I really like this essay, and totally think all the points you make in it are plausible and on-the-money. I expect both Ron and Draco to step into the Bigger Picture more in HBP. Although I know a lot of people think the latter doing so is unlikely; I'm not sure why people are so insistent that Draco will just "fade into the background" in the last two books because it seems to me that other than Neville and the Weasley kids, he's the student character we know the most about in the story thus far. To me, it seems like a lot of work introducing/setting up a character to just have him fade away, so I've always thought, just from the perspective of *reasonable* storytelling - and Rowling is a reasonably good storyteller - that Draco would have more to do than simply be "outgrown" by Harry. I'm not even someone who favors the idea of "redeemed" Draco or is even all that invested in which side he ends up on, so my thinking he'll step up has less to do with "OMG, but Draco's soooo cool!!!1!1!" so much as thinking it's reasonable storytelling to have him play some kind of significant role, even if it's to emerge as a full-on villain in books 6 and 7.
Er, sorry. Got sidetracked there by a bit of a rantlet.
In any event, yeah. What you said makes sense to me.
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I really like this essay, and totally think all the points you make in it are plausible and on-the-money. I expect both Ron and Draco to step into the Bigger Picture more in HBP. Although I know a lot of people think the latter doing so is unlikely; I'm not sure why people are so insistent that Draco will just "fade into the background" in the last two books because it seems to me that other than Neville and the Weasley kids, he's the student character we know the most about in the story thus far. To me, it seems like a lot of work introducing/setting up a character to just have him fade away, so I've always thought, just from the perspective of *reasonable* storytelling - and Rowling is a reasonably good storyteller - that Draco would have more to do than simply be "outgrown" by Harry. I'm not even someone who favors the idea of "redeemed" Draco or is even all that invested in which side he ends up on, so my thinking he'll step up has less to do with "OMG, but Draco's soooo cool!!!1!1!" so much as thinking it's reasonable storytelling to have him play some kind of significant role, even if it's to emerge as a full-on villain in books 6 and 7.
Er, sorry. Got sidetracked there by a bit of a rantlet.
In any event, yeah. What you said makes sense to me.