Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. Today we’ll be taking a look at 5 Draco Malfoy theories that have recently caught my eye.
Draco Malfoy: Redeemable or Not?
To start, I’d like to acknowledge that there are loads of debates out there between fans as to whether Malfoy was a redeemable character or not.
There seems to be two very distinct camps: one that believes Draco was a snake at the beginning of the series and an even bigger snake at the end, and another that believes he was simply brought up in an environment of hate but was really a good person.
The latter of these two groups suggests that there is a very obvious character arc and redeeming storyline that Draco goes through in the latter half of the series. I must admit that I’m somewhat with the second group of fans in my beliefs regarding Malfoy.
Sure, he was a pompous pureblood that did terrible things to Harry and his friends in their youth, but these terrible things were always done with juvenile intent. For example, in the Philosopher’s Stone, Draco was responsible for tricking Harry into thinking he was going to fight Malfoy in a midnight duel.
But, his true intention in challenging Harry was to have him found outside of bed, running around the castle after hours, something which would have resulted in Harry’s expulsion. Expulsion, not death, not even harm, so I imagine you take my meaning.
Draco seemed to hate Harry but not to the point that he would cause him actual harm, at least as an 11-year-old boy. Of course, later in the series there are many times in which Draco is presented with the opportunity to bring harm to Harry, such as when he was asked to identify if a very badly stung Harry was indeed the Harry Potter.
This happens at Malfoy Manor in the Deathly Hallows, after a group of snatchers find Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the woods, and they use a charm to puff up Harry’s face beyond the point of recognizability.
Of course, the snatchers suspect it’s Harry, his lightning bolt scar mainly to blame, but when Draco, home from school on holiday, is asked to confirm that the puffy-faced, adolescent wizard is THE Harry Potter, he falters.
He knows it’s Harry, we know he knows, but he does not confirm it to his father, Lucius, even though it would have brought the Malfoy family back into great favor with the Dark Lord, because Draco knows that if he were to identify Harry as Harry, he would have been killed.
This is one of the most telling moments of the true nature of Draco Malfoy, and so, it’s with this perspective that I’ll be taking you through today’s theories on Mr. Malfoy.
5. Draco Helped Harry in the Chamber of Secrets
This theory only pertains to the movie, however, it’s possible that it was some secret narrative in J.K. Rowling’s mind as she wrote the novel. Since she had a hand in the films and was known to share backstory with the actors and filmmakers as necessary.
The theory stems from a small moment in the movie that didn’t happen in the book. When Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys went to Flourish and Blotts to bind their textbooks and ran into the Malfoys, Draco can be spotted glancing around the shop to see if anyone is looking before ripping a page out of a book.
Of course, this on its own means basically nothing, but if you put that together with the fact that later, in the Chamber of Secrets, Ron and Harry find a petrified Hermione with a ripped page about basilisks in her hands, one may begin to see a connection.
The obvious assumption that most people have made regarding this scene is that Hermione must have found information on the basilisk, torn out the page, and been on her way to find Harry and Ron when she was attacked.
But, when have you ever known Hermione Granger to tamper with the sacred entity of books? I must admit, I do find it rather difficult to imagine her doing something so careless to a thing she held in such high regard.
Now, back to Draco and his ripped-out page. Why would he have done this? If he wanted a page from a book, surely his wealthy father could have bought him the whole thing?
Well, the theory goes that, since Lucius Malfoy had been talking openly about the dangers of muggle-borns attending Hogwarts, he must have been aware of, or at least heard the myth of, a basilisk and other creatures associated with Salazar Slytherin lurking within the castle.
So perhaps, in an effort to learn more about what he’d overheard his father talking about, Draco ripped out a page on the giant serpent. Then, when he realized just how much danger the students at Hogwarts were in, he found a way to get it to Hermione for her to share with Ron and Harry, knowing that they would try to stop it.
I suppose there’s always the more sinister possibility that Draco hoped the three would go looking for the basilisk, if they knew what to look for, that is, and would then come to harm when they encountered it.
4. In Year 7, Malfoy Was Hogwarts Head Boy
I’ll be the first to admit that this is a rather benign theory, however, it’s a theory nonetheless. In what would have been Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s seventh and final year at Hogwarts, there’s the thought that Draco Malfoy may have been the school’s head boy.
This role is typically entrusted to a senior prefect, which we know that Draco was prior to his seventh year. There’s also the fact that Hogwarts was being run by Death Eaters at the time, and therefore, Malfoy would have been a suitable pupil to fill the role, given his family’s allegiance to the Dark Lord.
To anyone who questions whether or not Draco even attended Hogwarts in his seventh year, we know this to be true for several reasons—one of which is the fact that Lucius Malfoy says to the werewolf Greyback, in the Deathly Hallows, that Draco is back from school for Easter holidays.
3. Draco Was Never a Death Eater
Now, since theory number five in this article was only really for the movie franchise, this theory is strictly for fans of the novel. If you’ve seen the Harry Potter films, then you will have explicitly seen a dark mark on Draco’s arm, but in the books, whether or not Draco has a dark mark is a lot more up for debate.
You may recall a previous theory I’ve discussed in another video that Draco might have been a werewolf, and that the mark on his arm, which in the book, Harry never got a good look at, was actually a werewolf bite from Greyback.
This is just one of many theories offering alternatives to what could have been on Draco’s arm, if not the mark of a Death Eater.
In my opinion, considering the direction and allegiances that Draco chooses to make after the Battle of Hogwarts, it seems all the more likely that Malfoy never actually pledged himself to Voldemort, making me quite open to the idea that Draco was not an official Death Eater.
2. Harry Was in Love with Draco Malfoy
In the past, I’ve explored the theory that Draco was in love with, or at the very least had a crush on Hermione, but this is a new one for me. Apparently, actor Tom Felton, the British actor who portrayed Draco Malfoy in the series, has said he believes this particular fan theory to be true.
Now, I suppose Tom could have been being glib since he says this in a somewhat sarcastic manner, alongside Harry Potter co-star Rupert Grint, who played Ron in the series. The two actors laugh as they make the declaration that Harry and Ron must have been mad for Draco, with all the attention they gave him.
The theory hinges on a similar basis to the “Draco was in love with Hermione” theory—that because of all the attention Harry gave Draco throughout the series, perhaps his strong feelings were fueled by something other than hatred.
There’s also the fact that Draco was so easily able to get under Harry’s skin, another quality often associated with an individual having intense, unwanted feelings for another.
Now, I’m not saying that I accept this theory to be true, but if it were, I can see possible supporting evidence in the way Harry behaved towards Draco.
1. Draco, Ron, and Harry Are All Distantly Related
Now, this theory makes the previous one a bit awkward. There are several fans out there who have voiced that they believe since there are only a limited number of pureblood wizarding families in the world, it would have eventually become impossible to remain a pureblood without marrying a relative, however distant that relative may have been.
In reality, there’s actually more proof to this theory than just the aforementioned speculation, for Cedrella Black was married to a Septimus Weasley. The two had three children, one of whom was likely Arthur Weasley, who is, of course, Ron Weasley’s father.
Draco’s mother was Narcissa Black before she became Mrs. Malfoy, and James Potter was born from the Black family lineage as well. Put that all together and we’ve got Draco, Ron, and Harry all descending from the Black family tree in one way or another.
And with that, we’ve come to the end of another theory. What did you think? Did I miss any theories about Draco Malfoy that you think are worth discussing? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
