Slytherin and Polyjuice

[sistermagpie]

I have very little interest in any of the HBP Polyjuice theories--Draco as Tonks, Narcissa as Tonks, Narcissa as Draco, Tonks as Narcissa. There is only one place in canon where I would be willing to consider it, and that's in the library when the hear someone nearby who's presumably Draco, but then Pince appears around the corner.

Comments

[bethos]

This is really kind of neat. Especially with the sort of -- phallic Gryffindor symbols vs. yonic Slytherin symbols thing which I had never actually thought of.

[earth_magic]

Interesting thoughts,though I have to admit I hadn't seen the discussion on Draco being Tonks at some point.

[mizbean]

Yeah, my pet theory was that Narcissa was Tonks, and she was trying to help or look out for her son.

[velvetcandy]

Interesting. I've heard of the "Draco as Tonks" theory, but Narcissa. I'll have to give that some thought.

[mizbean]

Well, I also had this working theory, as I was reading, that Narcissa was polyjuicing as Tonks with Tonks' complicity, since both of them are Blacks, and Narcissa might have come to her or Andromeda for help. That got shot to hell by the time I finished the book:D

Either way, I was convinced that Tonks' odd behavior had everything to do with polyjuice, and was stunned to find out it had to do with Remus. A red herring indeed.

[static_pixie]

Yeah, I've always noticed that, just in fandom and even RL, girls tend to gravitate towards Draco moreso than boys. But it's less in a "OMG, he's a stud, I wanna marry him!" way, I think, because then he would have more male fans, like Harry or like Ron. I think it's more in a, "wow, I can so relate to you and your way of dealing with things" sorta way. I just get the feeling that a lot of guys don't relate all that much to Draco, and that JKR actually did that on purpose but didn't count on him developing such a big female fanbase. Very, very broad generalization, of course, but you get the idea

[tiferet]

Draco acts very much like the traditional Nasty Girl in girls' school stories, and his weapons (satirical songs and poems, nasty words, &c) are stereotypically female. A lot of gay boys act like that at that age, particularly the more theatrically inclined, which is where you get the very strong fanonical perception that Draco is gay (with which I tend to agree) and Pansy his true best friend.

I mean, if you want to see a fully realised Draco Malfoy, go to libba_bray's book "A Great and Terrible Beauty" because Felicity Worthington? Is Draco, in a dress, and that isn't a bad thing at all.

[velvetcandy]

Draco acts very much like the traditional Nasty Girl in girls' school stories, and his weapons (satirical songs and poems, nasty words, &c) are stereotypically female.

Possible, but don't forget he did all of those things as a team with Pansy. He refers to "us" and "we" when talking about them and it was Pansy who conducted the Slytherins for Weasley is Our King. I don't see Draco as very artistically creative, so I'm handing Pansy most of the credit for the badges and songs. It also seems to fit her character and the dynamic they have together.

[tiferet]

There's no evidence that he is, or isn't, creative that way. I've always thought he was, simply because he has to be good at something or he wouldn't be a leader, and we know that he's academically near Hermione's level. Otherwise you are left begging the question of why people follow him, when he doesn't have a lot of physical courage or a strong stomach--he's got to be bright and somewhat creative. YMMV and almost certainly does, but Draco is a leader in his House and if it were just his blood and his name someone would be manipulating him by now.

[tiferet]

Well, you know, the House=element correspondence theory I posted for years was, actually, confirmed by JKR, I believe in that horrible interview with Mullah al-Issa and Emerson (I will always love wemyss for that, even if he is gay and we can never Be Together).

In that correspondence Slytherin is water, which is the archetypally feminine element, and Gryffindor is fire, the archetypically male element. Theos and Hyle: the fire of the Word and the untamable Lilith, Leviathan, Tiamat, serpent of the deep waters.

[jollityfarm]

The whole issue of gender interests me anyway, and with the books one does indeed get the idea that the Slytherins are not so "macho". Heavens, even the Gryffindor females are macho! ;) But yeah, it is interesting, and it's interesting to consider the subtle differences between genders as they relate to these characters. You know, I doubt you're the first to consider any of this stuff. I mean to say, it's more common for fanartists to drag up Draco as a pretty goth than, say, Ron. Perhaps this is because of the more feminine qualities that you describe - and the suspicion that someone like Ron would probably rather eat his own eyeballs than go about looking girly when he didn't have to. After all, he reacted to his dress robes as if he was being tortured.

Also, I like the idea of Draco becoming female also, because it shows he's willing to go that extra mile, and that he won't leave his mates to do all the dirty stuff. Whatever you think of him, that's admirable in the abstract.

[sistermagpie]

Yes, I think fandom has for a long time picked up on this sort of stuff so it's not really anything new--it's just kind of funny that in HBP we get actual gender-bending Slytherins.:-) I guess part of it is maybe just that Draco is pale and has sleek blond hair and people run with that, but honestly I think it's more than that. The drawling and the leaning against things alone is enough. I don't really think he's effeminate the way we often mean it today, as in gay or with certain mannerisms. I can buy him as straight. It's just his manner does cross over into that area a lot.