Goyle never betrayed Draco
Following up on this post, this is the final difference I want to point out between Crabbe and Goyle:
Over the course of HBP and DH, it becomes clear that Crabbe had no real loyalty to Draco, and that he was only using Draco for his own ends. However, this is not necessarily the case for Goyle.
1. Fifth Year
The first indication that Crabbe doesn’t care about Draco at all shows up in year five. After the fight on the Qudditch pitch, Crabbe displays no concern for Draco, only amusement that the Gryffindors were being berated by Madam Hooch:
“Malfoy was curled up on the ground, whimpering and moaning, his nose bloody; George was sporting a swollen lip; Fred was still being forcibly restrained by the three Chasers, and Crabbe was cackling in the background.” (OP19)
As for Goyle, he is just nowhere to be found. The last mention of his name appears several paragraphs earlier, when the match is still going on and Lee Jordan narrates that “Bell’s hit by a Bludger from Goyle of Slytherin”.
While that doesn’t scream “loyalty”, it’s left up in the air how he feels about Draco’s situation, or if he even noticed what was going on. In this scene in particular I’m convinced JKR straight up forgot about Goyle, but the result is that Crabbe is visibly callous, while Goyle is not.
2a. Sixth Year Crabbe
Crabbe was happy to do Draco’s bidding while the Malfoys were powerful, but as soon as they’ve lost their standing with Voldemort after Lucius’s arrest, Crabbe starts to question Draco’s authority:
“Malfoy had flushed a dull pink; he looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having a whispered argument. [...] [Harry] managed to position himself right at the back of the crowd, directly behind Malfoy, who was taking advantage of the general upheaval to continue his argument with Crabbe, standing five feet away and looking mutinous. ‘I don’t know how much longer, all right?’ Malfoy shot at him, oblivious to Harry standing right behind him. ‘It’s taking longer than I thought it would.’ Crabbe opened his mouth, but Malfoy appeared to second-guess what he was going to say. ‘Look, it’s none of your business what I’m doing, Crabbe, you and Goyle just do as you’re told and keep a lookout!’” (HBP18)
Although Crabbe doesn’t stop obeying Draco just yet, he has clearly lost any respect for him, or lost trust that following him was the path to success.
Lucius has set the precedent that the Malfoys don’t actually know what they’re doing, and Draco doesn’t seem any more in control of the situation at Hogwarts than Lucius was at the Department of Mysteries.
2b. Sixth Year Goyle
Goyle’s behaviour, by contrast, shows no visible changes after the Malfoys’ fall from grace.
Ron and Harry do speculate that both Crabbe and Goyle must be dissatisfied:
“‘He’s got Crabbe and Goyle transforming into girls?’ guffawed Ron. ‘Blimey ... No wonder they don’t look too happy these days. ... I’m surprised they don’t tell him to stuff it. …’ ‘Well, they wouldn’t, would they, if he’s shown them his Dark Mark?’ said Harry.”
But we never actually see Goyle express any frustration towards Draco. Rather, he is the one later shown dilligently disguised as a girl to help Draco:
“ ... and there, alone in the seventh-floor corridor, was Gregory Goyle. [Harry] waited until he was right behind her before bending very low and whispering, ‘Hello ... you’re very pretty, aren’t you?’ Goyle gave a high-pitched scream of terror, threw the scales up into the air, and sprinted away, vanishing from sight long before the sound of the scales smashing had stopped echoing around the corridor.” (HBP21)
This is not to say that Goyle was undisturbed, but the juxtaposition of the two boys’ portrayals does leave room to imagine that Goyle didn’t harbour the same mutinous anger as Crabbe.
Maybe the intended reading is that Goyle was just as dissatisfied as Crabbe, only he’s too “stupid” and therefore too much of a follower to take any independent action. Or maybe JKR once again forgot to give him any lines, because she doesn’t care about these characters.
But maybe Goyle didn’t “look too happy” because he didn’t like dressing up as a girl, but not to the point of resenting Draco; maybe he missed Draco, who was spending a lot of time alone in the Room of Hidden Things; maybe he was worried about Draco, but scared to show concern lest it triggers Draco’s impatient temper; maybe he was plagued by uncertainty from watching Draco, his source of stability and inspiration, lose his grip.
3a. Seventh Year Crabbe
In Deathly Hallows, the tensions simmering between Crabbe and Draco finally come to a head. When he, Draco and Goyle ambush Harry in the Room of Requirement, Crabbe takes the lead in laying down the plan:
“‘We’re gonna be rewarded,’ said Crabbe. His voice was surprisingly soft for such an enormous person: Harry had hardly ever heard him speak before. Crabbe was speaking like a small child promised a large bag of sweets. ‘We ’ung back, Potter. We decided not to go. Decided to bring you to ’im.’ (DH31)
Then, he goes on to outright defy Draco:
“‘No!’ shouted Malfoy, staying Crabbe’s arm as the latter made to repeat his spell. ‘If you wreck the room you might bury this diadem thing!’ ‘What’s that matter?’ said Crabbe, tugging himself free. ‘It’s Potter the Dark Lord wants, who cares about a die-dum?’ ‘Potter came in here to get it,’ said Malfoy with ill-disguised impatience at the slow-wittedness of his colleagues. ‘so that must mean—’ ‘Must mean’?’ Crabbe turned on Malfoy with undisguised ferocity. ‘Who cares what you think? I don’t take your orders no more, Draco. You an’ your dad are finished.’” (DH31)
And Crabbe goes as far as shooting Unforgivables at the Trio, ignoring what Draco says:
“[...] ‘Harry?’ mimicked Crabbe. ‘What’s going on—no, Potter! Crucio!’ [...] ‘STOP!’ Malfoy shouted at Crabbe, his voice echoing through the enormous room. ‘The Dark Lord wants him alive—’ ‘So? I’m not killing him, am I?’ yelled Crabbe, throwing off Malfoy’s restraining arm. ‘But if I can, I will, the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what’s the diff—?’ [...] Hermione had run around the corner behind him and sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crabbe’s head. It only missed because Malfoy pulled him out of the way. ‘It’s that Mudblood! Avada Kedavra!’ [...] ‘Don’t kill him! DON’T KILL HIM!’ Malfoy yelled at Crabbe and Goyle, who were both aiming at Harry. [...] Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, ‘Avada Kedavra!’ again.” (DH31)
3b. Seventh Year Goyle
Meanwhile, all Goyle does this whole scene is aim at Harry, but Harry Disarms him (“Goyle’s wand flew out of his hand and disappeared into the bulwark of objects beside him; Goyle leapt foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it”), and we never find out which spell he was going to cast, or whether or not he was going to heed Draco’s command not to kill.
Goyle then gets Stunned by Hermione (“Hermione charged toward them, hitting Goyle with a Stunning Spell as she came”) and spends the rest of the scene knocked out, having to be rescued from the fire by Draco (“And he saw them: Malfoy with his arms around the unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a fragile tower of charred desks, and Harry dived”).
Conclusion
As I said in the previous post, it’s hard to tell if the differences between Crabbe and Goyle are intentional or a mere consequence of JKR’s carelessness in how she writes them.
Either way, though, the text we get is one where Crabbe only associates with Draco when it’s advantageous, then turns against him when it’s not — illustrating that Slytherins don’t form real, reliable friendships, and serving as comeuppance for how Draco always treated him as a lackey.
But Goyle’s story with Draco doesn’t actually go the same way, and his motives, thoughts and feelings in relation to Draco are left a lot fuzzier.
