How redeemable is canon Draco Malfoy?
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:date: 2019-12-08T22:24:29
:category: literature
:tags: review, harryPotter, blogComment, fromReddit

(originally posted_ on Reddit)

Yes, everybody is redeemable. I believe redemption stories of
some former SSmen (and SSwomen_), guards in the Nazi
concentration camps, etc. Redemption (or let’s use the
old-fashioned term “conversion” or “penance”) however doesn’t
mean to somehow excuse previous deeds. It requires true
acknowledgement that these deeds happened, to own them, and to
admit that they were evil. It requires honest asking for
forgiveness. I don’t want to get any political, but it requires
at least on the personal level, something like what Germany did
after the Second World War (see for example recent visit of
`Angela Merkel in Auschwitz`_).

What do we see in most so-called redemption stories of Draco
Malfoy (or Severus Snape, or Petunia Dursley)? Excuses that those
deeds were not so bad, excuses that they were crippled by their
past, excuses by some good deeds they have done as well (“Your
honour, why we are still talking about those twenty minutes when
I was stealing from the bank, and not about my whole life when
I was a good law-abiding citizen?”). Yes, there could be an
interesting story how the path to hell is paved with good
intentions, and how somebody can persuade herself, that being
a Death Eater is The Right Thing to do, but that’s a different
kind of literature and I think it would do better for everybody
involved if they were kept separate. What I would be more
interested, and what I mostly still wait for is the story how the
main heroes stand in the wreckage of their lives, they are
disgusted in themselves, and they try to build up their lives
back.

Perhaps the closest I got to it was `Exile by bennybear`_, but
even that was more story of a pureblood trying to find his way in
the strange world of muggles then true redemption story of
dealing with guilt. Nevertheless, it is still a very good story.

Or perhaps `Dudley’s Memories`_ and `Snape’s Memories`_ by 
paganaidd for the Dudley character, not so much for Snape who is 
more in the excuses territory. The same author wrote `Digging for 
the Bones`_, which is one of the best attempts to do the
redemption for Snape/Severitus, but still, I think it mixes too
much of the path-to-hell-pavement with the redemption and it
sometimes balances quite close to making excuses for his
behaviour (BTW, I **love** Molly Weasley in this story).

.. _`Angela Merkel in Auschwitz`:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-50690669/auschwitz-visit-responsibility-for-nazi-crimes-part-of-german-identity-says-merkel

.. _`Exile by bennybear`:
   https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6432055

.. _`Dudley’s Memories`:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6142629/1/Dudley-s-Memories

.. _`Snape’s Memories`:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6329597/1/Snape-s-Memories

.. _`Digging for the Bones`:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6782408/1/Digging-for-the-Bones

.. _posted:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/HPfanfiction/comments/e7hp1z/how_redeemable_is_canon_draco_malfoy/fa3isp1/

.. _SSwomen:
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_guards_in_Nazi_concentration_camps