Blog of the Perilous Raven

What do you think?

I mean, I fall on the Manipulative Dumbledore side of the house, so, I feel like my opinion’s easily extrapolated from that.

That said, I don’t think Dumbledore thinks of himself solely as a chess master. He acknowledges he does this, yes, but he does so for what he believes are moral purposes and for the greater good of society. If you were to ask Dumbledore, he probably would say that he has a deep, personal, connection to Harry Potter and sees him as a grandson, doesn’t stop him from grooming him for suicide. He’d say that he was very fond of the Potters, was very close with them, even though their recruitment into the Order at such a young age was... not exactly kosher.

Which makes this question complicated.

Dumbledore very much uses Snape as a pawn, just as he does everyone else in his life. The difference is that Snape is a witting pawn, he gets to see the man behind the curtain more often than not. Snape to me is a bit like Dumbledore’s Dirty Harry, because he’s int he know and competent, he gets to perform the unsavory tasks that must be done.

Dumbledore also uses the life debt Snape never should have owed James Potter against him as well as his guilt and grief over Lily. He places him in a poisition that Snape actively doesn’t like and, well, pretty much condemns him to death when he has Snape kill him in Draco’s stead. Either the Order or Voldemort himself were going to kill Snape one of those days, and eventually Voldemort did.

However, I think if you asked Dumbledore, he would say that Severus is a close confidante and a friend found in surprising places. I imagine he views Snape as a complicated man, one who made poor choices fueled by rage in his youth, and now is walking the rocky path to redemption with Dumbledore’s help. Yes, Snape has to do all the awful jobs, but somebody has to do it and Dumbledore knows Snape won’t buckle under the pressure.

I doubt Dumbledore would claim he’s Snape’s found family, he might see himself as a kind of father figure for Snape but more in the sense that he’s a male, older, authority figure Snape can turn to for guidance. I think he’d be more likely to label them as friends.

Yes, Albus pretends nonchalance, but that is also another punishment tool for Snape who Albus knows desperately craves approval and affection. Here is the thing: Dumbledore is an emotionally intelligent person and hence he must be able to truly see Snape's suffering- afterall Dumbledore had gone through very similar circumstances himself. But instead of trying to forge a connection through their shared experiences, Albus chooses to remain emotionally aloof from Snape. That is what is needed for the war. Albus and Severus do not deserve/cannot afford nice things like healing and emotional intimacy if the war needs to be won.

There is a twisted sense of possessiveness in there too: I am living out this self-imposed punishment of austerity, guilt and isolation and so will you for the rest of your life/ I get to decide your moral framework and how "good" you are allowed to become/ This is our deal: I give you scraps of half-truths and you do everything I say without question. I will not give any genuine affection because this is our punishment and this is what we deserve.

SHE IS THE ONE WHO LEAD HIM ON!! She makes him feel bad because she wants to be with him and he's denying her! He told her they couldn't be together, that he doesn't want to be accused of leading her on, and she ACCEPTED that break up but then she goes and tries to shag him anyway?? Without even asking??

Hello consent? Are you in THAT room?

As a reader, my main reaction to Draco as Harry’s supposed peer rival is frustration. The dynamic doesn’t really work for me because the contest is never fair. Draco is so thoroughly outmatched, in so many directions at once, that Harry has effectively beaten him across the board before the 'bullying' even has room to breathe.

Whatever prestige Draco tries to claim through the Malfoy name simply can’t compete with Harry’s standing in the wizarding world. From the very first book, it’s obvious that Malfoy influence doesn’t rival the automatic goodwill, protection, and indulgence Harry receives just for existing. Draco expects his status to earn him special treatment like an exemption from the rule banning first-years from owning broomsticks and it doesn’t. Harry, meanwhile, not only gets the rule bent, he has a broom bought for him outright. And even the idea that Harry might be disadvantaged by poverty collapses almost immediately, he isn’t a poor orphan at all, but an extremely wealthy one.

Institutionally, the gap only widens. At Hogwarts, Harry gains Dumbledore as a mentor, with McGonagall and Hagrid repeatedly stepping in to guide and protect him. Draco gets…Snape. And Snape, despite his favouritism, spends a remarkable amount of time ensuring Harry’s safety.

The Malfoy fortune doesn’t close the distance either. Harry consistently comes out ahead in the escalating broom rivalry, and even when Draco briefly has the superior broom in CoS, he still loses. All of Draco’s years of Quidditch practice amount to very little; Harry openly admits Draco is skilled, but Harry is simply better. Natural talent wins.

Nor does Malfoy influence actually pay off in the long run. Lucius manages to remove Dumbledore from power temporarily, but ends up expelled from the Board of Governors himself. The greatest victory Draco ever achieves through that influence is Buckbeak’s sentence. He can’t get rid of Hagrid, not even by exposing him as a half-giant. All he manages is targeting one of Hagrid’s animals—and even then, Buckbeak ultimately escapes.

If we assume the Malfoys are politically cunning, that could have benefited Draco. But it also requires assuming Draco never follows his father’s advice. He’s told to conceal his hatred of Harry and immediately announces it to the entire school. He’s advised to keep a low profile during the basilisk attacks and instead loudly gloats, making himself look suspicious. It’s hard to imagine Lucius being pleased with Draco’s refusal to show public support for Harry at the end of GoF, or worse, his mocking of Cedric Diggory’s death on the train.

Being sorted into Slytherin implies a degree of cunning, but Draco rarely demonstrates it. His midnight duel scheme in the first book is clever enough; everything after that is a steady decline. His attempts to get Harry in trouble consistently fail. When he spies on the Trio, he’s caught. When he tries to turn public opinion against Harry, it never sticks. The Dementor disguise plan is especially ridiculous, how anyone thought that wouldn’t end in punishment and lost House points is beyond me. Even when Draco is technically right, as in PoA when Harry is in Hogsmeade without permission, reporting him gains Draco nothing because Lupin intervenes.

The only times Draco manages even minor success against Harry are when an experienced adult is backing him. In Book Four, Rita Skeeter does the heavy lifting. In Book Two, he gains the upper hand in the Duelling Club only because Snape intervenes. Even then, Harry’s adult allies far outweigh Draco’s. Left on his own, Draco’s main accomplishment is bullying Neville in the corridors.

Draco doesn’t seem to have real strengths or lasting advantages—and he doesn’t even appear comfortable with the ones he’s supposed to have. When accused in CoS of buying his way onto the Quidditch team, a very Slytherin thing to do, his reaction isn’t smug pride but embarrassed rage.

Despite common assumptions, I also don’t think Draco is especially popular. Flint protects him, Crabbe and Goyle stick with him, and Pansy clearly cares about him—but that doesn’t make him a leader. His own year lacks anyone strong enough to challenge him, but the wider House doesn’t rally behind him. They laugh at his jokes, but when it matters like at the end of GoF they don’t follow his lead at all. Slytherin stands for Harry at Dumbledore’s banquet. Only Crabbe and Goyle stay seated with Draco.

When Lucius is sent to Azkaban, that pattern repeats. Only Crabbe and Goyle accompany Draco when he attacks Harry on the train in revenge. The attempt ends with Dumbledore’s Army defending Harry and leaving Draco and his friends hexed and humiliated another point in Harry’s favour when it comes to popularity.

Draco is also a coward, both in moments of immediate danger, Quirrell in Book One, Buckbeak in Book Three and in his emotional resilience. He doesn’t recover well from trauma; after Fake Moody turns him into a ferret, even hearing the man’s name unsettles him. He’s volatile, quick to anger, and prone to speaking when he shouldn’t. He dishes out insults easily, but can’t tolerate them in return.

When we see Draco without his usual performance for Harry—like in Knockturn Alley or during the Polyjuice Potion scene in CoS—he comes across as petulant, sulky, and whiny. Despite the narrative’s attempts to parallel him with Snape, his tone in these moments doesn’t resemble Snape’s at all. If anything, he sounds more like Peter Pettigrew, whose whining submissiveness toward Voldemort in GoF feels strikingly similar to Draco’s behavior when he doesn’t know Harry is watching.

And yet, alot of people including myself love Draco Malfoy.

Draco’s most endearing trait is that even though he never wins and he never quits.

He keeps showing up. He keeps trying. He keeps positioning himself opposite Harry, even after every prior encounter has proven this is a fight he cannot win. There’s something deeply human in that persistence. How do you fully hate someone like that?

Somehow, Harry consistently sees him as someone worth opposing. For all that Draco loses, Harry keeps engaging with him. He keeps responding. He keeps fighting back. On some level, Harry consistently gives Draco exactly what he wants: attention. Harry does not ignore Draco the way he ignores lesser irritants. He doesn’t dismiss him as irrelevant. He rises to the bait, trades insults, watches him closely, and treats him as someone worth opposing.

Then, in HBP, the dynamic quietly flips. For once, Draco isn’t obsessively trying to get Harry’s attention and he withdraws. He becomes secretive.

And Harry notices.

Even when everyone tells him he’s wrong, Harry follows his instinct all the way to its (correct) conclusion: Draco is a Death Eater. On some level, Harry understands Draco better than his friends do. He recognizes that something has gone catastrophically wrong, only because for once Draco’s attention isn’t fixed on him at all.

It wasn’t always so however. They were worn as part of military uniform back in 16th century (before the Statute!! Hint, hint), and were again menswear in the early 19th century.

I like draco top, simply cuz he's a pureblood prince, his family on both sides are purebloods and he was raised to uphold all their legacies and thier traditions. ( before anyone comes for me, I'm not finished ), But it's not my primary reason, it complies the purposes tho, and draco was raised to be the head of the house and was treated as such since he was just a young boy, he was groomed to be disciplined, always up-headed, always on the top, taught politics and how to run governments and to write laws and everything. Then comes his character, he was always been someone who's very proud, in my perspective he still is, kinda, in a way that he doesn't always still needs the blood purity and superiority, yet strong rooted on certain old traditions and his family legacies ( before voldemart ), and certain duties. He constantly fought and bullied Harry cuz Harry refused him, rejected his friendship offer, and that was a new thing to him, he never ever got that experience before in his life and that kinda made him feel frustrated and embarrassed and mad. Then all leads to voldemart and the usual shenanigans we knew already. But he has always been strong, afraid? ABSOLUTELY!!! but at the same time, he was STRONG too!!!!.

Now comes Harry! First thing is he was abused as a child, he's malnutrition, and never truly felt what's it to be loved freely before, he ate scraps and leftovers while forced to do chores, he never knew about his before, fed lots of lies, those kinds created trauma in him ( no one can deny unless you are an freaking idiot ), he in a way always felt that love is compelling and almost like transaction, that he constantly needs to give the other persons something to keep on having that, tho Hermione and Ron worked to make him see family isn't conditional, he never truly understood that nor completely accepted that, atleast not when it comes to him. He was pushed into the role of savior at 11 years old and continued to do so till he's 17 only to find out he was only raised to get killed, like a sacrificial lamb. He always put himself in danger to save others, cuz in somewhere in his mind, he always thought that's how it's supposed to be, that's the only way he'll have the only people who loves him and who he loves in his life, he kinda developed a savior complex and that's the only way he knew how to live, to keep people safe, to have people need him, but after the battle of hogwarts, after everything happened and shattered, he finally felt overwhelmed, and wanted a way Out to a quite life.

I have always felt something wrong with the way they made him an auror, because to me personally after everything he has been through, after spending his entire life in a war, I could never see him go on and took over an auror role as it would only put him back on where he started, I have always felt, he might have decided its enough and just want some quite and peace.

Now onto the drarry complex

To me personally, I have always felt after everything harry would feel enough, he now just wants to rest, have someone to take care of him, protect him, provide for him, just love him for him and him alone, someone who has seen his best and worst sides, someone strong enough to stand beside him, someone whose ego won't hurt when people see him, they only focus on him, someone with whom he can lay on his head over their shoulder, who'd be his anchor, after everything, he just wants , needs someone who would just be there for him, in silence, in loudness, in love, and in strength. He would probably want to shed his old life, his name, his story and even his skin!

I think draco was raised to be all of those aforementioned things, apart from that, after all the shenanigans happened, all those hatred, those gossips, those sideyes, and murmuring under their breaths and those sneaky comments that flows his direction, he would be yearning to feel feared ( not in the bad way but just of power ), respected and most importantly needed!! He would wish that someone would love him unconditionally, fiercely and openingly, without guilt or fear or obligation or shame, he would want someone to want him, want him, need him, to love them, to protect them, to provide for them, to live with them, to have a family, to continue their family line, his family line and legacy without any shame. He would want someone who wouldn't hesitate to wear his family name, his name!

Conclusion

In conclusion, with drarry, I think draco is top, cuz he would love to treat harry as prince without overwhelming him and would protect him with his life and provide for him with his everything and would give and be his strength and anchor, while harry would give draco the love he deserves, the respect and a family, would wear his name as a sign of everything and make him feel actually better as a person,especially as a Malfoy , as a pureblood who was raised to be one ❤️💚

To me Drarry is a classic Switch!Ship but their general dynamic - inside and outside the metaphorical bedroom - is Top!Draco/Bottom!Harry leaning for so many reason.

And if you ask me, this constant push and pull amongst them is exactly what’s kept this ship and alive for decades. They’re a delight to write fanfiction about because they are so versatile; figuratively as well as literally. They compliment each other as much as they ridicule one another.

Harry who’s been manipulated all his life and who ends up doing what’s expected if him might struggle with his own identity after the way. Who even is he without his purpose? I doubt he’d learn that with sb like Ginny by his side who was molding herself into the role of Harry’s gf rather than asking herself: Do I actually like him or am I just fangirling?

Wouldn’t it be much more beneficial for him to have a partner who challenges him and calls him out in his bs? No one who’s been through what Harry’s been through - and who’s in his right mind after - would willingly join the Aurora and marry a woman who looks like his dead mother because somehow that’s supposed to fix his childhood trauma.

Harry would totally struggle and need to do a lot of healing and therapy to learn how to trust Draco and give up control. But the fact alone that someone who he’s been his biggest adversary (Harry’s opinion) could love him and care for and about him would give him such a sense of security that it would be immensely healing for his tormented soul.

And don’t get me started on Draco! He’s got all the equipment to be a great partner for Harry but he needs to learn how to get over himself and that the power he obviously has over Harry (who’s OBSESSED!) is not just a huge responsibility but also a great opportunity to work on his egotism. That includes letting people see when he’s in need of support (bathroom scene) instead of lashing out. And that expressing vulnerability doesn’t equal incompetence.

They perfectly show that struggling with acknowledging that deserving love is not conditional but a universal right of a living things, including two idiot wizards.

But in the end they are two sides of the same coin with Draco just making a fantastic top even when he’s bottoming.

That being said, no hate if you prefer your Drarry differently. That’s the beauty of fanfiction and our save heaven Ao3.

It’s as you say, they complement each other just that well, providing things that the canon’s bad ending world deprives them off - Harry more than Draco but even Draco in many ways. Harry needs so much more support and actual understanding of where he’s coming from, as well as someone who won’t just okay all his bullshit reasons for being self-destructive. That’s a major reason I can’t see any relationship he might have with Ginny functioning - she’s so enamored with Boy Who Lived that she wouldn’t ever support him in getting what he needs to be healthy. We even see the two of them in post-books canon, so we know for sure she never did do that. And he in turn can’t provide anything for her (other than fulfilling her childhood fantasies of marrying a famous kid) since she never allows him to see who she is. It’s toxic all around.

We always talk about Rowling using Snape's "black, tunnel-like eyes" as a literary device for his Occlumency, which is true. But from a purely genetic standpoint, how does a pale, white British man from the Midlands end up with hair and eyes that dark?

The answer is likely in his mother's side of the family: the Prince bloodline.

1. The "Black Irish" phenotype in Ireland and parts of the Celtic regions, there is a very famous genetic contrast.

While many associate Irish people exclusively with red hair, there is a massive sub-population known historically as the "Black Irish." These are people with extremely pale, fair skin, but coal-black hair, heavy eyebrows, and deep, dark brown eyes that look pitch black unless hit by direct sunlight.

Snape and his mother are the textbook definition of this.

2. Eileen's name is the biggest clue Rowling rarely picks names at random.

"Eileen" is the anglicized version of the pure Gaelic/Irish name Eibhlin. Given that Cokeworth is located in the Midlands (an industrial hub that historically attracted thousands of Irish migrant workers during the industrial eras), it makes perfect sense that the Prince family carried these strong Celtic roots.

3. He is a Prince through and through in the books, it's explicitly stated that Severus looks exactly like his mother-the long face, the heavy brows, the bleak demeanor. Apparently he completely wiped out his Muggle father's traits with the exception of the hooked nose and inherited the full, raw Black Irish genetics from Eileen.

So to me, Snape isn't just a gothic character design; he and his mom are ethnically Celtic/Irish, and his appearance perfectly fits the biology of that heritage.

We know there’s a concept of crossdressing according to wizard norms (see: Mundungus) and we also know that this is distinct from Muggle crossdressing (see: the man in GoF who arrives to the campground in women’s clothing and refuses to change; he doesn’t seem to register what he’s wearing as gendered in the same way Molly registers what Mundungus is wearing as gendered.)