Draco and Harry…S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G

Oh man, August 14th certainly was a dark day for the Harry Potter fandom. Although the news has certainly sunk in, I still have the occasional fit of rage or moment of denial. To make matters worse, it appears that, seemingly overnight, my anticipation for the sixth movie has increased ten-fold. Before I went to bed on Thursday night, I looked at the scans of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly and was excited to see photos of Harry, Draco, and the Unbreakable Vow scene. I knew I’d be heading out first thing to pick up the magazine the following day. And so, after a night full of movie delay dreams (yes, really), I woke up depressed, but I shook it off and set out in pursuit of the only thing that might numb the pain.

Well, I got a bit of a treat for my trouble. I flipped to the article and found that the picture of Harry in that so-cute red sweatshirt and Draco looking badass in all-black, was indeed one big picture. And the looks on their faces! Well, it was certainly a photo that would have made any Draco/Harry shipper, one of which I am not, squee with delight. However, as it is probably the most popular slash couple, I do take interest. I think that particular relationship has been something that has had more life in the films than it did on page anyway and even most of the fan art I’ve seen uses the actors’ faces, at least a lot more than I’ve seen with other ships. In books one through five, it’s pretty set from the off, Draco hates Harry, Harry hates Draco and the constant pitting of one against the other, whether on the Quidditch pitch or during dueling lessons, only reinforces what is really a long-forgone conclusion. I can understand how people have grown to love them as a romantic couple though; their relationship, after all, has certain commonalities with two of the ships that sailed: Ron and Hermione and James and Lily. And it definitely took a turn in Half-Blood Prince: Harry becomes positively obsessed with Draco’s whereabouts. One could read that so many different ways. Is it jealousy that Draco is being trusted more by the Death Eaters than Harry is by the Order? Is it just out of the goodness of a very good heart that Harry feels badly for the ever pale-looking Slytherin? Is it merely a reflection of Harry’s growing obsession with Voldemort? Or maybe, as the Whomping Willows sing, “It’s Draco and Harry¦f-a-l-l-i-n-g in love?”

It’s anyone’s guess. But the shift in that book certainly gives the upcoming movie’s portrayal of H/D some options. I really wondered, before I saw this article and the previously leaked Draco photos from HBP, if they were really going to downplay his role. There was only the tiniest flare up between them in OotP, after which Ron pointedly said “It’s only Malfoy. What do you expect?” Well, judging from some of the previous films, I guess I expected a bit more than that, but the fifth film was unceasingly streamlined and the boys’ rivalry was only touched upon faintly in the clashing of Dumbledore’s Army and the Inquisitorial Squad. But prior to this, I’d say there was a lot of weight given to the two. There is much typical conflict, which Tom Felton plays with a sneer and Dan Radcliffe a blind odium, but there are also all these funny little moments, where that animosity is absent, peppered throughout the series. Beginning in SS, (and yes, I know they’re eleven, but it wouldn’t be the first time these films have been age inappropriate ’ Ginny and Harry in CoS anyone?!), after their initial clash, we see the two at a flying lesson. Draco challenges Harry to catch Neville’s Remembrall, which is a pretty tall order as it is Harry’s first time flying. But of course, Harry’s a natural (“It’s in your blood!”) and though Harry is too busy flying to see it, Draco actually looks impressed. In CoS, we first see Draco as he peers gloomily down at Harry and Lockhart during the Flourish and Blotts scene. Seriously, he has nothing better to do? Fast forward to the fourth film, the dragon sequence. I remember this moment catching my attention the first time I saw the film at the midnight showing. Harry hops on his Firebolt and zooms toward the egg for a first try. He nearly grabs it but just misses. Draco’s reaction is far from pure enmity; it belongs more to the kind of friendship you always used to see on That 70’s Show or Freaks and Geeks, those characters that always make fun of their friends and revel in their downfalls, but all the while really care for each other.

My point with all of this is that these are moments that Harry doesn’t see, i.e. they are moments that we never would have read in the books, since we are confined to Harry’s senses. I’ve always thought that the films presented a unique opportunity to show different moments we may have missed. As much as we the reader chose what we think “really happened’ the filmmakers chose these moments and in so doing, show us the perspectives of more characters, which can only help the film become more layered and complex. The choice not to play Harry and Draco’s rivalry as merely cat-and-dog should be taken note of, especially seeing as the films have never shied away from more adult nuances and in a very similar fashion as Jo did in the novels: say it without saying it.

There is, of course, no way of knowing what we will actually be seeing in the next installment, but the promise is there. With pictures of Draco crashing Slughorn’s party, brooding or pointing his wand already having surfaced, plus conformation that we will see the Sectumsempra scene, one thing is for sure: David Yates is having his go at putting a spin on H/D and it’s coming our way¦albeit, next summer.

-Jon