Draco Malfoy, The Boy Who Was Misunderstood
A look at the man behind the seething face
One look at his smirking, sneering face will tell you that Draco Malfoy is not the man to be reckoned with when you’re looking for a good man. A friend. A peer. Someone relatable. Unless you’re Crabbe or Goyle.
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone he is introduced to the viewers as an entitled snob, like a child version of an Etonian minister. He is prejudiced against red heads (although that doesn’t necessarily prove anything), is unnaturally aware of the class system for an 11-year old, and is confident of the idea that his friendship would lift Harry Potter’s social standing within the school. ‘You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort’, he says.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets he introduces the viewers and readers to the word ‘mudblood’, a foul word to describe a muggle-born witch or wizard. A sorcerer’s equivalent of the untouchables.
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he exaggerates his injury and uses the influence of his father over the Minister for Magic to ensure that an innocent creature gets sentenced to death.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, he is shown as going out of his way to make Harry’s life harder. He sneers at him when he’s chosen as a Triwizard champion, tries to get under his skin with the ‘Potter Stinks’ badges, joins the Inquisitorial Squad to ensure that the members of Dumbledore’s Army get caught- in short, does everything to make us hate him.
And yet in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, we discover a new side to him. A more vulnerable side. He looks thinner and somewhat ill when he is atop the Astronomy Tower to kill Dumbledore. Unsuccessful as he was, the task was completed nonetheless but nobody thought he would have done it. Within his heart, everybody knew there was a human being. Someone who didn’t want to live in the shadow of Lucius Malfoy or the Death Eaters or even Voldemort.
Draco Malfoy’s character brings us to a very real understanding of human beings. That no matter what someone does or shows on the outside, chances are, their heart wants to be pure.
The only reason Draco knew about the Weasleys being ‘inferior’ in any way was Lucuis Malfoy’s pre-meditated education about the class divide. He thought of Hermione as a mudblood because he was taught to believe that muggle borns are the untouchables of the wizarding world. The only reason he went out of his way to make Harry’s life harder was that he was expected to hate him and all of Gryffindor house. He was expected to be a Slytherin through and through. He was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. He was expected to pay for his father’s crimes by killing Dumbledore.
Draco was a child of sixteen when the darkest wizard of all time was threatening to kill him if he didn’t himself end the life of the greater sorcerer- Albus Dumbledore. On a scale from Lavender, whose biggest concern was Won-Won and how he might be more into Hermione than Lavender, to Draco, who was living under the burden of a task like this, Draco really had a challenging time of it.
He did not have a normal childhood. He didn’t get to go out and make friends because someone liked the same sport as he did. Well, to his credit, quidditch was the main sport and everybody liked quidditch- but you know what I mean. He didn’t get to experience that freedom of choice. He didn’t get to have a teenage year of harmless flirting. He didn’t get to do anything fun at all.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be quick to judge people. Perhaps before isolating ourselves from the Malfoys of the world, they deserve a second chance? A chance to be understood. A chance to explore the life they would rather have instead of the one they are living. A chance to experience a day of kindness and smiles.
How very un-Slytherin.