Draco Feels: The Stressful Years Begin (Part 3 of 6)

Yes, I finally determined how long this series is going to be! (Probably)

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Last week, we discussed Draco Malfoy, the Ickle Firstie.  Now we're going to fast forward to...

Big, Bad, Death Eater Draco! 

Or, this guy:

Let's be honest, Draco's not much but a pompous pain in the butt for years two through five, but he suddenly gets very interesting in Half Blood Prince.  In order to fully grasp the changes that happen to him, we have to remember those very important lessons that he learned back in first year:

1. The world is not fair to Slytherins
2. You cannot really trust anyone to help you, except maybe another Slytherin 

These lessons hit Draco in full-force at the end of his fifth year -- if you recall, that was the year that the Death Eaters infiltrated the Ministry of Magic and battled with the DA and the Order.  At the end of it all, Lucius Malfoy, among others, was sent to Azkaban and fell in the graces of Voldemort.  Having grown up knowing that his father was in Voldemort's inner circle, and learning that "manliness" means just that, the sudden shift from top dog to chum would have been striking for the sixteen year old.  

A lot happens for Draco in the summer between his fifth and sixth years at Hogwarts -- we obviously don't know all the details, but we can assume that he and his mother were feeling the strain from their loss of Lucius and their fall from grace.  Draco, as the new "man of the house" since his father's arrest, would have been especially tormented. Had these books been written about Draco rather than Harry, Lucius' arrest would have been that pivotal moment where the protagonist learns that even the adults he trusts most are fallible.  So, what does he do? He seeks to prove himself to Voldemort.  He can step up, be a man, and be everything that his father failed to be.  He is young, determined, and full of that youthful sense if invulnerability.  It is this version of Draco that we next encounter on the train going to Hogwarts.

This Draco is more smug that usual -- as I said, he's the new man of his house.  And he's finally been able to step up and prove that he can be a real man (which, to him, means a Death Eater.)  More importantly, this Draco has an assignment straight from Voldemort so that he can finally prove that he can be even more of a man than his father was.  Unlike blundering Lucius, Draco will succeed where everyone else has failed.  He will help the Death Eaters infiltrate Hogwarts, and he will single handedly kill Albus Dumbledore.  And, if he doesn't...the consequences will be severe.  But Draco's youthful confidence will not let him think of failure just yet -- he has a job to do.  

We can most clearly see his new kind of smugness in his interactions with Harry in the beginning of the year. In years past, Harry has easily bested Draco in duels and, if we're being honest, in most aspects of  Hogwarts life.  This new Draco, though, is feeling powerful, and he shows that in a very clear way -- he easily petrifies an invisibility cloak clad Harry and steps on his face, breaking his nose.  (This incident is summarized beautifully in the song In Which I Kick Harry Potter in the Face by Draco and the Malfoys. Listen here!)  Sadly for Draco, this feeling of power doesn't last long...

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Thanks for reading, guys!  

Next week I'll finish up going through canon Malfoy with some analysis of the end of HBP and DH (Draco's Downfall, if you will.)

After that, we start delving into a different territory and discuss Draco as a Foil Character...but to Who?! (Spoiler: It's not Harry.) 

Malfoy Feels -- Let's Explore Sorcerer's Stone! (Part 2 of ???)

First off, I would like to apologize for the lateness of this post -- life popped up again! And I now find myself in a hotel room in Connecticut without my Harry Potter books to consult as I cobble together my thoughts and feelings on the one and only Draco Lucius Malfoy.

Art by Katikut on DeviantArt

Let's revisit the Draco Malfoy we all know and love to hate, shall we? 

The first time we see young master Malfoy, he is a wee eleven year old getting fitted for school robes all by his lonesome in in Madam Malkin's shop.  He appears, for all intents and purposes, to be a very sweet little boy, attempting to chat with Harry about Hogwarts houses and the all-important sport of Quidditch as they get fitted side-by-side.  His attempts to make polite conversation show A) How excited he is to be finally going to Hogwarts and B) How genuinely friendly this little boy his.  He knows absolutely nothing about who Harry is or what sort of upbringing he had, yet he talks to him anyways. Sure, he spews off a bit of his parents' ideology regarding muggle born witches and wizards and is shocked by the sight of Hagrid waiting for Harry, but...he's eleven.  Those things are bound to happen.  The important thing is that, for all Malfoy knows, he's chatting amicably to Justin Finch-Fletchley or Ernie Macmillan rather than Harry "Freakin" Potter, and he treats him like a potential friend nonetheless.  

The second time we see Malfoy is the infamous scene on the Hogwarts Express where he extends a hand of friendship to Harry.  Harry obviously turns him down, Scabbers bites Crabbe in the finger, and a series-long animosity is born.  One thing I would like to point out in this scene, however, is that, though Draco does begin his offer of friendship with a bit of a scathing remark about the Weasley family, Harry is no less culpable in this scene when it comes to prejudice.  His main reasons for disregarding Draco's hand of friendship is that the young lad reminds him a bit too much of Dudley Dursley.  In this case, Harry is citing a prejudice all of his own, whereas Draco simply regurgitates his father's way of identifying Ron as a Weasley, something that I am hesitant to blame an eleven year old for.

Throughout the rest of the first book, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle begin fulfilling their destiny as a foil trio, causing mischief and making Harry, Ron and Hermione dislike them. The eleven year old Draco, however, does only two "reprehensible" things to the trio this year.  The first is very early on in the book when he challenges Harry to a duel, most likely due to a bruised ego after Harry denies his friendship and then goes on to break rules and get rewarded for it by a spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!!! That's not how things are supposed to work!!!! So Draco sets Harry up to break rules and actually get punished for it (and fails.)

The second bit of mischief he does isn't actually mischief at all.  He overhears word from the trio that THERE IS A DRAGON IN THE CASTLE! Little Draco then borrows a book from Harry with a letter from Charlie Weasley inside of it illustrating a plan to SMUGGLE SAID DRAGON OUT OF THE CASTLE! WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE OF AUTHORITY! Please take a moment to put yourself in Draco's position.  You find out that there is a dragon in the castle. You're eleven.  You have been raised to obey authority and conduct yourself with a sense of propriety. Also, IT'S A DRAGON!!! So, yeah, duh, Draco does the responsible thing and tells Professor McGonagall about this plan.  She's the main trio's head of house, after all, and perhaps she can do something.  By reporting the dragon problem, Draco loses a bundle of house points for Slytherin and gets detention (which is totally unfair since all he did was report a problem), and this, I think, marks a turning point in Draco's development.

From here on out, Draco acts with much more vindictiveness towards Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  He learned from that experience that perhaps the world isn't fair, even to little rich boys.  He starts going to only Professor Snape, the Slytherin head of house, for his troubles rather than trusting McGonagall again. He starts calling Hermione a "filthy Mudblood," and, all in all, plays a little dirtier to get what he wants.  Even so, he remains pretty harmless up until Half Blood Prince, where things start getting a little bit stressful for our favorite bleach-blonde boy...

More on that next week :)

Malfoy Feels...Our Journey Begins (Part 1 of ???)

So, as Meghan mentioned during her Life Update post, I recently had an intense bout of feels for none other than Draco Malfoy.

Like, book Draco Malfoy. Not the beautiful Tom Felton whose lovely face was so marred by tears and torment...

Poor little dear...

It's easy to feel for that!! But never have I ever before felt real feelings of compassion for Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret, the one who sneers "mudblood" to Hermione, the one who is so dark that Harry suspects he is the Heir of Slytherin, right out of the books.

It all started with the fanfic that Meg and I are reading aloud to each other (because we're cooler that sliced bread in a freezer) called Harry Potter and the Power of Emotion. (Go read it. It's fabulous. It's pre HBP, so no horcruxes or hallows and its wonderful and exactly how it should have been.) So, anyways, we've been taking turns reading the story aloud to each other, and Malfoy obviously plays a role in it. This author is really fabulous at sticking to the characters' personalities as they had been displayed in the books up in until the end of OotP, so her Malfoy got me thinking about what JKR's Malfoy could have been had he reacted been differently to the events in OotP.

Follow me so far?

Okay, so long story short, I have developed an immense respect for Draco Malfoy's character, development, brainpower, as well as athletic skill and a few other things.  It's amazing what sitting down and really thinking hard about a character can produce.

I want to share my Malfoy Feels with you all, so, if you wouldn't mind, come on a journey with me.  I plan on writing a series in a few parts detailing why Draco Malfoy is indeed a good guy. A very good guy. Who deserves our love!!!

We'll start off easy, and next Friday I will post an analysis of Draco's actions in Half Blood Prince, verses everything they could have been (complete, probably, if I have time, with book citations.)  After that, we will delve into my brainspace a little more intently.

I hope you enjoy :)