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- "I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, I imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families."
- — Draco showing his prejudice at a young age[src]
Draco Lucius[11] Malfoy (b. 5 June 1980) was a British pure-blood wizard and the only son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy (née Black). The son of a Death Eater, Draco was raised to strongly believe in the importance of blood purity. He looked down on half-bloods and Muggle-borns.
Draco attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1991-1998. He was sorted into Slytherin House almost the moment the Sorting Hat touched his head. During his years at Hogwarts, he became friends with Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and other fellow Slytherins, but he quickly developed a rivalry with Harry Potter.
He was made a prefect of his house and was a member of the Inquisitorial Squad during his fifth year, at the end of which his father was imprisoned in Azkaban following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Lord Voldemort charged Draco with making up for Lucius's failure, and he became a Death Eater at age sixteen but was quickly disillusioned with the lifestyle.
Draco was unable to complete his task of murdering Albus Dumbledore, which was later taken over by Severus Snape, and only performed his other duties fearfully and reluctantly. He and his family defected hours before the end of the Second Wizarding War, fearing for their lives.
By 2017, Draco had married Astoria Greengrass and had one child, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.
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Early life (1980–1991)
Growing up in Malfoy Manor
Draco Lucius Malfoy was born on 5 June 1980, to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy (née Black),[12] who were both born into old, wealthy pure-blood families. Both the Malfoys and the Blacks had traditionally been in Slytherin House for centuries and strongly disapproved of any relatives who did not follow in this tradition, such as Sirius Black.[13] His mother sang him a secretive lullaby which had been passed down the Black family.[14]
Draco was raised in an atmosphere of regret that the Lord Voldemort had not succeeded in taking command of the wizarding community, although he was prudently reminded that such sentiments ought not to be expressed outside the small circle of the family and their close friends 'or Daddy might get into trouble'. The Malfoys were very proud of their Pure-blood and social status; until 1996, they were able to maintain a respectable public image while being allied with Lord Voldemort. Lucius was a Death Eater who avoided imprisonment in Azkaban following the First Wizarding War by claiming that he had been under the Imperius Curse, while Narcissa merely agreed with the ideology of pure-blood supremacy.
The Malfoys spoiled their son, giving him the best of everything as far as material possessions go. The only two hand-me-down things Draco ever received were the old family prejudice against Muggles, Muggle-borns, half-breeds, and blood traitors — in short, prejudice against anyone who was not a pure-blood wizardkind or anyone who supports these types of people — and the Malfoy family's vast collection of powerful dark artefacts harking back to the family history.
Preparing for Hogwarts
In his childhood, Draco associated mainly with the pure-blood children of his father's ex-Death Eater cronies and therefore arrived at Hogwarts with a small gang of friends already made, including Theodore Nott and Vincent Crabbe.[1] He visited the school himself when Lucius came to inspect, and his father entrusted Jacob's sibling and Merula Snyde to be his chaperones, a decision which did not rub off well with any of the three. Lucius had requested the two in particular, as Jacob's sibling was ostensibly the best student in their year whilst Merula was the daughter of two of Lucius's former Death Eater colleagues and thus considered the 'right' type of person for Draco to associate with. Draco did not endear himself to either student, however, particularly with his snobbish and disdainful attitude towards them and open displays of prejudice.[15]
During the visit, Draco stole his father's wand, as he was too young to have his own and wanted to perform magic after seeing Merula perform the Jelly-Legs Curse on Jacob's sibling. Lucius initially blamed the theft on their House-elf Dobby, as the perpetrator knew he kept his wand inside his walking stick, which wasn't common knowledge. Jacob's sibling investigated and returned the wand to Lucius.[16]
Whilst Lucius was at the Three Broomsticks Inn negotiating a supply of Butterbeer for Malfoy Manor, he brought Draco along, who wanted to go to Honeydukes. When Jacob's sibling attempted to ask Lucius about his wife, Narcissa, they were made the chaperone of Draco again. Draco convinced Jacob's sibling to take him to Honeydukes, with the promise that he would tell Jacob's sibling anything they wanted to know about his mother. Draco eventually ended up telling Jacob's sibling about the Black family lullaby which his mother would sing to him every night and which was the key to unlocking Narcissa's lock on the Black sisters' keepsake box.[17]
When it was nearing the time for Draco to attend school, his father wanted him to attend Durmstrang Institute, a school in Northern Europe that taught the Dark Arts and did not admit Muggle-borns. Additionally, he believed that the son of a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors not attending Hogwarts would be a great scandal and could potentially force Dumbledore to retire. However, Draco's mother did not like the idea of him going to school far away, though ultimately convinced Lucius to make it Draco's choice where he went to school. Lucius attempted to influence his son's decision by bringing him on a surprise inspection of Hogwarts during the 1986–1987 school year, during which he vocally derided the state of the school and Slytherin House in particular to his son and attempted to bribe Draco's chaperone, Jacob's sibling, into influencing Draco's decision. During this visit, Draco got caught up in the investigations into a conspiracy against Slytherin, and helped bring the conspirators to justice. For this, Professor Snape thanked him in front of the whole hall, which made Draco certain he wanted to attend Hogwarts, much to his father's derision. He also revealed that Narcissa had promised him a second birthday cake if he picked Hogwarts. Thus they sent him to Hogwarts.[3][16][18]
When Draco went to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies in 1991, he met Harry Potter in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions without knowing who he was. He made a rather intolerant speech about Muggle-borns and Rubeus Hagrid but otherwise acted in quite a friendly manner towards Harry Potter.[19]
Hogwarts years (1991–1998)
First year
- "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."
- — Draco mocking Gryffindor students[src]
While on the Hogwarts Express for the very first time, Draco Malfoy offered his friendship to Harry Potter, as his father believed that Harry was a Dark wizard, and Draco wished to impress him and relay some interesting news home. However, Harry didn't like the attitude Draco expressed towards Ron Weasley, with whom Harry had already made friends, and also found that Draco reminded him of his cousin Dudley with his disdainful attitude. Thus, he turned him down, creating animosity that lasted through the rest of their schooling.[19]
Once at Hogwarts, Draco was Sorted into Slytherin House, like many other members of his family. He rapidly formed friendships with fellow Slytherins while remaining hostile toward Harry to the point of challenging him to a duel after Harry beat him to Neville Longbottom's Remembrall during their first Flying lesson. This was, in fact, an attempt to get Harry into trouble for being out after curfew. He resented the attention Harry received because of his fame and his prodigious flying ability, which led to Harry being permitted to join his house's Quidditch team at a younger age than most.[19]
Later in the year, Draco discovered Harry's plan to smuggle Hagrid's pet dragon Norbert out of the castle and informed Professor McGonagall of it but was put in detention as well for being out past curfew. For his detention, Draco had to assist Hagrid, Harry, and Hermione, who had been caught shortly after smuggling Norbert out, as well as Neville Longbottom, who had tried to warn them about Draco, in finding a wounded unicorn. This was a task he greatly resented because he found it to be 'servants' work'. He and Harry witnessed Voldemort, inhabiting the body of Quirinus Quirrell, drinking the blood of a unicorn and ran away in fear leaving Harry behind.[19]
At the end of the school year, Draco was initially overjoyed that Slytherin was on course to win the House Cup again but was very dejected to see Gryffindor win the cup once Albus Dumbledore awarded Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville additional house points for their brave actions.[19]
Second year
- "Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend... He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped-up Granger Mudblood. And people think he's Slytherin's heir!"
- — Draco on speculation that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin[src]
Before the start of his second year, Draco Malfoy was present at Flourish and Blotts on the day Harry, the Grangers and the Weasleys were shopping for Gilderoy Lockhart's new Hogwarts textbooks. After Harry was given a free copy of books by Lockhart personally, Draco afterwards approached him to insult him, and after Ginevra Weasley defended him, he mocked her as his girlfriend (unintentionally predicting the future). Draco's father Lucius Malfoy, who met Harry for the first time, was also present and also encountered Arthur Weasley, who he insulted for associating with Muggles, such as the Grangers. Arthur then attacked Lucius in an angry rage, prompting them all to leave the shop.[13]
In his second year at Hogwarts, Draco attained the position of Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team. His father bought the entire team new Nimbus 2001s because of this, though Hermione Granger openly speculated that this was, in fact, what got Draco on the team at all. Draco responded angrily to this accusation and called Hermione a 'filthy little Mudblood', causing the Gryffindor Quidditch team to lash out at him; Ron tried to curse him to vomit slugs, but the spell backfired due to his broken wand, which Draco and his team found very amusing.[13]
Ironically, Draco was the reason why Slytherin lost to Gryffindor that year in Quidditch because he was unaware that the Golden Snitch was hovering inches above his own left ear--too busy insulting Harry Potter to notice. Harry took advantage of the lapse in concentration, allowing Gryffindor to win the match and Draco to be reprimanded by the team captain Marcus Flint for his stupidity, which was witnessed by George Weasley.[13]
During a meeting of the short-lived Duelling Club that year, Draco duelled Harry Potter. He conjured a snake after being encouraged by Professor Snape and was disappointed when Harry thwarted the attack by speaking to the serpent in Parseltongue. This led many students to suspect that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, who had opened the Chamber of Secrets and released a 'monster'. This caused Draco to be upset that any one would actually think that 'saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend' could be the heir of Slytherin, which was something that he thought was completely ridiculous.[13]
Harry, Ron, and Hermione suspected that Draco might be the Heir, given his bigoted views on Muggle-borns and his family's tradition of being Sorted into Slytherin House. Hermione brewed Polyjuice Potion in the girls' third floor bathroom so that Harry and Ron were able to disguise themselves as Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe respectively and enter the Slytherin common room. There, Draco unwittingly revealed through conversation that he was not the heir, nor did he know who it was. He did tell them that the Chamber had been opened fifty years ago and that he wished he could help the true heir.[13]
It was, in fact, Draco's own father who had schemed to get the Chamber of Secrets opened by planting an old diary of Tom Riddle's on first-year student Ginny Weasley, though his true target in this plot was her father Arthur. It does not appear that Draco was aware of this, as Lucius's instructions to his son that year were to 'keep his head down'. The diary was a Horcrux, containing a piece of Voldemort's soul, and it was destroyed when Harry stabbed it with a Basilisk fang while in the chamber itself.[13] When Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey were applauded for bringing everyone who was petrified back to their normal ways, Draco did not clap for them, but instead gave them an evil snobbish look.[13]
Third year
- Draco: "I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer. Father's not very happy about my injury...he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this...who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?"
- Harry Potter: "So that's why you're putting it on. To try and get Hagrid sacked."
- Draco: "Well, partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too."
- — Discussion of Draco's injury in a Potions class[src]
Draco started off his third year by mocking Harry's reaction to the Dementors that were near Hogwarts that year searching for escaped Azkaban prisoner Sirius Black despite being terrified of them himself. He also hinted at Black's crimes regarding Harry and his late parents, which Harry was unaware of for some time, and told him that if someone had betrayed and got his parents killed — as it was believed Black had done to the Potters — he would seek revenge.[20]
In a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Draco unintentionally provoked the Hippogriff Buckbeak and was injured, though he exaggerated how badly he was hurt for attention and in an attempt to use the incident against Rubeus Hagrid to get him fired.[20]
During the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, Draco, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Marcus Flint attempted to undermine Harry's performance by posing as Dementors — Draco standing on Goyle's shoulders — but they were all knocked over by Harry's first successful automatic Patronus Charm, clearly unaware that it was the effect the Dementors had on Harry that he had a problem with rather than the Dementors themselves. Their attempt to sabotage Harry's performance ended up costing Slytherin House 50 points.[20]
When Draco mocked Hagrid for how upset he became over the case, Hermione slapped Draco in anger. Lucius tried to get the creature executed, and although he was successful in obtaining this sentence, Buckbeak was saved through the efforts of Harry and Hermione with the help of a time-turner and given to Black when his innocence was proven to Harry, Ron and Hermione. This outcome angered both Draco and his father.[20]
Fourth year
In 1994, Draco attended the 1994 Quidditch World Cup with his parents. They sat in the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge's luxury box as guests of the Minister, due to Lucius's large donation. He was seated directly behind trio and the Weasleys. He taunted Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger when a group of Death Eaters began terrorising the campers after the game, mocking the Muggles they were tormenting and implying that they would do the same to Hermione because of her Muggle-born status. Harry asked if his father (Lucius Malfoy) was participating in the riot and he responded with 'if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you', as the answer was yes. Once on the train to Hogwarts, Draco proceeded to mock the trio about their lack of knowledge regarding the upcoming school event.[3]
During his fourth year, Hogwarts hosted the Triwizard Tournament, and, much to Draco's dismay and jealousy, Harry was chosen as a champion despite being too young. Draco supported Cedric Diggory, passing out badges that could be made to read Potter Stinks and taunting Harry regularly, such as commenting that he was betting Harry wouldn't last more than a few minutes with the dragons. He was proven wrong when Harry tied with Cedric for first place and succeeded in capturing his golden egg the fastest.[3]
He was also the informer and impetus behind Rita Skeeter writing slanderous, sensationalist articles about Harry, Hagrid and Hermione for the Daily Prophet, due to him knowing that she was an Animagus; this assault on Harry's credibility would set the stage for widespread disbelief of Harry's announcement that Lord Voldemort had returned at the end of the school year. Some of the articles that he was partly for was one about Harry and Hermione titled Harry Potter's Secret Heartache.[3]
When Draco tried to cast a spell at Harry early in the year behind his back, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Bartemius Crouch Junior (disguised as Alastor Moody using Polyjuice Potion) transformed Draco into a ferret and bounced him around the room as punishment. Although Professor McGonagall stopped it, Draco was very embarrassed and other students were highly amused; Ron dubbed him 'the Amazing Bouncing Ferret'. Throughout the year, students would tease Draco by telling him that Professor Moody was behind him, causing him to flinch or shudder. Even Hagrid noted that he had heard that Draco had made a good ferret, making Draco not know what to say. At Christmas time, Draco attended the Yule Ball with Pansy Parkinson.[3]
At the end of the year, Draco mocked Harry about his choice to side against Voldemort and also ridiculed Cedric Diggory's death. Before he could finish, however, he was hit by several curses from Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Fred and George Weasley.[3]
Fifth year
- "The Inquisitorial Squad... A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic, hand-picked by Professor Umbridge. Members of the Inquisitorial Squad do have the power to dock points... So, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new headmistress... Macmillan, five for contradicting me... Five because I don't like you, Potter... Weasley, your shirt's untucked, so I'll have another five for that... Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten for that..."
- — Draco as a member of the Inquisitorial Squad[src]
In 1995, Draco became a Slytherin Prefect along with Pansy Parkinson. He was sure to mock Harry Potter for not receiving the same honour, as Gryffindor's prefects were Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. He also wrote the lyrics to the demeaning song Weasley is Our King, which mocked Ron's Quidditch abilities as Gryffindor Keeper. It was the invention of this song, as well as insulting Molly and Arthur Weasley and the late Lily Potter to Harry, Fred, and George's faces that prompted Harry and George to get into a fight with Draco. They violently assaulted him, which resulted in the pair (as well as George's twin brother Fred) being banned from all further Quidditch matches, although their bans were later lifted after Dolores Umbridge's sacking from Hogwarts and her being put on suspension for her actions.[21]
Later that year, he joined Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad and clearly enjoyed the power this gave him over other students. He held this power over Harry and his friends especially. All of the Squad members were Slytherins, as Umbridge was biased and favoured students of her former house. Draco caught Harry running out of the last meeting of Dumbledore's Army, receiving fifty house points for Slytherin from Umbridge.[21]
Later, he was among the Inquisitorial Squad members who caught Harry and his friends in their attempt to discover the whereabouts of Sirius Black, whom Harry had seen being tortured in a vision, planted by Lord Voldemort. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood were all brought to Umbridge's office, guarded by the Inquisitorial Squad. Before Umbridge could carry through on her threat to use the Cruciatus Curse to make Harry talk, Hermione told Umbridge that they were trying to contact Albus Dumbledore about a 'weapon' that he planned to use against the Ministry of Magic. Draco had an expression of 'eagerness and greed' at this news that convinced Umbridge not to allow him or any other Squad member to accompany her as she took Harry and Hermione into the Forbidden Forest in search of the alleged weapon.[21]
After Umbridge left, the remaining D.A. (Dumbledore's Army) members used a litany of Stunning Spells and Disarming Charms to escape the office; Draco was hit by Ginny's Bat-Bogey Hex. It was soon revealed that Hermione had been lying about a weapon; Umbridge was carried off by centaurs and the six D.A. members flew to the Ministry, where the Battle of the Department of Mysteries ensued.[21]
Draco's father was seen participating in the battle as a Death Eater and was imprisoned in Azkaban for his crimes. Draco was very upset by this and mainly blamed Harry, swearing vengeance and attempting to attack him at the end of the school year with the help of Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. However, other D.A. members came to Harry's defence, resulting in Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle ending up looking like ugly slug-like things after being hit by a number of hexes by all D.A. Members at the same time.[21]
Sixth year
- Harry Potter: "Wow... look at that... he's not here now! So why not have a go? They might be able to find you a double cell in Azkaban with your loser of a husband!"
- Draco: "Don't you dare talk to my mother like that, Potter!"
- Narcissa Malfoy: "It's all right, Draco. I expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius."
- — Draco and his mother arguing against Harry in Madam Malkin's[src]
By late 1996, Draco joined the Death Eaters, having replaced his incarcerated father. He bragged about having been given a mission to his fellow Slytherin students on his way to school on the Hogwarts Express. However, as the year dragged on, Draco became increasingly afraid that he would fail in his seemingly impossible task — to kill Albus Dumbledore. It is implied that Draco was expected to fail and that Voldemort assigned him the task with the intention of punishing Lucius Malfoy for his failure at the Department of Mysteries.
The safety of his family rested on Draco's success with his mission. When Harry overhead some parts of Draco's conversation with his fellow Slytherins about the mission, Draco used a Full Body-Bind Curse to paralyse Harry and stomped hard on his face, crushing his nose, in revenge for imprisoning his father, Lucius, causing Harry to hate Draco more than ever, while disregarding what Harry heard as not important enough to condemn him.[22]
Draco planned to repair a Vanishing Cabinet that Peeves had destroyed four years previously, in order to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts to assist him in killing Dumbledore. In his previous year at Hogwarts a fellow Slytherin, Graham Montague, had been forced into it by the Weasley twins and later managed to apparate out as a last resort to free himself from the limbo-like space into which he had vanished. Montague told Draco that during his time trapped in limbo, he could hear the sounds entering the cabinet from the school, as well as the sounds entering the cabinet's twin in Borgin and Burkes. Draco realised from this that if the broken one was repaired, the cabinets could act as a passageway into the school.[22]
During the summer break between his fifth and sixth year, Draco questioned Borgin, the owner of Borgin and Burkes, on repairing the cabinet and ordered him to keep the other one safe. As a proof of his allegiance to Lord Voldemort, Draco showed Borgin the Dark Mark now branded on his arm whilst threatening to set Fenrir Greyback to attack the shop-owner, should he disobey his commands. This meeting was also overheard by Harry, Hermione, and Ron, but while Harry started to suspect Draco of Death Eater activities, Ron and Hermione dismissed such possibilities, and believed Draco was merely bluffing, a choice that they would much later regret.[22]
In preparation for such a dangerous mission, Draco trained and improved his own skills, and became capable of blocking jinxes nonverbally. He also became accomplished at Occlumency through the training of his maternal aunt Bellatrix Lestrange, and was able to perform the very difficult Protean Charm,[22] though he could not yet produce a corporeal Patronus.[23]
In focus for his mission of fixing the Vanishing Cabinet, Draco experienced many visible changes in his life. He seemed to have lost interest in Quidditch, and allowed (and possibly paid) Harper to take over instead. He was also becoming more neglectful in his school-work, as he missed two Transfiguration homework assignments and received detention, as well as not attending to his prefect duties, which he would usually happily abuse as he did in the previous year. Another change was that he no longer trusted Snape and was willing to speak ill towards him point-blank, no respect.
Socially, Draco forced Crabbe and Goyle to assume the forms of other people with Polyjuice Potion, to help him keep watch outside the Room of Requirement, while refusing to tell them anything, and seemingly to distance himself from them. Draco also spent less time mocking Harry and his friends, despite the many opportunities. Even his physical appearance showed the stress, with greying skin, weight loss and bags under his eyes. Most of this frustrated Harry, who was unable to discover exactly what Draco was up to despite his persistence and effort.[22]
Twice during the school year he feared he would be unable to repair the cabinet, and resorted to desperate assassination attempts, such as trying to smuggle in a cursed necklace and trying to send Dumbledore poisoned mead. Both these attempts failed and resulted in innocent people getting injured, though since they both survived Dumbledore was not forced to apprehend Draco. The stress began to affect Draco adversely, and he confessed his fears to Myrtle Warren, one of the school's ghosts. On one such occasion, Harry stumbled on him. Draco reacted by starting to cast the Cruciatus Curse, but Harry sliced his skin open with his wand right before he could complete the incantation. Draco was hospitalised and Harry was given detention by Snape for every Saturday until the end of term.[22]
Eventually, through copious amounts of work Draco managed to repair the Vanishing Cabinet and used it to let at least six Death Eaters into the castle: Corban Yaxley, Alecto Carrow, Amycus Carrow, Gibbon, Thorfinn Rowle, and the vicious werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Proceeding to the top of the Astronomy Tower, Draco was able to corner a significantly weaker Dumbledore, disarming the latter the same instant he had, unknown to Draco, bound Harry Potter with a Full Body-Bind Curse.[22] It was also at the moment when he disarmed Dumbledore that he unknowingly gained the allegiance of the Elder Wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows.[24]
However, when Draco was finally given the opportunity to kill Dumbledore, who had just expressed his willingness to protect Draco and his family were they to 'come over to the right side', he could not bring himself to commit murder; considering that they spent the few minutes of alone time to discuss how Draco smuggled his accomplices into the castle, Dumbledore concluded that Draco would find committing murder impossible. As predicted, Draco ultimately was unable to do it, instead lowering his wand. Snape, who had made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa to step in if Draco failed in his task, used the Killing Curse on the Headmaster. Snape then promptly led Draco out of the school grounds, presumably to safety, but really to get to a safe distance to disapparate to Lord Voldemort.[22]
After the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, Draco could no longer return to Hogwarts, as he was an accomplice, however reluctantly, in the revered Albus Dumbledore's murder, mainly by being the one who let Death Eaters penetrate the castle's walls. The official criminal status placed on him, alongside his fear of the Dark Lord's wrath, led him to seek refuge, along with his family, with Voldemort, in the hopes of satisfying his orders to prevent any more negative highlights.[22]
His abrupt departure from the school left Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle surprisingly lonely, despite the two being hulking boys, as Harry described during Dumbledore's funeral.[22]
Seventh year
Skirmish at Malfoy Manor
- "I can't — I can't be sure."
- — Draco's refusal to identify Harry Potter in Malfoy Manor[src]
Draco reluctantly participated in Death Eater activities before the beginning of the 1997–1998 school year. Due to Draco's helpful role in Dumbledore's death, Voldemort liberated Lucius from Azkaban. He witnessed the murder of Charity Burbage and tortured Thorfinn Rowle on Lord Voldemort's orders. Judging by later remarks made by Vincent Crabbe, it seems that the Malfoys had lost much of their influence in the Death Eater circles. This is due to Voldemort no longer holding Lucius in high esteem and shifting his favour to Draco's maternal aunt Bellatrix Lestrange and Hogwarts teacher Severus Snape.
When Thorfinn Rowle and Antonin Dolohov failed to capture Harry, Voldemort forced Draco to torture them via the Cruciatus Curse as punishment, with the threat of Voldemort's wrath if Draco failed to comply. Harry, who saw this scene via his mental link with Voldemort, was disgusted at what the Dark Lord was forcing the young Death Eater to commit.[24]
Draco attended his seventh year of Hogwarts that year. During the Easter holidays, Draco was seen at home in Malfoy Manor. He was called upon by his parents and aunt Bellatrix Lestrange to confirm the identities of Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were caught by a group of Snatchers led by Fenrir Greyback, but Draco showed great hesitation in doing so. When Hermione lied to Bellatrix under torture about Godric Gryffindor's Sword, Draco was sent to fetch the goblin, Griphook, from the dungeons to get confirmation of the story, which he did by lying saying it was a fake, but the truth was it was the true sword. Later in the evening, the prisoners managed to escape, and Draco's wand was taken by Harry. Afterwards, Draco and his family were detained to the Manor by Lord Voldemort. Narcissa would lend Draco her wand; it was powerful, yet it didn't 'understand' him, as he had not won its loyalty.[24]
Battle of Hogwarts
- Draco Malfoy: "STOP! The Dark Lord wants him alive —"
- Vincent Crabbe: "So? I'm not killing him, am I? But if I can, I will, the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what's the diff — ?"
- Draco Malfoy: "Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!"
- — Draco trying to control his cohorts in the Room of Requirement[src]
Later that same year, during the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle, chose to remain in the school as their fellow Slytherins evacuated in order to bring Harry Potter to Lord Voldemort. Given Lucius' previous remarks alluding to 'forgiveness', it is likely that Draco was doing this in an attempt to redeem his family in Voldemort's eyes. He along with Crabbe and Goyle followed the Trio into the Room of Requirement where he would attempt to capture Harry and retrieve the item Harry was trying to locate. However, he no longer exercised the same degree of control over his friends, particularly Crabbe, that he once had.[24]
Despite Draco telling his friends that Harry was to be brought back alive, Crabbe attempted to kill him by conjuring Fiendfyre. Since Crabbe was unable to control the curse, the Room of Requirement quickly filled with fire. Draco went out of his way to try to save both of his friends, but he only managed to get Goyle, who had been stunned by Hermione during the fight, onto Ron and Hermione's broom before he let Harry fly them out. Crabbe was killed in the fire, leaving Draco very upset.[24]
Harry, Hermione, and Ron later spotted Draco pleading with a Death Eater that he was on his side. Harry stunned the Death Eater and Ron punched Draco and called him a 'two-faced bastard', as this was the second time they saved his life that night.[24]
Although Draco was unaware of this, his act in disarming Dumbledore before his death and mastering the Elder Wand ultimately resulted in the Dark Lord's final defeat at the hands of Harry. This is due to the fact that Voldemort was unable to fully understand the Elder Wand's power and Harry disarming Draco of his wand resulted in him mastering the Elder Wand himself.[24]
After Voldemort's defeat, Draco and his parents sat in the Great Hall, looking uncertain of their place during the victory celebrations.[24]
After Hogwarts (1998–2006)
The events of Draco's teenage years forever changed his life. He had the beliefs in which he had grown up challenged in the most frightening way, had experienced terror and despair, witnessed his parents suffering for their allegiance, and had witnessed the crumbling of all that his family had believed in.
Draco and his family avoided imprisonment in Azkaban due to their last-minute switch in allegiance. Lucius found his son as affectionate as ever, but refusing to follow the old pure-blood line.[1]
Draco eventually married Astoria Greengrass, the younger sister of fellow Slytherin classmate Daphne Greengrass,[25] who had gone through a similar (though less violent and frightening) conversion from pure-blood ideals to a more accepting and tolerant way of life. This was something of a disappointment for Lucius and Narcissa, who had higher hopes of someone whose family featured on the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight'.[1]
Raising Scorpius Malfoy (2006–)
The two had a son together, named Scorpius Malfoy, who was raised by his mother not to believe that Muggles and Muggle-borns were scum; as such, family gatherings were fraught with tension.[1] Draco raised Scorpius to be a much kinder and more accepting Malfoy than he was in his youth.[1]
On 1 September 2017 while sending his son off for his first year at Hogwarts, Draco greeted Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny at King's Cross Station with a curt nod. The relationship between Harry and Draco was much better than it had been when they were students together, but they were still not considered to be anything at all near friends.
Independently wealthy without any need to work, Draco inhabited Malfoy Manor with his wife and son. His hobbies — which included keeping the family's old collection of Dark artefacts (which he did not use and kept in glass cases) and studying alchemical manuscripts — were indications of his dual nature, and hint at a desire for something more than wealth.[1]
In an alternate timeline unintentionally created by Scorpius and his friend Albus Potter, Draco also teamed up with his former enemies and time-travelled back to fight against Delphini at St Jerome's Church in order to stop her from preventing Lord Voldemort's death.
Physical description
Draco was a slender boy with sleek white-blond hair, cold grey eyes, a pale complexion and rather sharp, pointed features.[4][5] In his first and second years, his hair was slicked tightly back. Draco was noted to strongly resemble his father throughout his life.[24] When Draco joined the Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort had the Dark Mark burned into his left forearm, which has since faded to a mere scar upon Voldemort's death.
During the first five years of school, Draco maintained a relatively healthy look. However, in his sixth year onward, when the stress of his mission was getting more intense, Draco's smug countenance was lost, and he became quite thin, with dark shadows under his eyes and a greyish tinge to his skin.
As an older man, his hairline was receding, making his features look even more pointed.[26] Draco let his hair grow long and started wearing it in a precisely placed ponytail.[27]
Personality and traits
- "You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riff-raff like this! Too late now, Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well — second — Diggory was the first —"
- — Draco taunting Harry Potter after Voldemort's return and the murder of Cedric Diggory[src]
Draco was, in general, an arrogant, spiteful bully for most of his early years. Like Dudley Dursley, his narcissistic nature most likely stemmed from his being spoiled by his parents throughout his childhood, though according to Harry himself, Draco was even less sympathetic than his cousin. He believed himself superior to most people because of his family's pure-blood lineage as well as great wealth and social standing. He frequently behaved cruelly to Muggle-borns, blood traitors, Gryffindor students, and anyone who was a supporter of Harry Potter or Albus Dumbledore. For much of his youth, Draco took after his bigoted father, Lucius Malfoy, as a role model, and frequently boasted about his family's influence and wealth.
Draco was intelligent, cunning and quick-witted, capable of deducing things and coming up with clever plans based on a small amount of information; his father had expected him to obtain top marks in school after his first year, and showed disappointment that Hermione beat him. He figured out through Montague's experience that the Vanishing Cabinets in Hogwarts and Borgin and Burkes were linked and that he could use that passage to his advantage. However, his plans could have limitations based on his own arrogance when dealing with people. When he attempted to sabotage Harry during the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch match in their third year, his whole plan was based solely around the idea that the Dementors' appearance scared Harry, ignorant of the fact that it was the effect the Dementors had on him that caused Harry problems. Draco was also adept at compartmentalising his emotions, as is evidenced in his success with Occlumency.
However, something began to change in Draco's psyche in his sixth year at Hogwarts. After Lord Voldemort made him a Death Eater, he gave Draco the task of assassinating Albus Dumbledore by the end of the year, something that Draco was very eager to do at first. After a number of feeble attempts, Draco began to crack under the enormous pressure that Voldemort was putting on him. He was uncertain of his ability to fulfil the mission and was terrified that he and his family would pay the price for his failure; the stress led him to be reckless as his two feeble attempts were noted to be foolish by Snape, and he attempted a Cruciatus Curse on Harry, despite the consequences of a life sentence in Azkaban.
Over the course of the year, the mission also led Draco to neglect other aspects of his school life that he would previously have abused or enjoyed: he rejected his Prefect duties that he once would happily abuse; he feigned illness and paid another student to take over his stead in order to avoid playing Quidditch himself, as opposed to three years earlier when he would ensure the entire match was postponed by exaggerating a minor injury in order to suit the team's interest; he missed two Transfiguration homework assignments; he would distance himself from his friends Crabbe and Goyle and order them to be on lookout without telling them anything; and he would also spend less time mocking Harry and his friends despite the many opportunities. Ultimately, Draco was unable to kill Dumbledore, lowering his wand and being tempted to take Dumbledore's offer of protection for his parents.
For the rest of the Second Wizarding War, Draco became disillusioned by the Death Eater lifestyle. He reluctantly participated in Death Eater activities and by the end of the war, remained on the fence. When Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were captured in his home, Draco showed great hesitation in identifying them before the Death Eaters. Also, during the Battle of Hogwarts, he showed genuine concern for Crabbe and Goyle, something he rarely did.
By the time Draco become an adult, he had became a noticeably changed man, due to his regret over joining the Death Eaters and the vile deeds he had to perform, even if only limited compared to his parents, and any of his old bigotry was lost, refusing to follow in line with the old pure-blood beliefs after having seen first-hand what happened to him and his parents for that. Due to this, he fell deeply in love with Astoria Malfoy despite the disappointments of his parents over her failing to meet their hopes of someone from one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
As a husband, Draco was very loving and devoted and was even fully willing to let the Malfoy bloodline end to protect her from her family's curse as it made childbirth dangerous and detrimental to her health, which he maintained even despite Lucius's dislike, only relenting after Astoria said she wanted to leave behind a child for him and not for family beliefs. His wisdom shone by the fact that even though the temptation of using his family's secret Time Turner to see his wife just for one more minute was admittedly great, his respect for her desires and memory were too great to risk jeopardising the timeline for his beloved, showing how deeply Draco had fallen in love with her, as even though he had the power to alter time to be with her, he was able to, even if barely, resist such overwhelming temptation, showing how much his character had changed by the age of forty.
Although Scorpius's birth would cause Astoria's death, Draco's love for his son was clearly great, considering the day he was born the greatest day of his life. Having seen how his parents spoiled him had caused him to become such a horrible man in his younger days, Draco strove to do better and henceforth he raised his son to be a better person. He did not let his histories with Harry, Ron and Hermione hamper his judgement towards Scorpius's bond with Albus Potter and crush on Rose Granger-Weasley, children of his former rivals, fully supporting his son instead. His love for Scorpius was shown by how he showed no hesitation to give any Malfoy Family objects to his rivals if it would help in his son being found.
In fact, he actually trusted Albus greatly, as he allowed him to connect with Scorpius when he couldn't after Astoria died, and genuinely care for the boy for what he meant to his son. Draco even went as far as to protest to Harry for having made Albus distant from Scorpius, showing how much he valued the friendship between Albus and Scorpius. Draco was more strict with Scorpius than his parents were to him, accepting that his son must be punished for having brought the wizarding world back to the times where Voldemort was in power.
His personal relationships with his old school rivals has also changed from antagonistic to being civil and tolerating. While he continued to mock Harry's friends for them only being so popular because of Harry and didn't trust them fully with matters regarding his son, as he gave a cold reply letter to Ginny's offer to having Scorpius stay in the Potter House, particularly being enraged at them for the rumours that Scorpius was Voldemort's son, he was more than willing to team up with Harry, Ron and Hermione to save both Albus and Scorpius and worked with them effectively to dispatch Delphini, despite her being the daughter of Voldemort and his aunt Bellatrix. This defiance of Delphini showed that even having the Dark Lord's daughter being a blood relative was a repugnant notion to Draco, wanting little to do with his Death Eater past, further shown by how he would attend and help his rivals in defeating what remained of the forces of darkness. By this time, Draco also began referring to Voldemort by his name rather than the 'Dark Lord' as he did in his youth due to his self-redemption.
Draco had came to trust the luck and instincts of both Harry and Hermione, taking the orders of the Minister For Magic without hesitation, even expressing he was impressed with her battle commands, albeit in a mildly amused manner, acknowledging Harry was always ready to solve the thickest of situations, and he even went as far as to confess to Harry that he never truly craved power like his father and that his ambition was actually to become a star Quidditch player, but he wasn't good enough, and mainly he just wanted to be happy along with the truth of Astoria's death,[28] and his envy of Harry's friendships, as he only ever had Crabbe and Goyle, outright acknowledging Harry as a friend and showing respect for him, which was mutually returned by Harry.[29]
Magical abilities and skills
Draco was a powerful and talented wizard from a young age and possessed several impressive magical abilities. His wand was made of hawthorn, which one should only ever consider placing in the hands of a witch or wizard of proven talent. Following his training from his aunt Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco grew to be an accomplished wizard for his age.
- Love: Although not a prominent ability for Draco, he was one of the few Death Eaters who was capable of genuine love. He deeply cared about both his parents to the point that he would protect and defend them when necessary, to the point that he was pushed to attempt to murder Professor Dumbledore in order to protect them when Voldemort threatened their lives after Lucius's failed attempt to retrieve the prophecy. Despite this and his dislike for Dumbledore, he was extremely reluctant to kill Dumbledore and in the end, his love for his parents made him almost accept Dumbledore's offer to help protect them. Additionally, Draco was also extremely reluctant to identify Harry, Ron and Hermione when they were captured by the Death Eaters, despite his personal enmity with them and spent the most of the Second Wizarding War reluctantly following Voldemort's orders to protect both his family and himself. His ability to love was more prominent later on in life, giving him the strength to abandon his old prejudice against non-pure bloods and become a better person compared to his youth after seeing how much damage and devastation it caused to him and his family along with his regret over ever becoming a Death Eater. This was evident as he raised his son away from that prejudice to be a better person than him and maintained a more civil relationship with his old school rivals to the point that he trusted their instincts while they searched for Albus and Scorpius. He even claimed that he would have willingly ended the Malfoy bloodline with himself if it meant protecting his wife and helped his old school rivals capture Delphini after she had threatened his son's life, even though she was the daughter of both his aunt Bellatrix and Voldemort.
- Potions: Draco was proficient in this area of magic. This could be because Snape favoured Draco and might have given him extra help in his class. Draco was able to pass his O.W.L. examination in the subject with a mark of at least 'Exceeds Expectations' and most likely 'Outstanding', since he was apparently not lacking a book or ingredients in Professor Slughorn's first class. When Professor Slughorn was teaching the subject, Draco seemed to have lost his edge. He was covered in 'something like cat sick' during a mixed antidote composition, and producing a 'merely passable' Hiccoughing Solution. This of course could have been due to the immense stress and anxiety Draco was feeling throughout that year.
- Defence Against the Dark Arts: Draco advanced to the N.E.W.T.-level class, meaning he achieved either an 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Outstanding' mark on his O.W.L. exam.[22] He showed the ability to proficiently defend himself against dark magic.
- "He hadn't been lying, he could fly well."
- — Harry admitting Draco's talent in flying[src]
- Flying: He was quite a fine Quidditch player and broomstick flyer. He started flying at a younger age showing his skills in his first year. He made the team as a seeker in his second year, which was a very difficult position to acquire. Although his entrance into the team is enhanced due to his father bribing the team with the new Nimbus 2001 broomsticks, he also had sufficient talent, although Harry still surpassed him in pure skill despite Draco's alleged experience and superior broomstick in their first game against each other. When Draco refused to play during his sixth year, his team suffered greatly due to the fact that his replacement did a poorer job, suggesting that no Slytherin during his time was more skilful than him.
- Duelling: Draco had been a very competent duellist for quite a while before starting Hogwarts, a skill probably inherited from his parents. He was able to cast the Leg-Locker Curse in his first year, something Rubeus Hagrid said no first year would be able to do. The very next year, he could cast such a powerful Everte Statum that it threw his opponent across the room and even while subjected to a fit of laughter caused by the Tickling Charm, was able to hit Harry with the Dancing Feet Spell accurately, the round ending in a standstill as a result. He later on was able to once again match Harry in their one-move duel, casting a spell as quickly as Harry did and causing their spells to ricochet everywhere. By his sixth year, having been trained by Bellatrix, Draco's duelling skills had improved to fare well against Harry, who had by the time faced much more experienced Death Eaters, delivering multiple spells nonverbally with ease and astonishing speed, something that most sixth years weren't able to do, and countering Harry's attacks, but Harry was ultimately able to cast a curse quicker than him, exploiting the brief opening left by Draco when he was preparing to use Crucio to inflict what would have been mortal damage had he not been quickly treated. He was also beaten by Ginny Weasley in his fifth year and by Hermione Granger in his seventh. At the age of forty, from what he himself admitted to having been years of practice, Draco's skills had greatly improved and despite his age he remained a very formidable duelist, capable of fighting Harry, who had been the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Auror Office for several years by the time, to a draw, managing to land and dodge spells as much as his opponent managed to land on him, although Harry had not been fighting at full capability against Draco as he had no intentions to hurt or kill him but even Harry openly acknowledged his improved skills, and helping in overpowering Delphini.
- "The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them and raised itself, ready to strike."
- — Description of Draco conjuring a snake in his second year[src]
- Transfiguration: Draco was shown to be talented in this field from a young age, as by his second year he was already capable of conjuring a snake,[13] an advanced form of transfiguration learned in the sixth year and above, and a reasonably impressive feat even if said conjuration is rather simple. He would also successfully qualify for the N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration, meaning he achieved either an 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Outstanding' mark on his O.W.L. exam.[22] By 2020, he easily used the Incarcerous Spell when duelling with Harry and was capable of aiding Hermione, Ron and Ginny to successfully transfigure Harry into a doppelganger of Voldemort, displaying his high level of skill in the area, as Human Transfiguration on the level of complete impersonation is a very demanding feat.
- Charms: Draco was talented in charms, as by his sixth year, he was able to cast the very difficult and advanced Protean Charm, something that the only known student of the same age capable of was Hermione (albeit, he was known to have mastered it one year later than she could).[22] He could cast the Dancing Feet Spell, which he successfully used against Harry Potter at the Duelling Club in 1992.[13] In 1997, he successfully disarmed Albus Dumbledore of the Elder Wand with the Disarming Charm. Draco was capable of casting a successful Shield Charm to block Harry Potter's spells in a duel.[22] By his seventh year, he was able to cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself to the point where Harry, Ron and Hermione could not see him and remain undetected, a highly advanced piece of magic. He was also capable of casting a charm which animates a paper bird to make it fly like a real bird. By 2020, Draco displayed remarkable improvement in his skills in charm-work, making effective use of it in combat in his duel with Harry, notably able to rival Harry's Disarming Charm, easily pushing a chair to block one of Harry's spells and later on stopping a chair flung at a high speed by Harry, along with being even able to use Mobilicorpus easily on Harry, making him bounce up and down on the table. Later on, he effortlessly used the Levitation Charm to levitate Delphini out of the air and out of sight and proceeded to swiftly silence her with the Silencing Charm.
- Dark Arts: Draco demonstrated a proficiency for dark magic from a young age, as he was quickly capable of casting numerous dark charms to humiliate others during his Hogwarts years, such as the Leg-Locker Curse, Tongue-Tying Curse, Knockback Jinx, the hex Densaugeo, Melofors Jinx, Trip Jinx, Full Body-Bind Curse as well as an unspecified dark charm. In this sixth year, Draco learned how to successfully cast at least two of the Unforgivable Curses, the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperius Curse, following his transformation into a Death Eaters, allowing him to become a fully-fledged Dark wizard. Both of these are extremely difficult and powerful dark curses that not even many adult wizards can perform; his incredibly skilful Aunt Bellatrix might have taught him those while she was teaching him Occlumency and non-verbal spells. His Imperius Curse was strong enough to hold down Madam Rosmerta for almost an entire year, while he used the Cruciatus Curse to punish Thorfinn Rowle. It is possible he has the capability (but not the willingness) to perform the Killing Curse as well. Whilst duelling Harry Potter in 2020, he was able to swiftly and successfully perform a number of dark charms against him with ease, such as the Levicorpus jinx along with Densaugeo and the Knockback Jinx, showing his skills in dark magic were still adept long after abandoning the Death Eaters. He even offered to be the one to disguise himself as Voldemort when he and the others went back in time to stop Delphini due to his knowledge and abilities in dark magic, suggesting he was assured he could engage in dark magic activities well enough to convince Delphini of his identity.
- Nonverbal magic: Draco mastered nonverbal spells before his sixth year, which included blocking jinxes non-verbally. This took a lot of skill and concentration to do and only a few in his year had done it, given the high level of difficulty and precision required in the casting of spells this way.
- Magical repair: Draco managed to repair the Vanishing Cabinet in his sixth year with some assistance from Borgin, though it did take him the majority of the year. The cabinet was smashed by Peeves in his second year and Draco repaired it despite the fact that the magical link between the two cabinets might have been damaged.
- Occlumency: In his sixth year, his Aunt Bellatrix taught him Occlumency to prepare him for his mission. As Draco had already shut down his compassion to become the bully he was, it was much easier for him to close his mind and disassociate from his emotions. He had enough skill in Occlumency that he was able to block out Severus Snape's (a powerful Legilimens) attempts to read his mind.
- Alchemy: After graduating from Hogwarts, Draco began studying Alchemy as a hobby.
- Wand: Draco's wand was 10" long, made of hawthorn wood, and had a Unicorn hair core. The wand was manufactured by Garrick Ollivander and was described by him as being 'reasonably pliant'.
- Comet 260: Draco owned this model of broomstick , which he owned prior to starting his first year.
- Nimbus 2001: Draco's father bought the entire Slytherin Quidditch team Nimbus 2001s in exchange for his son being played as Seeker.
- Slytherin tie pin: Like other Slytherins, Draco owned a tie pin in the shape of a serpent of Slytherin House, to show his pride for his house. He wore this throughout his years at Hogwarts.[30]
- Slytherin ring: Likewise, he also possessed an heirloom ring embossed with a serpent.[30]
- Dress robes: Draco wore dress robes while attending the Yule Ball with Pansy Parkinson in 1994.
- Eagle owl: Draco owned an Eagle owl, or Bubo bubo. During Malfoy's first year at Hogwarts School, the owl delivered daily packages of sweets from his mother.[31]
- Prefect badge: Draco owned a Slytherin Prefect badge, which he gained after becoming a Prefect in 1995.
- Potter Stinks badge: Draco owned one these enchanted badges during the Triwizard Tournament, for the purpose of mocking Harry Potter.
- Inquisitorial Squad Badge: Draco was granted a badge by Dolores Umbridge to show his membership of the Inquisitorial Squad in his fifth year.[32]
- Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder: Draco possessed some of this magical, darkness creating powder sold by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which he used in 1997 to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts castle.
- Hand of Glory: Draco bought the Hand of Glory from Borgin and Burkes sometime after the end of his second year and before the start of his sixth, he used it to guide himself and the rest of the Death Eaters outside the Room of Requirement after he used the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.
- Time-Turner: Draco possessed a Time-Turner, passed down by his father. Unlike the Ministry-issued devices that were bound by a five-hour safety travel, this was a genuine device that allowed one to travel far back into the past. Also unlike the prototype possessed by Theodore Nott, it was not limited by a duration stay of five minutes before returning to the present, as that one was produced with inexpensive metal. Draco kept the device as he thought of using it to see his late wife again, and Harry noted that keeping such a dangerous artefact could land him in Azkaban. Nevertheless, this Time-Turner was pivotal in saving the original timeline from Delphini's interference.
- "I haven't got any options! I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!"
- — Draco to Albus Dumbledore on Voldemort's threat to his family[src]
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy both spoiled their only child. In 1991, Narcissa sent packages of sweets daily to her son. In 1992, Lucius bought broomsticks for the entire Slytherin Quidditch team when Draco was made Seeker, and Narcissa often sent care packages to her son. She also refused to send Draco abroad to Durmstrang Institute, as Lucius originally wanted, insisting he stay closer to home by attending Hogwarts despite Lucius's desire to keep Draco away from the influence of Muggle-borns in Hogwarts and also because Durmstrang Institute was known to teach dark arts rather than just the defences, which was why Lucius Malfoy had wanted Draco to have a place in that school.
Lucius was colder and more demanding than his wife, criticising his son for getting lower school marks than Hermione Granger, who was Muggle-born. Despite this, Draco greatly admired his father, often boasting about his influence and striving to be like him.[13] Also, as Draco attempted to use his grandfather's name, Abraxas, to charm Horace Slughorn, Draco may have had a similar level of respect for his grandfather as for his parents.
It became clear during the Second Wizarding War that the Malfoys cared about one another more than they cared for following Lord Voldemort. Draco carried out the task he was assigned by Voldemort in his sixth year because his parents' lives were threatened, and appeared to be close to accepting Dumbledore's offer to keep them safe before Severus Snape interceded to kill the Headmaster.[22] During the Battle of Hogwarts, Lucius and Narcissa did not even attempt to fight, instead frantically searching for their son. Narcissa went so far as to lie directly to Voldemort about Harry Potter being dead, in order to be allowed to return to Hogwarts and search for Draco, which also follows the saying that Harry Potter had been saved by a mother's love more than once.[24]
Like his parents, Draco possesses the formidable skill of duelling, Occlumency, and the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses and is smart, quick and a smart retorter.
However, after the war, Draco's relationship with his parents may have somewhat faltered, as his marriage with Astoria led them to think she is a somewhat disappointing daughter-in-law, mainly because Astoria's change of belief after the atrocities brought by Death Eaters' ideology, something they find unfitting for a fellow member of one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight clans. Draco himself has lost his bigotry for less-than-pure wizards, and his willingness to let the Malfoy bloodline end at himself in order to preserve Astoria's health due to her blood-bourne curse earned Lucius's dislike. Regardless, he did not lose favour of his parents, as he inherited the Malfoy Manor and Lucius's collection of artefacts (which included the 'true' Time-Turner that proved instrumental later).
Wife and son
Sometime after the end of the war, Draco married Astoria Greengrass, whose older sister was in the same year as him at Hogwarts. They eventually had a son named Scorpius.
Draco and his wife evidently loved and cared for their son, raising him to be a better person than himself, proven when Scorpius has a crush on Rose Granger-Weasley (daughter of Draco's former rivals) and is best friend of Albus Potter (youngest son of Draco's former arch-rival) he and his wife considered the day their son was born the best day of their lives. Astoria's death has caused Draco to be heartbroken, and he even considered using the illegal 'true' Time-Turner he received from his father as a means to see her again, though he barely resisted the urge. Draco would have gladly let the Malfoy family line end with him if it were to preserve Astoria's health, disregarding Lucius's wishes, but Astoria did want to leave behind someone for her husband, not for the sake of family beliefs. Draco certainly raised Scorpius more strictly than how Lucius and Narcissa raised him, as when Scorpius was to be punished by Minerva McGonagall for utilising the Time-Turner to corrupt reality to the point of reviving Voldemort, Draco stated he was prepared to listen to how his son is to be punished.[33]
Bellatrix Lestrange
- "Ah... Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see."
- — Severus Snape[src]
Bellatrix Lestrange was Draco's maternal aunt, being the sister of Narcissa. When Draco was younger, he didn't have much contact with his aunt because she was imprisoned in Azkaban for torturing the Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom (who were the parents of Neville Longbottom, a Gryffindor in the same year at Hogwarts as Draco) into insanity. However, Draco did not feel any shame in his aunt's crimes against the wizarding world law that many would label as disgraceful. After Bellatrix escaped in Draco's fifth year at Hogwarts, she fought in a battle against Harry Potter and his friends and was the only Death Eater who wasn't captured; Draco's father, who had also fought, was imprisoned. After Draco was given a mission as a Death Eater, Bellatrix helped him and taught him Occlumency, nonverbal spells, and the Dark Arts. She also thought that Narcissa should be proud that her son became a Death Eater.
In 1997, Bellatrix lived for some months at Malfoy Manor, to be closer to Voldemort, who was also staying there. Bellatrix and Draco both participated in the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor; Draco reluctantly watched Bellatrix's torturing of Hermione Granger. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Bellatrix was killed by Molly Weasley.
It is unknown how Draco reacted to her death, but it is likely he may have felt sadness as Bellatrix seemed to have some affection with Draco. However, given that Draco and his family regretted their allegiance with Voldemort, and that Draco abandoned his prejudice against non-pure bloods after the war, it is possible his opinion on Bellatrix changed considerably as she was fanatically loyal to, and obsessively in love with, Voldemort. Also, despite Delphini being Bellatrix's daughter, Draco did not hesitate to assist in her arrest after she had threatened his son's life.
Other family members
Draco was not close to his aunt Andromeda Tonks, who had been disowned for marrying Muggle-born Ted Tonks, or their daughter, his cousin Nymphadora. Like much of the rest of his family, Draco likely held these relatives in contempt; Andromeda was considered a blood traitor and Tonks was a half-blood. In addition, Tonks had married Remus Lupin, a werewolf, which the Death Eaters scorned to humiliate Draco. Since Draco was too scared of Voldemort to respond, his feelings on the subject are unknown. Tonks referred to him as 'The Malfoy boy', indicating she either did not know his name or despised him too much to care. Neither so much as mentioned their relation to one another. Similarly, Draco was indifferent to his first cousin once removed, Sirius Black.[21]
Both cousins were killed by Bellatrix, Sirius in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and Tonks in the Battle of Hogwarts respectively. His cousin, the illegitimate child of Bellatrix Lestrange, his aunt, and Tom Riddle, his former leader, was Delphini, whom he helped Harry Potter fight in the year 2020, after discovering she was Voldemort's daughter, and after she tried to kill his son Scorpius. He did not have any love for Delphi, as he assisted arresting her for the murder of Craig Bowker Jnr.
Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle
- Draco: "I always envied you and them, you know, Weasley and Granger. I had-"
- Ginevra Potter: "Crabbe and Goyle."
- Draco: "Two lunks who wouldn't know one end of a broomstick from another. You, the three of you, you shone, you know? You liked each other. You had fun. I envied you those friendships more than anything else."
- — Draco admits the shallowness of his 'friendship' with Crabbe and Goyle[src]
Draco's two constant companions throughout his Hogwarts years were Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Crabbe and Goyle were often involved in Draco's confrontations with Harry Potter and his friends. Though Draco often made it clear that he considered both of them rather stupid — a legitimate claim — and treated them more like lackeys than friends[20], he showed genuine concern for them and the rest of his gang on a few occasions; when Goyle was bitten by Scabbers the Rat, Draco waited for Goyle before leaving, and he also showed concern for Goyle when he was hit by Harry's Curse, when Dumbledore expressed his disgust with Draco for allowing Fenrir Greyback 'into the school where his friends live,' Draco denied knowing he would be there, clearly disturbed by the sadistic werewolf's unexpected presence. Draco's abrupt departure from his criminal activities left Crabbe and Goyle looking oddly lonely to Harry, as Harry was used to seeing Draco in between the two hulking boys, bossing them around.
By the final confrontation between Draco and Harry in the Room of Requirement, during the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco no longer exerted much control over his friends; Crabbe, in particular, responded harshly to Draco's attempts to prevent them from killing Harry. Draco tried desperately to save both of his friends from the cursed fire Crabbe unleashed, helping pull Goyle onto Ron and Hermione's broom before letting Harry fly the two of them out, and was very upset by Crabbe's death. Although it was Ron and Hermione who saved Goyle from falling into the fire, if it wasn't for Draco who dragged Goyle to safety, Ron and Hermione would never had saved Goyle, so it can be considered that Draco saved Goyle's life.[24]
In 2020, an adult Draco admitted to Harry and his wife that his relationship with Crabbe and Goyle could never really have been called friendship, as they had little in common except the prejudices they had inherited from their families, and Crabbe and Goyle were far too stupid to be reliable cohorts in much. Draco also admitted that he had always envied Harry's close friendship with Ron and Hermione, in stark contrast to the emptiness of his relationship with his two 'best friends' at Hogwarts.
Pansy Parkinson
- Draco Malfoy: "I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"
- Pansy Parkinson: "What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts next year?"
- Draco Malfoy: "Well, you never know. I might have — er — moved on to bigger and better things."
- Pansy Parkinson: "Do you mean — Him?"
- — Draco telling Pansy about becoming a Death Eater[src]
Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl in Draco's year, was a close friend of Draco's at Hogwarts. She often fawned over him, laughing loudly at his snide jokes, showing great concern when Draco was injured by Buckbeak in their third year,[20] and accompanying him to the Yule Ball in 1994.[3] Draco and Pansy were both members of the Inquisitorial Squad and Prefects in their fifth year,[21] which is indicative of their leadership roles in Slytherin House. They are noted as being particularly cosy in their sixth year at Hogwarts, seen in the Hogwarts Express with Draco's head in Pansy's lap, Pansy stroking Draco's hair, and wasted no time in vilifying Harry for (unintentionally) slashing Draco with a deadly curse.[22] Sometime after this period, however, Pansy and Draco's friendship waned. Whether she was ever his girlfriend is unknown, but Draco eventually married Astoria Greengrass.
Theodore Nott
Draco was also friends with Theodore Nott, one of the few people whom he considered an equal, given that Theodore was just as pure-blooded and somewhat cleverer than him. However, Theodore was a solitary person who did not feel compelled to join any gang, including Draco's.[34] Theodore and Draco did laugh together at Hermione's blood-status once, and Nott was also seen with Draco and his gang after Harry listed their fathers names in a Quibbler article. It is also said that they had known each other prior to their arrival at Hogwarts.
Blaise Zabini
He was also friends with Blaise Zabini during their sixth year, as they sat together at Hogwarts Express, where they discussed Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley, who had all become members of the Slug Club. Blaise was also one of the few people Draco had told about his mission, however he didn't seem to think highly of Draco's new position.
Marcus Flint
Draco also appeared to be friendly with Marcus Flint, as shown when Flint defended Draco against Fred and George Weasley, and again when he assisted Draco and his gang in their attempts to psych Harry out during a Quidditch game by disguising as dementors. Flint however did not hesitate to shout at Draco after he failed to catch a snitch despite it flying within his reach (he was too busy making fun of Harry to notice).
Severus Snape
- "Sir, why don't you apply for the Headmaster job?... I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir [...]'"
- — Draco's opinion on Severus Snape[src]
The teacher Draco initially respected the most was Severus Snape, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House. Snape, in turn, took Draco as his favourite student and showed him undeserved lenience on several occasions, which likely had something to do with Snape's long-time comradeship with Draco's father, or on the pretext of it, given that Snape defected from the Death Eaters. Draco even stated that Snape should apply for the position of Headmaster, after Dumbledore was suspended.
However, after Lucius's imprisonment in Azkaban, Draco came to resent and mistrust Snape, believing him to have usurped his father's place in the ranks of the Death Eaters, and that he was trying to take Draco's chance of glory as well. As such, Draco avoided Snape most of the year, refused any assistance, and even verbally assaulted him. However, Snape continued to protect him as when Draco was caught lurking outside of Professor Slughorn's Christmas party, and did not punish Draco when the boy refused to answer his summons to the office, something other students would not get off with so easily and which Draco took advantage of. Snape continued to protect Draco even after they fled from the Battle of the Astronomy Tower together; when questioned by Voldemort about Draco's actions during his attempted murder of Dumbledore, Snape lied and told the Dark Lord that Malfoy hadn't lowered his wand and emphasised the young student's ability to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts as well as cornering Dumbledore, which allowed Snape to kill him. Snape's defence of Malfoy saved the boy's life and convinced Voldemort to free Lucius Malfoy from Azkaban, for which Draco reconciled with Snape.
It is unknown how Draco reacted when he learned about Snape's death by Lord Voldemort in 1998, during the Battle of Hogwarts, or of his true loyalty to the Order of the Phoenix due to his love for the Muggle-born mother of Harry Potter, Lily Evans. However, given Draco's own disillusionment with the Death Eater cause and subsequent rapprochement with Harry, it is likely that Draco came to sympathise with his late teacher. In addition, it is possible that Draco's aforementioned detente with Harry as adults might have been motivated, at least in part, to avoid having a similar relationship that Snape had with Harry's father and his friends after their own Hogwarts years.
Harry Potter
- Draco Malfoy: "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."
- Harry Potter: "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."
- Draco Malfoy: "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."
- — Draco and Harry's unpleasant encounter on the Hogwarts Express, before the start of their first year[src]
Draco became Harry Potter's arch-rival almost immediately after they met, just before their first year at Hogwarts. Draco was at first interested in Harry because he was so famous, but Harry was unimpressed by his arrogant manner. For the rest of their time at school, Harry and Draco loathed each other and tried to one up each other whenever possible, although Harry compared to Ron was less prone to incorporating violence on Draco. This reached its pinnacle after Lucius Malfoy was sent to Azkaban following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.
After finding out what Draco had gone through during their sixth year, Harry began to feel somewhat sorry for him, a feeling intensified by witnessing the use to which Lord Voldemort was putting him. During that year, Harry nearly killed Draco with the Half-Blood Prince's curse Sectumsempra (which he used by accident, unaware of what the effects of the curse were). Harry himself felt utterly horrified and guilty at what he did.[22] However, despite their enmity towards each other, Draco showed great reluctance in identifying Harry and his friends when they were imprisoned in his home. In turn, Harry saved his life twice during the Battle of Hogwarts.[24] The main reason behind Draco's enmity towards Harry was Draco's jealousy of Harry.[35]
- Interviewer: "Did Draco and Harry lose their animosity towards each other when Voldemort died?"
- J.K. Rowling: "Not really. There would be a kind of rapprochement, in that Harry knows Draco hated being a Death Eater, and would not have killed Dumbledore; similarly, Draco would feel a grudging gratitude towards Harry for saving his life. Real friendship would be out of the question, though. Too much had happened prior to the final battle."
- — J. K. Rowling regarding Harry and Draco's attitudes toward each other[src]
Over the years, Draco and Harry made their peace as adults, but still were not friends by the time Scorpius and Albus started school. This later developed into a more cordial relationship due to Scorpius and Albus being best friends. Draco would grow to trust Harry's luck and instincts over the years, and knew that Harry was always in the thick of the action when it was necessary. Draco would grow to have a deep respect and friendly relationship with Albus Potter and trusted him with helping Scorpius heal from the grief of losing his mother. During the Delphini crisis, Draco would come to confess much to Harry, discussing at first in a rather distant manner, but upon revealing key details about his wife prior to and after her death as well as his family's hidden Time Turner, Draco and Harry finally came to a mutual respect for one another, and saw each other as friends for the first time, though it still did not heal everything in spite of many confessions. Draco even admitted that he had always envied Harry, Ron, and Hermione's friendship.
Draco was first cousins, twice removed, with at least one member of the Potter family, through the Black family. It is almost certain that the said Potter was related to Harry, but it is unknown whether Harry and Draco were aware of it.
Weasley family
- "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."
- — Draco to Ron Weasley when they first meet[src]
The Malfoy family generally looked down upon the Weasley family for their lack of wealth and 'blood traitor' status, a sentiment Draco made clear immediately upon meeting Ron Weasley on the train to Hogwarts for their first year.[19] He and Ron had a hostility that mirrored that of their fathers, often insulting one another and prone even to physical fights at times. Draco also wrote the lyrics to the demeaning song Weasley is Our King, which was meant to undermine Ron's abilities as a Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.[21]
When Crabbe set the Room of Requirement on fire, Ron assisted Harry and Hermione in pulling Draco and Goyle away, but with some reluctance. When he and his friends saved Draco again later that night from a Death Eater Draco was pleading with, Ron punched him in the face and called him a 'two-faced bastard'. Although this enmity seems to have faded with age, Ron discouraged his daughter Rose from becoming friends with Draco's son, Scorpius.[24]
Draco had less interaction with other members of the Weasley family. Fred and George Weasley attempted twice to physically assault Draco; The first time was when he called Hermione Granger a 'filthy little Mudblood'[13] and the second time after Draco insulted their mother and father, as well as Harry Potter's mother, Lily Evans (earning both twins, as well as Harry, a 'lifetime Quidditch ban' from Dolores Umbridge) and made sure to hex Draco, along with other members of the Inquisitorial Squad, when they left Hogwarts. Ginny also had a few hostile encounters with Draco, most notably hitting him with a Bat-Bogey Hex when the Inquisitorial Squad tried to hold her, Ron, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood in 1996.[21] Draco also appeared to dislike Percy and showed no respect towards him despite the latter being a prefect.
Hermione Granger
- Draco: "Good, aren't they? But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep 5's, I expect a museum would bid for them."
- Hermione Granger: "At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent."
- Draco: "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."
- — after Draco becomes Slytherin Seeker and taunts the Gryffindor team[src]
Draco's relationship with Hermione Granger was coloured before the two even met, although they never actually interacted until their second year. Draco was raised to believe in the inferiority of Muggle-borns, and by his second year, his father had told him he should be ashamed that Hermione beat him in all of his school marks. Thus, Draco often taunted Hermione, calling her the derogatory epithet 'Mudblood', but she refused to ever be bullied. During the period when Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets was attacking Muggle-born students, Malfoy told his friends Crabbe and Goyle (really Harry and Ron using Polyjuice Potion) in the Slytherin common room that he hoped Granger would be the next victim.[13]
Although Hermione generally ignored Draco's taunts rather than getting into fights with him like Harry and Ron, occasionally the two would exchange sharp words and, in their third year, Hermione even slapped him for insulting Hagrid.[20] When he encountered the trio in Madam Malkin's before the start of their sixth year, he asked who had given Hermione a black eye (the result of a boxing telescope) so that he could 'send them flowers'.[22] Despite his dislike for and prejudice towards Hermione, Draco still advised Ron and Harry to get her to safety during the Death Eater riot at the Quidditch World Cup (albeit in a taunting manner)[3] and demonstrated reluctance to identify her to his aunt Bellatrix, avoiding even looking at her.[24]
In 2017, when Ron encouraged their daughter not to associate with Draco's son, Hermione expressed a more conciliatory attitude.[24] Draco and Hermione became third cousins, once removed in law when Hermione married Ron Weasley. Draco's son Scorpius would eventually develop a deep crush and even fall in love with Hermione's daughter, Rose Granger-Weasley. Although their relationship slightly improved after the war, Draco quipped a few times during the ambush of Delphini in Godric's Hollow on 31st October 1981, that he was both astounded and mildly enjoying taking battle commands from Hermione, finding the situation darkly amusing.
Neville Longbottom
The initially shy and clumsy Neville regularly found himself on the receiving end of insults from Draco and his gang, and was often the butt of their jokes and pranks -- a fact which served only to make Neville clumsier and less confident. Encouraged by Hermione, Ron, and Harry to stand up for himself, Neville grew to be someone who was much more difficult to bully by his later years at Hogwarts, resisting not only the Slytherin students, but also Alecto and Amycus Carrow and Severus Snape. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville proved to have made an impressive and complete turn around from his earlier years of crumbling under Draco's bullying, when he openly defied Lord Voldemort and beheaded Nagini, effectively destroying Voldemort's final Horcrux.
Draco and Neville were fourth cousins, but both of them did not know about this relationship.
Hogwarts staff
- Albus Dumbledore: "Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."
- Draco Malfoy: "How do you know? You don't know what I'm capable of, you don't know what I've done!"
- — Draco and Albus Dumbledore in 1997[src]
Draco showed particular dislike for the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who was in favour of complete acceptance of Muggle-borns, a contradictory view to that of the Malfoys'. As such, Draco often ridiculed Dumbledore's ideals and choices. He was excited at first when given the mission to kill Dumbledore, with the desire to redeem his family name and avenge his father, even daring to use the derogatory term 'Mudblood' in front of the Headmaster, the latter of which displeased Dumbledore. However, Dumbledore pitied Draco when he became a Death Eater, as he knew that Voldemort had forced Draco to his bidding by threatening Draco's parents. Furthermore, when Dumbledore offered to save Draco from the Death Eaters, Draco seemed inclined to accept the offer before the exchange was interrupted by the arrival of his fellow Death Eaters. When Draco witnessed Snape killing Dumbledore, he appeared horrified, which likely compounded his regret of ever becoming a Death Eater.
Also before his fourth year, Draco referred to Dumbledore as a Mudblood-lover.[3]
Accustomed to the preferential treatment he received from Severus Snape, and reaping the benefits of his family's connections and status, Draco tried to use his grandfather's good name to get close to Horace Slughorn, though Slughorn did little more than ignore him. However, Dolores Umbridge, who was familiar with Draco's father, made Draco and his friends members of the Inquisitorial Squad, and was quick to allow the Slytherin Quidditch team to re-form after she disbanded every other 'Student Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club' with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four.
Draco showed contempt for the teachers who lacked status or didn't fit his or his family's standards of blood purity, such as Remus Lupin, who was a Werewolf and consequently tended to look ragged and poor; Rubeus Hagrid, an unkempt half-giant; and Alastor Moody (Barty Crouch, Jnr in disguise), who was an Auror known for the extensive list of Death Eaters he had captured, as well as his intense paranoia. Draco refrained from being too openly contemptuous toward the ex-auror due to fear. Incidentally, during the Ministry's smear campaign against Dumbledore, the same three teachers were cited as 'eccentric decisions' made by Dumbledore, and evidence of his diminishing competence in the position Headmaster. Draco often found himself at odds with Head of Gryffindor House Professor McGonagall, who never played favourites with any student, least of all Malfoy, though he showed her some level of grudging respect, while she did not accept Harry's accusations of Draco's crimes without sufficient evidence. Draco similarly seemed to feel some respect toward Filius Flitwick. Draco also disliked the caretaker Argus Filch because he was a Squib and never hesitated to punish Draco, although they did work together in the Inquisitorial Squad.
Myrtle Warren
- "... tell me what's wrong... I can help you..."
- — Moaning Myrtle trying to comfort Draco[src]
During Draco's second year, when the Chamber of Secrets was opened a second time, Draco jeered to the disguised Harry and Ron that the first time the Chamber was opened, a Mudblood died — that 'Mudblood' being Myrtle.
During Draco's sixth year, when he was assigned by Lord Voldemort to kill Albus Dumbledore, he became stressed out from the difficulty of the mission and the consequences of failure. Surprisingly, despite Draco's prejudice against Muggle-borns, Draco apparently visited Myrtle regularly in a bathroom, where he confided in and even openly cried in front of her. In turn, she was under the impression that Draco was a sensitive boy who was being bullied (which was true, though Myrtle would not have known Lord Voldemort was the one bullying him). This may be one of the rare moments that Draco showed something other than disgust for Muggle-borns, though it is unknown whether he was aware of Myrtle's blood status and connection to the Chamber of Secrets' opening during Voldemort's time at Hogwarts.
Lord Voldemort
- "I haven't got any options! I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!"
- — Draco regarding Lord Voldemort and the mission he's been given[src]
Although Draco originally admired and respected Lord Voldemort, he came to fear him after having his family's safety threatened.
Draco joined the Death Eaters at age sixteen, when Lord Voldemort threatened to kill his parents if he failed in his mission to assassinate Albus Dumbledore. In fact, Voldemort wanted to punish Lucius Malfoy for not retrieving a Prophecy from the Department of Mysteries in his assumption that Draco would fail and have to be punished accordingly. Draco fought in several battles for Voldemort, including the Battle of the Astronomy Tower and the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor. After Voldemort's final defeat, Draco was not imprisoned, as he and his family had deserted the Death Eaters prior to Voldemort's defeat.
Although it is unknown if Draco ever learnt this, it was ironically his act in disarming Dumbledore before his death and unknowingly mastering the Elder Wand which prevented Voldemort from fully mastering the wand's power. Draco, in turn, was disarmed by Harry of his wand during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, thereby giving Harry mastery of the Elder Wand. When Harry told Voldemort these facts, the latter simply dismissed them, arguing that they made no difference and that Voldemort threatened to 'attend to [i.e., kill]' Draco, likely as punishment not only for Draco's unintentional meddling but also for Draco's parents' disloyalty to Voldemort. Fortunately for the Malfoys, this arrogant indifference ultimately resulted in his final defeat at the hands of Harry Potter.
By 2020, Draco had become so disillusioned from the Death Eater cause due to his experiences with Voldemort that he (Draco) helped the Trio defeat Voldemort's daughter Delphini in her plan to save Voldemort from his first downfall back in 1981. What was rather remarkable about Draco's involvement in this escapade was that Delphini was the illegitimate daughter of Draco's aunt Bellatrix, and therefore Draco's cousin. This defiance of Delphini and Voldemort demonstrated that Draco wanted so little to do with his erstwhile master that even having the Dark Lord's daughter being a blood relative was a repugnant notion to him. Draco also might have been motivated by a desire to redeem himself from his Death Eater past. During this period in his life, Draco also began referring to Voldemort by his name rather than the 'Dark Lord' as he did in his youth, which might have been motivated by his self-redemption.
Slytherin Quidditch team
Draco Malfoy was the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team starting his second year at Hogwarts. Malfoy appeared to be very popular with the team. This is most likely because during his second year his father bought the team new and faster brooms. Also, the rest of the team appeared to have the same views as he did because they smirked when Malfoy called Hermione Granger a 'Mudblood' and laughed when a curse backfired on Ronald Weasley after the disagreement with Hermione Granger.
Draco also appeared to be somehow related to one of the team members — Marcus Flint — through his maternal 2nd great-grandfather, who married the pure-blooded Ursula of the Flint family.
- Draco's name, like those of many members of his maternal family, the House of Black, is derived from that of a constellation. [Draco is also known as the Dragon; Draco translates into 'dragon' in Latin and 'serpent' in Greek. The constellation is connected to multiple legends in Greek mythology, most notably as symbolising the hundred-headed dragon Hercules had to get past during his Twelve Labours, or the dragon killed by Cadmus before he founded the city of Thebes. In Roman legend, Draco the dragon was killed by the goddess of wisdom, Minerva, and tossed into the sky. Another connection with him being a Death Eater, is the fact that Lucifer/Satan is referenced as a Dragon in Christian Theology. In addition, Draco was the name of an Ancient Greek legislator whose laws were notoriously harsh. The word draconian, meaning 'unusually severe or cruel,'[36] is derived from his name. However, this Ancient Greek legislator simply wrote down laws that were already in existence. These harsh laws were already in existence in an oral tradition. He did not actively try to change these laws as they were written down for the benefit of the common people. This mirrors Draco's role as he introduces us to pure-blood mania, which is a philosophy he inherited from his family.
- The name Lucius may come from the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who extra judiciously executed his rivals. His name could also be a reference to the Roman Emperor Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also known as Nero. Lucius is a name that derives from Latin meaning 'bright' or 'intelligent' and is related to the name Lucifer, the first name of Satan, which may reference Lucius Malfoy being bright but evil, or just evil.
- His surname, Malfoy, in French (mal foi) means 'bad faith.'
Behind the scenes
- Draco is part French, seeing as his ancestor Armand Malfoy was from France.[37]
- Draco was responsible for Harry missing two of his three Quidditch Cups at Hogwarts. In their fifth year, Harry was banned from the Quidditch Team by Umbridge for attacking Malfoy after he insulted Harry's mother and Ron's family. The second time, in their sixth year, Harry was forced to miss the final Quidditch match by Snape for using the Sectumsempra curse on Malfoy in their duel.
- The first time Draco saw Voldemort was in the Forbidden Forest, when the latter was sharing a body with Professor Quirrell. Draco fled from him in horror, despite the fact that his father served Voldemort in the First Wizarding War. It is presumed Voldemort did not know who Draco was at the time, or if he remembered him when he became part of the Death Eaters. Draco also probably didn't recognise Voldemort for who he was, since he was on the back of Quirrell's head, and that he was cloaked.
- Draco would have attended Durmstrang Institute, a school that does not admit Muggle-borns and teaches the Dark Arts, but his mother didn't want him staying so far away from home.
- Ironically enough, it was Draco's wand that Harry used in his final duel with Voldemort, though it had changed its allegiance to Harry by that point. However, as it was the rebounding spell of the Elder Wand that killed Voldemort, Draco's wand did not vanquish Riddle.
- Draco is portrayed by British actor Tom Felton in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2 and so is one of the 14 characters to appear in all 8 film adaptations.
- Tom provided the voice of Draco Malfoy in the video-game adaptations of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
- Draco is portrayed by British actor Alex Price in the Original West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.[38]
- Jax Jackson, the actor portraying Yann Fredericks in the Year 3 Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, portrayed Draco Malfoy, voicing him in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 6 (The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters) for the Harry Potter At Home project.[39]
- Jon Steiger, the actor portraying Scorpius Malfoy in the San Francisco Curran Theatre production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, also portrayed Draco Malfoy, voicing him when the cast of Cursed Child read aloud Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 5 (Diagon Alley) together, organised by Bloomsbury Publishing for the 2021 Harry Potter Book Night.[40][41]
- In J. K. Rowling's early drafts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Draco's surname was 'Spungen', 'Spinks',[42] or 'Smart'.[1]
- Draco's wand is notable in that his wand is one of the few that have the same look throughout all eight films, though the prop in the last two films is all black instead of brown with a black handle.
- Rowling has expressed some worry over fans of Draco: 'People have been waxing lyrical [in letters] about Draco Malfoy, and I think that's the only time when it stopped amusing me and started almost worrying me. 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...'[43]
- In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Draco does notice the Golden Snitch just after Harry does and chases after him for it only to get knocked off his broom and injured unlike the book where he never noticed it because he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Also for the film, Draco's injuries cause him to be sent to the Hospital Wing, though Madam Pomfrey impatiently tells him that his injuries were not severe enough to be kept overnight.
- In the the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Draco's arm injury does not last as long as it does in the book.
- It is shown that he is somewhat more respectful in the films than the books. In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Draco is seen at Cedric's memorial feast. However, instead of talking and disrespecting the feast, he is seen looking down solemnly, mourning for Cedric.
- In the films:
- Draco seems to be less antagonistic towards Hagrid than in the books.
- Draco seems to have a fondness for green apples, since he is seen eating one in Prisoner of Azkaban and putting one in the vanishing cabinet in Half-Blood Prince.
- In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2:
- Draco receives a hug from Voldemort and is the only known follower of his to receive this 'honour'. This scene was improvised by both actors, adding the 'awkward' element.
- This atmosphere actually makes sense, as Voldemort had never known love, and this act of hugging would seem strange to him.
- In the final climatic battle, he and his family depart from the battle and were not seen in the Great Hall during the recovery from the battle.
- Draco receives a hug from Voldemort and is the only known follower of his to receive this 'honour'. This scene was improvised by both actors, adding the 'awkward' element.
- In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Draco appears to give his wand back to Harry to duel with Lord Voldemort. This was also filmed for the film, but it was cut.
- He never referred to Ron or Hermione by their first names during the course of the original seven books. He did, however, refer to both of them by their first names by the events of The Cursed Child.
Author's comments
- "He's shut down compassion — how else would you become a Death Eater? So he suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself. But then he's playing with the big boys, as the phrase has it, and suddenly, having talked the talk he's asked to walk it for the first time and it is absolutely terrifying. And I think that that is an accurate depiction of how some people fall into that kind of way of life and they realise what they're in for. I felt sorry for Draco. Well, I've always known this was coming for Draco, obviously, however nasty he was."
- — J. K. Rowling regarding Draco's character[src]
J. K. Rowling has commented that Draco is very capable of compartmentalising his life, which makes him skilled at Occlumency and at bullying others.[43]
She also compared Draco to his first cousin once removed, Regulus Black, in that they were both initially attracted to the Death Eater organisation, but 'the reality of what it meant was way too much to handle'.[43] Rowling also compared Draco to Dudley Dursley; in addition to both being bullies, Draco was also 'raised as a pampered only son, indoctrinated with his parents' beliefs'. She has stated that there is 'a real moral cowardice to Draco', but that he is not 'wholly bad'.[44]
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)
- Quidditch Through the Ages (Mentioned only)
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
- LEGO Harry Potter
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
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- LEGO Creator: Harry Potter
- LEGO Harry Potter
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- Pottermore
- Wizarding World
- J. K. Rowling's official site (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter Trading Card Game
- Harry Potter: The Character Vault
- Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
- Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
- Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned only)
- The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Writing by J. K. Rowling: "Draco Malfoy" at Wizarding World
- ↑ World Exclusive Interview with J K Rowling
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 6 (Draco's Detour) - 'A teenage boy with a pale, pointed face and white-blond hair appeared from behind the rack, wearing a handsome set of dark green robes that glittered with pins around the hem and the edges of the sleeves.'
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 4 (At Flourish and Blotts) - 'The man who followed could only be Draco's father. He had the same pale, pointed face and identical cold, grey eyes.'
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 6 (Draco's Detour) - 'His light grey eyes narrowed.'
- ↑ LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- ↑ F.A.Q. question on J. K. Rowling's official site (archived via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine)
- ↑ LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7 (The Sorting Hat)
- ↑ See this image.
- ↑ Black family tree
- ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- ↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 3, "ANDROMEDA'S HOGWARTS HOMECOMING" Achievement
- ↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 2, "MEET THE MALFOYS" Achievement
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 2, "MEET THE MALFOYS" Achievement - Part 4, Side Quest "Crime and Punishment"
- ↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 3, "ANDROMEDA'S HOGWARTS HOMECOMING" Achievement
- ↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 3, "SLYTHERIN CELEBRATION" Achievement
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 21.8 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- ↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 22.11 22.12 22.13 22.14 22.15 22.16 22.17 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- ↑ 'JKRowling.com Section: F.A.Q.' from MuggleNet
- ↑ 24.00 24.01 24.02 24.03 24.04 24.05 24.06 24.07 24.08 24.09 24.10 24.11 24.12 24.13 24.14 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- ↑ TIME magazine — JK Rowling answers 10 questions about Harry
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Epilogue (Nineteen Years Later)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act One, Scene Four
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act Four, Scene Four
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act Two, Scene Fifteen
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Chapter 9 (The Midnight Duel)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 28 (Snape's Worst Memory)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act Four, Scene Four
- ↑ 'Malfoy & Nott' at Extra Stuff at J. K. Rowling's official site
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- ↑ Dictionary.com: Draconian
- ↑ Writing by J. K. Rowling: "The Malfoy Family" at Wizarding World
- ↑ Alex Price talks about playing Draco Malfoy in Cursed Child at Wizarding World
- ↑ Feature: 'A handy guide to all of the Cursed Child readers from Chapter Six: 'The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at Wizarding World (Archived)
- ↑ (see this video) (video currently set to private)
- ↑ #HarryPotterBookNight has moved to 24th June (although if you have an event planned today then go for it, and have fun!). Ahead of that, here's a sneak peek of the wonderful casts of the Cursed Child reading from the chapter 'Diagon Alley' (from Philosopher's Stone) - Bloomsbury UK's official account on X
- ↑ Harry Potter Lexicon: Draco Malfoy
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 16 July 2005 Edinburgh Interview: Part 2
- ↑ 19 October 2007 MTV article on J.K. Rowling's appearance at Carnegie Hall
Leader | ||
Draco Malfoy | ||
Members | ||
Blaise Zabini · Draco Malfoy · Graham Montague (possibly) · Gregory Goyle · Marcus Flint (possibly) · Millicent Bulstrode (possibly) · Pansy Parkinson · Pike · Vincent Crabbe |
Elder Wand | |||
Death (manufacturer) · Antioch Peverell · Antioch Peverell's killer · Emeric the Evil · Egbert the Egregious · Godelot · Hereward · Barnabas Deverill · Loxias · Arcus or Livius · Mykew Gregorovitch · Gellert Grindelwald · Albus Dumbledore · Draco Malfoy (master only) · Tom Riddle (owner only) · Harry Potter · (Interred) | |||
Resurrection Stone | |||
Death (manufacturer) · Cadmus Peverell · (generations of Gaunts) · Marvolo Gaunt · Morfin Gaunt · Tom Riddle · Albus Dumbledore · Harry Potter · (Lost) | |||
Cloak of Invisibility | |||
Death (manufacturer) · Ignotus Peverell · Ignotus Peverell's son · Iolanthe Potter · (generations of Potters) · Henry Potter · Fleamont Potter · James Potter I · Albus Dumbledore (owner only) · Harry Potter · James Potter II · Albus Potter |