If you’re even tangentially familiar with the Harry Potter series, then you would recognize the name Draco Malfoy. He’s known most for being the bratty rival of Harry Potter, himself. He sports pure blond hair and is one of the more important and well-known members of House Slytherin throughout the events of the books. Tom Felton was cast as the character and to the insanely huge fan base, it seemed to be a home run by the casting department. Fans grow to understand Draco’s perspective though they’re never treated to a truly inspiring moment of redemption. As a kid, he was misguided and just wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father. There are tons of interesting facts and secrets that flesh out Draco’s point of view and help fans come to better understand his actions and motivations. He’s a complicated individual who’s worst actions seem to have been fueled by a pain of feeling misunderstood. At many points, especially early on, the audience became heavily annoyed by the way Draco carried himself. As time went on and he grew into his own that same audience came to understand his thought process and many of them came full circle on their affinity for him. This should go without saying but the following article will feature numerous spoilers for the Harry Potter series. You’ve been warned, so I don’t want to see any comments regarding spoilers. Let’s now take a look at 25 crazy things you never knew about Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter.
25 Like Father, Like Son
Throughout the series, many people assumed that Draco acted the way he did because he was simply a rich and arrogant brat. Though that may be partially true, the real reason he acted so cold and distant was a lot deeper than that. Growing up Draco, like many children idolized his father and would watch his every step.
So as Draco grew into a young boy he wished to become his father by imitating him any chance he had.
From his observations, he assumed his father was well-known and respected and thus felt that he came into said things by acting the way he did. This is exactly why we would come to be introduced to Draco Malfoy as a brat with a cold and distant personality. Very rarely feeling the need to showcase happiness or emotions in general.
24 Weird Hugs
Would it shock you that one of the most uncomfortable yet memorable scenes in the entire Harry Potter film franchise was improvised? There is a scene in Deathly Hallows Part 2 where Draco succumbs to the Death Eaters and joins their ranks. This follows a short-lived victory where Voldemort assumes he has ended Harry Potter and returns to Hogwarts to let everyone know of his defeat of the boy who lived. As Draco makes his way over to the group aided by his mother’s voice, he is then greeted by a very awkward and offputting hug with Voldemort. According to the cast this adlib only happened during one of the twenty-something they did of the exact scene. Ralph Fiennes is known for doing these types of things on set, the only surprise is that it made the final cut.
23 He’s A Werewolf?
I’m going to be real with you, this is the craziest fan theory I’ve seen in a very long time. Though this isn’t necessarily true, it is a fun piece of speculation that makes Draco really interesting if true. The theory suggests that Draco was bitten by Fenrir Greyback between the 5th and 6th books. According to fans this was an added punishment by Voldemort and explains why there are so many references between Draco, werewolves, and Greyback in the following books.
Fans also suggest that this explains his sickly demeanor during the 6th book.
Unfortunately, J.K. Rowling has stated that Draco isn’t a werewolf, but appreciated the lengths fans went to in order to strengthen the theory. The play Cursed Child also showed no signs of Draco living an adult life as a werewolf.
22 Man Of Many Faces
Tom Felton, the kid who played Draco Malfoy, did such an excellent job portraying the character throughout the movies it’s hard to see anyone else in the role. It turns out that even though Felton nailed his Draco audition he tried out for numerous other Harry Potter characters. Felton audition for both the roles of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley before being suggested to audition for Draco Malfoy. According to Felton, he had never read the Harry Potter books prior to the audition process. Another interesting fact about his auditions was that he was paired with Emma Watson on numerous occasions. It seems that those two were destined for Harry Potter greatness. This is just added fuel to the fire that burns for the Dramione fans out there.
21 Draco’s Friends
Many if not most of the kids who attend Hogwarts rarely have childhood friends who also happen to be wizards. Once they enter the grounds of Hogwarts they come to develop lasting friendships with many other magically gifted students. Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, had known kids with magical abilities long before he attended Hogwarts. His father would often bring him along for meetings with his shady friends and that’s when Draco would come to know their kids.
One of Draco’s notable henchman, Crabbe, was a childhood friend Draco met and befriended at one of those meetings.
His relationship with Goyle, on the other hand, was simply made by chance meeting while at Hogwarts. Long lasting relationships through random occurrence seem to be commonplace at Hogwarts.
20 Draco Fandom
When you’re an author you must learn to distance yourself from the work you made once you release it to the world. You can’t expect people to interpret and understand the characters you created the same way you envisioned them in your own head. J.K. Rowling, like many authors, has had to deal with fans falling in love with the wrong aspects of Harry Potter. One of her longest running gripes with the Harry Potter community is the enormous group of fans who are infatuated with Draco and yearn for his fictitious affection. Rowling has stated that she must not have done a great job in showcasing why no one should ever pursue Draco. The crazy Draco fangirling must also fall pretty hard on Tom Felton’s shoulders and is probably a constant issue of his.
19 Malfoy Manor
When we’re first introduced to Draco we assume that he’s a rich kid that grew up in an extremely large house with a ton of maids who took care of him. We come to find out that his father is a real piece of work and was the main caveat leading Draco to become the kid he was. It also turns out that he did, in fact, grow up in a large place, simply named Malfoy Manor. It is located in a landlocked English county known as Wiltshire. The house was large and full of servants, yet Draco grew up in a rather solitary manner. Strange how his upbringing is very much like Harry Potter’s, but instead of no privileges, he was gifted with every privilege imaginable. Mark this in the notebook as another reason in a growing list of why Draco was such a tool at Hogwarts.
18 Malfoy Anti-Muggle Agenda
During the events of Harry Potter, it is often pushed that the Malfoy’s are a huge supporter of the anti-muggle agenda. They have a hatred for mudbloods as well as muggles and see them as lesser of people. This wasn’t always the stance for the family, though.
Before and during the early parts of the Statute of Secrecy the Malfoys had really no quarrels with the muggles.
This wasn’t due to them being a kind family, it was due to the fact that the Malfoys garnered a lot of their power and wealth through dealings with the muggles. They shifted their agenda once they realized they could use such bigotry to gain even more wealth and dominance. It’s a shame that they let their greed and fear control them, but what else would you expect from such a sinister household?
17 Scorned & Troubled
Though Draco led the plan that resulted in Dumbledore’s death, he ultimately garnered no respect from the Death Eaters since he didn’t deliver the final blow. After the release of his father the Malfoys were seen as pariahs of the Death Eaters. They lost all respect from Voldemort and it seemed to be the beginning of Draco’s true indifference to Voldemort’s ways. You can tell it’s great writing when something a character goes through endears the audience to them but alienates their group from their actions, or lack thereof. It must be a heavy burden to have a family so closely tied to something that doesn’t want them. It seems that at the end of the day the Malfoys were nothing but another pawn in Voldemort’s wicked game.
16 No Tanlines
Draco Malfoy is known for a couple of key physical characteristics. The first of those is his jet blonde hair and the second is his snarky little face. Lastly, he is known for his deathly pale skin that seems as if it hasn’t seen an ounce of light. This key characteristic helps showcase that Draco hides from the world and his resemblance to his father shows his inner struggle.
According to Tom Felton, during his role as Draco Malfoy, his wasn’t allowed to tan.
This meant that for 8 films he had to protect his skin from the sun at all times. He was also stated as having to dye his naturally light brown hair over 18 times over the course of the 8 films. Shortly after the last film had premiered Tom Felton was spotted on a Miami beach taking in a few rays.
15 Young, Dumb, & Not Broke
Draco Malfoy is a hard character to read in terms of his family dynamic. We, of course, know that he’s an only child, but we never really know how his age compares to his Hogwarts counterparts. His demeanor and stoic nature seem to suggest he’s on the older side of his class and is more mature. As we quickly see his emotional fits and lack of control we start to feel as though he’s the plucky younger brother of his Hogwarts class just trying to garner respect. It turns out that Draco is actually on the younger side in relation to the rest of his classmates. His birthday is in June and we found out how young he was when he was a part of the attendance sheet along with Harry for the people who had to wait to take the apparition test.
14 Draco The Alchemist
The Cursed Child was a play that shed a lot of light on character’s lives after the events of the book. It seems that the play itself is canonical, but seems to be an area of contention amongst fans. During Cursed Child viewers are given some insight into Draco’s life as a changed man.
He was so rich as an adult that he never really felt pressured to pursue a more normal career path and decided to take a deep interest in alchemy.
It seems that Rowling used alchemy as a way to help transition Draco into the better half of his duality. Alchemy is a strange thing in the Harry Potter tales considering it goes without mention after the first book even though it was an important part of that initial story.
13 Super Special
As a kid, Draco was often reminded by the people around him just how powerful and important his family was. He grew up with parents who quickly began to teach him about how special he was, triply special at that. He was first taught that he had magical abilities and was, in essence, a wizard. Next, they explained what being a pure-blood meant and how rare and special that was. The last thing they expressed to him was just how lucky he was to have the Malfoy name. It seems that this order was intentional and showcased a funnel of what was the most important unique thing about Draco. Above all else the name Malfoy reigned supreme, then you must embrace having the purest blood around, and lastly, you should know that magic wielding is pretty interesting as well.
12 Occlumency
If you’re not familiar, occlumency is the magical discipline focused on protecting your thoughts from others. It allows you to ward off any intruders and keep your thoughts private and unknown to any party. It’s a skill that we learn Harry Potter is terrible at and is a pretty apparent weak spot for him. Draco, on the other hand, doesn’t only have a baseline understanding of occlumency, but using it in practice quite effectively. He learned the skill in preparation for Voldemort’s task and was taught by his aunt Bellatrix.
This training allowed Draco to hide his thoughts from Snape and the like and move forward with his plans.
An editor of Rowling’s apparently questioned the decision to make him proficient at it, but she responded by saying the compartmentalization he had throughout his life made him adequately prepared to learn the new skill.
11 Superfan!
Not often do you see an actor so closely tied to a long-running franchise wanted to take on another project related to that same franchise. Tom Felton, however, decided to make a documentary about the Harry Potter fandom he had grown to learn about over the years. The 2015 BBC Documentary titled “Superfans!” showcased what diehard fans must endure meeting the people they care about so deeply.
A lot of fans and critics were worried Felton would paint a pessimistic and jaded light on the fandom that rose him to notoriety.
He actually ended up taking a deep and thoughtful look at those fans and produced a film that was ultimately well-received by most people. He stated in numerous interviews that it opened his eyes to what the most hardcore fans go through to pursue their Harry Potter obsession.
10 His Father’s Imprisonment
We’ve already covered the numerous daddy issues that caused Draco to grow into the person he was. Let’s now discuss how Lucius’ capture and imprisonment at the end of Order of the Phoenix led to even worse decisions by Draco. His father not only ruined the Malfoy name within the Death Eaters, but it tarnished their reputation with the wizarding community at large. Draco felt that the only way he could renew his family name and his father’s respect was to plan the assassination of Dumbledore. Little did he know how dangerous of circumstances he put himself into. It’s no surprise that once again the actions of his father fueled Draco to make very rash and emotionally driven decisions without weighing the consequences of failure.
9 He Believed Him
When the rest of the world viewed Harry Potter as paranoid and a lier, Draco believed him. He knew that when Harry stated Voldemort was back he wasn’t lying. This was in part due to hearing about his father’s dark mark burning and flying to rejoin the Dark Lord.
His father even witnessed the graveyard duel between Harry Potter and Voldemort.
If his father wasn’t so closely tied to Voldemort it’s strange to believe Draco would have still believed Harry. Then again, for all the grief and hate Draco sends his way, he knew that Harry Potter wasn’t a lier. Sometimes you find faith in the unlikeliest of places when you need it most. It’s crazy to imagine a world where Harry and Draco are friends.
8 The Next Dark Lord
Growing up with a father who envied and idolized Voldemort, it shouldn’t surprise people that Draco grew to have the same obsessive behavior as his father. Though it wasn’t as overt and apparent, he still yearned to be close to that type of power. Many followers of Voldemort felt that the only reason he fell to Harry Potter was that the boy who lived was destined to be the next dark lord. They believed that was the only explanation for Voldemort’s downfall. This is why Draco was so eager to introduce himself to Harry Potter during their first year. He wanted to befriend the boy he felt was on the road to unparalleled power. In hindsight, we see that Draco didn’t go about this the best way and if Harry was indeed the next dark lord, Draco would have been near the top of the naughty list.
7 Malfoy Family History
As both Harry and the audience are introduced to Draco Malfoy and his family at large, it’s quickly understood that this family has a history. Draco nonverbally showcases that the Malfoy name carried weight in their world and they often walked around like they owned the place.
The Malfoys were known for being a powerful family with a lot of wealth and a talent for spinning and diverting influence.
Draco’s father, Lucius, had some of the most powerful people in the wizarding community under his spindly fingers. It seems that their influence and wealth go back ages and they’re one of the longest reigning families in all of England. For a family who never held office, it’s oddly impressive that they’ve been able to sustain their influence and status for as long as they had.
6 Draco’s Wand
A great thing J.K. Rowling did when creating this vast and vivid world was giving each wand a meaning in relation to its wielder. It’s not confirmed as to whether this happens with every wizard or just the prominent ones we become familiar with through the books, but Rowling was pretty candid in discussing what the significance of Draco’s wand was. First, Draco’s wand is made of both hawthorn and unicorn hair. The unicorn hair showcases that Draco, for all he is and done, has a good and conscionable side to himself. In Olivander’s notes on wands, it states that wands made from hawthorn are suited for those with inner conflict or those going through tough and tumultuous times in their lives. It seems like the wand is a perfect fit for a troubled and misunderstood character like Draco.
