This article is part of our BOO(b) Week Series: in honor of Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are publishing an article each day about boos, boobs, or both.
In the honor of Halloween and all things magical and spooky, let’s take a moment to think about the series that we all know and love: Harry Potter. We all know and love the Harry Potter books and movies. A lot of us grew up learning about the fantastic and magical realm that the Chosen One and his friends inhabit, ranging from He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named to Buckbeak the Hippogriff. I think one of the most iconic characters is, and always will be, Draco “My Father Will Hear About This” Malfoy. A source of vague amusement and annoyance to avid readers and casual fans alike, many see him as a wannabe villain who only exists to bully Harry and his friends. On the other hand, many see Draco as a fucked up kid who made terrible decisions, but deserves redemption in the long run. I, for one, have a particular fondness for the little brat and I really wanted to see more of him in the original books. And okay, I get that it’s easy to romanticize Draco and that he wasn’t exactly hiding a heart of gold under his narcissistic personality, but also he didn’t have much of a choice to begin with.
I did kind of get the redemption arc that I craved in “The Cursed Child” which is an…awful play that involves many questionable things (all of which is an article for another time), but I digress. The play revolves around Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter, the children of Draco and Harry respectively, and there are so many good parts where Draco proves that he’s changed after the events of Deathly Hallows. He’s such a good dad, guys. He cares about his son and he wants to be a better father than Lucius ever was. He says that it was the best day of his life when Scorpius was born and all he needs is for him to be safe. All Draco Malfoy wants is for his son to be happy.
We can also get glimpses of this person during the original books. During his time as a Death Eater, when Harry and the gang were captured and sent to Malfoy Manor, Draco doesn’t identify them and saves their lives. While we don’t really know why he does this, I’m going to assume that he did it because he didn’t believe in the cause even though he was raised to do so. He risks his own life to save people that he tormented throughout his time at Hogwarts which goes against everything he knows as a Malfoy and stereotypical Slytherin.
In “The Cursed Child” (yes, I’m coming back to that), Draco says something that I think has truly shown his growth as a person albeit a fictional one. He says that he wouldn’t have minded if the Malfoy line had died with him since Astoria, his wife, was exceedingly frail and couldn’t have kids. Draco Malfoy, who once wore his name like a badge of honor, didn’t care to carry on his family name despite any concerns that his father had. Instead, he would’ve given anything to have his wife back who died giving birth to Scorpius. If that doesn’t tell you who Draco is, then I don’t know what will.
Draco Malfoy is many things, but I don’t think that a bad person is one of them. He is The Boy Who Never Had A Choice, doing Voldemort’s bidding under the threat of death while he was still only a child. People tend to forget that the characters who performed amazing deeds and horrific deeds were mostly children, too young to have been exposed to the wars of their parents. The war changed him irreversibly and I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if things had been different. What if he did become friends with the Golden Trio? What if he rejected the teachings of his parents and their Death Eater creed? What if he had a choice?
These are the things I think about when I think of Draco Malfoy: an exceptionally lonely person who just wants a good life for his son and who doesn’t want to be hindered by his past mistakes. To me, this is why Draco is one of the most complex and underrated characters in the series. And I love him so much, please give this character some much-needed sympathy.
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