#Malfoy studies

[blorger]

Ok so I'm once again shining the nerd bat signal because there's a scene in the books that I'm struggling to interpret:

So here we are in OotP and Harry and Hermione have just been caught red-handed in Umbridge's office by the inquisitorial squad and are being confronted, together with part of the DA, by the high inquisitor herself. Draco is there to witness their downfall and, as his expression here is clearly meant to indicate, he's giddy with anticipation at the thought of what punishment the gang is going to receive.

This is all well and good -not to mention perfectly in line with Draco's character and what we have come to expect from him- but unfortunately things start to go south as Umbridge goes a bit off the deep end and decides torture is the best course of action, at which point Draco briefly disappears from the book (there's literally no mention of him for two and a half pages). It's somewhat unusual that Draco's presence and reactions are not shown for as long as crucio is being discussed because...well, what is he here for then? He didn't have to be present for the DA's apprehension, Doylist-ically speaking.

Draco eventually reappears but his reactions are weird:

Am I losing it or is Draco being portrayed as eager to "sort Umbridge out"? Why would he want that, especially at this juncture in the book when everything seems to be going so well for him?

I'd be inclined to believe I was seeing things if this wasn't also something Umbridge noticed:

Draco hasn't been anything less than obsequious to Umbridge so far, what reason (other than the look he gives) is there to distrust him? What makes her so sure that whatever Draco is eager for spells bad news for her?

I'm not saying Draco is secretly on the gang's side here because that's just patently untrue -the first except shows plainly that he was all for a punishment of some sort for the DA- but I can't help but feel like Draco here doesn't fit the scenario he's in, like his energy doesn't match anyone else's in that room.

In a scene where everyone is locked in a physical struggle of some sort Draco alone is removed from it all; we have Umbridge going to extremes

and

And even the DA (with the notable exception of Luna) and the Inquisitorial squad are in a surprisingly violent standoff

and, while all of that is going on, this is what Draco is doing:

Draco is the only person in that room not taking the situation seriously. This is how he responds to being told he's not allowed to tag along to see the mystery weapon:

Up until the very end of the Umbridge office scene Draco behaves like a schoolboy while everyone else in that room goes hard in a way they've never done before; Umbridge I understand but why are some random Slytherins so invested in capturing Gryffindors and using excessive force on them? Most of all I'm baffled that jkr didn't use this passage to showcase just how evil evil Draco Malfoy is, especially since Draco is pretty confrontational during OotP.

I also feel like Draco's sudden interest in Hermione's fictitious weapon doesn't really fit in with the rest of his behavior in the scene; why have the guy who's clearly not taking things seriously be that hungry for a peek at a super duper secret weapon, especially once he could use against Umbridge (his ally)? Are we meant to see Draco as a feral goblin hungry for violence and chaos? If so then why have him so detached from all the violence around him? Also, Draco makes for a really poor feral goblin in general considering his noted aversion to physical violence, not to mention the fact that he's not exactly a rule-breaking rebel.

I'd like to think that Draco's sudden desire to turn on Umbridge is caused by her going off her rocker with crucio threats but if that is the case then why not show his actual reaction to said cruciatus attempt? This would be a good excuse to highlight the fact that, when push comes to shove, Draco doesn't have it in him to be truly violent, or even to show that he's in over his head with the whole inquisitorial squad thing, but jkr has him disappear for a while instead.

I know that Draco is not the focus in this scene (or even in this book really) so jkr can't have been trying to say anything too deep about him in this chapter but she still chose to put him there and she gave him those lines for a reason... no matter how many theories I come up with, I can't seem to find one that fits, someone please make sense of the whole thing for me.