Determined Denial: Millicent Bulstrode
Vince isn't dead.
No, really, he's not.
I mean, what do we have to go on? Draco? He was delirious. After all, he took Ron Weasley's word for it. This is Weasley we're talking about here. Okay, so Ron Weasley, avowed hater of all things Slytherin, says Vince is dead... and keeps flying? Who's to say he even looked? He probably just wanted to get out. Odds are if Potter hadn't been playing saviour, Weasley would've left Draco and Greg to die just as quick without batting an eye.
Someone's word is no evidence.
Vince isn't dead.
I'll prove it.
--
Dumb: Gregory Goyle
Ya know, I'm not a thinker, but I got a theory.
Me an' Vince, we're like two sides of a coin (probably a knut, since we're not worth much). He's loud an' impulsive, an' I'm quiet an' submissive. He looks for "right" an' "purpose," an' I just know how to make people happy. But we're both dumb. But different kinds, even.
This year was the first time he was ever real good at stuff—big important dark stuff, even—so he took that as meanin' that somethin' was wrong before.
That somethin' was everythin'. And Draco was everythin'.
So he turned.
I'm the dumb that doesn't know stuff. He's the worse dumb, the one that everythin' he knows is wrong.
An' he can't stand bein' wrong.
So I think he did himself in on purpose.
--
Disdain: Theodore Nott
Well, there goes what little reputation Slytherin House had left.
Now, I know I sound callous and unfeeling, with that being my opening statement, so to speak, on the death of a classmate. But, to be frank, it's entirely true, and I am merely the only one with enough gall to say it. Even his allies—Draco, Gregory, Millicent—know that what he did was selfish and moronic, and that he himself was selfish and moronic, and that the incident has forever shredded our credibility, not only as Slytherins, but as decent human beings.
We should mourn ourselves, not him.
--
Don't You Dare: Pansy Parkinson
Crabbe, how dare you go and die on us! Do you have any idea what a mess you've left? Draco was in shock for the longest time, Goyle doesn't know what to do without you, Millie's become a complete nutter—you are aware she was in love with you, right? The toughest girl in school has been reduced to... to... I don't even know! And it's all your fault!
But you know who's the worst mess?
ME!
Draco's gotten it in his head since you died that he needs to start his life over and drop everything! Everything means me, you idiot! He's leaving me because of you, and I can't handle that!
Did you think of anyone else when you set your stupid fire to show off your stupid magical prowess and capture stupid Potter? Did you think of what could happen? Of course you didn't! Since when have you ever stopped to do such a thing as think?
And now everyone's miserable because of you!
I hope you're miserable too, Crabbe, you sick son of a Squib!
--
Devil's Advocate: Tracey Davis
If I may, I'd like to refute Theodore's stance. May I have the debate floor, please? Thank you.
I'll be the first to admit that I didn't know Vincent terribly well; he was a friend of a friend, I suppose. But I heard more than enough from friends to back me, which, biased as the source may be, is still something.
That said, I refuse to use evidence. I will strictly evaluate the incident in and of itself.
Now, he may not have been the most... tolerant of people. But in this, his last act, he espoused the great values of every House. He took the time to learn how to cast Fiendfyre, and was fiercely loyal to his cause; he had the drive to go through with it, and the courage to die for the sake of it.
For this, we should mourn his loss and celebrate our gain.
--
Dazzle: Blaise Zabini
That... was utterly spectacular. And, believe me, I'm familiar enough with spectacle to be qualified to say that. I mean, that boy never had class, wouldn't have known what it was if it bit him on the nose, but that is a classy way to die.
Can you imagine it, though? Can you, really, see the big, bright, engulfing flames, sweeping in from every corner of the room, gaining on Potter and company? You can't tell me that isn't impressive. In fact, it's nothing short of newsworthy. No, I take that back—it's legendary. This will go in all the history books from now on.
Nobody would have expected it; it's a ridiculously tough spell to begin with, and especially coming from... him! It was just... beautiful. The boy knew how to get attention. Everyone's going to remember this, remember him if only because of the incident. He went down in a blaze of glory, in all its meanings.
I never thought I'd be comparing myself to someone like him, but it was an absolutely brilliant ploy. Nobody gave a knut about him in life, but in death he's left everyone awed and starstruck.
That's the way I want to die.
--
Dolt in Distress: Daphne Greengrass
Boys are stupid.
He, of course, was stupid to begin with, but being a boy made it even worse.
It was absolutely obvious that he wasn't content with being Draco's right-hand goon anymore, and that he wanted out. He wanted to be himself, whatever that might have been, and nobody would let him.
But the idiot didn't cry for help. Why? Because he's a boy, and he's not allowed.
So the simple-minded people around him didn't see anything wrong, because he didn't say anything.
Yes, you idiots, the incident was clearly a suicide, and none of you saw it coming. It was a spectacular suicide, yes, and how brilliant to try and take Potter out in the process, but a suicide nonetheless.
All he needed was encouragement, something that would've told him that he was worth something and that he was capable of something. I haven't got something to help him now, but I still think he deserves a few good words to lay him to rest.
So, dearest Vincent, I say to you: Absolutely mahvellous, dahling. What a way to take your final bow. Brava, brava, bravissima...
Oops, I almost said encore.
--
Dead: Draco Malfoy
Hah. Crabbe's dead, you say? Too bad for him. But who's that? I don't know a Crabbe. It's just me and Goyle. Why would an illustrious Malfoy associate with a useless lump of flesh that would only go on to betray him?
In fact, the tragic Fiendfyre incident was done by someone else entirely. There's no Crabbe at all. And I wasn't in that anyway. Me and Goyle were far away from anything that might have happened in any Room of Requirement.
No, I even take that back. As far as I'm concerned, none of that ever happened. My pitiful excuse for a childhood didn't happen. My life starts now. I was just conjured into being at seventeen years old, with a clean slate. Vincent Crabbe never existed, and until now, neither has Draco Malfoy.
...besides, even if he did survive, he'd be as good as dead anyway.