Editing Draco Malfoy (section)

==Character development==
Draco serves as a [[foil (literature)|foil]] to the hero, [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]], and is loosely based on [[Bullying|bullies]] Rowling encountered during her school days.<ref name="WBUR">{{cite episode|title=J. K. Rowling Interview|series=The Connection|station=WBUR Radio|date=12 October 1999}}</ref> Harry first encounters Draco's snobbish bigotry after their initial encounter at [[Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions|Madam Malkin's]].<ref name="royal">{{cite web|url=http://www.msn.co.uk/liveevents/harrypotter/transcript/Default.asp?Ath=f|title=J.K. Rowling at the Royal Albert Hall|website=[[MSN]]|date=26 June 2003|access-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061112072736/http://www.msn.co.uk/liveevents/harrypotter/transcript/Default.asp?Ath=f|archive-date=12 November 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rowling uses the Malfoys to introduce themes of intolerance and bigotry into a setting where people are often judged solely by their blood lineage rather than their good character or accomplishments. Draco, adhering to his family's beliefs, thinks that Muggle-born witches and wizards, which he and other characters derogatorily describe by the epithet ''Mudbloods'', should be denied a magical education. Harry's first impression that the Wizarding community is a "magical wonderland" is instantly shattered. Says Rowling, "[Harry] found out that many people in power in the wizarding world are just as corrupt and nasty as they are in our world."<ref name="royal"/>

Malfoy was originally named "Draco Spungen" in the earliest drafts of ''Philosopher's Stone.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/sources/jkr.com/jkr-com-trans-ps-draft1.html|title=HPL: Guide to jkrowling.com- Transcript: Very early draft of Philosophers Stone (Page 1)|website=The Harry Potter Lexicon|access-date=31 December 2010}}</ref> "Spungen" also appeared on her pre-canon class list, but it was crossed out and replaced with the surname "Spinks", while "Malfoy" was later added after the completion of the list. [[Philip Nel]] believes that ''Malfoy'' is derived from the French phrase ''mal foi'', meaning "bad faith".<ref>{{cite book
 |title = J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide
 |first=Philip 
 |last=Nel | edition = illustrated
 |publisher = [[Continuum International Publishing Group]]
 |location = New York City
 |year = 2001 | isbn = 0-8264-5232-9
 |page=16
 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qQYfoV62d30C&q=J.K.+Rowling's+Harry+Potter+novels&pg=PA16
 |author-link = Philip Nel}}</ref>
In an article published in 2002, Nilsen and Nilsen argue that "Draco" has connotations with ''draconian'', and that his name starts with "mal", a French prefix for "bad" or "evil".<ref>{{cite journal
|title=Lessons in the teaching of vocabulary from September&nbsp;11 and Harry Potter
|author1=Alleen Pace Nilsen
|author2=Don L.F. Nilsen
|journal=Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
|volume=46
|issue=3
|pages=254–260
|date=23 November 2016
|url=https://www.sfu.ca/media-lab/archive/2007/426/Resources/Readings/readings%20kidcult/HarryPotterLiteracy.pdf
|url-access=registration
|access-date=26 August 2017
|archive-date=15 July 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715045043/http://www.sfu.ca/media-lab/archive/2007/426/Resources/Readings/readings%20kidcult/HarryPotterLiteracy.pdf
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

Many of Draco's relatives on his mother's side of the family (the Blacks) are named for stars or constellations (e.g., [[Sirius Black]], [[Regulus Black]], Andromeda Black Tonks, [[Bellatrix Lestrange|Bellatrix Black Lestrange]], Cygnus Black, Orion Black). Another constellation is Draco (the Dragon). Draco Malfoy eventually named his son for yet another constellation, Scorpius.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.decodedscience.org/harry-potter-character-names-derived-from-astronomy/1512|title=Harry Potter Character Names Derived From Astronomy|access-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530074803/https://www.decodedscience.org/harry-potter-character-names-derived-from-astronomy/1512|archive-date=30 May 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>