steph_hime @ June 14 2004, 19:12:00 UTC

She used the scary Pins icon too.

frozen_jelly @ June 14 2004, 19:22:00 UTC

Maybe about the sleep duel?

moocow1985 @ June 15 2004, 00:46:00 UTC

That's what I assumed.

laurac0re @ June 14 2004, 20:28:31 UTC

apparently Draco does though...

how much do I hope that it has something to do with Millicent/Pansy?

sistermagpie @ June 14 2004, 21:01:55 UTC

It seems like it's got to be some embarassing thing, either about MB or about MB and someone else, sort of like when she became "friends" with Susan? Maybe MB has a not-so-secret admirer or was seen talking to somebody odd.

It must be something embarassing. We know that much.

monkiedude @ June 14 2004, 21:32:30 UTC

Hmm, maybe the form of her Patronus?

frozen_jelly @ June 14 2004, 21:52:12 UTC

Good idea! But then Draco has pronounced himself to be knot interested in Patronus(es?) so maybe not.

sistermagpie @ June 15 2004, 04:13:19 UTC

It's got tiny fists. Her Patronus could certainly have tiny fists.

It just makes me wonder what Draco meant by asking when this "all began."

laurac0re @ June 15 2004, 04:17:46 UTC

maybe it's baby draco!

...or not.

tabiji @ June 15 2004, 06:22:37 UTC

Draco's GLEE looks like he's enjoying the opportunity to make her squirm and he's teasing her, like "ohhh, so tell how you began to see me (or whoever) as your protector..."

xnera @ June 15 2004, 07:59:19 UTC

SQUEES!!! THAT IS SO CUTE!!!!

But still, it is kinda weird that Draco of all people would be a Patronus. Because I always felt that a Patronus would be something strong and powerful, and Draco is very much a scaredy-cat. Although he is so emotionally defensive...maybe she sees him as a human shield?

But hee! This is so cute!

tabiji @ June 15 2004, 08:03:49 UTC

He is a bit of a chicken-shit, but maybe M.B. sees him as one person that is crazy/ballsy/creative enough to handle some things that she can't (like her mother?).

I have the cutest mental image of a tiny Draco, with shimmering hair, waving his enraged little Patronus fists. :))

feraltigerlily @ June 15 2004, 14:20:58 UTC

And it appears that we have confirmation of a sort. :D

lazy_daze @ June 15 2004, 14:52:53 UTC

*squee* that really is incredibly cute. Aww. Ol' Millie's just a big softie inside :D :D

chasingwhispers @ June 15 2004, 16:04:30 UTC M.B. / PS....

Is Millicent just really attached to Draco in a desperately repressed and understated, not-that-it-really-matters-or-means-anything Slytherin way? Like a really deep friendship where she (especially considering parental issues) needs or depends on Draco, and is only shown through such unavoidable magically-induced exposures like this patronus and her 'most treasured object'. (Because of course M.B. would never *say it outright* and is possibly in denial...) ;)

Or, (and I don't want to make everything into a sexual relationship! I'm actually drawn more to the 'friendship-type love' interpretation here) is she kinda in love with him (and possibly knows it would never happen)?

I find this idea intriguing too, since M.B. would be hypothetically (I'm a Ravenclaw, can you tell?) in quite a painful position, with Pansy and Draco dating right in front of her and Harry's flirtations going on, etc. It seems she has no chance. So the apparent nonchalance and 'no obvious interest whatsoever' in that area and things like helping J_H getting Draco's attention, might be a defensive and compensatory position she's settled for in the face of such uncontestable competitors?

...Yeah, my syntax and parentheses hurt my brain too.

sistermagpie @ June 15 2004, 16:05:06 UTC

Yes, I'm really amazed if that's what it is--a tiny Patronus waving tiny fists.

Though if you think about it, Harry's protector is a stag, like Prongs. As far as we know, Millicent doesn't have much relationship with her father. The Patronus may be sort of a mixture of things, like ps just gives her strength because he makes her feel powerful.

In canon it seems like it's always an animal, but it does seem like she's saying that as her Patronus Draco has glowing hair which is just so so so strange and wonderful.:-D And unexpected.

Unless we're completely wrong, but Draco's comment about protecting her does make it seem like that's what it is. Dammit, Draco, learn to do your Patronus! You can't let the rest of the class pass you by! Harry, make him do it!!!

chez_caillou @ June 15 2004, 17:50:51 UTC

*random thought*

Perhaps ps' patronus will be j_h and he's just afraid to show other people? :D

sistermagpie @ June 15 2004, 17:57:31 UTC

MG says her Patronus is Draco (I think) because it is linked to her happy memory. So given that I think it's definitely possible that Draco's could be Harry.

Perhaps it could be a giant golf club, though, since it seems like it's usually something aggressive (as aggressive as ps is with his tiny fists--he must get those from his mother). Of course we're assuming his happy memory would be about Potter, but I don't think that's a wild assumption. Maybe it will be the snitch he actually caught before Harry did.

I love that MB vows that tomorrow it will be a silk souffle. I wonder if it's been explained to them that the Patronus is linked to the memory, or if MB is just saying that because she hopes it's true. NA fifth year doesn't follow OotP, but in canon it seems like the Patronus is more of like a totem animal. It would seem that Draco couldn't be a totem animal, but being that it's Draco I feel like it could be. Most of the other kids seem to assume it's supposed to be an animal.

chez_caillou @ June 15 2004, 18:14:03 UTC

It does seem like a patronus tends to be an animal, or at least something that moves and can fight. It doesn't seem like it can be an inanimate object. But that's just me assuming. I don't know if it would be a golf club (though that would be very cute), but a snitch seems extremely possible. Yes it's an object but it can move... I don't know if this makes sense. :\

Anonymous @ June 15 2004, 18:54:41 UTC

I love the idea that Draco's Patronus could be Harry. I have no idea whether or not the Patronus is linked to a happy memory, but regardless it is a protective spell, isn't it?

Growing up with the idea of this boy his age powerful enough to defeat a dark lord, I think that to a certain extent Draco came to idolize Harry to some degree before they met (as when they did Draco immediately offered his friendship, seeming not to care about Harry's parentage, as he seems to do with so many other people he considers 'worthy' to be his friends). We've seen a lot of evidence of how upset Draco becomes at he idea of Harry changing (his spelling, his dress sense). I think Draco sees him as a constant in his life. Whether a good one or a bad one, he knows Harry will be there. (Remember the way he was so insistent about Harry not being dead when Hogwarts was attacked - even to the point of using exclamation marks and caps in front of both his parents)

The way he 'ran' to Harry when he was distressed and under pressure (screened comment (damn that thing...) etc.) could go toward backing this up. Remember that Draco is an only child, he has never had a sibling to share more personal problems with, perhaps, in a way, he sees Harry as an older brother type figure? (Not too much though, as this would make the D/H thing rather strange lol)

Heh; Anyway, I just mean that I wouldn't be surprised if Draco's Patronus took Harry's form.

- - UnknownWisdom

sistermagpie @ June 15 2004, 19:16:39 UTC

Good point--and we do know that he's focused on Harry for a long time. I remember once Colin Creevey posted something about Harry when he was in his creepy stalker phase and Draco disgustedly corrected him on something like Harry's birthweight.

The most obvious thing would be something to do with Lucius, since Draco has always said My father this and My father that. He's always claimed Lucius and Narcissa as his protectors. But it would be interested to think that really he secretly thought about Harry the Hero to feel protected. He does seem to be sort of fixated on that aspect of Harry, both joking about it and making fun of it. And I do agree that Draco's, "He's not even dead!" showed just how unacceptable a world without Harry was to him, probably not just because he likes Harry but because the one thing he needs to count on is that Harry will be "Potter."

dragynville @ June 15 2004, 17:58:00 UTC

It is linked to the memory. I'm dying to know what M.B.'s happy memory is now. :D

sistermagpie @ June 15 2004, 19:13:02 UTC

Draco's happy memory is the ballroom one!! I LOVE THAT!!! Really, it's sad how often I think about that memory with regards to ps.

Of course, it isn't working, so maybe that's a problem, but I don't think so. It sounds incredibly fun. Of course, if the Patronus is tied to it I guess his Patronus would be Narcissa-or something like her. Though you'd think most kids' Patronus' would be their parents if that were the case, because most kids probably have happy memories with their parents.

Now I'm wondering what my happiest memory would be...

dragynville @ June 15 2004, 19:26:15 UTC

It would seem Draco needs to choose something happier. Remember Harry had to try several different memories at first. And he might be afraid to try his happiest if it has to do with Harry, fearing what it might reveal to the rest of the class.

Hmm.. Lisa says "It doesn't have anything to do with whatever you picked."

Now I'm wondering what my happiest memory would be...

Mine definitely wouldn't have anything to do with my parents. xp

sistermagpie @ June 15 2004, 19:37:08 UTC

Yay Lisa! And what she says makes perfect sense. And it's maybe enlightening for Draco if his isn't working. He's holding on to a kind of happiness he's outgrown (while MB holds on to the feeling of watching Draco scream, which is fun for all ages!!), or one that was never quite enough. That's part of why I'd wondered if this was hard for him, that the ballroom memory is happy not just because it was fun (which is how he describes it-he'd never levitated before and he felt proud) but because Narcissa was spending time with him and that was a rare thing. Unless I'm wrong in thinking Narcissa was actually with him the whole time, but it seems like if she wasn't he wouldn't stress her having let him do it-if he was alone he could have just done it himself. It's kind of like Harry's memory of flying-but then, Draco doesn't really like to be alone. That's another reason I always thought that memory was more about Narcissa than the levitating.

MB's memory is kind of enlightening. She remembers Draco screaming after knocking out her front teeth. I wonder how he knocked them out? I mean, did he hit her and then become horrified at what he'd done? Or do it by accident and scream because of the blood? It is for sure a very strange happy memory-perhaps it makes her feel protected because she was the stronger of the two? Or that he cared?

Yeah, my memory wouldn't have anything to do with my parents either, I don't think. I was just thinking that if you asked somebody who was fairly young to think of a happy memory it seems like it could easily be something from childhood that therefore involve their parents somehow. Just because you often spend a lot of time with your parents when you're a kid. But MB's...that is odd.

dragynville @ June 16 2004, 00:01:33 UTC

I think any memory involving his parents and home life would probably be never quite happy enough. I always get the feeling that Draco was one of those children who was disappointed by his parents early and often in his life. All that My Father and My Mother has always smacked a little of desperation to me: more of a need to believe in their importance, and his importance to them, than an actual belief itself.

Maybe it needs to be a more complex sort of happiness? In the book, Harry's memory of learning he was a wizard (and realizing he was independant of the Dursley's in a way) was what it took for him to produce his first patronus. (A more complex memory than the simpler, childish joy of riding a broomstick for the first time.)

Maybe it's both. Funny in that he was panicking and hysterical, but also endearing in that he was upset that she was hurt: MB says, I do not enjoy your distress as much as you enjoy mine. To which Draco replies, I screamed, didn't I?

If they asked the first or second years probably, but I should think that 17 year olds would not (have their happiest memories of their parents) since it's at the time in their lives when they're seperating themselves from the family identity.

sistermagpie @ June 16 2004, 03:18:49 UTC

All that My Father and My Mother has always smacked a little of desperation to me: more of a need to believe in their importance, and his importance to them, than an actual belief itself.

I couldn't agree more-and that seems to get played out very well on the game too. (Though what's nice is that the Malfoys aren't cardboard villain parents either.)

If they asked the first or second years probably, but I should think that 17 year olds would not (have their happiest memories of their parents) since it's at the time in their lives when they're seperating themselves from the family identity.

Unless they're ps and screwed up.:-)

No, that's true-I was probably imagining Harry, who was of course, 13. But I do really like the idea that he's just not using the right memory as that seems to be the key. But I think finding that more adult memory might be just as scary for him as every other adult thing. He seems to really prefer to stick with things in the past. His mother couldn't do it until later as well-I wonder what her memory was, that she had to wait until she was 21. (Yes, I'm wondering if having a child or falling in love might have done it, or if the memory wasn't the problem.)

Of course, Millicent is using a childhood memory, but it seems to be one that still has a lot of meaning for her.

valtyr @ June 16 2004, 06:33:50 UTC

Teeth! Is this why Draco has tooth-fear, you think? It would explain the screaming.

alumininium @ June 16 2004, 07:13:43 UTC

Ernie is the one with tooth-fear I do believe.

Draco has asymmetrical-fear.

valtyr @ June 18 2004, 12:56:41 UTC

Duh me. Ah well, I suppose it follows; he did knock out both front teeth...

alumininium @ June 19 2004, 04:49:47 UTC

Hahahaha. There's a new perspective. Perhaps he knocked out both on purpose...just to keep things even.

Anonymous @ June 15 2004, 18:17:39 UTC

i'm wondering if her patronus wasn't just a "tiny" draco...but draco as a child. it seems that m.b. has a lot of fond childhood memories of her and ps...wasn't her most important possession a card he made for her when they were young? and it would explain the tiny fists.

perhaps draco was the first friend she ever made/had, and thus the first person that ever made her happy (as she doesn't get on with her parents) or ever made her feel accepted. and it would be easy for a child to see someone like that as a protector of sorts.

chinae @ June 15 2004, 18:27:13 UTC

I think you are right.

sistermagpie @ June 15 2004, 18:31:57 UTC

Definitely an interesting thought. I think her most treasured possession was a badge he'd made her (he made one for Pansy too) that said BADGE on it. It was his first. But she also has old Xmas cards, like the card that says, "My mother says you are my friend." It makes it seem like they were each other's first friend.

Of course, to MB Draco's fists are probably tiny all the time, because he himself is tiny to her. But she may also have fond memories of him being an even tinier little boy. Also that he's shaking his fists...maybe there's a certain memory she has where he stood up to someone, either on her behalf or his own.

Anonymous @ June 15 2004, 18:37:29 UTC

ah, i couldn't remember if it was the cards or the badge...so i guessed, because i was too lazy to go look it up.