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The “12 Days of Pottermore Christmas” is nearing its end, and in celebration J.K. Rowling released her longest piece of writing for the holiday series thus far. The new content focuses on Harry Potter antagonist Draco Malfoy and his backstory.
“Draco was raised in an atmosphere of regret that the Dark Lord has not succeeded in taking command of the wizarding community,” Rowling writes on Pottermore. She explains that the Malfoys and other ex-Death Eaters had hoped Harry Potter would be “another, and better, Voldemort” and when he met Harry on the Hogwarts Express Draco realized that this was not the case. He also strongly disliked Harry because he was envious of him.
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In addition to providing his background, Rowling spoke about Draco’s future family. Draco married the younger sister of a fellow Slytherin, Astoria Greengrass, and she helped temper Draco by refusing to raise their son, Scorpius, “in the belief that Muggles were scum,” which caused tension at Malfoy family gatherings. “I have high hopes that [Draco] will raise Scorpius to be a much kinder and more tolerant Malfoy than he was in his own youth,” writes Rowling.
As an extra-special holiday gift, Rowling also gave fans a look at how she really feels about Draco. “For all this, Draco remains a person of dubious morality in the seven published books, and I have often had cause to remark on how unnerved I have been by the number of girls who fell for this particular fictional character (although I do not discount the appeal of Tom Felton, who plays Draco brilliantly in the films, and ironically, is about the nicest person you could meet),” writes Rowling. “Draco has all the glamour of the anti-hero; girls are very apt to romanticise such people. All of this left me in the unenviable position of pouring cold common sense on ardent readers’ daydreams as I told them, rather severely, that Draco was not concealing a heart of gold under all that sneering and prejudice and that no, he and Harry were not destined to end up best friends.”
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Nevertheless, Rowling concludes with an explanation of Draco’s name, which shows a bit about his dual nature. “His Christian name comes from a constellation — the dragon — and yet his wand core is of unicorn. This was symbolic. There is, after all — and at the risk of re-kindling unhealthy fantasies — some unextinguished good at the heart of Draco.”
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