Speculation: “Taboo Tradeoffs” may refer (possibly among other things) to a tradeoff between Draco and Hermione. Harry may have to make some move which would destroy his relationship with Draco (or any possibility of salvaging it,) in order to save Hermione.
I doubt that it will hinge on Harry revealing Draco’s torturing of him, because Lucius would not only obliviate Draco, but claim that Harry had been false memory charmed (probably by Dumbledore,) to remember it, in order to maneuver against him, and besides, it would be clumsy narrative to raise the possibility in the previous chapter only to dismiss it if the outcome turned out to hinge on it.
Other informational assets Harry has which I don’t think have been brought up here so far
Harry is trying to redeem Slytherin house, and Draco is in on the scheme.
Harry knows that the wizard trait appears to follow single gene recessive hereditary patterns, and Draco knows this too. This is more difficult to brush off with obliviation and claims of memory charming than Draco’s torture of him, because it can be reconfirmed experimentally. It would be awfully suspicious if Harry presented his detailed memories of the experiments he’s been through with Draco via pensieve, and all the experiments were independently replicated, for Lucius to claim “You didn’t really do those experiments with my son, the two of you were just false memory charmed into it.”
It’s not immediately obvious that it’s advantageous to reveal these things, although it would show that any plot moving Hermione against Draco is against his agenda as well, but it’s worth taking stock of.
ETA: He might try blackmailing Lucius by threatening reveal information which will harm the pure blood agenda, which Lucius should know due to having used veritaserum on his son. This could create leverage, but perhaps not enough to balance Lucius’s protectiveness of his son.
He already said that Lucius earns his enmity for this. This may well mean Draco will formally declare his enmity as well. And it still wasn’t enough to sway Lucius or the vote.
Speculation: “Taboo Tradeoffs” may refer (possibly among other things) to a tradeoff between Draco and Hermione. Harry may have to make some move which would destroy his relationship with Draco (or any possibility of salvaging it,) in order to save Hermione.
I doubt that it will hinge on Harry revealing Draco’s torturing of him, because Lucius would not only obliviate Draco, but claim that Harry had been false memory charmed (probably by Dumbledore,) to remember it, in order to maneuver against him, and besides, it would be clumsy narrative to raise the possibility in the previous chapter only to dismiss it if the outcome turned out to hinge on it.
Other informational assets Harry has which I don’t think have been brought up here so far
Harry is trying to redeem Slytherin house, and Draco is in on the scheme.
Harry knows that the wizard trait appears to follow single gene recessive hereditary patterns, and Draco knows this too. This is more difficult to brush off with obliviation and claims of memory charming than Draco’s torture of him, because it can be reconfirmed experimentally. It would be awfully suspicious if Harry presented his detailed memories of the experiments he’s been through with Draco via pensieve, and all the experiments were independently replicated, for Lucius to claim “You didn’t really do those experiments with my son, the two of you were just false memory charmed into it.”
It’s not immediately obvious that it’s advantageous to reveal these things, although it would show that any plot moving Hermione against Draco is against his agenda as well, but it’s worth taking stock of.
ETA: He might try blackmailing Lucius by threatening reveal information which will harm the pure blood agenda, which Lucius should know due to having used veritaserum on his son. This could create leverage, but perhaps not enough to balance Lucius’s protectiveness of his son.
He already said that Lucius earns his enmity for this. This may well mean Draco will formally declare his enmity as well. And it still wasn’t enough to sway Lucius or the vote.