The Worth of Draco Malfoy

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The Worth of

Draco Malfoy A collection of essays about J.K. Rowling’s characters Draco Malfoy and his parents and by Monique Jones

http://moniqueblog.net

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Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………….3 Atoning After the War………………………………………………….5 Draco is Our King?...................................................................8 Scorpius Malfoy and the upbringing of fairness……………….12 Malfoy Style, or, How to Succeed in Fashion without Really Trying………………………………….14 The Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore……………………….17 Draco and Hermione sittin’ in a tree……………………………...19 The Dangers of Stereotypes…………………………………………..20 A Durmstrang/Prejudicial Upbringing Does Not Equal an Upbringing with Horrible Parents……….24 Draco and Myrtle, Odd Friends……………………………………..27 The actual worth of Draco Malfoy………………………………….29 What’s in a birthday?...............................................................30 Author’s Note……………………………………………………………..33 About Monique and Moniqueblog…………………………………..34 Appendix…………………………………………………………………...35

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Introduction MSNBC released an article about Draco Malfoy’s personality change during Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.Their observations about his character metamorphosis and the reasons behind it only re-confirm things I’ve known for years. Draco Malfoy isn’t as bad as he thinks he is. And he isn’t as bad as many Harry Potter fans think he is. If you are one of those fans who disagrees with me, hear me out before you throw stones: There are certain facts about Draco that are…unsavory, to say the least. He hates anyone who isn’t a pureblood, but if you’re a pureblood named Weasley, forget about it. He calls muggle-born wizards and witches derogatory, hateful names. He believed (keyword:believed) it was his destiny to be a Death Eater and work for Voldemort. In fact, he aspired to be one at one point. And his family owned elf slaves. But, the argument that he is unworthy of forgiveness falls apart at one crucial point in Half-Blood Prince.

In HBP, Voldemort thrusts Draco his first task in order to prove himself worthy of being a Death Eater. He has to find a way for the Death Eaters to infiltrate Hogwarts and after that, he has to kill the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

If he were a true villain, who had no qualms about killing and wanted to desperately serve alongside Voldemort, he would’ve killed Dumbledore, no problem. But the fact that he became a shell of his former self and ultimately broke down in the boy’s bathroom, is comforted by Moaning Myrtle (who is of muggle descent herself) and didn’t kill Dumbledore proves the very point I’ve been trying to make in this post, and the point I’ve been trying to stress for years: Draco Malfoy is not evil!

The same argument can be extended to Draco’s family-if the Malfoys were truly evil, they would’ve acted more like Bellatrix-crazy and dumbly loyal to Voldemort. But the fact that Narcissa and Lucius wanted their son to

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be protected, went against Voldemort’s wishes, and eventually sought help in Harry, shows that the Malfoys have their human side.

This article is the first in a series of articles in the hopes to give a clearer picture to Draco and his family. Hopefully in the future, I’ll be able to expound more on my analysis of the Malfoys by dissecting this question: If Draco ever apologized for his actions, how would Hermione, Harry, and Ron (and the fans) take it?

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Atoning After the War I recently updated this section of my site with a quote from Tom Felton’s music site, Feltbeats.com, which explained in a few short sentences what I tried to convey in a few clumsy paragraphs. Draco Malfoy may be the school bully, but, to quote the website, “his villainy is not by choice, but rather, it is thrust upon him.” Now this sentence explains his bungled mission to kill Dumbledore, but it also explains other aspects of his character and his beliefs. That is to say, his “villainy” embedded in his beliefs aren’t by choice, but rather, they were taught to him by his parents, who were taught by their parents, and so on. The same formula for racism exists in both this world and the real one we live in. People aren’t born as racists; they are made.

What does this mean for Draco in the years after Voldemort’s demise?

Well, J.K. Rowling herself said that, with the exception of Voldemort, every character had a chance at redemption. So this can only mean that Draco’s included. What if he acted on his chance at redemption (which, in my heart of hearts, I believe he did after the books ended)? How would the main trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione (Hermione in particular) react? Furthermore, how would fans react? Enter the discussion about how to confront prejudice and (in Draco’s case) seek forgiveness.

Prejudice, in a nutshell, is ignorance against other cultures and other ways of life. It’s also the outward showing of insecurity around said cultures/ways of life. Anything or anyone that is beyond a person’s understanding tends to get marginalized into stereotypical groups. Ignorance is essentially all Draco and his family are guilty of. Once you think of prejudice in that form, it seems a lot easier to overcome.

Hopefully, Voldemort’s war would have taught Draco and his parents valuable lessons about people and how to treat them. At the very least, the war, culminating with half-blood Harry Potter vanquishing Voldemort,

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should’ve taught them that everyone is equal and blood has nothing to do with the worth of a person. But along with that, each of them would still have to go through a mental journey in order to fully recognize the extent of ignorance they were allowing themselves to be in. (Hopefully, they would’ve realized that Voldemort-the person they were following to bring about pureblooded supremacy-was a half-blood himself.)

If Draco was to go through such a metamorphosis and feel like he should apologize to Harry, Ron, and especially Hermione, would they accept his apology? Let’s look at a real life example, Elwin Wilson.

Elwin Wilson is a white man in his early seventies who was heavily racist in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. He did horrible, despicable things to black people-throwing cantaloupes at them, beating them up, and stopping a dime store lunch-counter protest and inflicting harm on the group of students leading the protest (one of those being Congressman Jon Lewis).

According to Wilson, the baggage of his actions got heavier and heavier until one day, Wilson’s friend asked Wilson where he would go if he were to die that very moment. Wilson said, “To hell.”

So, he started apologizing to people, one of those people being Lewis.

He made his way to Lewis’ Washington, D.C. office, and told him he was sorry. And even though some didn’t accept his apologies as legitimate, Lewis did. “He was very, very sincere, and I think it takes a lot of raw courage to be willing to come forward the way he did,” said Lewis. “I think it will lead to a great deal of healing.”

This real-life example is to show that it’s not impossible to atone for past transgressions. Apologizing and finding forgiveness doesn’t mean that the pain will be forgotten, however-in Hermione’s case, the pain of being called a derogatory name for four years might be extreme-but at least some healing would have begun and the rift that had separated Harry, Hermione, and Ron from Draco might start to close. To ask for forgiveness is a brave thing, but to be able to forgive is an even braver thing to do, and I feel that if

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the trio can conquer a villain like Voldemort, they would have no problems conquering their feelings about Draco.

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Draco is Our King?

J.K. Rowling has often gone on record saying how slightly disturbing it is for there to be so many fans of Draco Malfoy. Perhaps she views it as a disappointment that Draco has legions of dedicated fans who dress up as Slytherin students rather than Gryffindor students. But if it’s so disturbing, why do there continue to be people who say “I’d rather be in Slytherin than Gryffindor?” I present to you three possible reasons as to why: Reason 1: The actor J.K.R. has stated how it scares her to have fans speaking highly of Draco after watching the movies. “People have been waxing lyrical [in letters] about Draco Malfoy, and I think that’s the only time when it stopped amusing me and started almost worrying me,” she said in a 2005 interview.

“I’m trying to clearly distinguish between Tom Felton, who is a goodlooking young boy, and Draco, who, whatever he looks like, is not a nice man. It’s a romantic, but unhealthy…” This might sound like a backhanded compliment, but having Tom Felton as the supposed “slimy git” might have not been the best choice if J.K.R. wants readers to distinguish Draco the Character from Tom Felton the Person. As a member of the female gender, I’ll be the first to admit that Tom Felton is an attractive young man (and a terrific actor). People tend to respond better to good-looking people, and Felton’s looks help the audience to sympathize with Draco and even excuse many of his deep character flaws (I’m not saying that’s necessarily a good thing, but that’s just human nature). Attractiveness and a bad attitude is always a fatal combination that sends girls to the moon and causes boys to idolize.

Reason 2: The “bad boy” image If there is such a thing as girl Kryptonite, it is the fantasy of the “bad boy”. Draco fits this mold a little too well. The bad boy-the guy who can stop a room with his swagger-is mysterious and alluring while also being

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aloof. He’s like the flame moths are attracted to-you know you aren’t suppose to touch him, but you can’t help it. I think the movies have more to do with this aura around Draco than the books, but some of that aura does ooze from books and into the reader’s mind. The scenes from Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows also show that Draco is capable of thinking on a higher plane, and that presents an even more powerful version of girl Kryptonite, the reformed bad boy.

The allure of the bad boy doesn’t just affect girls. Draco himself was attracted to the mystique of the “dark side”, as it were. That was part of the basis for his actions at Hogwarts and his decision to become a Death Eater.

Little did he know, like many girls who actually end up with bad boys as boyfriends, how deceiving forbidden fruit can be.

Reason 3: The character I first liked Draco when I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

After that, I was a Draco fan for life. I’m sure many readers of the series were like me, and would rather read about what Draco did during his down time than Harry’s exploits. I always felt that Draco had more that was happening to him psychologically than he let on, and for that reason, I stayed along to see what I would find out about him (along with seeing if Harry would indeed stop Voldemort). Since this character is supposed to be unlikeable, there should be reasons as to why many readers drawn to him.

Here’s how I break it down: *Shallow pettiness. I know that sounds weird, but let me explain. Draco was born into a wealthy family. He has everything he could ever want, and can get anything he pleases. With money comes confidence and swagger, and whether you’d like to admit it or not, everyone wants to have that kind of power, so we live vicariously through Draco’s rich exploits. Why else are shows like Gossip Girl so popular? *Living without the super-ego. Not only does Draco represent the rich, lavish lifestyle everyone dreams of having, but he also represents the ability to be mean without repercussions. People don’t like to admit this, but people can have really evil, despicable thoughts. What people end up doing,

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however, is suppressing them. This ability to suppress these thoughts is known as the super-ego, the psychological part of our mind named by neurologist Sigmund Freud that polices our wild desires and reminds us of the repercussions we would face if we acted on said desires. Draco’s superego doesn’t reign in his opinions about other people, and so he can bully, taunt, and degrade people at will without feeling guilty (at least on the surface). Now, I’m not saying that everyone wants to release racial epithets on people they dislike, but now and again, we all want to slap, curse, or punch that person who’s annoying us. Draco’s actions allow us a bit of relief. *Draco follows the path of the anti-hero. Draco’s arc is one that is more compelling to many readers than the traditional hero arc Harry follows.

Readers are waiting to see what Draco will do next in the story. Even Harry in Half-Blood Prince was wondering what Draco was going to do next to thwart him. The anti-hero or anti-hero-in-training tend to have interesting quirks that go against the audience’s knowledge about that character and reveals who the anti-hero has the ability to become. Draco is no exception to this rule. While Draco has been brought up to believe that purebloods are superior, he befriends Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a muggle-born Hogwarts student. When Harry, Ron and Hermione get caught by Greyback in Deathly Hallows, Draco doesn’t expose them, even though he’s taunted all three of them numerous times and has even called Hermione a “Mudblood”, a racist term for muggle-born witches and wizards. Draco doesn’t fulfill his task of killing Dumbledore, and was, in fact, haunted by the task throughout his fifth year. In the movie Half-Blood Prince, Draco, having already accepted the task to kill Dumbledore, makes a veiled statement about suicide to his girlfriend Pansy and friend Blaise Zabini, hinting to the audience that he’s already plagued by what he has been asked to do. And at the end of Deathly Hallows, he has made peace with Harry and Hermione (Ron is a different matter, since it seems that Ron is unable to be at peace with Draco). Draco’s upbringing, his actions, and his mental growth throughout the books makes him a rather rich character in terms of storytelling power, and characters that are rich in storytelling power are generally the characters people like following. I feel that if there was an

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eighth book about how the Hogwarts group was faring in their early 20s, we would see Draco become even more complex than he already is.

Should J.K.R. be worried about Draco’s fans? I don’t think so. Even with all the obsession and examination of Draco, I think most fans still remember that he’s just a character. Although I understand her concern, I doubt there are girls actively searching for a person like Draco to reform.

Speaking for myself, it’s much more fun to analyze and speculate about Draco’s actions and thoughts than it is to fangirl over him (but I guess analyzing can be called a form of fangirling). In any case, it’s better to be a fan of Draco than it is to be a fan of, oh, I don’t know, Voldemort!

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Scorpius Malfoy and the Upbringing of Fairness While writing these essays, I posed to myself the question of how Draco Malfoy, now a father, would raise his son, Scorpius. I knew when I thought up the question that it would be a hard one to answer because of the little we find out about Draco and his family in the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but the more I thought about it, the more difficult I thought finding the answer would be. Still, a guess is a guess, so I’m going to make my guess as educated as it can possibly be.

Looking to the epilogue of Deathly Hallows proved to be of little help since the only description of Scorpius we get is that he looks exactly like his father. But just because he looks just like Draco doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll act just like him. According to the Harry Potter Wikia, Astoria (or Asteria) Greengrass, Draco’s wife, is described by J.K. Rowling as being better than other Slytherin girls in terms of personality. J.K.R. wanted Draco to marry Astoria as opposed to Pansy because Pansy represented “the girls who teased me when I was at school.” (I’m pretty sure those girls who teased her have been eating crow for the past 6+ years.) So it’s safe to assume that Astoria is one of the rare jewels of the Slytherin house-a pureblood who really doesn’t care about being a pureblood.

This assumption, combined with the fact that Draco has seriously mellowed out since the end of the war, would produce a less toxic household for Scorpius to grow up in. Draco has given his son a pretty tarnished name due to the things he and his family did while he was growing up; perhaps as a way to redeem himself through his son, he would’ve told Scorpius stories about Voldemort and the war, to make sure Scorpius wouldn’t take anyone for granted due to blood heritage or stature.

Even though there isn’t any specific proof to this fact, everyone who’s read the series has already assumed that Scorpius, being the person Draco

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might have been if he wasn’t indoctrinated into diseased “pureblood supremacy” thinking at an early age, might become friends-or possibly more than friends-with Rose, Ron and Hermione’s daughter. This is probably believed more so because of the Romeo and Juliet feel there is to the whole idea, but if this did in fact happen, it would be a great way to show how much Draco has matured during the nineteen years since leaving Hogwarts, as well as a great way for Ron to finally get over his own prejudices toward Draco and his family. Also, the fact that Hermione seems more forgiving than Ron proves something that I posted in “Atoning after the war”; forgiveness is the first way to ease pain caused by someone else.

To end this segment of “The worth of Draco Malfoy”, I’ll leave with a personal thought about where I would like the Harry Potter series to go. If, in fact, another series is in the works, I would like for it to focus on the trials and tribulations of Scorpius rather than Harry and Ginny’s son, Albus. Albus has the road paved in gold for him due to Harry’s tremendous exploits; Scorpius basically has to start from square one, thanks to his dad. Seeing Scorpius overcome the obvious bullying and torture that’s going to take place while possibly befriending Rose and other offspring of major characters would be a whole lot more fun than seeing Albus being treated like the Prince of Hogwarts.

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Malfoy Style, or, How to Succeed in Fashion without Really Trying My first three articles have been really…serious. While his mental growth is fun to speculate about, I thought I’d take a break from serious thinking and talk about something that is just as important to Draco’s life, fashion.

I’m not saying Draco buys wizard equivalents of Men’s Vogue or religiously follows male fashion trends (well, the latter might not be true), but I’m pretty sure he and his entire family keep up well enough to be on the cusp of fashion greatness. From their clothes and demeanor, it would seem that every pureblood was trying to keep up with the Malfoys in terms of fashion. And even though they aren’t real people, our fashion in the real world is influenced by the clothing in the Harry Potter movies. A few years ago, there was a huge Anglo/British prep craze, and Hot Topic is always selling Harry Potter merchandise, much of it being Slytherin or Dark Artsrelated. But what makes up Malfoy style (a term I’ve coined for this essay), and why do we as middle-class muggles want to dress like them? And most importantly, is some of this fashion in our price range?

After reading the books, and especially after watching the movies, there seem to be some unspoken guidelines the Malfoy family follows when it comes to style. Here’s what I think the rules for Malfoy fashion are: * Pieces of clothing must be timeless *The clothing must be individualistic-there has to be something unique and/or quirky to the clothes in order to set them off as original and singular pieces

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*The clothes must not only look richness and extravagance, but also feel rich.

Also, in the vein of the show Gossip Girl, the clothes represent the characters and their rich lifestyles. And we would all like to look rich, so we try to buy clothes that makes feel rich. Or you draw them, like me.

Gossip Girl, a show about rich, teenage socialites living hard and fast, is essentially how Draco and his Slytherin cohorts would dress (and probably act) outside of school. For Draco’s clothes, I looked at the Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass, the playboy womanizer. Yes, he wears a lot of bright colors, but bright colors aside, I believe that his clothes best represent what Draco’s style might be in the real world. Chuck tends to wear a lot of expensive, luxurious smoking jackets, suits, and ties which evoke the high life depicted in classic movies from the ‘40s and ‘50s. But his pieces of clothing, while being timeless, generally have some original flair that makes him stand out from other characters.

Draco’s parents’ clothing represent the more austere, prim, and stern ideologies of pureblood life. In a phrase, they are very “old-school”.

Narcissa’s clothing vocabulary is also 1940s in style, but a little more of a literal representation than the fresh interpretation seen in Draco’s clothes.

Think of Narcissa as a more sinister version of Grace Kelly.

The frame of reference for Lucius’s clothes tends to come from the Victorian era. Because of this, it’s near impossible to actually integrate his style into everyday wear. You’d mostly dress up as Lucius if you were cosplaying or dressing up for Halloween.

Now, as far as the practical clothes go, can you actually afford them?

Ordinarily, no, unless you want to live off white bread and rice for a few years. Also, clothes like the 1940s and ‘50s dresses and skirts are almost artistic pieces in themselves because they were made from vintage patterns (also ratcheting up the price). But if you’re a person who feels like they could benefit from the Malfoys in terms of style, you can find vintage style pieces at your favorite department or niche store. Also, check the appendix for links to online mainstream and vintage shops.

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The Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore One night when I was rereading chapter eighteen of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I had an epiphany. In chapter, eighteen, “The Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore”, we finally learn the full extent of Dumbledore’s mysterious early life. Due to his friendship with Grindelwald, he starts believing in the idea that people born with magical abilities are better than non-magical people and have the right to rule over them “FOR THE MUGGLES’ OWN GOOD” (pg. 357). Of course, we know Dumbledore changed his thinking, but for a moment, we, like Harry, were confused and shocked Dumbledore had held such views. Dumbledore’s later actions allow us to forgive him for his transgressions, so if that’s that case, would readers be able to forgive someone like Draco Malfoy, if he were given the chance to be developed into a more complex character?

If we follow Dumbledore’s story arc, we could see the similarities in his and Draco’s lives: *Both were lured to think uncouthly about others; Dumbledore through Grindelwald, Draco through his parents and aunt. *Both came to a rude awakening about their ideals; Dumbledore through the death of his sister Ariana, Draco through the task Voldemort charged him with. *Both learned from their mistakes. It might not be as obvious to see that Draco has, but his behavior at the train station with Scorpius shows that he had been thinking a lot in between the nineteen years since the war. And as we all know, Dumbledore became the voice for muggle-born equality throughout Britain.

The biggest difference between the two people is that Dumbledore became one of the greatest wizards ever, not just in talent, but in spirit and good works. Draco seems to be on the right track to becoming more of a

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complete person; if he can become a mere fraction of what Dumbledore became, then he would have come a long way.

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Draco and Hermione, sittin’ in a tree…

Speaking strictly in the canon of Harry Potter, Hermione ends up with Ron. But there is evidence of other possible suitors of Hermione-Viktor Krum (my favorite), Cormac McLaggen, and Draco Malfoy?

If you’re at all familiar with Harry Potter fanfiction, you know and either love or hate Draco/Hermione fanfiction. At its core, it’s the magical version of the classic “opposites attract” story; a rich, snobbish twat finding common ground with a muggle-born common girl. And if you’re thinking, “He’s called her mudblood! Why would someone like him if he uses racial slurs to address someone?” Well, I’m purposely not arguing for or against this pairing, but the movie Monster’s Ball, where a racist prison guard (Billy Bob Thornton) and a black woman whose husband has died on Death Row (Halle Berry) fall in love. In fact, the Monster’s Ball and the fanfiction about Draco and Hermione are practically the same story, save for a few differences. Both men in the story come from racist backgrounds and are led to believe life is a certain way and that people act a certain way. Both men have also hurt the women in their lives-Thornton’s character Hank was instrumental in the death of the husband of Halle Berry’s character, Leticia; Draco has called Hermione a “mudblood” repeatedly and insults her friends.

In any case, if you’re interested in how some of the Draco/Hermione fans argue this pairing, there are some compelling and in-depth web pages that explain in detail why they think Draco and Hermione could at the very least be friends. These websites (found in the appendix) can explain Draco/Hermione much better than I ever could. And if you’re absolutely against the idea of a Draco/Hermione relationship of any kind, there’s a website in the appendix for you, too.

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The Dangers of Stereotypes Everyone knows about the stereotypes Draco Malfoy clings to as facts—non-purebloods are lowly, Weasleys are dirt, and only pureblooded people should reign supreme. But it’s not as if he’s the only one who believes stereotypes.

Throughout the book series, every character is holding onto stereotypes. Even Harry Potter believes certain things are true until proven otherwise. In fact, the entire wizarding world is based on stereotypes and labeling people. Take for instance, part of the Sorting Hat’s song: You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you’ve a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You’ll make your real friends, Those cunning folks use any means To achieve their ends.(Harry Potter Wikia) Each verse of the song can be boiled down to stereotypes, and it often is; Gryffindors are “brave”, Hufflepuffs are “loyal”, Ravenclaws are

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“smart”, and Slytherins are “cunning”, or, as they’re usually thought of, “evil”. (Nowhere in the song does it say Slytherins are evil, but thanks to Voldemort being of the Slytherin house, they have gotten a bad reputation.)

Yes, Voldemort was a Slytherin and yes, many students in the Slytherin house have bad dispositions, but that doesn’t mean everySlytherin is evil nor has a bad temper.

Take, for example, Astoria Greengrass. According to J.K. Rowling, Astoria’s supposed to be the anti-Pansy. If that’s the case, it’s obvious that Astoria must be pretty nice, or at least less judgmental. She’s probably as amiable as any Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor.

On the flip side, a Gryffindor could be brave, but for all of the wrong reasons. Take Cormac McLaggen, for instance. He’s a Gryffindor, but his bravery comes from the fact that he likes to impress people and brag about his accomplishments and achievements. While trying for the Keeper position, McLaggen makes disparaging comments about Ginny and Ron. Also, on a dare to prove his bravery and manhood, Cormac received Doxy egg poisoning from eating a pound of them.

One of the most prominent examples of a Hufflepuff exhibiting unHufflepuff behavior is Peter “Wormtail” Pettigrew, James Potter’s supposed friend who gave him and his wife Lily over to Voldemort. And Luna Lovegood can also be seen as an example of a Ravenclaw who doesn’t exhibit their intelligence, at least in the conventional sense (I believe that behind her spacey behavior, there’s a brain hard at work).

Even though there are exceptions that can be found in each house, Slytherins are usually still subjected to being labeled “evil”, no matter who they are. The Sorting Hat says that being cunning is a defining factor of a Slytherin, but what does it really mean to be cunning?

“Cunning” isn’t necessarily a word synonymous with “evil” or even “bad”. According to Mirriam-Webster, “cunning” means: adjective

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1 : dexterous or crafty in the use of special resources (as skill or knowledge) or in attaining an end <a cunning plotter> 2 : displaying keen insight <a cunning observation> 3 : characterized by wiliness and trickery <cunning schemes> 4 : prettily appealing : cute <a cunning little kitten> synonyms see clever, sly noun 1 obsolete a : knowledge, learning b : magic art 2 : dexterous skill and subtlety (as in inventing, devising, or executing) <high-ribbed vault…with perfect cunning framed — William Wordsworth> 3 : craft, slyness synonyms see art One can be especially cunning and be in a different house other than Slytherin. Take, for instance, the trio of Harry, Hermione, and Ron.I would dare say that it takes an extreme amount of cunning to be able to defeat Voldemort and restore order to the wizarding world. And even with the lesser tasks Harry and his friends have accomplished-saving Ginny from Tom Riddle’s possession of her, defeating Professor Quirrell, winning the Triwizard Tournament, etc.-required them to lie, steal, and do other cunning things.

In turn, a brave person can come from any house. Since this article is part of a series focusing on Draco, it could be argued that Draco is braver than people give him credit for. Draco was given a horrible task of killing Dumbledore in order to keep his family alive. If he was a real coward, he might have killed himself or run away in order to save himself. He could’ve figured that he’s going to die at the hands of Voldemort anyway, so why prolong the inevitable? But he bravely tried to save himself and his family, even though he was more than 50% sure that he was going to die anyway.

He may have been given a backwards and truly evil assignment, but his dedication to his family and his desire to truly prove himself kept him on his goal of saving the lives of himself and his parents. Now, it can be said that if

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he was truly brave, he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have tried to kill Dumbledore, but seriously, what would any person do if they were given the task of killing someone in order to save their self and their family? No one can answer that truthfully unless theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re faced with that situation.

The underlying argument here is this: donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe everything at face value. There are different types of bravery as well as different types of cunning, intelligence, and loyalty.

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A Durmstrang/Prejudicial Upbringing Does Not Equal an Upbringing with Horrible Parents For some reason, a few people have gotten the idea that both Viktor and Draco have horrible parents just because of the circumstances they grew up in (Viktor grew up at the Durmstrang Institute, a boarding school that focuses on teaching the Dark Arts and didn’t allow muggle-borns to enter, and, of course, Draco’s upbringing was laced with discriminating epithets and Death Eaters). But just because their upbringing might have had some parts that were less than stellar, it doesn’t mean that their parents had anything to do with it. I’m prepared to argue that their parents were, on the whole, quite loving and quite normal in terms of how they treated their children.

I think the main reasoning for the idea that Draco and Viktor had dictators as parents stems from the fact that their lives are intertwined with “evil” stuff. For Draco, he’s much closer to the negativity since his aunt and father were cronies to Voldemort. But just because someone’s parents might be involved in less-than-stellar activities doesn’t make them necessarily bad parents.

Evidence that Draco had relatively normal parents in terms of their caring ability can be found in The Goblet of Fire, in which Draco mentioned that while his father wanted him to go to Durmstrang to get what he thought was a proper education, his mother didn’t want Draco to be far from home.

If Lucius didn’t care about his son’s well-being to some extent, he would never have cared about what education Draco got (even if his idea of a “proper education” is skewed). Also, if Narcissa was such a horrible mother, why did she want Draco to be close to home? To torture him some more? I

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don’t think so. Her behavior dictates that of a nuturing, over-protective mother.

Her over-protective behavior can also be seen in Half-Blood Prince, where Narcissa, frantic with worry about Draco’s security, gets Snape to complete the Unbreakable Vow, while Bellatrix, even though she administers the Vow, could really care less about Draco’s safety, believing him to have gotten a great honor from Voldemort by being given the task of killing Dumbledore. If Narcissa’s such a cold-hearted person, why even bother going through the ceremony in the first place? Why not be just like Bellatrix and say “Screw it! He’s helping the cause”?

Viktor’s parents can also be excused from the idea that they’re tyrants.

In Goblet of Fire, they obviously thought enough of their son to see him during the last task. If they honestly didn’t care, would they even bother trekking across Europe (or apparating) to see Viktor complete the final part of the Triwizard Tournament? I don’t think so. And besides, we don’t know enough about Viktor’s parents to even say if they’re bad or not! I will venture to say that they’re decent people due the nature of Viktor’s grandfather’s death. His grandfather was killed by Grindelwald, who believed in magically-inclined people reigning over Muggles for “The Greater Good”. Obviously, Viktor’s grandfather didn’t like the idea; he must have stood up in favor of Muggles either because he believed they didn’t need to be lorded over and/or he was a Muggle himself. For Viktor’s grandfather to be so dear to him must mean that he played a large role in his life and in the lives of his parents. Otherwise, it would’ve been just another relative who died.

On the flip side, many people in the story (as well as in real life) have had horrible, excruciating childhoods and ended up being normal, functional adults, and many times, end up fighting for causes. Case in point-Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Both young men had abusers for guardians, and both ended up saving the wizarding world from sheer destruction. And aside from that, they are well-rounded, charming, nice people.

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I hope this has shed some light on how Draco and Viktorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents might be, and how the idea that sparkling-clean adults make the best parents isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily true.

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Draco and Myrtle, Odd Friends It came to most readers as a surprise. Draco and Myrtle…friends?!

Even if you can use the word “friends” loosely when dealing with a ghost, Draco did confide more in Myrtle than he did his friends and probably even his parents during the toughest part of his young life. But why would he confide in Myrtle when she was muggle-born?

The easy answer is that she’s dead, and that kind of negates every prejudice one could’ve had against her while she was alive. But, there is also an argument to be made about the segregated cemeteries in the south. Those people are dead, so they shouldn’t care, right? Yet, the relatives are still thinking that a dead black person would taint their family member if they were buried next to each other. If that could happen only 50+ years ago, surely Draco could be bigoted enough to say, “I don’t speak to mudbloods, alive or not!” There could be a bigger reason as to why Draco overcame his prejudices to talk to Myrtle, and that reason could be that he’s growing up and away from the person he was at the end of the last school term.

During the summer break, Draco would have been initiated into the Death Eaters and “approached” by Voldemort to complete the task of killing Dumbledore in order to be a fully qualified Death Eater. Dumbledore is someone that stood against everything his parents stood for (even if they were some of Hogwarts’ benefactors), but wasn’t anyone Draco had any true personal bias against. Being charged with such a task, he probably started doing some deep thinking-probably the deepest he’s ever done “off camera”, as it were.

As alluded to in the beginning of the sixth movie, Draco is heavily depressed, even going as far as to make not-so-heavily-veiled comments about killing himself. He was probably also thinking about the value of life, what it actually takes to kill someone, and what it means to kill someone whom you don’t have anything against. This train of thought probably led

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him to think about what he was really into-he had gotten himself involved in a war that he knew virtually nothing about except for what his parents spoon-fed him. Everything he stood for was being put to the test by the task he was given, and he was probably afraid of failure and afraid of what could happen if he was successful. And-most importantly-at the end of the day, a dead mudblood and a dead full-blooded wizard are identical. In death, there’s nothing distinguishing one from the other. So, if that’s true for corpses, it must be true for the living.

This train of thought is probably what made Draco befriend Myrtle despite the circumstances. Who really knows how he really got to meet Myrtle-whether she traveled to the boy’s lavatory or, since he knew about her beforehand (as shown in The Chamber of Secrets), actively sought her out to talk/clear his conscience. The reason he kept talking to Myrtle, however, is because he grew a little and realized that even though he was confused about who was right or wrong in the War, he couldn’t kill someone just because of their background or belief system.

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The monetary worth of Draco Malfoy Since the title of this e-book is The Worth of Draco Malfoy, I got to thinking: what is Draco’s (or, rather, his father Lucius’s) actual monetary worth? Any Harry Potter fan can tell you that the Malfoys are rich, but just how rich are they, and how does that wealth get translated into Muggle terms we can readily identify with?

Forbes already did part of the work for me when it comes to how much Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy is worth. In their 2005 list of “The Forbes Fictional 15″ wealthiest fictional people, Lucis was calculated as being worth $900 million(that is, when galleons are converted into dollars).

That’s a lot, but how does he rank with wealthy existing people? Firstly, he’s only $ 1 million short of being a billionaire, meaning that in the scope of the top billionaires in the world, Malfoy’s like middle class. To give you a sense of how middle-of-the-pack Malfoy is, the top billionaire in the world, Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu is worth $53.5 billion dollars, making $18.5 billion a year. A year. In contrast, Malfoy only makes $2,465,753.42 a year. Also, Bill Gates, the most powerful entrepreneur in America, makes $53 billion, coming second to Helu. Malfoy’s level of wealth includes movie stars like Mel Gibson and Jennifer Aniston, and music stars like David Bowie. So, while Draco and his family think they’re so much better than non-magical people, they’re actually really not any richer than the many Muggle millionaires in the world.

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What’s in a Birthday?

Probably only the truly obsessed know that Draco Malfoy’s birthday is June 5. Since JKR has given her characters birthdays, I have often been curious as to whether her characters’ birthdays actually match up to their corresponding zodiac signs. So, I went to cafeastrology.com, did some research, and came back with a detailed natal chart report for someone who is born on June 5, 1980 in Wiltshire, U.K.–someone just like Draco (this report could also be used for someone who likes writing character study fanfiction).

The natal report is, in a word, exhaustive, but there are a few things that stick out. Draco, as a Sun in Gemini, exhibits these traits: Short description: He is an opportunist. He can express himself easily and learns quickly. He is welcoming and gentle. He likes travel and intellectual work.

Weaknesses: a changeable and diffuse nature. Wastes energy by doing too many things. He lacks persistence in achieving set goals.

On the whole, this is true. Throughout the books, Draco is seen as a person who has to express himself in a defiant manner, a quick learner (think back in both the sixth book and movie when he was trying to figure out how he was going to kill Dumbledore. The movie shows this skill exceptionally well because we see Draco methodically testing out the chest in the Room of Requirement by first using an apple, then a bird, to see if they disappear and reappear in another designated spot), and likes learning, since he’s generally the first or second-smartest in the class (he’s second only if Hermione’s in the class). He also seems friendly, albieit it’s to people like him or people he thinks will help him or further his image and reputation.

The weaknesses are a bit dicier. The most visible parts of Draco’s personality that are explored in the book don’t typically show him having a diffuse, scattered-type of nature, and he certainly has enough willpower to

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complete goals, not counting his task of killing Dumbledore, because being charged with killing someone will give any sane person pause.

One of the things that is pointed out in the natal chart, as well as in the books and movies, is that Draco might have a propensity for being allured by potentially awful people: You have a desire to be something special or to experience something more than the ordinary. You are a day-dreamer and idealist. It is easy for you to trust others, even (and perhaps especially) people who might seem from the outside looking in as unsavory types. You are looking to identify with something beyond what is normally expected of people. You may have had a childhood that didn’t help you direct or define your life. Perhaps the early family life was lacking in supervision or clearly defined rules. A father figure may have been absent or distant and ineffective. You may have a glorified image of your father. Whether the image is very positive or very negative (or if it swings between these extremes), the image is not very clear or rational. Whatever the case may be, you struggle with defining who you are. You might gravitate towards the “wrong people”, or get in with the “wrong crowd” in an attempt to define who you are. You might be susceptible to being taken advantage of by others, especially by men or authority figures. You may be easily led astray by peculiar desires or selfdestructive habits. In order to add a greater-than-ordinary dimension of experience to your life that helps you to feel special and important, you might be attracted to Neptune-ruled behaviors, such as secret affairs, drugs, or other escapist behaviors. In some way, you may feel a strong urge to glamorize your role in the world.

This is especially telling (as well as proof that JKR probably did do a lot of zodiac investigating while she was crafting her characters). All through the books and movies, we see Draco being repeatedly lured by the bad side, and of course, his parents and aunt Bellatrix are to blame. Also because of what he’s been taught, along with his constant glorification of his father and his father’s power, leads Draco to believe that he is also entitled, better than others, and that his father’s way, the way of Voldemort, is the way of the elite and righteous. This leads to Draco being taken advantage of by

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Voldemort when Voldemort charges him to kill Dumbledore or be responsible for the deaths of himself and his parents. In short, Draco’s learned glamorizing tendencies eventually got the better of him.

One ironic part of his natal report as it pertains to Sun in Gemini is that Draco has the ability to make friends with anyone very easily: They are friends to people from all walks of life, and are not easily intimidated.

This ability can be evident in the first book, when Draco is trying to make friends with Harry, a person who is totally different from Draco in terms of background and magical knowledge. Even though his motive is due to Harry already being a superstar in the magical world, Draco wasn’t intimated by Harry’s status and made the first move to befriend him. In fact, out of all of the characters, he is the first kid in the magical world(or ever, probably) that reaches out to Harry in the form of friendship, however limiting his friendship might be.

Consequently, this potential Draco has to befriend others unlike him should extend over to him being able to accept other people like Hermione, a muggle-born witch, and Ron, a wizard from a poor wizarding family who sympathizes with muggle-borns and muggles in general. Probably, if Draco had better role models, his potential would have been realized, but because of what he has been taught by his parents, his potential has been limited.

Probably not permanently, but it has been severely damaged.

There are a lot of other contradictory, interesting things in Draco’s report, but, as the website itself states, this only shows how real people have many contradictory parts that make up their whole selves. If you want to make your own natal report, click here.

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Author’s Note If you have downloaded this book, I would like to thank you. This is my first e-book ever, so I’m glad it was a success.

I would hope with this book that I have entertained with my thoughts on one of my favorite characters in Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy. I wrote these essays (originally housed on my website listed on the cover) as a response to the amount of hatred there is for Draco and his parents. Sure, the hatred is, for the most part, warranted, but there is also blindness to it as well. I hope my essays have provided a bit of leverage to the arguments against Draco and his parents.

However, I would like to point out that I’m not excusing any of their behavior. It would be hypocritical of me to do so. Even though I give reasons as to why fans should give Draco and his parents a bit of a break, I do understand these characters’ shortcomings as well as the reason they were created for Harry Potter in the first place.

Also, I would like to personally thank J.K.R. for creating Draco, his parents, and all of the other characters in Harry Potter. If it wasn’t due to her creativity, I wouldn’t be able to compile this book in the first place.

If you would like to see the original versions of these essays (complete with visuals), check out the “Specialty Pages” section on http://moniqueblog.net.

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About Monique Moniqueblog is run by Monique Jones, a senior majoring in journalism at UAB and a visual arts graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts.

Monique has written for and was features editor and Editor-in-Chief of UABâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s school newspaper, Kaleidoscope, and now writes for iloveuab.com. Monique is also an online affiliate of the WB Entertainment Affiliate Program.

About Moniqueblog Moniqueblog is an alternative entertainment website that features movie reviews, movie analysis, and essays on pop-culture, including pieces on characters from Harry Potter and Archie Comics.

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APPENDIX Unlisted Sources/Further Reading Atoning After the War: League of Punditry article about Elwin Wilson “The Ignorance of Prejudice and How to Overcome It” from Associated Content “How to Confront Your Prejudices and Work Through Them” from eHow.com BET’s article about Elwin Wilson The Conflict Resolution Information Source Draco is Our King? : Draco Malfoy’s page on Harry Potter Wikia Wikipedia’s page on Draco Malfoy AskMen’s article on how to be a bad boy with limits Wikipedia’s page on the id, ego, and super-ego Scorpius Malfoy : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry Potter Wikia’s page on Scorpius Malfoy Harry Potter Wikia’s page on Astoria Greengrass (Malfoy)

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Malfoy Fashion: reVampVintage.com Victoriana.com BlueFly.com

The life and Times of Albus Dumbledore “The Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore”, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Albus Dumbledore-Harry Potter wikia Draco and Hermione, sittin’ in a tree…

Is D/Hr Possible?

Why Draco/Hermione? The Canon Provides Proof! (websites found thanks to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine) BE REALISTIC! A Draco/Hermione Hatelisting

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Š 2010 Moniqueblog