Literary Lads: Draco Malfoy
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"But I got this far, didn't I? They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here... and you're
in my power....I'm the one with the wand.... You're at my mercy...."
Where to start with this complex, intricate character?
JK Rowling has been quoted to have said "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."
I think anyone who loves Draco the way I do instantly rebelled against this statement. I'm going to show you why I love Draco, and why you should too, if you don't already. Please note there will be lots of spoilers for all of the Harry Potter books in the following, in case you somehow have managed to avoid hearing the outcomes for this long!
Assumptions about his childhood
Draco Malfoy is a young boy who's primary example, his father, is not a nice man. Lucius Malfoy, is not a nice person (in my mind). Draco is raised with no other view but what his father provides him with, and like every child he wants his parents approval and therefore thinks emulating them is the best way to do this. He goes on to copy his father, spout his father's ideals and be a generally annoying prat to the main characters of Harry Potter, particularly nasty to Hermione Granger. It probably didn't help that his offer of friendship to Harry Potter at the beginning of their first year was publicly rejected, making him feel foolish and insignificant, which made Harry Potter a target from then on purely in retaliation for making him feel the way he did. He makes the mistake of a lot of children before him, thinking that to be mean and cruel will make you popular and "cool". Kids, in normal circumstances, grow out of this behaviour as they age, and regret to some degree being the awful obnoxious person they were in school.
However Draco was not given "normal circumstances" in which to grow up. By the time he was 15, his world was once again at war. Another JK Rowling quote from the same interview - Suddenly, after "having talked the talk [Draco's] asked to walk it for the first time and it is absolutely terrifying. I felt sorry for Draco." He has no choice but to continue to follow in his father's footsteps. While it was still his own choice to follow his father and Lord Voldemort, I can't help but wonder at the level of emotional blackmail that was involved in that decision for Draco. Just because he had been a school yard bully, doesn't mean he ever wanted to be a murderer. And yet that was what was asked of him, at the mere age of 16.
So I question the statement that he is "not a nice man". For one, Draco was never a "man" in the books, except for the epilogue. He was only a teenage boy, struggling to make his own decisions. How many 16 year olds can say they defied their father and a murderer and risked their life? It would have been an impossible choice, to say no to Lord Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy. And we see so much evidence of his struggle with this decision throughout Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, most notably the bathroom scene, and the Astronomy Tower scene. In the end, he can't kill Professor Dumbledore. It's one thing to say it, another completely to do it. He's still an innocent 16 year old boy (and yes, I use the word innocent, in that he still has not killed, he has not irreparably damaged his soul), taking that step would have crushed him. But he didn't.
Keeping in mind that this is a Literary celebration, I haven't wanted to use the movie as a crutch too much, but because it is there and available I find it helps with the discussion of Draco's character.
Draco's Hardest Decision
Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (the movie)
Click to viewAll I see is a child, torn between what he has been told to do by people he loves (however misguided), and what his heart tells him is ultimately right and wrong. He has to make a decision that will change him, forever. It doesn't make him unredeemable, it just makes him intricate. And young.
Why I love Draco Malfoy
We can all find a little bit of ourselves in Draco. Most people will say they associate with Harry, but that's because he's the main character, and we see everything from his eyes in the books. He tells the story. Have you ever hidden behind a brave face, when inside you were really scared and unsure? Have you ever craved the approval of your parents, and found it almost impossible to achieve, no matter what you do? Have you ever wanted to fit in? Have you ever had to make any kind of tough decision, and had to wonder about it for ages afterwards about whether it was the right choice? Have you lashed out at someone to hide your own insecurities? I've done most of these things already in my life, and we all make mistakes. The only way you become a better person is through learning from your mistakes. Draco, to me, is stronger than Harry, because he survives making the wrong choices. He picks himself up, and makes the best of a bad situation.
I also love that his character is not final in the books. The Epilogue may show him married to Astoria and having a son, Scorpius, but it also shows him free to live his own life. What happened in the 19 years between the end of the war and the Epilogue is something the author did not put pen to paper. Those 19 years are everything, those are the years where you will truly see what kind of person he is, and it's up to you, the reader, to decide. I decided to think the best of him.
And of course I love him because he is such a strong character. He's snarky and rude, he's good looking, he's confident, he's been privileged and can be quite selfish. He's the only child of a very wealthy family, and as such is completely oblivious to some things that a normal person should and does know. He has depth, and he's not just 'the baddie' of the story. Heck, the 'baddie' was Lord Voldemort. Draco, on the other hand, is just a boy.
The best of Draco Malfoy quotes
(apologies for mixing in movie quotes!)
“Play Quidditch at all?”
“No,” Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.
“I do - Father says it’s a crime if I’m not picked to play for my House, and I must say, I agree. Know what House you’ll be in yet?”
“No,” said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.
“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?” PS
"Scared, Potter?"
"The Forest? I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are....werewolves." PS
"Azkaban - the wizard's prison, Goyle. Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backwards."
"It comes and it goes. Still, I consider myself luckily. If it wasn't for Madame Pomfrey, another minute or two and I could have lost my arm; couldn't possibly do any homework for weeks." POA
"Why so tense, Potter? My father and I have a bet, you see. See, I don't think you're going to last ten minutes in this tournament. He disagrees. He thinks you won't last five!" GOF
"You don't know what I'm capable of, you don't know what I've done!"
"Someone's dead," said Malfoy, and his voice seemed to go up an octave as he said it. "One of your people...I don't know who, it was dark...I stepped over the body...I was supposed to be waiting up here when you got back, only your Phoenix lot got in the way.."
“You'd better hurry up, they'll be waiting for 'the Chosen Captain' - 'The Boy Who Scored'- whatever they call you these days.” HBP
Great Fanfiction Rec Lists with Draco!
Slash - http://read-whatilove.livejournal.com/396.html
Draco centric community - http://dracoships.livejournal.com
Masterlists containing Draco - http://hp-masterlists.livejournal.com/tag/character%3A%20draco%20malfoy
