 Re: Did Draco Fail in His Attempt to Kill Dumbledore Before Snape Intervened
This is a continuation of a debate in the thread,
"A New Idea for Snape" (Deathly Hallows forum).
I guess we were getting a little off-topic.
(You should have added a third choice to this poll: "Other."
I don't know what, but I'm sure someone could come up with a third alternative.)
The idea that Draco might have succeeded if given enough time is interesting.
I hadn't thought of that or heard it before.
But no, I would still say that Draco failed.
It was obvious to everyone there, including Draco.
page 591, Dumbledore --"My dear boy, let us have no more pretense about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first disarmed me, and you would not have stopped for this peasant chat about ways and means."
Malfoy -- "But I got this far, didn't I? They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here... You're at my mercy..."
"No, Draco," said Dumbledore quietly. "It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now."
Draco did not speak. His mouth was open, his wand hand still trembling. Harry thought he saw it drop by a fraction --
Is the glass half empty or half full?
It doesn't matter, because he needed a full glass to do the job.
page 585, Malfoy --"I've got a job to do."
"Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy," said Dumbledore softly.
There was silence...Draco Malfoy did nothing but stare at Albus Dumbledore, who, incredibly, smiled.
"Draco, you are not a killer."
Draco's resolve had been "feeble" and half-hearted all year. His will became weaker and weaker as the conversation went on.
He simply couldn't do it, even though his life depended on it.
"Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe."
Snape knew at a glance that Draco had failed. Everyone knew.
…the door to the remparts burst open once more and there stood Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore sluped against the wall, to the four Death Eaters, including the enraged werewold, and Malfoy.
“We’ve got a problem, Snape,” said the lumpy Amycus, whose eyes and wand were fixed alike upon Dumbledore, “the boy doesn’t seem able –“
But somebody else had spoken Snape’s name, quite softly.
“Severus…”  |