I was reading through something called "Thus Spake Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche, which is a philosophical book that speaks of the idea of the "superman," by which Nietzsche meant that people will soon perfect themselves instead of waiting for perfection in an afterlife- but that is besides my point, although it can also be applied to some concepts in the HP series as well, though now I'm just rambling. I came across this, which was actually quite strange to see because it illustrates my point about Draco perfectly.
And verily, the sight I saw, its like I had never seen. I saw a young Shepherd, writhing, choking, quivering, with face distorted, from whose mouth a black and heavy snake hung down.
Saw I ever so much loathing and wan horror in one face? My hand tore at the serpent and tore - in vain! I could not tear the serpent from his throat. Then a voice within me cried: Bite! Bite!
Bite off its head! Bite! - thus cried the voice of my horror, my hate, my loathing, my pity, all the good and evil in me cried out?
The Shepherd bit, as my cry counselled him: he bit with all his strength! He spat the snake's head far from him - then sprang up, no longer a shepherd, no longer a man, but one transfigured, light-encompassed, one that laughed!
This passage is commonly associated with the death of Nietzsche's father, in which Nietzsche is the shepard, which even better illustrates my point. Beth, having done the Lucius theory, explained why the chances of Lucius surviving the war are essentially nonexistant. With Lucius as the dead father, Draco as the Shepherd, and either Snape or Harry as the narrator, the transition of Draco from bad to good is quite believeable.
As is written, the Shepherd is "writhing, choking, quivering" and the narrator does not believe that he saw "ever so much loathing and wan horror in one face." It is already clear to me that Draco does not want to be in the position he's in and that he'd much rather be rid of the horror that lies ahead. Then, the Shepherd spits the snake's head far away and becomes a "transfigured, light-encompassed, one that laughed." Therefore Draco would be rejecting the darkness inside of him, the snake of Voldemort leaving his body for good.
However, why would Draco be a Shepherd? My take on this is that since a Shepherd guides people, Draco will be able to guide some (namely Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, in otherwords, his posse) to the right side, because of his influence on them. It would be highly odd if JKR read this same passage and based Draco's redemption on it, yet I find the parallel between the snake in the book and the snake that represents Voldemort strangely coincidential...
