Draco Malfoy

## Draco Lucius Malfoy

**Draco Lucius Malfoy** (born 5 June, 1980) was an English pure-blood wizard and the only son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy (née Black). The son of a Death Eater, Draco was raised to strongly believe in the importance of blood purity. His childhood best friend was the son of his great aunt Walburga. Altair Black, who he and his other cousin, Aquila, called "Tarry," supposedly passed away of dragon pox a few days before he and Draco were to attend Hogwarts, causing Draco to express his grief through denial and later, anger.

Draco attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1991 to 1998 and was sorted into Slytherin House. During his years at Hogwarts, he became friends with Blaise Zabini, as well as some other fellow Slytherins, but he pushed many of them away at first. He along with Zabini, Millicent Bulstrode, and Tracey Davis, joined Dumbledore's Army during their fifth year.

He was made a prefect of his house and was a member of the Inquisitorial Squad during his fifth year as well, though as a "spy," at the end of which his father was killed during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Afterwards he and his mother vacated the family manor, where Lord Voldemort resided, and gained asylum with the Order of the Phoenix.

## Biography

### Early life (1980s)

Draco Lucius Malfoy was born on 5 June, 1980, to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy (née Black), who were both born into old, wealthy pure-blood families. Both the Malfoys' and the Blacks had traditionally been in Slytherin House for centuries and strongly disapproved of any relatives who did not follow in this tradition, such as Sirius Black.

Draco was raised in an atmosphere of regret that the Lord Voldemort had not succeeded in taking command of the wizarding community, although he was prudently reminded that such sentiments ought not to be expressed outside the small circle of the family and their close friends 'or Daddy might get into trouble'. The Malfoys' were very proud of their Pure-blood and social status; until 1996, they were able to maintain a respectable public image while being allied with Lord Voldemort. Lucius was a Death Eater who avoided imprisonment in Azkaban following the First Wizarding War by claiming that he have been under the Imperius Curse, while Narcissa merely agreed with the ideology of pure-blood supremacy.

The Malfoys spoiled their son, giving him the best of everything as far as material possessions go. The only two hand-me-down things Draco ever received were the old family prejudice against Muggles, Muggle-borns, half-breeds, and blood traitors — in short, prejudice against anyone who was not a pure-blood wizard-kind, or anyone who supports these types of people — and the Malfoy family's waste collection of powerful dark artefacts harking back to the family history.

He was in attendance at a funeral for his paternal grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy, who had passed away from dragon pox (a common malady for the elderly) in December 1989.

#### Friendship (1980s)

In childhood, Draco's two closest friends were his first cousins once removed, Altair Black and his little sister, Aquila. His best friend was Altair, known affectionately as "Tarry," and Aquila was the god-daughter of his parents, Lucius and Narcissa. Draco, Tarry, and Aquila attended many Quidditch matches together with Lucius when he was not busy with Ministry work. They all supported the Falmouth Falcons, a Quidditch team that played in Cornwall.

Perhaps in another lifetime, in which Draco might have only associated with the children of other Death Eaters, things would have been different. But Tarry and Aquila became his greatest friends. The three of them spent much of their time running around the grounds of Malfoy Manor together and just being kids, a world far away from the expectations of their parents. However, it could not last.

#### Death of Best Friend (1991)

A few days before Draco was due to begin his education at Hogwarts, alongside Tarry, they were told that Narcissa's uncle, Orion, and his two children were also suffering from the same illness that had taken Draco's grandfather. Fearing the worst, Draco's mother attempted to visit the family in late August but was turned away by his great-aunt Walburga.

They later learned that Draco's closest friend, Altair, had succumbed to the illness on 30 August, 1991. Narcissa and Lucius elected to hold off on telling him, however, as he was due to leave for Hogwarts in two days' time, and they did not want his experience to be soured by grief. However, they did tell him through a letter in the second week of school, during a time when Draco was still believing that his friend had had a horrible accident and would be still coming to school. Draco was understandably devastated.

### Hogwarts years (1990s)

#### First year (1991-1992)

Once at Hogwarts, Draco was Sorted into the Slytherin House, like many other members of his family. He isolated himself once his parents told him what had happened to his best friend Altair, and faded to the background of his fellow first-years at school. However, he was shown kindness by Blaise Zabini, who was similarly lonely. Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson had all formed something akin to a coalition inside the Slytherin dorms, and seemingly ran the House. Other than Zabini, Draco spent some time with Tracey Davis and Millicent Bulstrode, who were similarly sorry for him.

Draco's mother was very devoted to him, sending him sweets and cakes by owl every day during his first year at Hogwarts. Draco returned home for Christmas for the holidays, and both of his parents were there to pick him up from the train station in London, where they would be staying with the Blacks for Christmas. However, everything went wrong.

After Altair's death, Draco's great uncle, Orion Black, had fallen deeper than he ever had before into a spiral of guilt and self-destruction. Draco arrived at Grimmauld Place with his parents for the holidays only to find the 62 year old man dead in his study, hanging from the rafters, on Christmas Eve. Walburga was in the lounge, drinking, and had no idea what her husband had done to himself- rather, she had said he was probably napping. Draco and Aquila had been sent up to wake him, only to be met with a terrible scene. Draco's scream alerted Narcissa and her husband, who both rushed upstairs.

Draco and Aquila were kept out of the room while the Ministry got involved, and Walburga herself was witnessed by a Ministry employee, Edalbert Crimble, yelling at her dead husband and screaming about how he was selfish. After the death of her husband, Walburga became prone to psychotic rages, and frightened Aquila so much that she begged to come live with Narcissa. Narcissa agreed that it would be best for Aquila, and in the New Year, after the funeral of Orion, brought her to Malfoy Manor, while Draco returned to school.

#### Second year (1992-1993)

On 1 September, 1992, Draco's friend Aquila was sorted into Gryffindor. He shunned her at first because of this, and while Aquila was facing her own problems inside the Gryffindor dormitories, he did little to prevent other Slytherins such as Theodore Nott and Marcus Flint from antagonising her because of her unfortunate sorting. Despite this, Draco's mother, Narcissa, continued to send Aquila sweets and other trinkets throughout the year, and tried to encourage him to be kind to Aquila because she was suffering through a very difficult time. Draco selfishly insisted that he, too, was struggling, and said that she didn't deserve special treatment or anything just because she lost a brother, and was sorted into the wrong house. After all, Draco lost his best friend, too.

In his second year at Hogwarts, Draco attained the position of Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team. His father bought the entire team new Nimbus 2001s because of this. There was not much of a conflict between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors, although Draco did fade into the background and not many of them were sure of what to expect from him.

Slytherin won a match against Gryffindor that year in Quidditch, Draco catching the snitch from where it was floating directly behind his ear. The Gryffindors became increasingly bitter about this. Theodore Nott began sidying up to him as a result of Draco's win, but Draco rebuffed Nott stating that he was not interested in becoming friends, and that his other friends (Zabini, Bulstrode, and Davis) were just fine.

During a meeting of the short-lived Duelling Club that year, Draco duelled Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Seeker, which he had defeated. He conjured a snake after being encouraged by Professor Snape, and was disappointed when Harry thwarted the attack by speaking to the serpent in Parseltongue. This led many students to suspect that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, who had opened the Chamber of Secrets and released a "monster." This caused Draco to be upset that any one would actually think that Harry Potter could be the heir of Slytherin, which was something that he thought was completely ridiculous.

It was around this time as well that Draco extended an olive branch to Aquila, who did not sign up to return to Grimmauld Place for the Christmas holidays of 1992. He too refused to return home to Malfoy Manor, perhaps in avoidance of what had happened to them during the previous year.

Later in the year it was revealed that Draco's cousin Aquila and her best friend, Ginny Weasley, had been writing in a cursed book that Narcissa's husband, Lucius, had slipped into Ginny's cauldron over the summer, in Diagon Alley. The individual that the girls had believed was writing back to them was a boy called Tom Riddle, and he possessed Ginny, forcing her to write her own goodbyes on the wall in blood and open the Chamber of Secrets, which had coincidentally been opened for the first time while Draco's great-aunt and great-uncle were at school. Draco's cousin followed Ginny down into the Chamber and they both had to be rescued by Ron Weasley, Ginny's brother, and Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. Draco's mother arrived at the school some time after his father, Lucius did, and Narcissa was able to recognise the book as one belonging to the Malfoys.

Draco's mother was horrified that Lucius could have done something so stupid, that endangered the life of their son and their goddaughter, and left home for about two weeks. It's not known where Narcissa went during this time, but it was most likely to one of the Black family properties. Draco returned to Malfoy Manor at the end of the school year, while Narcissa was off somewhere else. She was ordered to return to Malfoy Manor by her husband, Lucius, and she did so, but begrudgingly.

## Physical Appearance

Draco was a slender boy with sleek white-blond hair, cold grey eyes, a pale complexion and rather sharp, pointed features. He was described to have haughty good looks. Draco is noted to strongly resemble his father.

## Personality and Traits

Draco was a spoiled child, much like his cousins Altair and Aquila. His parents gave him nearly everything he ever asked for, as far as material possessions go, but he found more love in friendship, than the love that was supposed to come from his parents. While he and his mother Narcissa were close, both of his parents had the tendency to act cold toward him as a child, and his father was very busy, leading Draco to develop a profound relationship with Altair Black, who he confided nearly everything in. This was similar to his relationship with Aquila, although it was not as strong considering that she was a year younger and that she was a girl. As a result of this, Draco was able to feel compassion and sympathy, and was not outwardly arrogant as his overall material wealth was suggested.

After losing Tarry, Draco became withdrawn and depressed. He was shown kindness by Blaise Zabini, and later Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis, three fellow Slytherins in his year, during his first year at school. He was hesitant to share about his feelings and so he used them mainly for company, still keeping them at arm's length. He did not speak up often in public and was considered by his teachers as a shy child, but most of this had to do with his overwhelming grief that he was still struggling to understand. This was exacerbated by witnessing the aftermath of his great-uncle Orion's suicide, and being one of the first people to find his body, which strengthened his relationship to Aquila. He became practiced at fading into the background by his third year of school.

He shunned his cousin Aquila when she was sorted into Gryffindor, but it did not last, proving that Draco at least was able to overcome some of his family's teachings. Although he had been raised being told that he was superior to all muggles, half-bloods, blood-traitors, and muggle-borns; at the end of the year, when Aquila almost died, however, he came to realise that Ron Weasley was a blood-traitor and Harry Potter was a half-blood, and they had both saved her. Furthermore, by his third year of school, he became friendly to Aquila's three friends, Ginny Weasley, Ophelia Brown, and Maisie Cattermole, showing that he could be tolerant of other individuals.

## Magical Abilities and Skills

Draco was a talented wizard from a young age and possessed several impressive magical abilities. His wand was made of hawthorn, which one should only ever consider placing in the hands of a witch or wizard of proven talent. That being said, he rarely expressed or boasted about these talents, instead believing them to be an expectation related to being his father's son.

* **Potions**: Draco was proficient in this area of magic. This could be because Snape favoured Draco and might have given him extra help in his class. Draco was able to pass his O.W.L. examination in the subject with a mark of at least 'Exceeds Expectations' and most likely 'Outstanding', since he was apparently not lacking a book or ingredients in Professor Slughorn's first class.
* **Defence Against the Dark Arts**: Draco advanced to the N.E.W.T.-level class, meaning he achieved either an 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Outstanding' mark on his O.W.L. exam. He showed the ability to proficiently defend himself against dark magic.
* **Non-verbal magic**: Draco mastered non-verbal spells before his sixth year, which included blocking jinxes non-verbally. This takes a lot of skill and concentration to do and only a few in his year have done it, given the high level of difficulty and precision required in the casting of spells this way.
* **Flying**: He was quite a fine Quidditch player and broomstick flyer. He started flying at a younger age showing his skills in his first year. He made the team as a seeker in his second year, which was a very difficult position to acquire. Although his entrance into the team is enhanced due to his father bribing the team with the new Nimbus 2001 broomsticks, he also had sufficient talent, as he was able to defeat the Gryffindor team in his very first game.
* **Duelling**: Draco had been a very competent duellist for quite a while before starting Hogwarts, a skill probably inherited from his parents. He was able to cast the Leg-Locker Curse in his first year, something Rubeus Hagrid said no first year would be able to do. The very next year, he could cast such a powerful *Everte Statum* that it threw his opponent across the room and even while subjected to a fit of laughter caused by the Tickling Charm, was able to hit Harry with the Dancing Feet Spell accurately, the round ending in a standstill as a result.
* **Transfiguration**: Draco appeared to be talented in Transfiguration from a young age, as by his second year, he was already capable of conjure a snake, which an advanced form of transfiguration learned in the sixth year and above, a reasonably impressive feat even if said conjuration is rather simple. He would also successfully qualify for the N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration, meaning he achieved either an 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Outstanding' mark on his O.W.L. exam.
* **Dark Arts**: Draco demonstrated a proficiency for dark magic from a young age, as he was quickly capable of casting numerous dark charms to humiliate others during his Hogwarts years, such as the Leg-Locker Curse, Tongue-Tying Curse, Knockback Jinx, the *Levicorpus* jinx, Dancing Feet Spell, the hex *Densaugeo*, Melofors Jinx, Trip Jinx and the Full Body-Bind Curse.

## Possessions

* **Wand**: Draco's wand was 10 inches long, made of hawthorn wood, and had a Unicorn hair core. The wand was manufactured by Garrick Ollivander and was described by him as being "*reasonably pliant*".
* **Comet 260**: Draco owned this model of broomstick , which he owned prior to starting his first year.
* **Nimbus 2001**: Draco's father bought the entire Slytherin Quidditch team Nimbus 2001s in exchange for his son being played as Seeker.
* **Eagle owl**: Draco owned an Eagle owl, or *Bubo bubo*. During Malfoy's first year at Hogwarts School, the owl delivered daily packages of sweets from his mother.

## Relationships

### Family

#### Parents

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy both spoiled their only child. In 1991, Narcissa sent packages of sweets daily to her son. In 1992, Lucius bought broomsticks for the entire Slytherin Quidditch team when Draco was made Seeker, and Narcissa often sent care packages to her son. She also refused to send Draco abroad to Durmstrang Institute, as Lucius originally wanted, insisting he stay closer to home by attending Hogwarts, despite Lucius's desire to keep Draco away from the influence of Muggle-borns in Hogwarts and also because Durmstrang Institute was known to teach dark arts rather than just the defences which was why Lucius Malfoy had wanted Draco a place in that school, but, finally fulfilling Narcissa's wish for him to study somewhere not too far from home.

Lucius was colder and more demanding than his wife, criticising his son for getting lower school marks than Hermione Granger who was Muggle-born.

#### Altair Black

Draco's parents gave him nearly everything he ever asked for, as far as material possessions go, but he found more love in friendship, rather than the love that was supposed to come from his parents. While he and his mother Narcissa were close, both of his parents had the tendency to act cold toward him as a child, and his father was very busy, leading Draco to develop a profound relationship with his first cousin once removed, Altair Black, who he confided nearly everything in. Draco, as well as Altair's younger sister, Aquila, were the only ones to call Altair by the nickname of "Tarry," displaying their closeness.

Draco's mother would often welcome Altair and Aquila to Malfoy Manor for long stays, knowing that what happened behind closed doors at Grimmauld Place was not a healthy atmosphere to grow up in. Tarry was Draco's closest childhood friend, and they did everything together. From practicing on their brooms to feeding the Winged Abraxan Horses on the Malfoy estate, the two friends were adventurous as could be. The two of them spent much of their time running around the grounds of Malfoy Manor together and just being kids, a world far away from the expectations of their parents.

A few days before Draco was due to begin his education at Hogwarts, alongside Tarry, they were told that Draco's great-uncle, Orion, and both Altair and Aquila were also suffering from the same illness that had taken Draco's grandfather. Fearing the worst, Draco's mother, Narcissa, attempted to visit the family in late August but was turned away by Draco's great-aunt Walburga.

They later learned that Draco's closest friend, Altair, had succumbed to the illness on 30 August, 1991. Narcissa and Lucius elected to hold off on telling him, however, as he was due to leave for Hogwarts in two days' time, and they did not want his experience to be soured by grief. However, they did tell him through a letter in the second week of school, during a time when Draco was still believing that his friend had had a horrible accident and would be still coming to school. Draco was understandably devastated when he died, and spent many months isolating himself while he struggled to understand what had happened to his best friend.

#### Aquila Black

Aquila was the younger sister of Draco's best friend, Tarry. While in childhood they were not as close as Draco and Tarry were, their relationship grew after Tarry's death, although at first it suffered. Draco arrived at Grimmauld Place with his parents for the Christmas holidays of 1991, and was sent up to Orion Black's study to fetch Aquila's father, along with Aquila herself. They found the 62 year old man dead in his study, hanging from the wooden rafters, and Draco's screams alerted his parents. The exerience strengthened their relationship although it fractured both of them for quite some time, still too young to understand.

On 1 September, 1992, Draco witnessed Aquila being sorted into Gryffindor inside the Great Hall. He shunned her at first because of this, and while Aquila was facing her own problems inside the Gryffindor dormitories, he did little to prevent other Slytherins such as Theodore Nott and Marcus Flint from antagonising her because of her unfortunate sorting. Draco's mother, Narcissa tried to encourage him to be kind to Aquila, because she was suffering through a very difficult time. Draco selfishly insisted that, at the time, he, too, was struggling, and said that she didn't deserve special treatment or anything just because she lost a brother, and was sorted into the wrong house. After all, Draco lost his best friend, too. But he eventually came to realise that Aquila was still the same person that she had always been, and that he hadn't been fair to her- but it took her nearly dying to realise his mistake.

By the middle of his third year at school, he became friendly to Aquila's three friends, Ginny Weasley, Ophelia Brown, and Maisie Cattermole.

## Etymology

* Draco's name, like those of many members of his maternal family, the House of Black, is derived from that of a constellation. Draco is also known as the Dragon; *Draco* translates into "dragon" in Latin and "serpent" in Greek. The constellation is connected to multiple legends in Greek mythology, most notably as symbolising the hundred-headed dragon Hercules had to get past during his Twelve Labours, or the dragon killed by Cadmus before he founded the city of Thebes. In Roman legend, Draco the dragon was killed by the goddess of wisdom, Minerva, and tossed into the sky.
* His surname, Malfoy, in French (mal foi) means "*bad faith*."