Potterstruck

Draco doesn’t say he saw Harry even though that would've been the obvious way to distract his attacker and get himself out of trouble.

What was he supposed to say here? Was he supposed to just die?

Why was this Death Eater so sure that Draco wasn't on his side? What had Draco done that led him to that conclusion?

We see how despite appearing like a normal enabled and spoiled child like Dudley, whenever we actually see Lucius, he usually gives Draco some standards and rules. Even when Draco was bought onto the Quidditch team, Lucius waited until Draco was old enough instead of Draco receiving special treatment like Draco wanted back in Philosophers Stone.

We see how despite appearing like a typical arrogant, vain + classist child, Draco tried befriending Harry, and later Myrtle, not knowing who they were and in Harry’s case, didn’t care about Harry’s clothes or appearance. Draco also appears to have hidden insecurities as shown by his taking courage from Dumbledore’s words.

We see how despite appearing like a Typical bullying Jock like James or Dudley, Draco does Theater Kid style bullying and mostly verbally bullies. Draco is also shown crying in the bathroom.

We see how Draco will laugh and support violence when he mainly only hears about it, yet when it’s right in front of him, he gets horrified.

We see how Despite claiming to love the dark arts, Draco has a unicorn core wand and as mentioned, he gets horrified when he sees dark stuff happening right in front of him.

Not to mention when James Potter was shown in flashbacks of when he was Draco’s age during the books, He often unintentionally made Draco look better by comparison. Since James does near verbatim copy Draco’s words but in different contexts that made Draco look more sympathetic as Draco wanted to be Harry’s friend at first and we can see how The Death Eaters + their children influenced Draco’s behavior.

I think there’s something very important about how Draco is perceived from the outside, something Rowling somehow overlooked. And I believe she missed it because she tends to see things in black and white. She tells us over and over that Draco is horrible, that he has no redeeming qualities, that he’s a spoiled, disgusting brat. But then she shows us a frightened kid who doesn’t join the Death Eaters out of personal conviction, but because his family is being threatened, and because, in some twisted way, he believes it’s the only way to stay alive and protect his parents, maybe even preserve his social status.

What we’re shown is not a villain, but someone who’s a victim of his circumstances. I think Rowling’s intention was to ridicule him, to portray him as a coward who panics when faced with the consequences of all his big talk as a contrast to the Gryffindors, who never back down and always fight with conviction. Because Rowling penalizes emotionality and views courage not as the ability to act despite fear, but as not feeling fear at all. She values emotionally repressed characters and often mocks or criticizes emotionally expressive ones.

But that’s not what we, the readers, see, because that’s not how real life works. The truth is, it takes immense courage to accept a mission to kill one of the most powerful wizards in the world just to try to save your family. The truth is, being afraid in the face of something so horrifying isn’t weakness, it’s humanity. And the truth is, most people say terrible things they would never actually go through with. Draco is just one of those people.

He doesn’t want to kill or torture anyone. He doesn’t actually want his classmates—however much he dislikes them—to die. He didn’t mean it. And that doesn’t make him a coward or someone with “no guts”, it makes him someone who simply isn’t a fucking sociopath.

Also, for those of us who’ve known boys like him—boys whose parents are deeply entrenched in cult-like belief systems—it’s easy to recognize Draco as one of those people who’s been consumed by the ideology, but doesn’t know how to get out. Because the cult is literally their entire life. And they hate it, and they don’t want to do the things they’re told, but they feel like they have no choice, because leaving would mean harming their loved ones, and because they have nowhere else to go.

I genuinely feel sorry for Draco in the later books, because I see a boy who, yeah, was kind of a jerk, but didn’t want to be dragged into all that mess, and was forced to. And he’s just trying to survive.

Given the immense popularity of the Harry Potter series, it’s clear why every character in the franchise would develop it’s own unique fanbase that is drawn to that particular person for a set of particular reasons. But one of the most curious phenomenons within the world of Harry Potter is the enduring and intense popularity of one of the most unappealing characters in the series, Draco Malfoy. In a world populated with exceptional wizards, epic heroes, and genocidal villains, why does this arrogant schoolyard bully hold so much sway with so many Harry Potter fans?

The prevailing theory of the book’s author is that Tom Felton is the reason why so many fangirls and fanboys are mistakenly believing that this bad boy has a heart of gold buried underneath that steely gaze and designer suit. But it doesn’t seem wildly unfair to say that the author’s ability to get a good read on her audience is… not great, and that seems like a vast oversimplification of Draco as a character and the audience’s reaction towards him. But if it’s not because of his pretty pretty face, what exactly is it that makes Draco so intriguing to so many people? After all, the amount of attention that he gets within the books is actually pretty minimal, and the screen time that he gets is even stingier, so what is there to even get intrigued by?

Harry Potter is a series that is exceptionally skilled at creating dramatic tension within it’s storyline, but that is exceptionally bad at creating dramatic tension within it’s character developments. Literally every major character within the story has a pretty firmly established personality that is only refined and directed towards whatever North star is guiding them. Although the stakes are constantly being raised and the risks are getting greater, every character has always known what they had to do and why they had to do it. With only one significant and glaring exception to that rule. Draco Malfoy. 

Let me start by saying that this doesn't mean I excuse Draco's behavior. Yes he was a bully and a horrible little brat. There is no excuse for calling people slurs and wishing death on them. I had very little sympathy for him when I was younger.

But as I've gotten older I've started to think....what other choice did Draco have? What other path was he offered?

Harry had all these adults guiding him and while some may have had ulterior motives (Dumbledore) they all at least wanted him to stay on the 'light' path. They guided him and made sure that he knew he had people standing with him.

Even Sirius who I can see people bringing up as an example. Yes Sirius turned against his entire family and rejected extremist pure blood values so why couldn't Draco? Here's why: Even Sirius knew he had James Potter. When he walked out that door Sirius knew he had a place to go. He knew he had someone

Who does Draco have?

His parents? They were both Death Eaters. Even though his mother is clearly not as evil as his father. Draco still cannot completely rely on her to get him out if he admits. 'I don't want to hate muggle borns'

Friends? What friends? Crabble and Goyle were little more than henchmen. And who else do we really see Draco interacting with in the Snakes?

snape? He was a double agent who couldn't risk his cover being blown.

Andromeda? He had no way of contacting her. She had been disowned.

Draco literally had no one in his life that said it was OKAY to NOT be evil.

Everyone who ever influenced Draco was on the dark side. There was no truly 'light' influence for him. No one that he felt safe enough to say 'I don't want to be a death eater'

Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he strained to get at Malfoy, who lay curled in the grass, blood blossoming over his robes. Hermione ran to hold open the gate as Hagrid lifted Malfoy easily. As they passed, Harry saw that there was a long, deep gash on Malfoy's arm; blood splattered the grass and Hagrid ran with him, up the slope toward the castle.

- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, chapter 6

That is not just a little scratch. And he was in the hospital wing overnight, which I seriously doubt Madame Pomfrey would allow if it wasn't genuinely necessary. Sure, Draco told Harry and Ron he was milking it for sympathy, but consider this. His right arm - his wand arm - was in a sling, meaning that he was pretty much defenseless both physically and magically. Would you want to admit that to your rivals, especially when at least one of them is known for escalating verbal conflicts to hexes and physical violence?

Happy New Year! ♥️✨🎇

I don't know if you're still talking about this, but with the recent Harry Potter series leaks, the fandom has resurfaced stronger than ever, and with it, the great debates about the characters and the Hogwarts houses. However, the one who's always in the eye of the TikTok storm is Draco Malfoy, since regardless of the movie or the book, the affection for this character can vary, whether it's because you like Tom Felton or because you genuinely like the character without needing to justify his bad actions. But lately I've seen him crucified too much, even put on the same level as Voldemort, Bellatrix, Barty Jr., Severus Snape, and Greyback, and labeled as the worst of them all, beyond redemption because of his history as a bully. I mean, YES, he did some very bad things, like insulting, belittling, and saying really hurtful things to people he didn't like or who didn't share his ideals. However, rereading "The Half-Blood Prince" and "The Deathly Hallows," I think this character takes a certain unexpected turn. From strutting around with his friends, implying he was a Death Eater with a mission, to being anxious about failing and his family getting hurt (in the battle with Harry in the bathrooms), to trying to lower his wand against Dumbledore (for a few microseconds), it hints at things, hahaha. I don't know if they're good or bad, but they're there. The same thing happens with The Deathly Hallows; we see very little of Draco, but the first time is when they are all gathered around Professor Charity's torture. He tries not to look at her, either because he is afraid of the whole situation he is witnessing or for some other reason; regardless of what he is thinking, he is scared of Voldemort and of the teacher's death.I've also seen many people say that Draco could have been on Harry's side when they took him to the mansion and that he could have escaped with him. Personally, I think that's the biggest load of nonsense. Harry and Draco are enemies; each has their own defined loyalties: Harry with his friends and family, and Draco with his parents. That will never change. But here we also see how Draco refuses to acknowledge the Golden Trio. I feel that everyone can have different opinions here, and that's acceptable. Harry says that both he and Draco avoided eye contact: Harry out of fear of being recognized, and Draco because he was afraid he wouldn't betray him, whether out of goodwill or fear of what would happen if he wasn't the right Potter. It's open to each person's interpretation. I honestly don't know; there are things that Draco has done VERY WRONG, as I said from the beginning, and he may not have had a redemption arc. However, I consider that this character has done horrible things to his Hogwarts classmates from ages 11 to 14, and even though in his 15s and 16s he had to... Seeing the path he so adored, witnessing Voldemort humiliate his family, and realizing he didn't want to be a murderer must have had a profound impact on him, leading him to raise his son without that ideology. Not to mention that, like Harry, Draco loves his son.To conclude, I've seen previous interviews where JKR has commented that she doesn't appreciate Draco having fans and that he doesn't deserve forgiveness, whether due to the romanticization of Draco or not. However, I find it amusing that she says Severus is a hero with many flaws. And no, this isn't an attack on those who like Severus; it's true he's a good character. However, the harm he inflicted on his students simply cannot be overlooked.But I'd love to hear your opinion. Thank you for your time, and if you feel it's necessary to correct or add any information from the book, please feel free.

Thank you for everything, and Happy New Year! ♥️✨🎇

Hello! Happy New Year to you as well :)

I agree with everything Draco related here. As I have said in other posts. Yes Draco was a brat when he was young. I have never and will never deny that.

But as you say the amount of hate he gets from the fandom is unbelievable! To put him on the same level as voldermort or greyback is just cruel! Those two plus the other examples you gave willingly killed.They took PLEASURE in their kills where as Draco was FORCED into killing Dumbledore under the threat to his own life and most likely threat to his parents lives. I quote: "Don't you understand? I have to do this...I HAVE to kill you...or he's going to kill me." This poor kid was literally crying as he pointed his wand at Dumbledore and people still say he WANTED to kill him?!

Draco haters are literally hating a MINOR (at the time) for things ADULTS MADE him do! Really what does that say about THEM rather than Draco?

And yeah it REALLY rubs me the wrong way the way JKR doesn't like the fact that Draco has fans and shoves snape at us! She wants us to like an adult who BULLIES CHILDREN and was perfectly fine with an INFANT DYING over a young boy who had no one on his side? Literally who did Draco have that he could turn to?

This is all to say that I totally agree that Draco gets WAY to much hate from the fandom old and new!

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

I’ve recently reread the last scene in the Room of Requirement in DH and I’ve noticed that Draco Malfoy isn’t as bad as I’ve remembered.

Although I’ve always found him interesting, I thought that he didn’t confirm that he recognised the trio in the manor in DH, because he was afraid of Voldemort, not in order to help them in any way. Especially that later, as I believed, he tried to catch Harry with Crabbe and Goyle and bring him to Voldemort. But after rereading I noticed the scene shows something else.

When Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle come to the Room of Requirement, their dynamics is much different than usual. Malfoy isn’t their boss anymore. He’s behind them, barely visible. It seems that Crabbe and Goyle have come there with the clear purpose of catching Harry, while Malfoy followed them for some reason: to help them? Stop them? See what they’re doing? Get away from the battle?

Malfoy says that Harry has his wand and then he honestly admits that his mother gave him the one he’s holding. Which I find quite interesting, especially that Harry insulted his mother in the past. I would expect him to say something like "It’s not your business, Potter" or some kind of threat or insult.

He doesn’t say much more, only tries to stop Crabbe and Goyle from killing or hurting Harry. Crabbe explains their plan. It’s intriguing how little we know about their friendship.

At one point Crabbe tries to hit Harry with the Cruciatos curse and Malfoy stops him, telling him that the Dark Lord wants Harry alive—and this scene is very similar to the one at the end of HBP when the DEs are running away, one of them hit Harry with Cruciatos and Snape stops them, using the very same argument.

Instead of focusing on saving himself from the fire, Malfoy tries to help unconscious Goyle.

I mean Snape and Regulus, Narcissa and Draco are all exceptionally brave at the end, they all stand up to Voldemort in their own way and are essential to his downfall. But before that…they all join him, they are all lured in by the promise of power of the dark arts. Slunghorn never is. The worst thing he does is explain a piece of advanced dark magic to a sixteen years old curious student, whom he wouldn’t suspect in the slightest of turning evil. And even then, he tells him multiple times that such kind of magic is a horrible violation of human nature. Perhaps he was imprudent, but he was also the only adult to teach Tom Riddle about the ugly consequences of magic - which could have arguably been more effective than Dubledore’s complete silence on the subject, had Riddle not been already too damaged to treasure this teaching. And even then, Slunghorn deeply regrets this act with profound shame, so much so that he modifies his own memory of it. I mean, good characters in the story do worse things and regret it less- Sirius tried to murder Snape at sixteen and never regretted it in the slightest.

In Draco’s year, literally every boy except Blaise Zabini had a Death Eater father. So all of them grew up with at least one parent who was a mass murderer? (That’s my assumption, anyway we never get a clear breakdown of what being a Death Eater entails, but it’s definitely not harmless.)

And on top of that, they’re not allowed to leave that cult-like environment. Andromeda being burned off the family tree makes a kind of sense, since she married a muggleborn. But Sirius was disowned just for rejecting pureblood ideology and running off to the Potters, who are purebloods themselves.

And that threat will always loom over their head even if they don’t actually have anyone in the family das did get disgraced or not.

I get that Draco was a mean kid. And yes, he had two loving parents, and he’ll never have to work a day in his life. But I still think it’s somewhat flawed to claim he had a “good” childhood. His father could love him more than anything, but if that father is also a mass murderer who tortures people, that’s still incredibly damaging. No amount of money can make that okay for a child.

Also if the threat of getting kicked out of your family for not being prejudice is constantly in the back of your mind isn’t really the best thing for child development.

I've seen a lot of people say that Slytherins "got what they deserved" either because they were bigots or children of bigots (which I honestly find terrible), and I think these are people who are completely disconnected from the reality of how individuals act or how the idiosyncrasy works in environments deeply affected by ideologies or beliefs that border on the sectarian. As I've said many times, I went to a Catholic school where a lot of kids were from Opus Dei families, and Opus Dei is an ultra-Catholic, highly sectarian group whose families are forbidden from having relationships with former members. If you watch any documentary on the subject, you might be horrified by the mechanisms they use not only to recruit new generations but also to create in children and teenagers an absolute emotional and psychological dependence on that environment and to provoke in them a need to be part of the community. Also, they become extremely vulnerable because their families belong to that community, and all of their support networks are tied to it.

People love to bring up Andromeda and Sirius, but they don’t like to mention that Andromeda and Sirius had somewhere to go. Andromeda married Ted Tonks and was disowned by her family because of it. But she had Ted, and probably Ted’s family too. She had somewhere to go, she had a future, she had emotional support. Sirius not only distanced himself from that sectarian environment thanks to ending up in Gryffindor —meaning he had the privilege of making friends completely disconnected from that world— but also had the enormous privilege of his best friend being just as wealthy as him and able to take him in. He had social and economic support, he had resources. Most teenagers or young people who are in tightly closed, highly sectarian communities don’t have those kinds of options, it’s not as easy as just leaving because it means giving up your whole life: your parents, your friends, your home, everything. One of my friends attempted suicide several times after leaving the cult because her family cut ties with her. I've known people who ended up with severe psychiatric issues because of the pressure they felt from wanting to leave but not knowing how. Then I have another friend who left and to this day has a toxic relationship with her family because she can't be with them but also can’t be without them, and not even years of therapy have helped her fix this. It’s not something you can just do easily, it’s not as simple as packing your bags and leaving because the emotional implications are huge, especially when it literally means cutting yourself off from your entire environment.

Slytherin feels like that to me. Parents indoctrinate their kids because they were previously indoctrinated by their own parents. They stick together and operate in the same social circles, everything they know is Slytherin people, and all their emotional anchors and safe attachments are within that circle. So what are they supposed to do? They can't even find relief at school because they literally live with those people. Leaving their family would also mean leaving the house they belong to in school, because they wouldn’t be able to handle the stigma and ostracism of living with people who despise them. We're talking about children and teenagers. And Sirius is a terribly convenient case because he didn't have to face rejection at his Hogwarts house, nothing changed for him there. He had a different house, his own safe space. No Slytherin kid would be that lucky. You can’t make moral judgments by pointing to characters who not only had opportunities that others didn’t, but also had tools, resources, and escape routes, things others simply didn’t have. We know Draco didn’t really want to be a Death Eater and didn’t want to kill or torture people either. He was forced to do it because otherwise the cult would punish his parents. That’s exactly how these groups operate: if they see you’re not on board or want to back out, they threaten your family as coercion. What was Draco supposed to do? Ask his aunt for help, who happened to be Voldemort’s right hand? His parents’ friends, who were just as deep in the cult as they were? His housemates and friends, whose families were involved too? We’re talking about a 16-year-old boy who suddenly finds himself alone and forced to kill someone or watch his family die. And it’s not like he joined that world by choice, not even before knowing how awful it was. His parents got him into it long before he was old enough to decide anything for himself.

A lot of people blame them for not taking sides in the war. What did you expect them to do? Kill their own parents, uncles, cousins, grandparents? It doesn’t make sense. Of course they didn’t do anything, the only thing they did was survive. We're talking about children and teenagers, a huge number of whom have families in the Death Eaters or are at least connected to them in some way. Are you seriously expecting them to start killing members of their own family? Teenagers? Are we insane? And why should they do that? To help people who’ve always judged and despised them? That doesn’t make sense either.

It’s also worth noting, for example, that Sirius’s experience is not the norm. He was at odds with his mother, but that wasn’t the case for his brother Regulus. It also wasn’t the case for Draco, and from what we know, Draco’s friends didn’t have problems with their families either. Generally speaking, the children of Death Eaters or Slytherins come from wealthy families without major internal drama. The thing is, it’s easy to start questioning your surroundings when there’s a rupture in your home life. But if your parents have always treated you well, if you’ve been a happy child and everything around you has always seemed how it’s "supposed" to be, why would you question anything? To you, your parents and family are the good guys, and the people who say otherwise are the same ones who shun you at school, who take the House Cup away from you, who label you as evil. This kind of apartheid-like behavior toward certain problematic groups is exactly what promotes their radicalization. Because thinking you’re doing social good by excluding them actually just reinforces their views and validates the “us versus them” narrative they’ve been taught since birth. If Dumbledore treats them like future criminals, then obviously they’ll become future criminals, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because you’re not making an effort to educate them or give them the tools to see other options, and at the same time you’re not offering any kind of path or way out for those who might want to question their beliefs or their situation. Because if they try to leave, all they see is that outsiders are also turning their backs on them. So honestly, I think the whole way Slytherins are treated in the story is completely insane from a victimological, psychotherapeutic and educational point of view. It makes no sense, and it shows a terrible lack of sensitivity and empathy.

I think Draco was intended to come off as a weak and kind of pathetic bully. The Dudley Dursley of the Wizarding World. 

That’s how we’re introduced to him: “Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.” Almost he first thing we hear Draco say is the very Dudley-ish -  “I'm going to drag [my parents] off to look at racing brooms... I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." Later books re-contextualize this as a brag - he is not actually able to bully his father into buying him presents, and instead of Dudley's tantrums Draco likes to embellish things in order to seem more impressive and get the result he wants. But initially, I think Draco = Dudley. They both dislike people who are different, dislike Harry for being more special (and because they’ve been given tacit permission to bully him...)They’re spoiled by their parents. They’re even both platinum blonde. 

JKR loves the idea of an antagonist who realizes that they were wrong and *you were right* a little too late, and then has no choice but to punish themselves. (Basically the entire deal with Snape.) So - Draco and Dudley get some of that treatment too. After Dudley meets the dementor he breaks down, has a moment where he leaves Harry a cup of tea, and another where he says “I don’t think you’re a waste of space.” BUT Dudley’s initial breakdown is framed as pathetic (even a touch comedic.)The tea he leaves outside Harry’s door has gone cold, and when Harry steps in it he initially thinks it’s a dumb prank. Dudley says “I don’t think you’re a waste of space” only in response to a comment Harry makes. Hestia Jones is super unimpressed, and thinks Dudley should be doing more. 

Like, JKR is aware that it’s not *completely* Dudley‘s fault he’s like that. Dumbledore comments on the “appalling damage [Vernon and Petunia] have inflicted on the unfortunate boy sitting between you.” But the damage is still done, and Dudley is meant to be seen as a figure of pity. All this is supposed to read as ‘too little, too late.’ If Dudley were less of a coward, a stronger person, a better person, he would’ve brought Harry the tea directly. 

Now let’s look at Draco, who is given some *very* similar beats. We see him crying in the bathroom, comforted by Myrtle (a comedic character) very similarly to how Dudley basically goes into shock after the dementor. Draco and Dudley are both framed as weak, but able to see the error of their ways, and their breakdowns set up an important plot/character moment for Harry.

Draco’s little “I can’t— I can’t be sure,” when he’s asked to identify Harry at Malfoy Manor is another beat of ‘too little, too late.’ Harry takes Draco’s wand a few minutes later (absolutely castration imagery - just look at how the text treats Lucius losing his wand) and then Dobby shows up to low-key shame Draco by doing the job that he [narratively] was supposed to have done: rescuing Harry and friends, probably dying in the process. I do think that’s how we’re supposed to read that scene. And then Harry gets these very similar selfless beats of saving Dudley (from dementors) and saving Draco (from fiendfyre.) That’s why JKR is so baffled when people like Draco, think he’s attractive, or ship him with Hermione. It’d be like shipping her with Dudley, it doesn’t make sense.

But a couple things went “wrong” when Draco was released into the world. For one thing, I think a lot of people saw his more indirect underhanded approach (he likes rumors, smear campaigns, blackmail, poison, sneaky back entrances, tricking/provoking Harry into breaking rules) as evidence that he's clever, and not that he’s a cowardly, spineless little weasel.

Then because JKR is committed to making Draco look ineffectual and comedic, she also makes him… not that bad? Most of his bad behavior goes down between books 1 and 3, and I’m sorry - when you’re 12 your politics are your parents' politics. You are not not responsible for that. By the end of the series Draco’s politics *have* changed, pretty drastically, and they changed under challenging circumstances.

I also think JKR accidentally gave him a better relationship with his father than she meant to? Jason Isaacs plays Lucius Malfoy as cold, I could see him being a *bit* of a bully when it comes to Draco -  but in the book, they go on outings, Draco complains to his father, Lucius is patient with him, gives him advice, sets boundaries, sends him little newspaper clippings in the mail. Lucius and Narcissa are running around without wands during the Battle of Hogwarts looking for him, and it’s supposed to be like “here are the Malfoys defanged.” But it's just a sweet moment. And if you’re positioning Draco as a romantic lead, then yeah I’d say that “good relationship with his parents” is an attractive trait.

The movie also did Draco Malfoy a HUGE favor by saying that yes, he absolutely does have the Dark Mark. That is never confirmed in the book. You can make the case that he doesn’t have it, and he’s doing what he does and embellishing the truth to seem more impressive. Hermione doesn’t think he has it. Ron says “I still don’t reckon You-Know-Who would let Malfoy join.” If he doesn’t have the Dark Mark, Draco gets to stay a semi-pathetic minor villain. But the second he does have it… well now you have someone who was given this tattoo/brand thing the *moment* he turned 16 (Draco has a June birthday) and now is 100% stuck. He is on a magical leash to Voldemort. He can’t run, can’t hide. All he can do is ride out this thing as best he can, and hope it doesn’t kill him or his parents. That’s a much more sympathetic character.

And my last thing, about the moment where he lies for Harry in Malfoy Manor (movies frame it as 100% a lie, books keep it more ambiguous)... is I don’t think J. K. Rowling realizes that Draco is the first person in the entire 7th book who helps Harry, at all. Molly Weasley is actively sabotaging the Golden Trio's planning by splitting them up and making them do wedding chores. Xenophilius Lovegood betrays them, Bathilda Bagshot betrays them, Rufus Scrimgeor is no help, Remus Lupin needs *their* help, Dumbledore gave them a series of maddening riddles. Snape gives them a weird puzzle to solve (also he’s very much acting under Dumbledore’s orders…) So when Draco DOES put himself on the line to buy them a few minutes, it makes for a pretty striking moment. He also keeps to this lie even when Lucius tells him not to, he lies to Bellatrix, he is almost certainly going to have to repeat this lie to Voldemort, who can read minds… 

I didn’t like Draco before reading the books. In the movies, they just portrayed him as a bully so I didn’t care for him. In the books he def hits different. :‘V

I mean, he’s still a “bully” in the sense that he messes with Harry, but he’s not actually bullying Harry. He picks on Harry, in the same way you’d mess with your crush, and Harry can more than hold his own. Harry even scares him:

“Missing your half-breed pal?” he kept whispering to Harry whenever there was a teacher around, so that he was safe from Harry’s retaliation.

So… he was scared but so gay, he couldn’t resist becos this is literally the only way he could keep Harry in his life. x’D Imagine being afraid of your crush’s wrath but you just.. can’t help it lol >///<

And literally picking on Harry is the only way he can continue to talk to Harry because after the rejected handshake (and being in different Houses), Draco is too prideful to grovel for friendship. Harry basically condemned their relationship to schoolyard 'enemies’ who will risk their lives again and again for each other. Who’s mutual obsession becomes so obvious that everyone just knows that they look out for each other, despite outwardly acting like they hate each other. When other characters can see it, you know it’s real.

Despite being schoolyard 'enemies’, Harry absolutely falls for Draco so hard. Harry can’t ever stop staring at Draco no matter what Draco is doing (whether he’s acting suspiciously or just eating his lunch), and Draco likewise cannot stop watching him. Draco can’t stop talking about Harry either, in the same way when you have a crush, you can’t stop talking about that person. When i have a crush, i am talking about them literally nonstop. Every little thing your crush does is absolutely fascinating. That is Draco with Harry. Draco’s dad had to tell him to shut up about Harry LMAO. Draco not realizing how obvious he is being:

“… everyone thinks he’s so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick — ”

“You have told me this at least a dozen times already,” said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son.

Like, bruh, just pls STFU XD it’s no wonder Voldemort became suspicious of his feelings for Harry:

"He did not come and join me, like the rest of the Slytherins. Perhaps he has decided to befriend Harry Potter?”

lmaoo.

... and yet, his eyes keep finding him across the room.

I’ve noticed that some people like to bring up the characters Harry actually describes as beautiful or attractive — almost like it’s some kind of argument against Drarry. Like, "See? He never says Draco is good-looking, so case closed."

But there are a few big problems with that logic.

First. You’re basically saying Harry likes Ginny because she’s pretty.

Yeah, yeah,  I know. “He likes her for other reasons too!”

Sure. But those other reasons are vague at best… and honestly, those same traits apply to all the other Weasleys siblings.

So what makes Ginny “the one”? It kind of feels, to ME, like she just got lucky, lucky to be a Weasley-GIRL and lucky to conveniently turn out to be as attractive as Cho.

Second. The implicit idea that you can only fall in love with someone if you find them physically beautiful. When in fact, it’s love that makes someone beautiful in our eyes. And as for attraction, not everyone experiences attraction the same way. And sometimes, especially when feelings are confusing or complicated, that attraction doesn’t come through in obvious terms.

Third. Draco’s physical appearance — whether Harry found him handsome or not — does not erase the clear emotional pull or fascination Harry seemed to have toward him.

Maybe Draco isn’t as handsome as Cedric, Tom Riddle or young Sirius. But it’s remarkable how Draco is the only Slytherin classmate whose appearance Harry doesn’t describe using insulting terms.

Compare how Harry talks about other Slytherins:

Pansy’s pug face, Crabbe and Goyle as apes, Flint looked like a troll.

The only other Slytherin Harry gives objective, neutral, and non-offensive descriptions of is Zabini.

“a tall, dark-skinned boy with high cheekbones and long eyelashes.”

And everyone immediately assumes Zabini is handsome.

Instead, about Draco, what we do get are oddly detailed, almost poetic descriptions:

His sleek, platinum-blond hair catching the sunlight. His pale skin and pointed features. His light gray eyes, described as bright or flashing. The drawl in his voice, the way he moves, the way he talks...

These aren’t necessarily compliments. But they’re not insults either. These are not neutral observations. They’re intimate. Focused. Sensory.

They don’t scream “I hate this guy,” they whisper “I’m watching him. Closely. All the time.”

And that’s exactly what Harry does,  he notices Draco. Constantly. Even when there’s no plot reason to. Even when Draco isn’t talking to him. Even when he’s just there.

Over and over again throughout the books, we’re told that Harry could recognize “that blond head” anywhere, even in a crowd. Or that “that voice, that specific cadence” is unmistakable to him.

We don’t know if that’s true for anyone else. But it’s definitely true for Harry.

And meanwhile…

Harry can’t even recognize the scent he smells in the Amortentia — supposedly the potion that reveals your deepest desires — as being Ginny’s. When he later catches a whiff of the same scent around her, he doesn’t even make the connection.

So… What?!

We're supposed to interpret these scenes as "Harry likes Ginny, but he doesn't realize it yet," but it seems much more like he's oblivious to her and little details about her.

And in my opinion? That whole Amortentia moment felt less like Harry realizing he loves Ginny, and more like the narrative trying to convince us that he does.

(Personally, I don't think the third scent Harry smells in the Amortentia is specifically about Ginny — I see it more as a reference to the Burrow and the Weasley family in general. But that’s a discussion for another post.)

So maybe Harry doesn’t think Draco is traditionally handsome or attractive.

But the way he sees him, with that level of attention and vivid detail, says a lot more than just physical attraction.

It speaks to fascination. Obsession, even.

He’s not staring at Seamus’s hair in the sunlight. He’s not recognized Ron’s voice in a crowd.

He’s not even describing Ginny in that much visual detail or frequency.

But Draco? Draco gets all of it.

Maybe it’s not love, certainly not at that time. But it’s something. Something that could grow and be explored by Harry when he was older, after the war, when he and Draco could interact on new ground, without the prejudices that would alienate Harry. But Harry didn't get the chance to explore this, because JKR tied him to his very convenient and boring girlfriend.

Well...

To conclude, the fact that Harry never openly thinks of Draco as handsome or uses more flattering terms could very well be the result of unconscious — or even deliberate — denial. After all, he sees Draco as a rival, as someone he should dislike.

Harry fights Draco really differently than he fights everyone else.

So okay. Normally when he fights, Harry's go-to spells are:

Impedimenta (slow down)

Petrificus Totalus (paralyze)

Stupefy (knock out)

Expelliarmus (disarm)

Which means his strategy is get away from/incapacitate his opponent as quickly as possible and that's IT. Harry is not a flashy or creative fighter the way Dumbledore, Voldemort, and heck even side characters like Percy are. Which makes perfect sense. Fighting has never been a game for Harry. It's never been abstract. He'll do all these badass things but when he talks about fighting (like we see during the DA segments) he's not thinking about it like it's something interesting or cool. He's picturing going up against a more powerful opponent, probably while injured and scared. And what's the best thing to have in that situation? Four useful, all-purpose spells that you've practiced enough times that you don't have to think about them anymore.

Zachariah Smith gives Harry a hard time for relying on a spell as "basic" as expelliarmus, which tells us that in-universe, Harry's stripped-down dueling style might be considered kind of plain or boring. But Harry's a very effective duelist, probably because he is so practical. He doesn't care about showing off, looking powerful, or intimidating his opponents.

... except when he's fighting specifically Draco.

When he's fighting DRACO MALFOY, Harry brings out the fun spells:

Rictusempra (tickling)

Furnunculus (boils)

Leg-Locker jinx

Levicorpus (levitate by ankle)

Toenail-growing hex

And also Sectumsempra, which he THINKS is going to be another embarrassing/fun spell, because levicorpus and the toenail-growing hex also came out of the Half-Blood Prince's textbook, and Harry thinks this third spell is going to be another one like that.

So my conclusion is that Harry just kind of... uniquely enjoys fighting with Draco. He's not trying to end the encounter as fast as possible, there probably is some element where he wants to show off, hit Draco with something new or something clever. Harry and Draco have a dynamic where it's *fun* to one-up/get the upper hand over each other, and duels are perfect for that.