Harry Potter: 10 Unpopular Opinions About Draco Malfoy (According To Reddit)

Draco Malfoy is one of the most controversial characters in Harry Potter. What unpopular opinions about him have Redditor fans discussed?

You Are Reading :Harry Potter 10 Unpopular Opinions About Draco Malfoy (According To Reddit)

Draco Malfoy started out as the primary rival of the Boy Wizard in the Harry Potter series, only to find himself on an arc that has been interpreted as redemption worthy by most Potterheads. In fact, most would agree that if Harry could find it in himself to let bygones be bygones, then so could the fans.

But there are those who aren’t quite as lenient towards this sly Slytherin. A few Redditors have been vocal about the character’s viciousness and bullying tendencies, which they feel shouldn’t have been diluted by excessive fan service.

Draco Would Have Been Better Off Dead

Draco Malfoy “should have been killed off in The Deathly Hallows”, opines Redditor CulDeSax. As one of the primary characters, Malfoy’s death would have made sense in the final book of the Harry Potter saga.

This opinion counts as unpopular since Draco became a much-loved character, especially towards the latter half, and the majority of fans appreciated his redemption arc that developed well into the series. But this redemption, as far as fans were concerned, didn’t include his death.

Draco Is Worse Than James Or Snape

Redditor Swordbender feels that Draco was worse than either James Potter or Severus Snape, who were pretty mean themselves as kids. The user states that neither Snape nor James were inherently cruel, and Snape especially regrets calling Lily a mudblood. But “the sheer maliciousness that is at the root of” Draco’s character is ignored by fans and the fact that he was quite simply, “a monster.”

While no one can deny that Draco was indeed positively malicious at times, particularly in the beginning, fans have in general seen Draco as a misguided teenager who wasn’t inherently bad. On the other hand, James Potter’s character as seen through the flashbacks makes him appear a bully, and Snape was certainly no less a bully himself, even though there are several unpopular opinions on Snape’s role in Harry Potter on Reddit as well.

He Wasn’t Misunderstood, He Was A Bully

Here is another similar opinion on Reddit by RoonilWazlibWeasley that refuses to accept that Draco was anything but a terrible bully. He wasn’t someone whose toxicity could be justified by his upbringing, and he certainly had the choice to behave differently. The user points out how Draco even “bragged about how he had Madame Rosmerta under the Imperius Curse, an Unforgivable.”

This, as the user himself realizes, is unpopular, as the major bulk of Potter fans forgave Draco for the way his character grew. He was shown to be a conflicted personality whose bullying ways had landed him in water much hotter than he could handle. Having said that, it is true that Draco was indeed a relentless bully at one point.

He Didn’t Just Have Racist Parents

Draco wasn’t the young man with racist parents that he was made out to be, says this fan on Reddit whose account has since been deleted. The user reminds everyone of the time that Draco behaved positively repulsively after Cedric Diggory’s death–“He basically celebrated the murder of a young adult here”, points out the user after quoting the offending section from the book.

It is hard to disagree with the fact that Draco’s behavior was beyond reproachable after Cedric’s death. But once again, most Harry Potter fans prefer to see Malfoy either as a coward or as misunderstood and tend to overlook his maliciousness for the person they hope he eventually went on to become. Whether this is right or wrong is a different matter altogether.

Draco Was Seen Through Harry’s Eyes In the Books

smoreke astutely observes that Draco Malfoy in the books “was a character seen through Harry’s eyes,” and thus “a very limited version” of Malfoy. He was therefore viewed through a lens that left out a lot about his character; the user states that the very fact that Malfoy showed growth implied that there was a story happening behind the scenes that the reader, seeing through Harry’s eyes, wasn’t privy to.

While this is not necessarily a controversial opinion, it is certainly an uncommon one, and offers food for thought. The popular perception about Draco being a broken boy and thus deserving of redemption comes from the phenomenally popular movies based on the series, and not so much from the books where Draco is certainly painted as a darker character.

Appearances, Unfortunately, Matter

In another opinion that highlights how the movies have colored Draco’s popular image, SiriuslyLoony states that “Tom Felton’s appearance helped a lot with the more positive perception of Draco.” The conventional good looks of the actor made viewers empathetic towards the character.

This opinion, unfortunately, might have some truth in it, although most fans would disagree vehemently. But however unfair and discriminatory it might be, the harsh truth is that human psychology does let appearances, in this case physical appearance, take precedence more often than not.

A Classic Children’s Novel Villain

The character of Draco Malfoy was like a quintessential villain in classic children’s novels, says another user with a now-deleted Reddit account. The fan wonders “whether the character was redeemed due to excessive fans or fanservice..”

Seeing how it is Voldemort who is the ultimate super-villain of the Harry Potter saga, this is unpopular indeed. True, the young Slytherin was first introduced as a foil to the protagonist, and some of Malfoy’s worst mistakes changed everything for Harry Potter. But the fandom would mostly agree that greater, much darker forces gradually took over leaving Draco a tiny mite of a villain.

A Good Character, Not A Good Person

Basilisk1667 feels that Draco was “A good character? Sure. A good person? Eh, not so much.” The user elaborates that the the spoiled brat started turning into a victim when Voldemort bestowed on him the task of murdering Dumbledore, knowing he would fail. The user also hopes that Draco grew into a decent adult after having learnt his lesson.

For all those fans who like to think that Draco was not just an interestingly layered character but a good person beneath his rough, unlikable exterior, this goes against the grain. Draco, these fans feel, was never truly bad, which is why he was capable of growth.

Bad Role Models Don’t Always Make Bad People

Redditor Universal-Cereal-Bus counters a post by another user who felt that Draco was good person and made wrong choices due to a terrible father figure. According to Universal-Cereal-Bus, not everyone who grows up with the wrong role models grow up to be bad people–in fact, the user reminds fans,”Harry also had terrible role models and was a kind person.”

The popular opinion here is what the original user, commander-obvious, had posted about Draco always being good. A large portion of the fandom believes that Draco’s parents were responsible for his reprehensible behavior most of the time, and that this was one of the saddest things about this anti-hero in the Harry Potter universe.

Draco Malfoy Didn’t Come From Abuse

Taking this popular opinion one step further is the belief in a majority of fans that Draco was abused by his family, leading him to have a warped personality. But this user who has since deleted their Reddit account puts their foot down and remarks that “In the books Draco shows zero signs of abuse.” The young Slytherin doesn’t appear to be very fearful of his father and “he even talks back to Lucius,” thus indicating that he couldn’t have been abused simply to justify his behavior.

As the user themselves point out, the majority opinion tries to find an empathetic backstory for Draco Malfoy’s cruelty and malice. It is also true, perhaps, that actor Felton’s interpretation of the role allowed for such theories to arise even though they had no place in canon.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-unpopular-opinions-about-draco-malfoy-according-to-redditor-fans/