Spoiler warning! Before you dive in, we wanted to let you know that this article contains some spoilers for Cursed Child.
His views of Voldemort were quite different…
When Draco Malfoy was at school, he believed the abhorrent views of his family. They were all big supporters of Voldemort, who thought that they were superior just because they happened to be pure-blood witches and wizards. They were so invested in this ideology, that Draco and his father were both in Voldemort’s inner circle as Death Eaters. Draco wouldn’t flinch at calling Muggle-borns the derogatory term ‘Mudblood’ and did call Hermione that several times at school.
However, the older Draco had moved away from that way of thinking. He still had a snobby attitude and some of his old prejudices lingered. Yet, with the help of his wife, Astoria, he had managed to not raise his son with those same bigoted views. While this didn’t excuse Draco’s past behaviour, it did show that he had grown and matured as a person. Where he would have boasted of his connections to the Dark Lord as a teenager, as an adult, that same connection made him feel ashamed.
In this image:
His relationship with Harry, Ron and Hermione had changed…
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco were never going to be best friends – they would probably never even like each other. However, the animosity between them had definitely subsided since their schooldays. In Cursed Child, they were no longer on separate sides and had managed to form an uneasy truce. However, that didn’t mean the past had been forgotten. Ron especially remembered the way that Draco was particularly horrible to Hermione. Yet, things clearly had changed, as we don’t think Hermione would have ever spoken about hugging Malfoy as a teenager…
Ron
Malfoy, you may be all chummy chummy with Harry, and you may have produced a relatively nice child, but you’ve said some very unfair things to and about my wife . . .Hermione
And your wife doesn’t need you fighting her battles for her.Hermione looks witheringly at Ron. Ron takes the hit.
Ron
Fine. But if you say one thing about her or me . . .Draco
You’ll do what, Weasley?Hermione
He’ll hug you. Because we’re all on the same team, aren’t we Ron?Ron (hesitating in the face of her unwavering gaze)
Fine. I, um, I think you’ve got really nice hair. Draco.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
He was less reluctant to reach out for help…
When Draco was tasked with the murder of Dumbledore at age sixteen, he didn’t ask for any help. He struggled alone under the enormous weight of such an evil task. Even though Snape pleaded with him to allow him to help, Draco refused his offer. In fact, Draco managed to master the tricky art of Occlumency to keep everyone out and ensure that Snape could not assist him with his mission.
As an adult, Draco had managed to learn that sometimes you need to reach out to others – especially when your child is involved. With the story that Scorpius was the son of Voldemort running rampant, Malfoy had no choice but to ask his former enemy, Harry Potter, to assist him in dispelling those rumours. The amount of pride that Draco would have swallowed to do that shouldn’t be underestimated. There is no way that the young Draco would have done something for anyone else – let alone something so humiliating.
In this image:
His had new hair…
Draco Malfoy was always famous for his sleek, blond hair. While he was at school, he kept it rather short. However, as an adult, Draco seemed to have had quite the makeover and sported a long, luxurious and swishy ponytail. It’s always good to shake up your look and keep things fresh. But don’t be fooled in thinking this new ponytail meant a more relaxed, hippy version of Draco. He still enjoyed the finer things in life and still liked to look his very best – with no hair out of place.
And a new love of farmers’ markets…
Ok, so we don’t know what Draco’s previously feeling were on farmers’ markets, but we would hazard a guess that they probably wouldn’t have been on his radar. We thought it was very cute that adult Draco had an appreciation for thatched roof cottages and local produce – it made him seem like a proper grownup.
In this image: