Draco Malfoy has been a fan-favorite character for years. He is one character that many fans wanted to see more of a redemption arc. While he didn’t end the Harry Potter series as a villain, his redemption arc was given way less focus in the books than Snape’s, and many felt that he was more deserving of that attention.
The books often made it seem like Draco was the worst, but a lot of this is just because everything is from Harry’s perspective. There are many reasons why Malfoy wasn’t as bad as he seemed.
He was sorted into Slytherin which didn’t do him any favors
While many fans have critiqued the Hogwarts house system, the truth is that it would be best if Slytherin didn’t exist at all. While many of the traits of the house are actually good, it was a house founded by a bigoted man who hates Muggle-borns.
It should be re-invented at the very least. Anyone that gets sorted into Slytherin is met with the assumption that they are cruel and evil which isn’t very fair.
Draco actually wanted friends even if he was very misguided
When the books first introduce Draco, he isn’t very likable. It’s clear that he’s rich, spiled, and prejudiced. The things that he says to Harry about making the right kind of friends are problematic and stuck-up, and it’s no wonder Harry didn’t want to be his friend. However, he was quite young at the time and had clearly been raised to be like this.
Draco was clearly lonely and wanted friends but didn’t know how to treat people well.
Many of his actions were motivated by a need for approval
One thing that becomes apparent when re-reading the series as an adult is that Draco is someone who desperately wants attention and approval. Much of the time he goes about this in counterproductive ways.
He does get attention, but it’s often negative attention. He clearly wants approval from the people around him whether it’s his peers or his mentors, but he puts on a front that he is better than everyone else.
His parents spoiled him in similar ways that Dudley was spoiled
There are many parallels between Draco and Dudley. They are both kids who were spoiled by the parents with money and nice things but that didn’t necessarily get the love and care that a kid needs.
Their parents raised them to get everything that they wanted, but they didn’t teach them morals or kindness. Despite this, they both grew up to be better people than their parents which is always a marker of being a better person than you were raised to be.
He had no choice in growing up around Death Eaters
When thinking about Draco’s upbringing, it’s clear that there is a lot of tragedy involved. Draco didn’t get to choose his parents any more than anyone else did. While he might have been privileged and born into money, he was also born into a highly toxic environment. His parents were Death Eaters and most of their friends were as well.
Growing up in such a hateful, negative home would be stressful for any child, and it would be difficult for anyone to cope.
Because he put himself at risk by lying and saying he didn’t recognize Harry
While Malfoy and Harry were alway rivals at school, Malfoy surprised everyone, especially Harry, by not revealing Harry’s identity to Bellatrix at Malfoy Manor. The fact that Malfoy did this saves Harry’s life.
It was clear that Malfoy wasn’t really in line with the Death Eaters and was miserable with his situation. And, by lying, he was putting his own life at risk as Voldemort would have freaked out if he learned Draco lied.
Malfoy was the one who got punished because of his father’s actions
One of the saddest things that ever happened to Draco was when he was punished by Voldemort because of things that Lucius did. Voldemort did this to get back at Luscious, and he fully intended Draco to die in his quest to kill Voldemort.
Draco was put in an impossible situation here, and having to face this at only 16 years old would have been awful. Even adults wouldn’t know what to do when faced with this task or being killed themselves.
It was clear he wasn’t a killer at heart
There’s no denying that Draco had a lot of flaws.but he wasn’t a killer. He was arrogant and thought he was better than everyone else, and he did hold many troubling views.
However, it seems that he mostly was just a misguided child who didn’t know better. He definitely wasn’t a killer at heart as he couldn’t go through with killing Dumbledore and didn’t even allow for Harry to be killed which is why he lied.
He grows up to become way better than his parents were
Some people grow up in abusive or trolling households. While Draco might not have been abused in many senses, growing up with parents who were members of a violent hate group is definitely abuse in its own way. Despite all of that, in adulthood, he didn’t go the route of his parents.
As is seen in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, he was at least better than they were.
Draco was a much better parent than his own parents
One sign of growth that is seen in Draco is how he is as a parent. While he’s not perfect, he does seem to really love and care about his son, Scorpius. He doesn’t hold the bigoted views of his own parents and says that he would support his child marrying anyone regardless of if they were a pure-blood.
Given the environment Draco grew up in, this was definitely a big thing and shows just how far Draco came from his childhood.
