Sirius was either evil, or so damn stupid that it wouldn't make a difference, he almost got both Snape and Remus killed. Draco is still worse though, far worse.

 

Actually I love the whole "use the werewolf" as a weapon thing Sirius did. It hints to the darker nature that JKR forgot existed in GOF and OotP. I don't believe for one second it was a prank or that he couldn't reason through the consequences. Remember, when Sirius was introduced he was supposed to be Voldemorts second in command - there should have been something to back that reputation up.

 

You mean teenagers don't think beyond the immediate consequences? Stop the presses, this is worldnews.

 

Draco isn’t an evil bastard, he was an asshole, arrogant abd a bad person with an inflated ego. But he was also a kid, way over his head, and that got stuck in a much much worse situation than he thought.

Sirius wasn’t stupid, just rash, impetous and a dick, with some bullying tendencies, however, he is a good person, loyal if hot blooded, but not childish or stuck as a teenager.

Actually, Sirius life sucked so much. He went from living on a hateful house, to a short period of happiness in the middle of a war, to seeing his pal die, one betray them, stuck in Azkaban, then a fugitivr and bam, dead. So I kinda dislike when he doesn’t survive, the man deserves something.

 

I dunno, I think being an accessory to murder is sufficient to level up from "asshole" to "evil". Not to mention actively supporting and aiding a racist genocidal regime...

 

I'd be inclined to cut him slightly more slack if he was competent at being evil. With all those attempts on Dumbledore, he managed to hit everything but his target.

Peeve: 'A certain X', where X is any overly-flowery reference to a character.

I don't know why it bugs me, but now I just cringe when I see this.

 

Sirius knew exactly how dangerous a werewolf was - that was why they were learning how to become animagi, after all - and as Remus' friend knew exactly what even a scratch from a werewolf would mean.

That's no mere teenage stupidity. That's sending someone into a field you know landmines are hidden in.

 

To be fair Dumbledore does say that Draco's heart wasn't in it hence his multiple failed attempts. So we can safely say he was a reluctant assassin. Plus there are plenty of reasons to hate Draco, but being evil probably isn't one of them. He does show genuine remorse and regret for his actions after all.

 

Murder, yep.
That said, given Snape's friends and inclinations at the time, you could argue it was merely a preemptive strike.

 

So, imperiusing Rosmerta to poison Ron and curse Katie, both almost fatal incidents, was Draco's doing without really meaning it? I'd say it shows how senile (or affected by his curse) Dumbledore was, in his last year.

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That only orks if Snape had already been doing or at least threatening to do things that would make him a legitimate target.

 

You do know that his family was being threatened right? He was hardly in a position to do otherwise.

 

Not hardly. He had a choice, just not an easy one. He could have either A: abandoned his family and fled the country or B. Sought sanctuary with the other side. In keeping with the Pet Peeves thread: Why isn't there a word minimum for new stories submitted to fanfic.net?

 

Most of the characters- and pretty much all the important ones- in HP got off lightly for what they did. How much for each character seems rather pointless to argue.

It is my pet peeve with fanfiction in general, singling out certain character's faults when others with the same faults get glossed over.

 

Legally speaking, duress is not a defence to murder (nor attempted murder/accessory to murder), and I think in this case the law and morality are aligned. It is not moral to pass your own misfortune on to an innocent third party in order to evade that misfortune yourself.

In any case, there's a strong argument that Draco Malfoy was not under duress, because he himself is responsible for that situation via his voluntary association with dangerous criminals.

Further, we know that use of an Unforgivable curse on another human being has no legal defence in the magical world. It's a "strict liability" crime.

 

Its easy to judge others when you aren't walking in their shoes. The two options you listed don't insure his family's safety do they? Does it make what he did right?
Absolutely not.
So does it make him evil? I think not.

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If we are talking about legality here then legally he is still a child so he can't be tried as an adult anyway. His punishment should be comparatively less severe.

 

It's not his responsibility to ensure his family's safety. His family is composed of legal adults who were perfectly capable of making their own choices. If we're talking legality, I believe that Harry and Draco share the same birthyear. Everybody's an adult or close enough that it really doesn't matter.
ETA: I don't think it makes him evil either. I dislike "evil" it leads to 2-D characters. Pet Peeve: Voldemort who does nothing but crucio and cackle madly.

 

Age of majority in the wizarding world is 17.

But I wasn't talking about legality per se. As I said, I think the moral and legal reasoning aligns in this case.

Circumstances can explain evil acts, but they don't justify them. Any mercy given on the basis of circumstances is exactly that: mercy, not earned but given.

Draco Malfoy tried to kill three people (two by transferred malice). He robbed another person of their will. He let a group of terrorists into a school, fully aware of what he was doing, and so endangered the lives of hundreds. His actions directly caused a person's death, a death which he aimed to cause. Further, all of these crimes are racially aggravated, as he fully believed and fanatically promoted the racist ideology which motivated his acts.

This is an evil person. Having second thoughts because you realise that bad consequences may follow does not make him any better. When Draco first started his task he enthusiastically took it on. His motivation was not fear for his family until near the end of the year, after he had already committed attempted murder several times and failed. If anything, the fact that he only had second thoughts when he selfishly realised that his own interests could be damaged just goes to further demonstrate his evil character.

 

Okay let me stop you right there. Are you saying if your parents are in a hostage situation and the hostage taker has asked you to do things which are illegal in nature you won't do it?
Well I'm not sure if I admire your morality or loathe your callous attitude towards family bonds.
Either way right or wrong you have to agree it is an issue which doesn't have a right answer.

 

It's obvious you like Draco. I don't care for him one way or another but I have to ask if you like the character so much why are you moving heaven and earth to change him? The world is not composed solely of good people. As for my parents/SO in a hostage situation. I'd probably try to kill the hostage taker. .

 

I think someone mentioned this in an earlier post that Draco has been parroting his parent's beliefs and that he was raised to be a bigot. Hardly his fault.
Mercy is always given and hardly ever earned. Forgiveness needs to be earned.
But I'm only playing devil's advocate here. Yes he did bad things, but somewhere you need to put yourself in his shoes and ask yourself what'd you do if your family was threatened? Draco's motivations are a controversial issue where we will have to agree to disagree I'm afraid.