All Good Things Come to an End
I'm going to take the plunge.
I have been theorizing, like many others, about the fate of Harry Potter since Half-Blood Prince came out. I have factored in all the mythology, the archetypes, and the alchemy I could handle, with a nice helping of religion on the side. I have been going around and around with some of my theories, wrestling them down until they made complete sense (at least in my head), and I have struggled with my own emotions over questions of loyalty and redemption with quite a few characters. And finally, FINALLY, I fell relatively confident in my predictions for the last installment of the Harry Potter series.
This will probably take several entries, and I honestly don't know how best to do this, so I'm going to just type and see what comes out. Of course, the first subject I want to touch upon is my favorite character.
Draco. There is a stark difference between what I want to happen to him and what I believe will. Let's start with what I want first. I want him to realize how wrong he was, not just because of fear but because of a conscience. I want him to defy his upbringing and fight side by side with Harry, and develop a camaraderie with him. I want him to be good. Somewhere, deep inside, I want Draco to have a good heart.
Dream on, girl.
What WILL happen? Ugh. This may be wishful thinking again, but I honestly do think he will help the Order somehow. At the very least, he will help them to save himself. He will not admit his mistakes or even acknowledge them, but I think he will, in a discreet but moving way, lend himself to the good side. I can't shake the mental image of the trio looking at him, realizing that he helped, and the brief exchange of wordless appreciation between the four that would say it all: thank you, I'm sorry, I misjudged you. That would be incredibly powerful.
Will he die? I used to think that Draco was toast. Then I went through a phase of believing that he would die doing something honorable. Odds are, however, that if Draco dies it will be in a way that is either cowardly or not at all pretty. But I don't think he'll die.
I believe that Draco was the one that received a reprieve from Jo. I think she, too, in the process of writing HBP started to feel the weight of Draco's plight, and needed to forgive him herself. That I can completely understand. I once became so sympathetic to a minor character of mine that I completely changed the fate of my main character to make her happy.
One purpose of Draco's character has always been to make Harry's star shine just a little brighter. They are polar opposites, even in looks, and Harry's character is brought out in the differences between he and Draco. But I also believe that, in rounding out the Malfoy heir's story and character, she realized the deep possibilities for him. Because Draco is Harry's opposite, because he reminds Harry so much of the Dursleys, it is in Harry's interaction with Draco (I believe) that Jo will teach her lessons about mercy and forgiveness.
Why not Snape, you ask? Because I believe Snape has his own story to tell. But that's for next time.