Draco Malfoy<!--DO NOT add his birthdate here. That is in-universe format. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)--> is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. He is a student in Harry Potter's year belonging in the Slytherin house. He is frequently accompanied by his two cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who act as henchmen. Draco is characterised as a cowardly bully who tricks and hurts people to get what he wants; he is also a cunning user of magic. He was played by Tom Felton in the Harry Potter film series, while Lox Pratt is set to portray him in the TV series adaptation.

Character development

Draco serves as a foil to the hero, Harry Potter, and is loosely based on bullies Rowling encountered during her school days. Harry first encounters Draco's snobbish bigotry after their initial encounter at Madam Malkin's. Rowling uses the Malfoys to introduce themes of intolerance and bigotry into a setting where people are often judged solely by their blood lineage rather than their good character or accomplishments. Draco, adhering to his family's beliefs, thinks that Muggle-born witches and wizards, which he and other characters derogatorily describe by the epithet Mudbloods, should be denied a magical education. Harry's first impression that the Wizarding community is a "magical wonderland" is instantly shattered. Says Rowling, "[Harry] found out that many people in power in the wizarding world are just as corrupt and nasty as they are in our world." "Spungen" also appeared on her pre-canon class list, but it was crossed out and replaced with the surname "Spinks", while "Malfoy" was later added after the completion of the list. Philip Nel believes that Malfoy is derived from the French phrase mal foi, meaning "bad faith".

In an article published in 2002, Nilsen and Nilsen argue that "Draco" has connotations with draconian, and that his name starts with "mal", a French prefix for "bad" or "evil".

Appearances

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Draco Malfoy makes his first appearance in the series when he and Harry meet while being fitted for school robes at Madam Malkin's, a clothing shop in Diagon Alley. Not realising that the boy in the store is Harry Potter—a child whose parents were murdered when he was one year old by the powerful dark wizard Lord Voldemort—Draco engages him in polite (relative to his later attitude towards Harry) conversation. Harry, however, is alienated by the arrogance of Draco, who asks whether the orphan's parents are "our kind" (pure-blood wizards). Draco then proclaims that "the other sort" (Muggle-borns) should not be allowed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, because "they've never been brought up to know our ways". The two boys part without introductions, but meet again on the Hogwarts Express. After Draco ridicules Ron Weasley's family, Harry rejects his offer of friendship, demonstrated by a handshake, and their mutual antagonism is born.

According to Rowling, Malfoy originally makes an effort to be Harry's friend because "it will be cool to turn up at the school being Harry Potter's friend, because Harry is so famous."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Malfoys remain reluctant followers of Voldemort, who now uses their home as his headquarters; Draco passes out after witnessing Voldemort murder Muggle Studies professor Charity Burbage. Harry experiences occasional and disturbing visions of Draco being forced into performing Voldemort's bidding and feels "sickened... by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort." When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, Draco is asked to identify them, and though they are clearly recognisable, he only ambiguously replies "It might be." During the successful escape from Malfoy Manor headed by Dobby, Harry overpowers Draco and captures his wand.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione seek Ravenclaw's diadem in the Room of Requirement, Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle (Blaise Zabini in film version rather than Crabbe), attempts to capture Harry alive. However, Crabbe (Goyle in film version) defies Draco's orders and attempts to kill the trio by casting the deadly Fiendfyre; unable to control the spell, he dies in the blaze while the trio rescue Draco and Goyle (Zabini in film version). Draco, despite his often condescending and belittling attitude toward Crabbe and Goyle (as well as his other underlings), grieves for his lost friend. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco is seen pleading with a Death Eater who seems intent on killing him. He is once again saved by Harry and Ron, the latter of whom punches Draco in the face under the invisibility cloak for attempting to appease the Death Eater.

At about this time, it is revealed through the Pensieve that Dumbledore had known he was dying after being cursed by Voldemort's ring. However, to spare Draco's soul from being forever tainted by committing murder, Dumbledore pre-arranged his own death with Snape. Voldemort intended Draco to die in the attempt to kill Dumbledore so that Lucius would be punished for his failure to retrieve the prophecy from the Ministry of Magic.

After Harry is struck by the Avada Kedavra curse, Voldemort orders Narcissa to verify that Harry is actually dead. She detects his heartbeat, but she lies to Voldemort, knowing that she will be allowed to search for her son if the Death Eaters return to Hogwarts "as part of the conquering army." Although Draco does not directly take part in Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort, as he and his parents flee the battle for their personal safety, he influences its outcome; a plot twist reveals that Draco had unwittingly become the Elder Wand's master when he disarmed Dumbledore, even though Draco never actually possessed the wand. The wand's allegiance passes to whoever defeats its owner, so Harry, having taken Draco's wand at Malfoy Manor, became its new master; this prevents Voldemort from using its full power. In the end, it is Narcissa's lie to Voldemort concerning Harry's death that enables the Malfoys to narrowly avoid imprisonment in Azkaban.

Epilogue

In the epilogue, Draco marries Astoria Greengrass and has a son, Scorpius Malfoy. Draco's hairline has receded, making his face look even more pointed. Though they are not friends, Malfoy has somewhat decreased his animosity toward Harry, and, upon seeing them at King's Cross station, gives a brief and curt nod to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

Portrayal

Film portrayal

Tom Felton played Draco Malfoy in all of the Harry Potter films. Prior to landing the part of Malfoy, Felton auditioned to play Harry and Ron.

Felton contributed to premieres, articles and interviews, and received the Disney Channel's Kids Awards for Best DVD Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 22 September 2003 with Hermione Granger actress, Emma Watson. He also won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for his portrayal as Malfoy in the 2010 MTV Movie Awards and the 2011 MTV Movie Awards.

Malfoy grew into one of the series' most popular characters due to Felton's performances and Felton quickly became synonymous with the character to many female fans, much to Rowling's dismay. <blockquote>"I'm trying to clearly distinguish between Tom Felton, who is a good-looking young boy, and Draco, who, whatever he looks like, is not a nice man. It's a romantic, but unhealthy, and unfortunately all too common delusion of girls ... it actually worried me a little bit, to see young girls swearing undying devotion to this really imperfect character ... I mean, I understand the psychology of it, but it is pretty unhealthy." and later by James Howard. Beginning in 2025, Tom Felton began playing the role, reprising it from the film series. In the theatre play Draco has a style like his father's, such as his long hair. Draco was married to Astoria Greengrass, who had died, and has a son named Scorpius.

Having gone through the horrors of the second wizarding war as a Death Eater, Draco abandoned the pure-blood beliefs he was originally devoted to, and grew to become a better person than he was in his youth, growing more tolerant and accepting of the non-pure-bloods of the wizarding world. He also made sure to discipline his son Scorpius to be a better child than he himself was in his youth, which made Scorpius to show kindness and become friends with Harry's son Albus Severus, as evidence of his reformation. a curse used by Death Eater Antonin Dolohov in book 5, and also successfully cast the Serpensortia spell in the same scene, conjuring a serpent from his wand just as Voldemort would later do against Dumbledore in book 5, His character further develops in the sixth book, in which he is among very few students able to reach the required level to take Advanced Potions. Draco also proved capable at Occlumency, which he learned from his Aunt Bellatrix.

When asked what shape Draco's Patronus Charm is, Rowling replied that, at least by the end of the sixth book, Draco was not capable of producing a Patronus, as it is not magic routinely taught at Hogwarts.

Reception

In a 2003 interview, Rowling noted that boys liked to dress up as Malfoy a lot more than Harry, and that people are "getting far too fond of Draco", which she finds "a little bit worrying".

Draco is parodied as Jerko Phoenix in the series Wizards of Waverly Place, during the episodes "Wizard School Part 1" and "Wizard School Part 2", in which Alex and Justin Russo go to a wizarding school named Wiz-tech, where everyone wears yellow and black robes, and glasses reminiscent of Harry Potter. Draco also appears as Sacco (played by Shane Lyons) in the Harry Bladder sketches in All That, in which Harry Bladder and other students often encounter Sacco's mischief-making. In the stage production Harry Potter and the Obnoxious Voice, Malfoy is seen interacting with Hagrid and a dementor. Draco was also parodied in a Big Bite sketch, where he was known as Mailboy (with his father Lucius being parodied as Mailman). In Neil Cicierega's Potter Puppet Pals, Draco stars in the episode "Draco Puppet". He is different from all the other characters, simplistically made out of paper and is a smaller puppet, held and voiced by the Harry puppet. Harry created him in order to torture him, and after the puppet "annoys" Harry, he does a series of strange things to the paper Draco and eventually burns it on a stove. In A Very Potter Musical Draco is played by actress Lauren Lopez. He has a very obvious crush on Hermione and spends a great deal of time posing and rolling around on the floor.

References

  • Draco Malfoy at the Harry Potter Lexicon
  • Mugglenet: Role in the Books

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