Draco Malfoy: Character Analysis

*hermy_weasley2* · #1 July 13th, 2007, 12:43 am

Welcome to the post-DH discussion of Draco Malfoy. Previous discussion without spoilers can be found here: Draco Malfoy: Character Analysis

1. When we first meet Draco, Harry sees him as a pampered, snobbish, bully. Did JKR plant the seeds from the beginning that he would grow to be a Death Eater?

2. Draco grew up in a home with a mother from the notorious House of Black and a father who was a Death Eater that held favor with Voldemort. Lucius craves wealth, status and power. He is a demanding father and expects nothing less than excellence from his son.

3. Is Draco truly making his choices of his own volition? How much of his choice is derived from fear, or is it bravado?

4. Draco has used name-dropping (his father’s and Voldemort’s) and his wealth in an attempt to befriend people. He was truly dumbfounded when all Harry could muster was a “that don’t impress me much” reaction to his attempts.

5. Is he misunderstood? Or just plain mean?

6. Despite his decision not to kill Dumbledore, Draco continues to serve Voldemort. Do you think he regrets his failure to kill Dumbledore? Do you think he regrets his choices in DH?

7. How do you think Draco's life debt to Harry and Ron might manifest itself in their future.

8. What do you think happened to Draco after DH? What might he have done as a profession? Is Pansy the wife we see in the epilogue?

*Fleur du mal* · #2 July 24th, 2007, 12:14 am

1. When we first meet Draco, Harry sees him as a pampered, snobbish, bully. Did JKR plant the seeds from the beginning that he would grow to be a Death Eater?
I think she planned him to become one, yes. But not all pampered bullies turn out to be Death Eaters - see Sirius, and until this day, Draco remains the first person in the wizarding world who tried to befriend Harry BEFORE knowing who he was.

2. Draco grew up in a home with a mother from the notorious House of Black and a father who was a Death Eater that held favor with Voldemort. Lucius craves wealth, status and power. He is a demanding father and expects nothing less than excellence from his son. Is that a question? Because I don't agree. I think Lucius was a far more generous, loving father than many gave him credit for. I never saw that in the books, only in the CoS movie, and even there, I didn't necessarily think that power-craving Lucius had been a bad father (apart from giving his son awful morals, but hey, the man truly believes in that stuff, and you can only pass on the morals that you feel to be right). I always believed that the whole family was very much attached to each other.

3. Is Draco truly making his choices of his own volition? How much of his choice is derived from fear, or is it bravado?
Joining the Death Eaters thinking he could vindicate his father was childish bravado. During HBP, Draco loses more and more freedom of choice, and everything from crying when talking to Myrtle, to finally fall on his knees in front of a Death Eater and beg, 'I'm one of you' - that was deepest, desperate fear.

4. Draco has used name-dropping (his father’s and Voldemort’s) and his wealth in an attempt to befriend people. He was truly dumbfounded when all Harry could muster was a “that don’t impress me much” reaction to his attempts. again, sorry, I don't understand the question.

5. Is he misunderstood? Or just plain mean? Neither. He's a nasty little bugger until he joins the DE, has his fifteen minutes of feeling glorious, and then realises what the heck he's in for, what everybody he cares for is in for. What there to be misunderstood? In DH, his inner life is imprinted in his face and involuntary or voluntary reactions.

6. Despite his decision not to kill Dumbledore, Draco continues to serve Voldemort. Do you think he regrets his failure to kill Dumbledore? Do you think he regrets his choices in DH? Since he doesn't act in ANY way to get back to Voldemort's good graces - neither does any of his parents - I think he's glad he got out of that one, and simply prays on his knees that he doesn't get into another situation like this, knowing full well that he simply couldn't pull it through. He reacts quite strongly to the torture and deaths, too. He falls off the chair when Charity Burbage is murdered.

7. How do you think Draco's life debt to Harry and Ron might manifest itself in their future. I'm not entirely sure he has one. If everyone who was saved from someone else had a life-debt going on... nah... the equivalent of the fire department in the magical world would be stuffed full with people collecting life-debts like fans collect Potterphernalia.

8. What do you think happened to Draco after DH? What might he have done as a profession? Is Pansy the wife we see in the epilogue? I don't know. I actually like that we don't get to know this in detail. He's alive, he seems to be alot like himself still - 'Scorpius'?!?!, he even found himself a wife with more spine than Pansy Parkinson. That's all right with me. I think he still believes that his parents are better than the Weasleys, and that little Scorpio is somewhat superior to a muggleborn student, but not longer with that violent hatred he grew up with. More your average aristocrat with a bit of good weather liberalism, and the secret, deep conviction that it's more special to have Mayflower ancestors than arriving on Ellis Island.

Serena_Hallow · #3 July 24th, 2007, 3:07 am

1. When we first meet Draco, Harry sees him as a pampered, snobbish, bully. Did JKR plant the seeds from the beginning that he would grow to be a Death Eater? I don't think the scene at Madam Malkin's necessarily shows the beginning of a DE, but rather the characteristics of a Slytherin boy, and as we all know not all Slytherins are DE and not all DE are evil. However I disagree with Fleur and I think it's important to note that the part of Draco that shines most in this scene is his pride. He was not trying to befriend Harry, he was trying to impress him. He is proud, as his parents have taught him to be, and he wants to outshine all others. I think it is his pride, and his desire to prove his worth that is responsible for fueling most of his actions throughout the series, including him entering the DE ranks without any qualms.

2. Draco grew up in a home with a mother from the notorious House of Black and a father who was a Death Eater that held favor with Voldemort. Lucius craves wealth, status and power. He is a demanding father and expects nothing less than excellence from his son. Well this isn't a question but I do agree. Lucius likes his status. We have seen this in numerable counts where he's exercised his influence in the Ministry. And, yes, he is demanding. We saw this in CoS in the scene with Borgin where he belittles Draco about his grades. I don't think this means, however, that Lucius isn't a loving father. The buying of brooms for the Slytherin Quidditch team and incident with the Buckbeak come to mind as minor evidence for this, and of course now we know that Draco was Lucius' first concern during the Battle of Hogwarts.

3. Is Draco truly making his choices of his own volition? How much of his choice is derived from fear, or is it bravado? Well that depends on which choices you're referring to. I agree that accepting his task and joining the DE was bravado, a child jumping at an opportunity to prove himself without even considering the consequences. But of course, the possible consequences soon become frighteningly evident and Draco's attempts on Dumbledore's life are then fueled by a desperation to save himself and his family. His decision not to kill him though, is largely due to fear, fear for what that might turn him into.

4. Draco has used name-dropping (his father’s and Voldemort’s) and his wealth in an attempt to befriend people. He was truly dumbfounded when all Harry could muster was a “that don’t impress me much” reaction to his attempts. Um...this is not really clear are you stating that Draco was surprised that Harry was oblivious to his boasting? Because I don't think that's the case

5. Is he misunderstood? Or just plain mean? I think we've all seen that there's no such thing as "plain mean" in Harry Potter. The characters are human, driven by desires, love, fear and ambition, and Draco is definitely not the exception.

6. Despite his decision not to kill Dumbledore, Draco continues to serve Voldemort. Do you think he regrets his failure to kill Dumbledore? Do you think he regrets his choices in DH? I think all the Malfoys regret their involvement with Voldemort as they have seen what a danger it has been to their family. I think the only reason they remained in his service was fear. As for his failure to kill Dumbledore...I don't think he regrets it. Draco is not capable of the atrocities the other Death Eaters are.

7. How do you think Draco's life debt to Harry and Ron might manifest itself in their future. What future? That was it wasn't it? I think the curt little nod at the station acknowledges that the trio helped him out in the past but he remains proud Draco.

8. What do you think happened to Draco after DH? What might he have done as a profession? Is Pansy the wife we see in the epilogue? Working for the Ministry maybe, making himself richer. If blood status stopped counting I'm sure he'll rely on his riches as comfort. I don't think the wife is Pansy, otherwise Jo would've probably mentioned it. I think Draco changed too much to continue with that childish relationship.

*Fleur du mal* · #4 July 24th, 2007, 9:58 am

ah, Serena, we don't disagree as much as you might think concerning question 1. Yes, he is proud, yes, he does try to impress Harry. Absolutely with you on that one. But from the perspective of Lucius' son, that is trying to make a friend. It's what he learnt from his parents.

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I think the curt little nod at the station acknowledges that the trio helped him out in the past but he remains proud Draco.

I very much like this curt nod and what is implied by it. Can you imagine, if everything had come differently after their schooltime, Severus and James meet at the station and acknowledge each other's presence so quietly and respectful? And Sirius standing by making a little joke how his own child isn't supposed to fall in love with Severus' kid? The trio as well as Draco have come a long way, and are capable of reassessing their judgements of old.

As for the last question - no, if it had been Pansy, we would have got the name, since we know her. I don't think Draco's wife is anyone Harry knows, or who left the slightest impression on him.

cheesecake · #5 July 24th, 2007, 7:16 pm

I don't think that Pansy is his wife. In DH, Pansy tries to get the Hogwartians to grab Harry and give him to Voldemort. She never suffered at Voldemort's hands the way Draco and his family did; it appears that her outlook on Voldemort and his rise of power hasn't changed much, as Draco's obviously has. I don't think by any means that Pansy and Draco would ever become enemies, but I do think that Draco's experiences changed him enough for him not to want to be with her.

amandam_xym · #6 July 24th, 2007, 7:56 pm

I think that it is clear from DH that both Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy love their son very much - I love the scene where they are running through the battle, not even bothering to cast spells, so fixated are they on the safety of Draco. However, I think that Draco must always have been very concious of his father's position as a death eater, and although at first he would have felt proud of this (being convinced that his father's morals were correct, as any young child is) but after realising the true extent of the death eater's deeds, he, like Regulus, may have started to doubt after all. He would have become afraid and resentful after his father's fall from glory, and I sincerely doubt that in the 6th book he was still on Voldemort's "side." I think, though, that he was always too self-serving and cowardly (remember, Slytherin, not Griffindor!) to publicly ally himself with the Order, especially when it appeared that Voldemort would take power.

*horcrux4* · #7 July 24th, 2007, 10:19 pm

I think Draco in DH is a very frightened young man. He is clearly terrified of Voldemort, which is probably why Voldemort gets him to Crucio his victims - to make sure he stays that way. He knows the enormous power Voldemort has over him and his family. It's the bully getting bullied - he can't take it.

He does seem genuinely attached to his family, which I thought might have changed once Lucius proved not to be the ideal he had supposed. It gives me some hope for Draco's own family. I imagine he has taught little Scorpius that the Malfoys are an ancient, pure and superior family, but I don't think he'll have boasted of his Death Eater connection. I thought the curt nod he gave Harry in the epilogue implied that they had to some degree buried the hatchet. I don't think Lucius would have behaved like that to Arthur 20 years before.

I also thought it was touching that even after Crabbe & Goyle had made it clear they weren't his devoted side-kicks any more, he still dragged Goyle to safety in the fire in the RoR and was concerned that Crabbe hadn't got out. I think the old Draco would have put himself very much first and left his stooges to do the best they could.

I don't think he married Pansy - I think Pansy might not have fancied him so much when the family broke under Voldemort. He wasn't exactly a hero any more, was he?

cheesecake · #8 July 25th, 2007, 10:06 am

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Originally Posted by horcrux4

I don't think he married Pansy - I think Pansy might not have fancied him so much when the family broke under Voldemort. He wasn't exactly a hero any more, was he?

Good point! I hadn't really considered it from her perspective before, but I think you're right. That just strengths my conviction that Pansy and Draco would have become incompatible by the end of the war.

*Fleur du mal* · #9 July 25th, 2007, 3:01 pm

I think we'd underestimate Pansy if we think she wouldn't want Draco any longer because Lucius had fallen from grace with Voldemort before that one's downfall. We never get any pointer for the Parkinsons being Death Eater affiliates, for a start. Then - unlike other Death Eaters, the Malfoys are somewhat better off after Voldemort's undoing since they distanced themselves from him (as far as possible in their situation) long before the actual downfall. Ergo - their position in society is better than that of other comparable families. IF Pansy wasn't after anything but status, Draco would still make a more or less 'decent' match.

What speaks against this presumption (in my opinion, anyway) that Pansy is out for nothing but status is the fact that the first time we actually see her and Draco together as a couple is AFTER Lucius' imprisonment and long BEFORE Voldemort's 'ascension' to full power. She did stick to him when he was at his lowest low, seen from the society's point of view.

Maybe Pansy and Draco are just an example for the fact that most people do NOT marry their highschool sweetheart (something I find quite unrealistic, and Hermione/Ron, Ginny/Harry already cover that possibility).

Impossamole · #10 July 25th, 2007, 3:28 pm

1. When we first meet Draco, Harry sees him as a pampered, snobbish, bully. Did JKR plant the seeds from the beginning that he would grow to be a Death Eater?

I think she did. His family history and his attitude set him up as a prime candidate to be a Death Eater. I also think however that JK started to show the change in Draco during HBP: Pampered, snobbish and a bully he may have been but that doesn't mean someone is capable of murder of the innocent.

2. Draco grew up in a home with a mother from the notorious House of Black and a father who was a Death Eater that held favor with Voldemort. Lucius craves wealth, status and power. He is a demanding father and expects nothing less than excellence from his son.

Not technically a question but i do agree that Lucius is a demanding father and expects the best from his son and expected him to follow Voldemort and the idea that Pure bloods are better then Muggles. However, i think that he and Narcissa cared a great deal for eachother and their son, two points that were both highlighted in DH by the fact that Narcissa and Lucius cared only for Draco in the end rather then protecting their lord.

3. Is Draco truly making his choices of his own volition? How much of his choice is derived from fear, or is it bravado?

A lot of Dracos choices were derived from bravado and fear. But when faced with Voldemort and his threat of killing your entire family, fear would be the driving force making you do his bidding.

I think i understand what you're trying to say with the fourth question/statement. Draco was used to being able to name drop and intimidate people into following him/keeping out of his way and he didn't like the fact that Harry and his friends didn't respond to him in this way.

. Is he misunderstood? Or just plain mean?

Neither and both. Draco is spoiled and has taken on the attitude that his mother and father have of pure bloods being superior and so on. He may be a jerk but that, once again, doesn't mean that he's capable of murder. He proved this when he couldn't kill Dumbledore. It's hard when you're young to step out of the life your parents have mapped out for you.

6. Despite his decision not to kill Dumbledore, Draco continues to serve Voldemort. Do you think he regrets his failure to kill Dumbledore? Do you think he regrets his choices in DH?

I don't think he regrets not being able to kill Dumbledore and i don't think he regrets any of his choices in DH. As i said before, once you're in Voldemorts camp it is near impossible to turn againt him and survive. I think Draco and his family spent most of the last book just trying to survive.

7. How do you think Draco's life debt to Harry and Ron might manifest itself in their future.

I don't think it ever will. Once Voldemort had fallen i think the remaining Death Eaters and his supporters would have either fled and hid or have been captured/killed fairly qjuickly, thus eliminating any worry about the future saftey of Harry and Ron. I also don't think that Ron or Harry would ever ask Draco to repay that life debt.

8. What do you think happened to Draco after DH? What might he have done as a profession? Is Pansy the wife we see in the epilogue?

What did Lucious Malfoy do as a job? Did he and his wife maybe have enough Galleons to ensure they didn't have to work? I don't think he would have married Pansy, JK never mentioned that he felt any affection towards her. I think he continued to believe that Pure Bloods are better then Muggles but that it didn't really impact his life much beyond not being best pals with Muggles.

*BelleSnowyOwl* · #11 July 25th, 2007, 3:49 pm

1. When we first meet Draco, Harry sees him as a pampered, snobbish, bully. Did JKR plant the seeds from the beginning that he would grow to be a Death Eater?

Yes, I think so. From the very first minute Harry saw Malfoy, Harry knew he was a bad seed. Malfoy kept that up the entire series, so when he finally became a Death Eater, it fit perfectly.

2. Draco grew up in a home with a mother from the notorious House of Black and a father who was a Death Eater that held favor with Voldemort. Lucius craves wealth, status and power. He is a demanding father and expects nothing less than excellence from his son.

I think Lucius expects nothing less than excellence from his son, only so he’d beat out the Muggle-borns and people like Harry and Ron. Lucius wanted (at some point, anyway) to be Voldemort’s right-hand man, and since that never happened, he was still trying to get that highest status wherever he could. That’s why he wanted Malfoy to outshine everyone; I don’t think Lucius particularly cared whether or not his son had the best marks, as long as he was better than Hermione.

3. Is Draco truly making his choices of his own volition? How much of his choice is derived from fear, or is it bravado?

A first, it was bravado. Malfoy swaggered around the school like he owned the place, happy that he knew things others didn’t. And when he first became a Death Eater, it was because of that trait. However, once Malfoy realised what being a Death Eater actually involved, I think he only stayed on due to fear. It’s obvious that he didn’t want to be a part of it, but he knew that he had no choice. Malfoy just wanted to go back to being a regular 17 year old, but he couldn’t.

4. Draco has used name-dropping (his father’s and Voldemort’s) and his wealth in an attempt to befriend people. He was truly dumbfounded when all Harry could muster was a “that don’t impress me much” reaction to his attempts.

Malfoy grew up in the best house with the best of everything, so he expected people to respond to that. Crabbe and Goyle sure did, but they didn’t have much sense. Harry knew better, thankfully.

5. Is he misunderstood? Or just plain mean?

Pre-Death Eater status, he was just plain mean. As a Death Eater, he was misunderstood. He didn’t want to kill people, but it’s not like he could take a leave of absence. It was either stay a DE, or die, and as a 17 year old, he picked the best choice he could.

6. Despite his decision not to kill Dumbledore, Draco continues to serve Voldemort. Do you think he regrets his failure to kill Dumbledore? Do you think he regrets his choices in DH?

I think he regrets becoming a DE in the first place, but he’s absolutely scared for Voldemort to find that out.

7. How do you think Draco's life debt to Harry and Ron might manifest itself in their future.

It seems that they went their separate ways. I doubt Harry would go after Malfoy when he needed a favour or something. However, I’m sure Harry and Ron like knowing that someone is in their debt, just in case Malfoy tries something dangerous.

8. What do you think happened to Draco after DH? What might he have done as a profession? Is Pansy the wife we see in the epilogue?

No, I don’t think Pansy is the wife; Harry would have recognised her. Malfoy probably went on with some lackluster job at the ministry; he wasn’t set for great and extraordinary things.

katylynita · #12 July 26th, 2007, 9:11 pm

1. Draco chose his own destiny. He could have turned his back on his family and his upbringing like Sirius did, but he chose not to.
2. Draco's parents were very demanding, yes. But Sirius's were too. Draco was not brave or motivated enough to go against his parents will.
3. Highly motivated by fear.
4. Draco was used to getting what he wanted even if he had to use threats.
5. Misunderstood. He is not all bad, and neither is his family. He was not a killer, he remains innocent even if not the kindest person in the world.
6. I do not think Draco felt he had a choice but to serve. The only person he thought could protect him died, and he had to try and save his family and himself.
7. Hopefully there will be no need for Draco to save Harry or Ron's live, but it would be nieve to say that the world was rid of all evil when Voldemort died.
8. yep, Pansy

loveshopelost · #13 July 27th, 2007, 7:14 pm

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