Draco Malfoy Needed Some Kind Of Redemptive Arc
A lot of people were upset that Draco was never ~redeemed~ in the books. We’re all so used to that satisfaction of the modern day, three-dimensional bad guy coming full circle and realizing that he’s wrong, and there was nothing definitive in the book quite like that. I can’t really fault JK Rowling for deciding to go the realistic route with her villains â very few of them admit their wrongness. We get Dudley kind of sort of apologizing, and we get Draco nodding curtly at Harry at the train station in the epilogue, and that’s it. But that’s also real life, ya know? I can see how they might want to try a more traditional, unsubtle route for the film, but in the end, it just wasn’t true to the character at all.
Carried By Harry Potter
- “Harry looked down at the hawthorn wand that had once belonged to Draco Malfoy. He had been surprised, but pleased, to discover that it worked for him at least as well as Hermione’s had done.”
- Harry Potter using the wand
In the aftermath of the Escape from Malfoy Manor, Harry had the wand examined by Garrick Ollivander, who concluded that the wand’s allegiance had changed to him. The wand was carried by Harry for the remainder of the Second Wizarding War seeing action in the Break-in at Gringotts as well as during the final climactic Battle of Hogwarts.
During the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort found that the Elder Wand, otherwise known as the Deathstick or Wand of Destiny, which he had taken from Dumbledore’s tomb, was not working as impressively as he had hoped. Believing that this was because Snape had its allegiance after killing Dumbledore, Voldemort had Nagini kill Snape. When he and Harry faced off shortly afterwards, Harry corrected him: since Draco had disarmed Dumbledore, he was the true master of the Elder Wand, not Snape. When Harry disarmed Draco in Malfoy Manor, the Elder Wand’s allegiance shifted to him. Thus, when Voldemort tried to use the Killing Curse on Harry, the Elder Wand refused to attack him. The curse backfired, defeating the Dark Lord once and for all.
That Infamous Deathly Hallows Moment Wasnt Planned
Chances are you know exactly what that means but well set the scene up for you anyway.
Toward the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2, Voldemort returns the grounds of Hogwarts to reveal to everyone that he killed Harry while Harry, unbeknownst to Voldemort, survived the attack. Having been separated prior, Dracos mom Narcissa called for Draco to come over to herand to the side of the Death Eaters. When he did, Voldemort gave him a very uncomfortable but highly memorable hug.
A couple months after Part 2s release, Felton addressed the hug at DragonCon. According to his recollection, he and Ralph Fiennes filmed around 25 takes of that scene. Out of all of those takes, only one included the hug it was a one-off thing Fiennes did. And as strange as he found the moment, he was even more surprised that it made the cut.
Its really interesting because theres definitely a difference with the audience, how they take it. In England, its considered a very chilling moment, a very sort of, the whole audience goes quiet and they dont know what to say or do. Over here , its hilarious.
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Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows
The Malfoys remain reluctant followers of Voldemort, who now uses their home as his headquarters Draco passes out after witnessing Voldemort murder Muggle Studies professor Charity Burbage. Harry experiences occasional and disturbing visions of Draco being forced into performing Voldemort’s bidding and feels “sickened… by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort.” When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, Draco is asked to identify them, and though they are clearly recognisable, he only ambiguously replies “It might be.” During the successful escape from Malfoy Manor headed by Dobby, Harry overpowers Draco and captures his wand.
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione seek Ravenclaw’s diadem in the Room of Requirement, Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle , attempts to capture Harry alive. However, Crabbe defies Draco’s orders and attempts to kill the trio by casting the deadly Fiendfyre unable to control the spell, he dies in the blaze while the trio rescue Draco and Goyle . Draco, despite his often condescending and belittling attitude toward Crabbe and Goyle , grieves for his lost friend. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco is seen pleading with a Death Eater who seems intent on killing him. He is once again saved by Harry and Ron, the latter of whom punches Draco in the face under the invisibility cloak for attempting to appease the Death Eater.
Epilogue
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
After Harry is unexpectedly chosen as a Triwizard Tournament champion in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Draco shows off a “Support Cedric Diggory” badge to Harry, then presses it to replace that phrase with “Potter Stinks.” Draco also gives malicious and often false information about Harry and Hagrid to muckrakingDaily Prophet journalist Rita Skeeter. When Draco attempts to curse Harry behind his back, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Alastor Moody humiliates Draco by transforming him into a ferret and repeatedly slamming him against the ground as well as dropping him down Goyle’s pants.
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He’s Very Good At Occlumency
Occlumency is the practice of defending your mind from anyone using Legilimency to penetrate it for information.
Harry wasn’t particularly good at repelling Voldemort’s Legilimency attacks, but according to Wizarding World, Draco had a knack for the skill.
Unlike Harry, Draco found “it easy to shut down emotion, to compartmentalise, and to deny essential parts of himself” – all helpful skills for Occlumency.
It Goes By Many Names
The Elder Wand has also been known as the Wand of Destiny, a title evocative of the grandeur and power that has enticed so many wizards. Other names have been bestowed upon it through the years. Some were derived from simple translations, such as the Eldrun Wand, which was the name given by Barnabas Deverill . It was also dubbed the Deathstick by Loxias, who ensured that the instrument lived up to its title, and the Dark wizard Godelot called it My most wicked and subtle friend, with body of Ellhorn, who knowes ways of magick moste evile. It didnt catch on.
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Its Design Is Unusual In Almost Every Respect
Virtually every detail of the Elder Wand hints at something unique or exceptional by a wandmakers standards.
Elder wood is not a favoured material in wand-making. However, it is still included in Garrick Ollivanders notes:
Only a highly unusual person will find their perfect match in elder, and on the rare occasion when such a pairing occurs, I take it as certain that the witch or wizard in question is marked out for a special destiny.Wand Woods: Writing by J.K. Rowling
Stranger still, the Elder Wands core substance is Thestral hair. There are no Ollivander notes to go by it wasnt a material he chose to work with but we do know that Thestrals have a strong connection with death, plus the magical properties of invisibility, flight and an uncanny ability to find their destination. How this affects the wand is uncertain, but it does hint towards some seriously powerful magic.
The Malfoys Slippery Family History Goes Back Generations
It didnt take long for Harry to notice the extent of the Malfoy familys influence and how Draco were able to weasel their way out of almost any situation. Draco often walked around Hogwarts like he owned the placeand in a way, he thought he did. His family was one of the richest in the country and had resided in England since the time of William the Conqueror.
The Malfoys long had a hand in power, but they never held office themselves, preferring to spin their influence behind the scenes. However, they still left their mark on magical and Muggle history, particularly one Malfoy, whose torture of some Muggle tenants resembled the Black Death.
While Dracos reach never really went beyond the walls of Hogwarts, his father Lucius had the ear of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic for the first five Harry Potter books. Lucius famously managed to avoid Azkaban twice: he claimed he was under control of the Imperius Curse after Voldemort fell the first time, and he provided the Ministry of Magic evidence to help capture Death Eaters who were hiding after Voldemorts death.
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Draco Married Astoria Greengrass And Had One Child
The epilogue of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” flashes forward 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts.
In that scene and in additional interviews, Rowling has shared details about Draco’s future, including that he married Astoria Greengrass. They went on to have a blond son named Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.
Adding Books To The Malfoy Manor Library
As Scorpius had a reclusive childhood, living in Malfoy Manor without the opportunity to interact with other children his age, he spent a lot of time reading books. While it doesnt sound like he was able to indulge in anything as exciting as The Monster Book of Monsters, he did say he read books that helped him learn about the Wizarding world, the Second Wizarding War, and Harry Potter.
It stands to reason that Draco added many of these books to the Malfoy Manor library. Books about the Second Wizarding War didnt exist when Draco grew up there as the war hadnt started yet or was in progress. Many of these books inevitably highlight the atrocities committed by Voldemort and the Death Eaters in a deservedly negative light, something Lucius and Narcissa wouldnt have had in their home. They also wouldnt have had books about Harry Potter, their masters greatest enemy. If Scorpius was going to have a largely isolated childhood, at least Draco added books to the Malfoy Manor library that could educate his son about the outside world before he went off to Hogwarts.
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Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
During Hagrid’s debut as Care of Magical Creatures instructor in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the hippogriff, Buckbeak, attacks Draco after he fails to observe proper protocol while approaching it and insults it. He exaggerates the extent of his injury, giving Slytherin a chance to postpone their Quidditch match against Gryffindor until later in the year and as an attempt to have Hagrid fired. Hermione punches Draco when he mocks Hagrid for crying over Buckbeak’s death sentence. Draco, who implies that he is aware of how Sirius Black was supposedly involved in the deaths of Harry’s parents, also taunts Harry about the impending threat of Black: “If it was me, I’d want revenge. I’d hunt him down myself.”
Why Draco Malfoys Creator Isnt Comfortable With His Popularity
Pick just about any Harry Potter character with a role to play in the storywith maybe a few exceptions like Dolores Umbridgeand youll find readers and movie viewers who are intrigued, admire, or even root for them. So its not too surprising some fans like Draco.
Hes paired with Harry in one of fandoms most popular ships, but some also like him as a character. Thats not to say they endorse or support every decision he makes hes prejudiced, was raised to believe he was better than everyone else, snotty, and kind of a coward by Deathly Hallows. But that doesnt take away from the fact that hes a fascinating characterand maybe even one readers may pity.
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In recent years, Rowling has taken issue with how some fans have admired Draco, and she addressed it when she debuted Dracos biography on Pottermore in 2014. She put part of the logic behind it on actor Tom Felton, who played Draco through all eight films and is basically the polar opposite of his character.
I have often had cause to remark on how unnerved I have been by the number of girls who fell for this particular fictional character , Rowling wrote. Draco has all of the dark glamour of the anti-hero girls are very apt to romanticise such people.
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Did Hermiones Parents Ever Remember Her
Several years later, however, Hermione was forced to alter her parents memories and give them new identities as Wendell and Monica Wilkins, to protect them from the Death Eaters. After the Second Wizarding War ended, Hermione found Mrs Granger and her husband in Australia and returned their memories.
It Was Probably First Used By Antioch Peverell
In the wizard fable The Tale of the Three Brothers, the eldest brother was gifted a powerful wand created by Death himself. In the end, he was murdered for his seemingly unbeatable wand.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it became apparent that the Elder Wand, along with the Resurrection Stone and Invisibility Cloak, were very real objects in the wizarding world. Xenophilius Lovegood’s claim that the Peverell brothers Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus were their original owners was supported by Albus Dumbledores theory that they were also the inventors. As the oldest Peverell brother, Antioch was the one associated with the Elder Wand.
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Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Draco is named a Slytherin prefect along with Pansy Parkinson. He gets Harry and the Weasley twins banned from the Gryffindor Quidditch team when they attack him during a postmatch brawl after Draco insults their families following Gryffindor’s win over Slytherin. He later joins Dolores Umbridge‘s Inquisitorial Squad, with whom he plays an important part in the exposure of Dumbledore’s Army. As the D.A. flees the Room of Requirement, Draco earns Slytherin fifty points after catching Harry, and helps hold several members captive in Umbridge’s office, letting them free only after Ginny Weasley performs her famous Bat Bogey Hex. After his father and other Death Eaters are captured and sentenced to Azkaban following the events at the Department of Mysteries, Draco twice attempts to get revenge on Harry, but Snape and Minerva McGonagall thwart his first effort, and while returning home on the Hogwarts Express, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle are transformed into giant slugs by a barrage of hexes cast by several D.A. members coming to Harry’s defence.
He Gets Punched By Ron
Harry, Ron, and Hermione save the lives of Draco and Goyle after theyre all nearly burned to death inside the Room of Requirement. This comes close to happening because of Crabbe casting a spell he cant control, one that gets out of control and ends up costing himself his own life as a result.
Afterwards, Draco is seen begging a Death Eater to let him join their cause. Ron, seeing this, then punches him in the face and labels him a two-faced b******. This would have been fun and satisfying to see, but Warner Bros chose to omit it from the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The colorful use of language may potentially be why
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The Malfoy Family Has Ties To British Royalty
With all the money and influence of the Malfoy family, it’s no surprise that they have some pretty powerful connections. According to a 2015 feature on Pottermore, one of those connections is the British monarchy.
Draco’s ancestor Armand Malfoy performed “shady services to King William I” in exchange for the family’s first lot of land in England.
The first Lucius Malfoy also offered his hand to Queen Elizabeth I, and there are even rumors that the Malfoys jinxed the queen after she refused him.
Do Draco Malfoy And Nymphadora Tonks Know About Each Other
If they didn’t before, Voldemort told them in DH:
“I don’t know what you mean, my Lord.”
I’m talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud.”
“She is no niece of ours, my Lord,” she cried over the outpouring of mirth. “We Narcissa and I have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries.”
“What say you, Draco?” asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. “Will you babysit the cubs?”
The hilarity mounted Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother’s eye.
The wizarding world is small and fairly insular, so I’m guessing they would have known that Nymphadora existed.
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Harry Potter: 20 Things Draco Malfoy Did Between The Deathly Hallows And The Cursed Child
Like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Draco kept himself busy and got up to a lot of things in the years after leaving Hogwarts.
The beauty of Harry Potter is that many of the best characters arent necessarily the heroic ones. Take Draco Malfoy, an individual who started out as little more than a bully, but ultimately became one of the most complex and well-developed characters in the whole series. What J.K. Rowling achieved with Draco in the books was adapted well on the big screen with Tom Feltons spot-on performance.
In particular, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows offered a closer look at Draco that did the unthinkable. They provided insight into the insecurities and vulnerability behind his snarky, sometimes cruel facade. Hes no saint with a heart of gold and many of his actions and prejudices remain inexcusable. Yet, there was also a lot more to the character than many fans realized, a depth and inner struggle particularly explored in Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows that explained why he was that way.
Like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Draco kept himself busy and got up to quite a few things in the years after Hogwarts. While many of Dracos core traits remained in adulthood, he also changed in many ways and overall became a better person. By the time fans caught up with Draco in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, he was in many senses a changed man.
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