I know he turned a new leaf after Voldemort’s death. But I am slowly thinking he is the most impressive character in the anthology, besides Tom Riddle. Consider his natural abilities as a leader. He also proved to be extremely cunning and creative. As a wizard, he was a shade more skillful than Harry Potter (learned Occlumency sooner, knew more hexes). Harry may have been the better combatant and the braver of the two, but Harry liked to operate alone whereas Draco can manipulate others even at an early age (a talent that far outweighs dueling skills.)
His shortcomings were his arrogance, lack of courage, and most especially his lack of ambition. The latter was a plague for all death eaters who knew they cannot hope to challenge Voldemort while in full strength. But after the latter was vanquished, Draco could have used his skills, his father’s wealth, and residual followings among the younger Slytherins to gain influence and power. In time, he might style himself as a Lord; acceptable to much of the population. This lord would be more peaceful and less murderous than Voldemort but secretly no less machiavellian.
The factors weighing against this scenario include the fact that he now owed Harry and Ron a debt of gratitude, that the entire population was now anti-death eater, and the memory of Voldemort would forestall any attempts by pretenders.
I dunno. There’s a lot of story missing between the Defeat of Voldemort and the Scene where Albus Severus Potter gets on the Hogwart’s Express for the first time. I expect, after there generally is after a rebellion, there were purges of Death Eaters (the ones who survived the Battle of Hogwarts) and Voldemort Supporters from the Ministry and the Wizarding society in general. I don’t think the Malfoy clan just walked away from any justice/revenge and resumed their place in the society. Both Lucius and Draco, in my opinion, earned themselves some time in Azkaban, at least.
This. Draco wasn’t a leader, he was a bully. He relies on his self-inflated sense of status and entitlement he gets due to his father, but crumbles at the first sign that this bluster isn’t working. His ‘followers’ were the same kind of people who hang around bullies, they’re either bullies themselves or weak willed and see him as some kind of authority or power they can try to share in if it’s only by doing what he wants them to do.
He resents and envies Harry for his level of status, which he feels Harry doesn’t deserve. He resents Hermione for being better than him. And he resents Ron for what he sees as trying to rise above his perceived social status. He holds being a pureblood as being special and looks down on those who aren’t because he doesn’t have anything else special. Except the magical skills he’s learned, which are roughly on par with the rest of his class, nothing he has or is was earned. Wealth, social status, etc is all due to his family.
Even if he does change in the end, he’s still a petty spiteful bully at heart.
IIRC Crabbe and Goyle’s fathers hung with Draco’s dad. It may be family loyalty, or Crabbe (for instance) telling his son, “You know, you’re not the brightest boy in Hogwarts. Better stick close to Malfoy’s kid. It worked for me.”
He was a sniveling coward with money, though, and his muscle were both greedy and not the brightest candles in the castle. It was probably a combination of habit–since their parents were associated, they had probably been around each other for years before Hogwarts–and Draco keeping Crabbe and Goyle bribed in various ways. In the early days, the arrangement would have favored them pretty heavily; why wouldn’t they want to hang out with the kid who has ready supplies of extra sweets, helps them cheat, and so forth? Especially if he talks a good game and mostly asks them to do things they like to do anyway? The association didn’t really cost them anything for quite some time; the first real hit they took for it was getting thoroughly hexed on the train at the end of their third year.
As for his post-Voldemort career, he apparently managed to stay out of Azkaban–mostly on Harry’s sufferance, I imagine, since Harry could bear witness to more than enough to put him away, and no one was likely to argue the point. He also seems to have managed to hang onto whatever portion of the family money that was left. However, he only ever really had two personally loyal followers, and one of them died in the final battle. The Malfoy name had surely lost its luster, too, and the trio at least would probably be keeping some sort of eye on his activities. I suspect the most he could hope to do would be to rebuild the family influence to something approaching what Lucius enjoyed before Voldemort’s return, leaving Scorpius in a position to advance their interests (whatever those may be by the time Scorpius inherits).
With the Man From UNCLE movie in the works, I thought he would have made an excellent Illya Kuryakin. He’s got the acting talent, the physical agility, he looks a little like the young David McCallum…
Of course, I’m not complaining that my darling Armie Hammer is now in the role, but still…
That aside, after seeing Half-Blood Prince I started wondering what his first Shakespearean role would be…I was that impressed with him in that movie.
They were fellow Death Eaters, at the very least. When Voldemort returned in book 4, the elders Crabbe and Goyle were the first ones after Lucius Malfoy that Voldemort addressed by name - don’t know if that’s significant. They also served in the Department of Mysteries raid, which was led by Lucius (but then again, so did a number of others).
They were neither seen nor mentioned again in the series after that, though.
You people really would enjoy the fanfic Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It is an awesome read, telling the story again from a slightly different perspective. In that Potterverse, Draco becomes Harrys friend instead of Ron Weasly. Harry likes Draco, and the boys both want to get the other to join “their camp”. Gave me a whole new appreciaton for Draco, who is what you’d expect froma boy if Darth Vader was his doting father.
How do we know he “turned a new leaf” after Voldemort’s death? Because he was seen at the train station in the epilogue?
I’ve often wondered what sort of jobs HP & friends had during the years that followed? Did HP ever become an auror? If not, what? Did they go back and complete their Hogwarts schooling?
That’s a shame. I’d like to have thought he endangered his life for the wizarding world quite enough already and could enjoy a leisurely adulthood as, say, a pro Quidditch Seeker.