JK's new interview
The parts she talked about relationships and Tom Felton, right, Jo, whatever you say okay? It kind of amuses me that she sees Draco as such a huge badass, I mean... well... maybe there was a little more to what was between Jo and her school bully ;-)?
MA: I wanted to go back to Draco.
JKR: OK, yeah, let's talk about Draco.
MA: He was utterly fascinating in this book.
JKR: Well, I'm glad you think so, because I enjoyed this one. Draco did a lot of growing up in this book as well. I had an interesting discussion, I thought, with my editor Emma, about Draco. She said to me, "So, Malfoy can do Occlumency," which obviously Harry never mastered and has now pretty much given up on doing, or attempting. And she was querying this and wondering whether he should be as good as it, but I think Draco would be very gifted in Occlumency, unlike Harry. Harry’s problem with it was always that his emotions were too near the surface and that he is in some ways too damaged. But he's also very in touch with his feelings about what's happened to him. He's not repressed, he's quite honest about facing them, and he couldn't suppress them, he couldn't suppress these memories. But I thought of Draco as someone who is very capable of compartmentalizing his life and his emotions, and always has done. So he's shut down his pity, enabling him to bully effectively. He's shut down compassion - how else would you become a Death Eater? So he suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself. But then he's playing with the big boys, as the phrase has it, and suddenly, having talked the talk he's asked to walk it for the first time and it is absolutely terrifying. And I think that that is an accurate depiction of how some people fall into that kind of way of life and they realize what they're in for. I felt sorry for Draco. Well, I’ve always known this was coming for Draco, obviously, however nasty he was.
Harry is correct in believing that Draco would not have killed Dumbledore, which I think is clear when he starts to lower his wand, when the matter is taken out of his hands.
Hmmm... While I absolutely agree Harry is total rubbish at hiding his emotions (and I say this in the most endearing way), Draco has never struck me as particularly good at preventing his feelings from surfacing either. Though he did a really really good job -not- breaking down after the ferret-bouncing incident, there was quite a bit of self-restraint going on there! But anyhow, I like how Rowling said Draco suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself. Awwwwwwww my woobie has a *good side* to suppress? Surely not! Kidding kidding, of course he has, and that's one big part of the reason we older women who aren't into romanticizing little boys nearly half our age have always liked him so ;-)
It's also interesting to note that Rowling has as well as admitted Regulus was R.A.B, either that or I just can't interpret her spoken words right. And haha, now Draco=this generation's Regulus is no longer a fandom theory because Rowling has made that link herself too:
MA: But that doesn’t have to be true, if [R.A.B.] is writing Voldemort a personal note.
JKR: That doesn't necessarily show that Voldemort killed him, personally, but Sirius himself suspected that Regulus got in a little too deep. Like Draco. He was attracted to it, but the reality of what it meant was way too much to handle.
But Regulus was such a hero!!! I have now both a bigger hope and a bigger worry for Draco's development in book 7...
JK kept her tight-lipness regarding Dumbledore and Snape (while you can tell she felt she could talk about Draco more freely now his 'big surprise' in book 6 is under the sun), there's a part 3 to her interview tomorrow.
MA: I wanted to go back to Draco.
JKR: OK, yeah, let's talk about Draco.
MA: He was utterly fascinating in this book.
JKR: Well, I'm glad you think so, because I enjoyed this one. Draco did a lot of growing up in this book as well. I had an interesting discussion, I thought, with my editor Emma, about Draco. She said to me, "So, Malfoy can do Occlumency," which obviously Harry never mastered and has now pretty much given up on doing, or attempting. And she was querying this and wondering whether he should be as good as it, but I think Draco would be very gifted in Occlumency, unlike Harry. Harry’s problem with it was always that his emotions were too near the surface and that he is in some ways too damaged. But he's also very in touch with his feelings about what's happened to him. He's not repressed, he's quite honest about facing them, and he couldn't suppress them, he couldn't suppress these memories. But I thought of Draco as someone who is very capable of compartmentalizing his life and his emotions, and always has done. So he's shut down his pity, enabling him to bully effectively. He's shut down compassion - how else would you become a Death Eater? So he suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself. But then he's playing with the big boys, as the phrase has it, and suddenly, having talked the talk he's asked to walk it for the first time and it is absolutely terrifying. And I think that that is an accurate depiction of how some people fall into that kind of way of life and they realize what they're in for. I felt sorry for Draco. Well, I’ve always known this was coming for Draco, obviously, however nasty he was.
Harry is correct in believing that Draco would not have killed Dumbledore, which I think is clear when he starts to lower his wand, when the matter is taken out of his hands.
Hmmm... While I absolutely agree Harry is total rubbish at hiding his emotions (and I say this in the most endearing way), Draco has never struck me as particularly good at preventing his feelings from surfacing either. Though he did a really really good job -not- breaking down after the ferret-bouncing incident, there was quite a bit of self-restraint going on there! But anyhow, I like how Rowling said Draco suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself. Awwwwwwww my woobie has a *good side* to suppress? Surely not! Kidding kidding, of course he has, and that's one big part of the reason we older women who aren't into romanticizing little boys nearly half our age have always liked him so ;-)
It's also interesting to note that Rowling has as well as admitted Regulus was R.A.B, either that or I just can't interpret her spoken words right. And haha, now Draco=this generation's Regulus is no longer a fandom theory because Rowling has made that link herself too:
MA: But that doesn’t have to be true, if [R.A.B.] is writing Voldemort a personal note.
JKR: That doesn't necessarily show that Voldemort killed him, personally, but Sirius himself suspected that Regulus got in a little too deep. Like Draco. He was attracted to it, but the reality of what it meant was way too much to handle.
But Regulus was such a hero!!! I have now both a bigger hope and a bigger worry for Draco's development in book 7...
JK kept her tight-lipness regarding Dumbledore and Snape (while you can tell she felt she could talk about Draco more freely now his 'big surprise' in book 6 is under the sun), there's a part 3 to her interview tomorrow.