#dumbledor

So my first bit is gonna be about the boy who lived himself, Harry. of course if any of you who are reading this know me you know that I love a sad character. There is Hella angst potential for this boy, he has been through it!!!

-we all know that he was literally raised to die. Like a pig for slaughter. He was kept in an environment where he learned to deal with serious issues himself and not to trust other people. As he got older them more serious information pertaining to him was kept from him. Like, a harmful amount of no information getting through to him. His lack of knowledge even though he is very clearly at the center of things almost got him killed so many times.

He was barely taught to defend himself. It was actively encouraged when he got himself into Deadly situations. He was rewarded and praised for defeating the basilisk, for finding Voldemort near the philosophers stone, and thats only the first two years! He was throwing himself into these situations and no one cared to ask if he was ok. These were trials, and Harry was trying to prove himself. Even situations as small as Quiditch. He almost died multiple times but at least he caught the snitch! At least they won! Good job Harry! All of this to say the adults in his life did him dirty.

now, my take is that he knew. He knew that they were actively keeping important information from him. He knew that they didn’t care about his well being, just cared about whether or not he defeated this years Big Bad. He knew wasn’t adequately prepared for these deadly situations. And he knew that he wasn’t meant to live for very long.

he’s not a soldier in a war, he is the weapon. he knows he won’t make it out of the war. They’re expecting him to fight valiantly, to be brave. Brave like a Gryffindor. So he deals with everything that come his way, he handles the threats to his life to the best of his ability, and he keep going. Because at the end of this, he is only what he is expected to do. People will hate home because he gives them what they want to hate. People will care because they expect him to be a certain way, so he gives them that version of himself. People will use him and he will play along because he knows he has no choice in the end.

The boy who lived, the boy who fights, the boy who is destined to die.

-

the next one is near and dear to my heart, the foil to the BWL, Draco Malfoy.

-this kid also has a lot of angst potential. Rich kid born and destined for evil? The opposition to our protagonist? Emphasized pressure from his parents and his political stature? All of the boxes for an angsty antagonist. I could easily take this kid and turn him into a sad bean. And guess what? That is entirely what i’m about to do.

he is a Child. Lets just get that out of the way now. Yes he was petty and rude and downright nasty but he is a child. A child that was brought up to be racist and classist and used to having things a certain way. We can see from who he surround himself with and who his parents choose to keep as company, that he’s been in a bit of a bubble. That bubble gets burst at Hogwarts, where calling people mudblood gets him in trouble. He sees a more diverse crowd. people are celebrated for their talent or their dedication, not for just their status. He has been told his whole life that status is everything.

So basically his whole world view is turned upside down, and he lashes out by being a bully to the golden trio, who represent everything his family is supposed to hate. Ron is poor, Harry is meant to defeat Voldemort, Hermione is muggle born. This is what he has been taught and this is what he knows. He‘s not necessarily rude to his friends or even very picky with them. They just represent the people he’s ‘supposed’ to hang out with. Crabbe and Goyle are from respectable, good, pure blood families and this is familiar.

Moving on, because I could go on all day- we know he has a heart. When he sees harry at the Manor, he doesnt say anything. At the end he throws harry his wand. obviously despite the hostility toward Harry, he doesn‘t wish him dead.

He really is just doing what hes supposed to be doing. What’s expected of him. He is expected to Hate Harry Potter, he is expected to hate muggles, he is expected to put forth his status as a Malfoy and a pure blood. I don’t think he actually wants to do that, or rather that he’s confused about his morals. He doesn’t want to be a death eater, he’s clearly too afraid. And he doesn’t want his ‘enemies’ dead. And at the end of the day he never actually seems to be believing what he spouts bout muggles after he gets used to hogwarts. He says he’s above the other students without ever actually doing anything about it.

My thing about all of this is that I think Malfoy and Harry know the way they feel about each other is fabricated. It’s hatred based on expectations. Malfoy is a Slytherin, hes supposed to hate Gryffindors. Harry, regardless of the taunting, always helps Malfoy if needed.

I think it’s kind of like an alliance. Their rivalry is expected of them, but it’s a school boy rivalry. It’s good to them to have something expected of them that they can pretend is normal. they can pretend it’s a house rivalry instead of a old war that they have nothing to do with’s. Malfoy is not a Death Eater. He hasn’t killed anyone, I dont think he could. He’s a kid. And he doesn’t deserve to be treated as a war pawn.

definitely toward the end they both kind of become aware of the fact that they’re really just pawns and that no one actually cares about them more than they care about the outcome of the war. They just continue then because they have to.

-