Neither of these boys ever really had much of a chance to make names for themselves in the wizarding world. Their fates (which were completely contrary to eachother) were decided for them by their parents and those around them before they were even born. Remember how the Sorting Hat chose Slytherin for Draco almost immediately after it was placed on his head. Was that because Draco demonstrated qualities that made him so obviously a Slytherin, or rather because it was expected of him?

If given the choice, both boys would probably choose to live in obscurity. Yes, Draco benefits from his family’s heritage and money, but look where it has gotten him. Like you mentioned, we saw in the bathroom with moaning myrtle that Draco did not take the task assigned to him by Voldemort easily.

I have often wondered what would have happened: a)if Harry wouldn’t have been so turned off by Draco at Madam Malkins and when he first entered Hogwarts and b)if Harry had been sorted into Slytherin (which probably would have happened had Harry not had such an adverse reaction to Draco in the first place). Would Harry have been seduced by the dark side or would he have been able to pursuade the Slytherins to join his side of the battle?

In any event, we definitely have not seen the end of Draco and I wonder what will come of His and Harry’s relationship in book seven. I predict that they will make a tentative truce to fight Voldemort (as Draco will have seen that serving someone like Voldemort is Counterproductive to everything he stands for) and I still think Draco will die.

I’ll cop to liking Draco – he’s such a great villain! He starts out as a seemingly simplistic enemy – the spoiled, snobbish, bullying nemesis to the hero, but later we see him developed into a multi-faceted villain with possible redemptive qualities.

In the early books, Draco seems to start out lazy and somewhat cowardly – hiding behind Crabbe and Goyle and his parents’ money and power, and doesn’t seem to put much effort into school (we find out in the Borgin & Burkes scene in Book 2 that his grades were poor his first year). But in Book 6, he’s clearly begun to exhibit other qualities: his plan to get the death eaters into the castle and save his parents took intelligence, hard work, and a certain kind of courageous determination to persevere on a difficult mission alone – the qualities of the other 3 houses besides Slytherin, and the same qualities that Harry has. Of course, he exhibits these qualities in a twisted way, but they’re still present. And as noted, Draco, like Harry and unlike Tom Riddle, loves, and he suffers for it in Book 6, crying in bathrooms and talking to Myrtle. Given the set -up of the books, the house qualities, the importance of love, I think it significant that Draco should exhibit such tendencies, even if they are twisted and misdirected – it’s got to mean something.

Given the relationship between Narcissa and Draco, I too wonder if she will die for him in Book 7, or vice-versa – making for some more interesting parallels to the Harry-Lilly relationship.