Draco Malfoy

Draco Collection

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Watch episode four of Hogwarts Hangout: Does Draco Malfoy deserve redemption?

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Welcome to episode four of Hogwarts Hangout featuring Annie and Reece, two of our editorial team. Today they are putting their Gryffindor sensibilities aside to discuss all things [Malfoy](/fact-file/characters-and-pets/draco-malfoy). From Draco's [horrid family](/fact-file/magical-miscellany/the-malfoys), to his… difficult personality to his rivalry with Harry. Most importantly, they’re chatting about whether Draco deserves redemption…

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What do you think? Do you think the actions of a teenager shouldn’t be held against him? Did he ever have a chance with [Lucius Malfoy](/fact-file/characters-and-pets/lucius-malfoy) as a father? Did you also enjoy when Hermione punched him in the face? Whatever your view of the unscrupulous Malfoy, we want to know!

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to visit our Harry Potter YouTube channel to catchup on our first three episodes where we dived into the world of the Marauders, discussed what if Neville had been the Chosen One and pondered everything Christmas in the wizarding world. If you’re old enough, don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments. 

Remember, you can check out more of our videos at our official [Harry Potter YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@harrypotter) too.


Which Draco are you?

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## If you are the sporty type...you're Quidditch Draco 

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Draco Malfoy is standing with other members of the Slytherin Quidditch team. They are wearing Quidditch robes and holding their Nimbus 2001 broomsticks.

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Are you always out playing footie with your mates, come rain or shine? Are you deliriously competitive, to the point it's actually getting a bit annoying? Then you, friend, are Quidditch Draco - Seeker Extraordinaire, always seeking the next big win. You have the coolest broom on the market (thanks dad!) and you're totally gonna get that lame-o Potter boy in that next Gryffindor match, just you wait.  

## If you always have to have the last word... you're Sassy Draco

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Are you Joke Master General Supreme? If you go five minutes without making a cheeky quip, do you spontaneously combust? Then you are absolutely sassy Draco! You're always throwing a zinger into the mix during a slow Potions lesson, always there with the backchat when that Potter boy tries to say something flashy. Remember that time you were like, 'if you were any slower, you'd be going backwards?' Oh man, that was the good stuff. Classic bants. 

## If you have a tormented inner soul... you are Conflicted over Voldemort's Secret Task Draco 

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Are you feeling a little lost right now? Not quite sure which direction to go in with your life? Hey, this is kind of like that time Draco was given a secret task by Lord Voldemort himself to kill beloved Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Yeah, it sucks having to murder a national treasure, but at least you look really cool and brooding while doing so. After all: sad is happy for deep people, right? 

## If you're always trying to make a good impression... you are Black Suit Draco 

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Oh hello, Mr Suited and Booted! Someone's popped into Madam Malkin’s and got themselves a nice slick fit. If you are a firm believer that how you look on the outside contributes to how you feel on the inside, you are Black Suit Draco - where he started getting all serious and walking around like a Paris Fashion Week model. The Inquisitorial Squad is serious business! If you wanna go up in the world, you can't be wearing Neville Longbottom sweater-vests! 

## If your centre parting is your entire personality, you are Curtains Draco 

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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Is floppy hair the meaning of life? Then good news! You're Curtains Draco! That’s right: you're in your flop era! But a good version! We love you, 90s rom-com king! 

Why we should try to understand Draco Malfoy

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In *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,* Dumbledore tells Harry it is our choices that reveal what we truly are. In other words, it is not the things that happen but what we choose to do about them that defines us.

Draco Malfoy chose to be cruel when he attended Hogwarts. So what does that choice say about Draco? And why, given his bullying reputation, should we care about Draco’s choices at all?

## His upbringing spoke volumes

Draco is as hampered by destiny as Harry is – but where Harry’s childhood was spent in ignorance, Draco grew up with an ego installed in him. As the only child of Death Eater Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa, sister of Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco inhabits a world that is deeply dark, both in the magic it favours and its emotional impact on a young boy. With his early years marked by his family’s downfall, Draco has grown up hearing stories about Harry Potter, including rumours of his prowess as a Dark wizard. 

It’s these rumours, and the knowledge that his father would support a pure-blood champion with powers to rival Voldemort’s, that make Draco initially extend the hand of friendship to Harry. But his overtures fall on deaf ears. And for Draco, Harry’s rejection makes him an enemy and he realises his father’s hopes are unfounded. 

Yet it’s these two people – the father he’s desperate to impress and his school rival – that drive Draco’s behaviour. As J.K. Rowling writes, Draco envies Harry’s unasked-for fame and his flying ability and makes petty attempts to undermine him, like staging a duel so Harry will get caught and pretending to be a Dementor to frighten him. 

But it’s his attitude to others that really highlights Draco’s cruelty. From his bullying of Neville to the nasty comments he throws at the Weasleys, calling Hermione a Mudblood and getting Buckbeak sentenced to death, it’s fair to say Draco is not a nice guy. And yet, as J.K. Rowling reveals, there is some ‘unextinguished good’ in him. As he matures, we start to see flashes of it.

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## He has certain insecurities 

Draco came to Hogwarts a spoiled boy. All his life he’d been told he was special, as a pure-blood wizard and a Malfoy. At Hogwarts, students are encouraged to be treated equally. With his ego further dented by being schooled alongside Harry Potter – the reason for his family’s downfall – Draco’s dislike for Harry and those associated with him only increases. In part, this is because Harry makes Draco feel inferior, something he is not used to. On the contrary, the privileges of wealth and prestige endow Draco with such a sense of entitlement he feels able to pick on Neville, another boy from a wizarding family, for no reason other than Neville’s nerves and, perhaps, his parents.

Harry’s background, his choices, and his friendships all challenge Draco’s understanding of the world. In response, his views become more firmly entrenched and his bullying escalates. He spouts off pure-blood rhetoric, disdains ‘Mudbloods', panders to Umbridge and uses his family name to secure a place on the Slytherin Quidditch team. He also cultivates an arrogant, superior manner that echoes his father.

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## His father created a complex   

Draco mimics his father’s behaviour because it’s all he has. Growing up in Malfoy Manor can’t have been easy. Narcissa clearly loves him but she is not a warm woman, and Draco’s father is certainly not one to demonstrate affection – ‘I would have thought you’d be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam,’ he tells Draco coldly. 

Lucius doesn’t even seem to trust his son. After wishing he could help the Heir of Slytherin in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,* it must have been galling for Draco to learn his father was largely responsible for the Chamber’s opening.

So much of what Draco does is about capturing his father’s attention. From using his Buckbeak injury to discredit Hagrid to his promise to Voldemort, his family is often his motivation. Yet blindly following his parents is not sustainable.

## He was a child asked to kill  

Certain things are demanded of Draco, and the world he has constructed – a world that Harry, with his Muggle-born mother, challenges – starts to crumble. When Voldemort tells Draco to kill Dumbledore, he expects Draco to fail. Draco agrees anyway – not for glory, but because Voldemort has threatened him with death, and because he wants to restore his family’s standing.

It’s a hard, lonely task. Draco resists Snape’s help, cries in the toilets and makes crude attempts on Dumbledore’s life. In the end, though, he acts as everyone expects him to – even Voldemort – although of course Voldemort thinks weakness, not inherent goodness, stops Draco killing Dumbledore. But in the end, Draco can’t bring himself to commit murder.

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Dumbledore falls from Hogwarts' top tower after he is killed

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## He has some morals

In crucial moments, Draco’s reluctance to commit treacherous acts – killing Dumbledore, sending Harry to almost certain death – shows that though he is cruel and boastful, he is not completely amoral. He is also unhappy about Greyback’s appearance in *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince* and visibly uncomfortable about the death of Professor Burbage. 

Alone, these moments show a frightened teenager. Collectively, they demonstrate Draco questioning his parents’ path. Their championing of Voldemort’s pure-blood line has shaped Draco’s life but ultimately, against his own instincts, he’s better than them.

As to why it’s important to try to understand Draco – well, there is value in knowing your enemy. But it also matters because everything is a matter of perception; Draco isn’t Harry’s true enemy, Voldemort is. In the end, they are both subject to the manipulations of this very Dark wizard.

*Want to join the Wizarding World Book Club? [Sign up here](https://my.pottermore.com/wizarding-world-book-club "Join the Wizarding World Book Club") to read along, gain awards and discover new content every week. You can also [join the conversation](https://twitter.com/wwbookclub "Wizarding World Book Club on Twitter") over on Twitter.*

Discover the films

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to Fantastic Beasts

Five differences between the younger Draco Malfoy and the Draco we see in Cursed Child

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A close up image of Draco Malfoy looking concerned.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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and the Half-Blood Prince

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*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.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1

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and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1

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## 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__
<br>
>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__
<br>
>And your wife doesn’t need you fighting her battles for her.
>
>*Hermione looks witheringly at Ron. Ron takes the hit.*
>
>__Ron__
<br>
>Fine. But if you say one thing about her or me . . .
>
>__Draco__
<br>
>You’ll do what, Weasley?
>
>__Hermione__
<br>
>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)*
<br>
>Fine. I, um, I think you’ve got really nice hair. Draco.
><br>*Harry Potter and the Cursed Child*

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Members of the Broadway Premiere cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Photography by Charlie Gray

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## 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.

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## 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.

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## 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.

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Could Harry and Draco ever have been friends?

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**Spoiler warning: This article contains info on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child**

## Maybe they could have been friends 

Yes, Draco Malfoy was abhorrent at Hogwarts. Yes, he was cocky. Yes, he was awful to Harry, got mixed up in a very dark crowd, and was generally just, as Ron would call him, a git. All of these things are very fair to say. 

However, was all of this behaviour down to influences in Draco’s life? If he’d made better choices, made better friends, could things have been different for him? Could he then have been friends with someone like Harry, if he had the capability of being a better person? If his parents had been kinder, maybe he would’ve been kinder? And maybe then, when he met Harry in Madam Malkin’s shop in Diagon Alley for the first time, would he have seemed more attractive to Harry as a companion?

The signs were there that this could have been. Very much a product of his parents’ making, (just look at how frequently Draco brought up his father...) Draco strutted around Hogwarts with his cronies boasting about how great it was being rich, being in Slytherin, and being pure-blood. But these are all things he was taught to be proud of. Draco’s ideologies were very much passed on by mum and dad, Lucius and Narcissa, who, in turn, absorbed these ideologies from their own families: the Malfoys and the Blacks respectively. 

Both families dabbled in Dark magic and the idea that to be a Muggle, or have non-magical blood, or to be ‘half’ in some way, was wrong. It is no surprise that a lot of family members on both sides were connected to Lord Voldemort. Arguably, Draco was simply too enveloped in this world to think any differently, and within this general mindset, came a lot of cruelty, anger and coldness – which all began to shape his personality.

But what does all of this have to do with being friends with Harry? Well, it was Draco’s general demeanour that repelled Harry in the first place. And there are examples of wizards who came from Dark wizarding families who did choose different company to become better people. Sirius Black is probably the best example of this – running away from his pure-blood loving family that he didn't agree with to find kinder company. Sirius’s bravery led him to the Hogwarts house Gryffindor (the rest of his family were usually Slytherins) and there he found his like-minded friends, James Potter and Remus Lupin. So Sirius broke the cycle of the rest of his family, and spent the rest of his life fighting against the darker side of the Wizarding World, rather than joining it.

Draco could've chosen different friends and a different attitude at Hogwarts, just like Sirius, but Draco was always dogged by fear and insecurity. In later books, we began to learn that Draco was terrified of his Death Eater father’s way of life, despite often bragging about it. Due to Draco’s bravado, which he used as a self-defence mechanism, Harry chose not to be friends with the rude boy he met in Madam Malkin’s, who instantly displayed prejudice towards his half-giant friend Hagrid (something his parents would’ve taught him to feel) and generally exuded bad faith. Even the name ‘Malfoy’ roughly [translates to ‘bad faith’ in French!](https://www.wizardingworld.com/features/etymology-behind-harry-potter-character-names)

But it all could have been different. In *Harry Potter and the Cursed Child*, [a more wholesome Draco emerged](https://www.wizardingworld.com/features/what-i-learnt-from-draco-malfoy-by-playing-draco-malfoy). In a post-Voldemort atmosphere, no longer surrounded by the toxicity of his parents, Draco was making better choices, such as [marrying someone who did not carry the ideals of his own family](https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/draco-malfoy). And then there was his son [Scorpius](https://www.wizardingworld.com/features/how-scorpius-malfoy-proved-everyone-wrong-about-slytherin), who was naturally compassionate. This surely shows that Draco, like his son, had the potential to be ‘good’, if only he had grown up without such terrible influences. Maybe a more secure Draco would’ve been a little nicer in Madam Malkin’s, and maybe a braver Draco could’ve rejected his family’s ideals, like Sirius did. If he'd been encouraged to be more open-minded, maybe he would've met people who challenged his viewpoints, rather than Crabbe and Goyle, who simply always agreed with him.

Only a very different Draco could’ve been friends with Harry. But it *could* have been different.

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## No, they could never have been friends

*‘You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.’ 
He held out his hand to shake Harry’s, but Harry didn’t take it.’*

__Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone__ 

The truth is, Harry was never going to take Draco’s hand on the Hogwarts Express, whether Harry had met Ron Weasley or not. Harry had already got the measure of Draco Malfoy back in Diagon Alley, when Draco had been quick to dismiss Hagrid as a ‘sort of savage’. Hagrid was the first person Harry could really remember being kind to him at all, so that was never going to go down in Draco’s favour when it came to friendship. But there was something else about Malfoy – first in Madam Malkin’s and then later, on the Hogwarts Express, that we argue meant that Harry would never have considered being his friend – Draco liked to make people feel like outsiders. 

During his long years with the Dursleys, Harry had been made to feel like the outsider, the poor relation, every single day he spent in the cupboard, rather than a real bedroom. For so many years, Harry had been the ‘wrong sort’ to the Dursleys, who liked to remind him of it at every opportunity. He knew what it was like to be the person other children were nasty about at school, the way Draco gossiped spitefully about Hagrid in Madam Malkin’s. And he also knew what it was like to be constantly told that some people were better than others. The Dursleys constantly compared him to Dudley and told Harry that his cousin was every bit his superior.  Harry was never going to take kindly to someone warning him not to make friends, ‘with the wrong sort’ because that kind of attitude had meant that he – Harry – had been friendless and miserable in his school and home life for as long as he could remember. 

Draco Malfoy, though he initially offered his hand to Harry, would arguably have been unable to tolerate a friendship with the Boy Who Lived too. It was Draco’s mission in life to tell people how superior he was to them, but that might have become a little tricky if he was best mates with one of the most famous wizards of all time – something even the infinitely humbler, Ron, struggled with. From boasting about his father’s influence at the Ministry to sucking up to Umbridge and [becoming a member of the Inquisitorial Squad](https://www.wizardingworld.com/features/importance-of-badges-in-the-harry-potter-books), Draco tirelessly fought to make himself stand out from his peers. But this was something that Harry had never had to work at – the scar on his forehead marking him out as special from the start. We argue this would have been extremely difficult for Draco to maintain a proper friendship with famous Harry Potter – his ego just couldn’t have coped with it.

Given this intrinsic need to distinguish himself from others, it is no wonder really, that Draco would get sucked into Lord Voldemort’s rhetoric of pure-bloods and power; it fed directly into Draco’s need to feel superior. Harry, on the other hand, was never going to befriend a boy who made others feel small or inferior. 

Draco and Harry might have had a shared love for Quidditch, both playing Seeker on their house teams. And indeed, they had a shared experience of being raised by a bully – Lucius for Draco, and the Dursleys for Harry. 

But that was never going to be enough to mean these two would ever be friends.

***

What do you think? Could Harry and Draco ever have been friends?

The chapter that made us fall in love with… Draco Malfoy

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Dobby drops the chandelier on the assembled Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor.

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[Draco Malfoy](/features/draco-malfoy "Draco Malfoy") spent most of the series as one of those characters we just love to hate. He treated most students like they were beneath him, was quick to insult, and often resorted to dirty tactics… but we think maybe there was hope for him yet.

## ‘Malfoy Manor’ 

In *Deathly Hallows*, there was a moment where it felt like all was lost. After months of unsuccessful searches for Voldemort’s [Horcruxes](/features/the-horcruxes "The Horcruxes"), Harry, Ron and Hermione were taken by Snatchers, and transported straight into the belly of the beast, [Malfoy Manor](/features/malfoy-manor "Malfoy Manor").

[Harry](/features/harry-potter "Harry Potter"), who was disguised with a swollen, puffy face thanks to [Hermione’s](/features/hermione-granger "Hermione Granger") Stinging Jinx, must be identified before he’s given to [Lord Voldemort](/features/lord-voldemort "Lord Voldemort"), with the Malfoys, [Bellatrix](/features/bellatrix-lestrange "Bellatrix Lestrange") and [Fenrir Greyback](/features/fenrir-greyback "Fenrir Greyback") hungry to present him to the Dark Lord. One word from Draco would seal his fate. 

Draco’s parents were alive with ecstasy, with [Lucius Malfoy](/features/lucius-malfoy "Lucius Malfoy") convinced that catching Harry Potter would put him back in favour with Lord Voldemort. But Draco, for the first time in his life, was almost speechless. 

> ’Well, Draco?’ said Lucius Malfoy. He sounded avid. ‘Is it? Is it Harry Potter?’<br> 
> ‘I can’t – I can’t be sure,’ said Draco.<br>
>  *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*

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## Why it mattered

Why did Draco hesitate? He could have got rid of his rival once and for all and restored the Malfoys to their former glory.

But the events of *Half-Blood Prince* took their toll on Draco. Though he entered sixth year with the usual sneer and swagger, he appeared nervous and dishevelled as time passed. Secretly he’d been initiated into the [Death Eaters](/collection/characters-deatheaters "Death Eaters") and told to kill [Professor Dumbledore](/features/albus-dumbledore "Albus Dumbledore"). Draco quickly realised that he was in over his head and began to crack under the pressure.

> ‘The only people who can see Thestrals… are people who have seen death.’ <br>
> *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*

Seeing death permanently changed the way a person sees the world. Draco witnessed his kindly old headmaster struck down in front of him and and the Muggle Studies teacher [Charity Burbage](/features/charity-burbage "Charity Burbage") was tortured and killed in his own home.

We forget that Draco was still only a boy and seeing innocent people tortured and killed was not something he was prepared for. Until recently, Draco seemed to have lived a charmed and sheltered life; he’d never been poor like [Ron](/features/ron-weasley "Ron Weasley"), accused of having ‘dirty blood’ like Hermione or suffered the loss of a loved one like Harry. 

It could be said that his childish slurs against Muggle-borns and ‘blood traitors’ came not from a place of hatred so much as one of ignorance. Perhaps if he’d understood the weight of his words Draco would have been more careful about how he wielded them.  

> Harry saw Draco’s face up close, now, right beside his father’s. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco’s expression was full of reluctance, even fear. <br>
> ‘I don’t know,’ he said, and he walked away towards the fireplace where his mother stood watching. <br>
> *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*

Then the moment finally arrived when Draco had the chance to redeem himself. So many thoughts must have been racing through his mind: maybe he felt remorse over helping the Death Eaters, who’d already claimed many innocent lives. He knew all too well what would happen to Harry and his friends if they were handed over, yet his parents would be proud and grateful beyond measure. 

Draco was torn between loyalty to his family, fear of Voldemort and worry for his former classmates. But Draco could not just flit from one position to another in one fell swoop – and instead of denying it was Harry completely, settled for a passive, ‘I don’t know.’

## A disinclined Death Eater 

We wonder if Draco’s hesitancy in this moment suggested that he had cast aside the boyish fantasy of being a powerful Death Eater; that he finally understood the horrifying reality of serving Voldemort. 

It’s tragic that he had to grow up so fast, but we can respect how much he changed. By refusing, Draco finally took a stand and stopped another innocent person being brutalised.

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Harry, accompanied by the spirits of his dead family and friends, approaches Lord Voldemort prepared to die.

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Actions have consequences – Draco learnt that the hard way. Harry would later risk his own life to save Draco from the Fiendfyre. [Narcissa Malfoy](/features/narcissa-malfoy "Narcissa Malfoy") would then lie to Voldemort – an extremely dangerous person to lie to – and spare Harry to hear that her son is alive. Thanks to all of this, Voldemort would be defeated and peace would return to the wizarding world. Much of this can be traced back to that one pivotal decision in Malfoy Manor. 

[Draco](/writing-by-jk-rowling/draco-malfoy "Draco Malfoy by J.K. Rowling") proved himself to be a stronger, braver and more sympathetic character than most of us gave him credit for, and how terrifying the pressure of his Death Eater father had on his entire life. It made us rethink the path he’d taken and the person he became. Most importantly, it showed us the power of redemption and how we can all learn from our mistakes.

*Pottermore looks back at the moments that made our favourite characters so memorable. Read about the chapter that made us fall in love with... [Neville Longbottom.](/features/chapter-that-made-us-fall-in-love-with-neville-longbottom "The chapter that made us fall in love with Neville Longbottom")*

The worst Draco Malfoy burns of all time

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Draco Malfoy was a total nightmare at Hogwarts: he was awful to Muggle-borns, mean about people less well-off than his unattainably rich family and annoyed Harry every chance he got. Like that time he organised those ‘Potter Stinks’ badges. Slow clap, Malfoy.

He didn’t stop there. Remember some of these most shocking cheap shots? 

> ‘Honestly, if you were any slower, you’d be going backwards.’ <br>
> *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*

Funnily enough, this zinger to Goyle was actually Harry-as-Goyle, thanks to some handy Polyjuice Potion during *Chamber of Secrets*. It’s a particularly hilarious moment because while Draco does seem a little bit perturbed that Goyle has forgotten all about the wizarding prison Azkaban, it is actually kind of plausible that he would.

> ‘Longbottom, if brains were gold you’d be poorer than Weasley, and that’s saying something.’<br>
> *Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone*

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Neville with his Mimbulus Mimbletonia in a Herbology class

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It cut deeply whenever anyone was cruel to Neville Longbottom. Severus Snape, we’re looking at you. Your doe Patronus can’t get you out of this one.

In one fell swoop, Draco manages to prey upon both Neville and Ron’s deepest insecurities: their lack of intelligence, and lack of funds. Draco, this was a total low blow.

> ‘Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?’<br>
> *Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone*
 
Many would concur that Hufflepuff is actually an excellent house, and we don’t appreciate Draco’s shade. Like being placed in the same house as Cedric Diggory could ever be a bad thing, honestly.

> ‘Yes, exactly. I heard he’s a sort of savage – lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed.’ <br>
> *Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone* 

Oh, boy. The Draco burns really do come thick and fast in *Philosopher’s Stone*. Draco’s ability to concisely distill someone into a stereotype – in this case, Hagrid – without taking into consideration their nuances or good qualities is despicable, and we are broken-hearted. Team Hagrid forever.

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Harry teaching a lesson on the Forbidden Forest from the Prisoner of Azakaban 

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> ‘You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team? […] It’s people they feel sorry for. See, there’s Potter, who’s got no parents, then there’s the Weasleys, who’ve got no money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you’ve got no brains.’ <br>
> *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*

Some more tactless savagery here, this time manageing to insult Harry, the Weasley twins and Neville Longbottom in the space of one breath. Do you think he’s trying to set some sort of weird world record of being the absolute worst?

> ‘Ah, look, boys, it’s the champion,’ he said to Crabbe and Goyle, the moment he got within earshot of Harry. ‘Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he’s going to be around much longer… half the Triwizard champions have died… how long d’you reckon you’re going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task’s my bet.’<br>
> *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* 

Sometimes Draco Malfoy’s burns are so clearly inspired by jealousy, you almost feel a little sorry for the guy. However, joking about classmates dying is definitely not good form. 

> ‘Look at this!’ said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron’s robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle. ‘Weasley, you weren’t thinking about wearing these, were you? I mean – they were very fashionable in about 1890…’<br>
> *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*

Draco was a massive git to Ron at the best of times, but don’t kick a guy when he’s down – not to mention a guy wearing ancient dress robes that looked like they were made at the dawn of time. 

We, for one, loved Ron’s vintage look – always.

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Ron and Harry looking at their dress robes from the Goblet of Fire

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The ultimate Draco Malfoy quiz

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First things first, which house did Draco Malfoy belong to?

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What were the names of Draco’s parents? 

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Which position did Draco play on the Slytherin Quidditch team? 

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And what model of broomstick did his father buy for the entire team?

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What was the name of Malfoy’s family home?

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And in which county would you find Malfoy Manor? 

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Which of these Dark items did Draco Malfoy purchase from Borgin and Burkes? 

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Who did Draco Malfoy take to the Yule Ball? 

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Malfoy was accompanied by his two best friends. What were their names? 

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Professor Moody turned Draco into an animal as a punishment. What creature was it? 

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Which of these magical talents was Draco skilled at? 

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How did Draco manage to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts in Half-Blood Prince?

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What was the name of Draco’s son? 

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Draco’s wand has what as its core? 

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In the early drafts of the Harry Potter books, Draco had many surnames before J.K. Rowling settled on Malfoy. Which of these was not one of them? 

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Hermione Granger might have decided that Draco was nothing but a ‘foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach’ but there was more to Malfoy than his similarity to a certain bug. See  what you know about Hogwarts resident bully in our ultimate quiz…

The Draco Malfoy Challenge Quiz 

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The Draco Malfoy Challenge Quiz

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Which of the following skills was Salazar Slytherin known for?  

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How is a Basilisk bred?  

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Which Dark magical object provides candlelight only to the holder?  

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A Vanishing Cabinet resides at Hogwarts, but where does its twin live?  

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In which British county do the Malfoys own a sizeable amount of land?   

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What is the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin house ghost, covered in?   

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And finally, which renown Death Eater is Narcissa Malfoy’s sibling?  

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If Draco Malfoy were to set a quiz, what sort of questions would he ask? Find out in our latest quiz... 

The Draco Malfoy crossword

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What better way to celebrate Draco's birthday than with a good old puzzle?

<iframe width="100%" height="650" allowtransparency="true" style="background: #FFFFFF" src="https://bridgecard.wizardingworld.com/crossword/20230528/00159/" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Visit our [puzzles hub](https://www.wizardingworld.com/collections/potter-puzzles) to try more challenges.

Complete the quote quiz: Draco Malfoy edition

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You hang around with ______ like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it’ll rub off on you. 

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Draco Malfoy always had a lot to say for himself – and it was mostly rather unpleasant. How well can you recall this slippery Slytherin’s most memorable lines? 

His name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. From schoolboy bully to reluctant Death Eater, Harry's rival sparks a lot of debate. Do you think he redeemed himself? Was he simply misunderstood? Did he have the most iconic hair? One thing's for certain, if you don't enjoy this page dedicated entirely to Draco his father will hear about it.

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