Should Draco have been saved in DH?

[Dedalus Diggle]

As much as I thionk it was proper that Harry saved Darco, I also think Draco should have been sent to Azkaban, for at least a dozen different things, including several attempted murders and one successful murder, the conspiracy to murder Dumbledore.

[MsJPotter]

Originally Posted by ccollinsmith

In my opinion, all human lives are worth the effort. Rescuing a person from a fire - even if the person is Draco or Goyle - is just simply the right thing to do.

Well that's how Harry would see it. Of course Draco would never see it in that light. If the positions had been reversed then I kinda think Harry would have been roasted like a Thanksgiving Turkey. Good thing for Draco Harry saved his...skin. Pity about him not serving time for his crimes. He sure deserved to.

[GingerCat1]

Originally Posted by horcrux4

How big are broomsticks? Ron already had one passenger and managed to get an unconscious Goyle on his as well. I thought he was pretty heroic going back to support Harry.

Ron did go back and save Crabbe (or was it Goyle) but he only did it because Harry asked. If it were up to Ron i think he would have been fine leaving Draco, Crabbe and Goyle to their fates.

I also think Draco is lucky it happened when it did because if they required saving after Fred died i am willing to bet neither Harry or Ron would have lifted a finger to save them.

[MissGryffindor]

In a word, yes.

Draco at end of DH is different even from the Draco in OotP. By then, he has lived with the pressure of having to try and kill Dumbledore amid Voldemort's threats and is clearly uncomfortable with it even by halfway through HBP. He does not want Snape's help......and maybe that is in part due to his desire to protect his father. He believes that his family will be harmed if it is not him that kills Dumbledore.

At the end of HBP, as Harry recognises himself, Draco lowers his wand. When it came down to it, he did not have it in him to murder Dumbledore face to face. That is why he used the necklace and the mead to try and do it. Even in DH, he does not categorically identify Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry may have had a stinging jinx used on him, but the other two had not, and Draco knew them well enough to identify them.

Harry knew that Draco did not have it in him to kill, that he was fighting for his survival and that of his family. So yes, I think he should have been saved. Draco was never beyond redemption.

[HermioneLandry]

I think Draco and Snape are two very parallel characters in Harry Potter. Snape, who loves Lily, chooses a darker path, but becomes somewhat bound to his choice and ultimately does not reconnect with Lily. Snape however never stops loving Lily and this sustains him through the dark of being a Deatheater while remaining in the light as a Hogwarts Professor.

Draco is the same - he goes down a path in which he maintains the visible Deatheater role because of his father and the family history, but remains conflicted, daresay borderline recreant in his struggle with being tasked to kill Dumbledore. He is unable to fulfill this task because I don't think he is callous enough to "perform the deed". Harry, to his credit recognizes this and saves him and Zabini in the room of requirement.

Also, in OotP, when Voldemort taunts Harry to kill Bellatrix at the Ministry of Magic, he cannot do it: I don't think Harry had it in him, and the same applies to him saving Draco in DH.

[Silversword]

Harry saving Draco was one of the most selfless, heroic action in the book. Harry certainly knew by then that Draco wasn't truly evil and it's always been in Harry's nature to save everyone. It was the right thing to do, but it's much easier said than done.

Besides I'm glad that DH generally didn't redeem Draco, but showed him as more human. It made him more likeable without falling into the «bad boy with a heart of gold» cliche. At the end of the day, Draco was still cowardly, ungrateful and fairly selfish. But he definitely wasn't the arrogant bully he was from book 1 to book 5.

[ShadowSonic]

While I'm glad they didn't try to do an over-the-top type of redemption, it still does feel like Draco's character was a waste in that he ends up being...not much of anything, really.

[Barbara_O]

Originally Posted by ShadowSonic

While I'm glad they didn't try to do an over-the-top type of redemption, it still does feel like Draco's character was a waste in that he ends up being...not much of anything, really.

Well,we don't SEE him being anything, but there's ten-ish years between school and adult. We have no idea what Draco's been up to. (Personally I think he and harry would make a terrific Auror team - good cop/bad cop thing)

[ShadowSonic]

Draco's too much of a coward to be an Auror.

[Pearl_Took]

The 'worthiness' of Draco to be saved is irrelevant.

A good person might risk their own lives to save the life of a friend. But saving one's nemesis is an act on a higher plane, and that is what Harry's heroism illustrates. It's a sacrificial, redemptive act. Harry does the right thing because it's the right thing to do, irrespective if how Draco would behave if the roles were reversed.

[BrianTung]

Originally Posted by Pearl_Took

The 'worthiness' of Draco to be saved is irrelevant.

I sympathize with this viewpoint.

I'm often confused by "should" questions like this. Does it mean, "Did Draco merit saving in Harry's eyes?" Or, "Does Draco merit saving in your eyes?" Or, "Was it tactically sound for Harry to save Draco?" Or, "Did it advance the plot for Harry to have saved Draco?" Or, even, "Did Rowling send the right message by having Draco saved?" Some people may find such examination ridiculous because they find the question obvious and self-explanatory. Well, I think such people would be surprised by the great variety of ways in which the question obviously explains itself to different people.

I'm going to avoid the more absolutist moral framings, because that inevitably leads me down a rathole of abstract tangential arguments that have precious little to do with the Harry Potter world in the concrete. I personally did not find Draco's redemption--some may call it "escape"--disappointing. I thought it was illustrative of the way that many people in real life are redeemed: through a combination of epiphany, discretion, other people's intervention, cowardice, and plain dumb luck. I also thought it was enlightening to set it against Harry's and Snape's grand story. A little "Crimes and Misdemeanors"-ish, in the way it contrasts scale.

[Luna_Lovegoodx3]

Harry had seen what use Draco was being put to by Voldemort both in his visions and in his time at Malfoy manor. Draco was asked to confirm Harry's identity and he did not,Harry being not only the hero, but a truly good person could not leave someone to die a horrific death, espically one who refused to hand them to Voldemort. Whatever doubts he may have had after saving him would be nothing to the guilt he would feel for letting him die without doing anything.
To Harry I think every human life is worth saving, plus you never know the results of your actions (Wormtail in Mafloy manor) Dumbledore told Harry a time may come when he would be glad he saved Wormtail, and it did (with an unfortunate ending)

[Pokota]

It is this one scene that shows how Harry has matured differently from Ron. It also shows Ron's newfound maturity, but the star of the scene is Harry.

And well it should be. Can you imagine what Narcissa would have done if Harry had said "No" instead of "Yes" in the forest?

"My lord, the boy yet lives."

"Fenrir, bite his head off. I'm tired of this."

[ShadowSonic]

Well...he could have just lied to Narcissa...

[Daggerstone]

Originally Posted by Pokota

Can you imagine what Narcissa would have done if Harry had said "No" instead of "Yes" in the forest?

I don't know... would she really keep supporting the ma...creature who drafted her only son to be killed?

But back to the original topic:

Yes. And yes.
Deciding someone's life's worth on the spot simply isn't in Harry's nature any more than it is in Draco's: dislike (or hate, whichever way you want to phrase it) is one thing, murderous intent is completely another. Simply put, it's easier to live regretting things one hasn't done than things one has - there's always time to fix the former.

Morbid jokes aside... I don't think I'd be able to leave anyone to be burned alive, friend or foe. There's simply no deed evil enough to justify such a choice to me.

[Ennervated]

I never thought that Harry and Draco ever really hated each other; it always seemed more like jealousy than anything else. Harry has always envied how Draco had both a family and an upbringing in the wizarding world. Draco wanted all the attention and (sincere) friendship Harry had so easily gotten. As they grew older and saw how much they differed, both then had the I'm so much better than he will ever be. attitude to par.

One of their differences is that Draco always bullied Harry and his friends, hoping for a sudden outburst or two, wanting to break the image of The Boy Who Lived and see for himself who Harry Potter was. Harry, on the other hand, simply saw Draco for who he truly was--even if that meant seeing a coward Richie Rich of a wizard--and did what anyone surrounded by fire and the prospect of more guilt would have done.

Saving Draco was never a question of worth or bravery; it was simply what Harry had to do and what Draco would have probably done if the situation was reversed.

[MsJPotter]

Originally Posted by Ennervated

I never thought that Harry and Draco ever really hated each other; it always seemed more like jealousy than anything else. Harry has always envied how Draco had both a family and an upbringing in the wizarding world. Draco wanted all the attention and (sincere) friendship Harry had so easily gotten. As they grew older and saw how much they differed, both then had the I'm so much better than he will ever be. attitude to par.

One of their differences is that Draco always bullied Harry and his friends, hoping for a sudden outburst or two, wanting to break the image of The Boy Who Lived and see for himself who Harry Potter was. Harry, on the other hand, simply saw Draco for who he truly was--even if that meant seeing a coward Richie Rich of a wizard--and did what anyone surrounded by fire and the prospect of more guilt would have done.

Saving Draco was never a question of worth or bravery; it was simply what Harry had to do and what Draco would have probably done if the situation was reversed.

Oh I don't think Harry envied Draco having a father like Lucius and as every interaction up to the last one that Harry had with Narcissa consisted of her looking down her nose at him I don't think he envied Draco his mother. Harry had the comfort and knowledge that his parents loved him and didn't put limits on that love. He knew that Draco was a spoiled brat and he knew up close and very uncomfortable, just how unpleasant a spoiled brat could be. So no, I don't think jelousy entered into Harry's feeling for Draco. I thnk he despised Draco for Draco's values, it does say something like that in canon. I think Draco was certainly jelous of Harry. Harry's parents were revered as heroes and Harry's father never landed in prison for trying to kill children.

I certainly think that Harry just wouldn't let Draco die in that fire, but if the positions were reversed, well I said it before. Harry would have resembled a roasted turkey.

[Slartibartfast]

Seeing how this is Harry Potter and not a series like...A Song of Ice And Fire, yeah. It was the right course of action to save Draco. It shows a great deal of character development for both Draco and Harry. Draco puts his life in Harry's hands despite all the animosity between them. Likewise, Harry goes back to save him, showing that Harry isnt spiteful enough to want to see Draco burn in a fiery death. Its a pretty big shift for both characters.

[ShadowSonic]

Did Draco really put himself in Harry's hands? Seems more like "Ugh, got no choice but Potter" no option thing, really.

[RemusLupinFan]

Though Draco made some poor choices, I don't believe he deserved to die. I feel that Harry believed this as well. It was in his nature to save Draco if it was in his power to do so, regardless of the way he felt about Draco personally. It was the right thing to do, in my opinion.