared to Harry. Hermione is yammering about his missing Quidditch for using a bad spell and Ginny (she of the bat bogey hex) is coldly congratulating Harry for having something good up his sleeve in the duel--neither of them get what makes Harry feel that pang of conscience. Myrtle as witness is a particularly nice touch here, especially her screams of MURDER IN THE BATHROOM!

I think that's a bit of a clue to exactly what Malfoy is going through with his murder attempts. Going from memory these are things we know about those attempts. Katie touches the necklace, I believe, on the first Hogsmeade weekend. Certainly Snape and Draco argue about it during Slughorn's party, which I believe was a Christmas party. Ron's accident happens in March, but Slughorn specifically says that the mead Ron drank was intended as a Christmas present--he's had it for a while now. I think it's safe to assume that these represent all of Malfoy's attempts at murder until the end of the book--we'd hear about other attempts gone awry. So it's a curious thing about these two attempts: both of them take place early in the year, pre-Christmas. In fact, couldn't he have set in motion both at the same time? Malfoy is not trying to kill Dumbledore all year; he gives up and concentrates on the cabinet, putting off the murder until he figures he absolutely has to.

I think there's good reason to think that Katie's accident, even if Malfoy didn't see it, affected him a great deal. It's at the Christmas party that Harry first notices that Malfoy look ill--after the necklace. Harry notices Malfoy looking sickly twice--here, and later when he thinks he looks thinner, just like Tonks. Tonks who is pining for Remus, yes, but also is said to be suffering from guilt over the MoM. Draco has plenty of reasons to feel stressed, but the text specifically compares him to Tonks. Harry notices Draco looking ill for the second time in the Potions class during the Apparition tests. That puts it after Ron's birthday and his poisoning. Which means that both near-deaths are followed by Harry noticing a marked change for the worse in Malfoy's appearance (in other words, it's not just a gradual worsening all year from the stress--it's two specific times Harry notices him looking peaked). He could fear getting caught, but really, that's never a real threat and Harry notices no signs of him looking specifically paranoid, just signs that he's unable to eat or sleep. In fact, I'd believe getting caught would be a relief. I think we should consider that Malfoy was very shaken by both Katie's accident and Ron's, and not just because their failure means he still hasn't completed the task.

Then there's those echoes of CoS. The almost-murders, Draco helping the Heir and finally--there's Myrtle. HP is kind of unique in that it's a story where you can literally talk to murder victims and that's what Draco does in HBP. Does he know who Myrtle is? Probably not. But surely it's important who she is. She's the very girl he happily told stories about in second year, "The last time the Chamber was opened, a Mudblood died." She's Voldemort the schoolboy's first murder victim who's now comforting Draco about his problem. Probably neither of them know that they've been stuck in the bathroom by the exact same guy, or that they should be natural enemies. The significance, in my opinion, isn't just that Draco seems to start to see Myrtle as a person, or reaches out to a Muggleborn, or that they're both Voldemort's victims. It's also, I think, some serious atonement for his previous wishes, even if he doesn't know it yet (I think he may find out).

But Draco can't put it off forever, and eventually we get to that final showdown with Dumbledore. I just don't see how this can just be seen as a loss of nerve, first of all because I think Draco's already admitted to himself on some level that he can't kill and that's why he stopped making attempts. Dumbledore isn't talking Draco out of murder in this scene--he's confident from the get-go that he's not going to murder anyone. Draco is confessing to Dumbledore in this scene-confessing to his intended victim. When Dumbledore tells him he's not a killer he's not, as some have claimed, simply intimidating Draco by telling him he can't do it. He's reassuring him as well (though that's complicated since where Draco comes from it's not a compliment to be told you're not a murderer). When Dumbledore says he's not a killer Draco says, "You don't know what I've done." This could be taken (as can so many of Snape's and Draco's important lines in this book) two ways. It could be a boast or it could be an admission of guilt--Draco is saying he is a killer, because look what he's done. He almost killed Katie and Ron. But honestly, I don't think he's gloating about it. We've seen Draco gloat. He could easily have said he didn't care what happened to Katie and as for Ron--dude, it's Ron Weasley he almost killed. His enemy. Someone who allegedly deserved to die for being a blood traitor. But he isn't gloating, and those deeds didn't seem to make him very happy. He veers back and forth between what he's always said he wanted and thought to be true (killing for Voldemort would be glorious) and the reality of how he feels about the situation. Dumbledore, meanwhile, very carefully makes sure he knows exactly where he stands. He assures him that he's not a killer, but also stresses that these almost-murders are very real and it was only luck that saved him.

There's just too much here for the kind of about-face people are also criticizing Draco for not making. Having him leap to Dumbledore 's side at this point is just...it's fake. It doesn't take in the stress Draco has been going through all year and the real danger of his situation. In fact, I think it would be worth looking at that scene with Dumbledore line by line to see what's going on in it. I've said in the past that I always thought Draco ought and seemed to be on the dark path, moving towards a dark night of the soul, where everything he previously believed and understood is taken away--I think that's what he got. He's still in his dark night here--we've yet to see what will come in the day. Rowling has said books 6 and 7 are like two halves of the same story and of course they are. This is the halfway cliffhanger. Draco is still innocent in terms of being a killer, but death is now a very real thing to him. He can't ever again say he didn't know. So only now is he able to make a real choice. We don't know what kind of choices he will make in the next book--I don't think we can know, since the lightning struck tower was in many ways a symbolic death for Draco. One thing is for sure, though.

By the end of the Sixth Book, Draco Malfoy can see Thestrals.