Editing Draco Malfoy (section)

==Appearances==

===''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''===
Draco Malfoy makes his first appearance in the series when he and Harry meet while being fitted for school robes at Madam Malkin's, a clothing shop in [[Diagon Alley]]. Not realising that the boy in the store is Harry Potter—a child whose parents were murdered when he was one year old by the powerful dark wizard [[Lord Voldemort]]—Draco engages him in polite (relative to his later attitude towards Harry) conversation. Harry, however, is alienated by the arrogance of Draco, who asks whether the orphan's parents are "our kind" ([[Pure-blood (Harry Potter)|pure-blood wizards]]). Draco then proclaims that "the other sort" ([[Muggle-born]]s) should not be allowed at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]], because "they've never been brought up to know our ways". The two boys part without introductions, but meet again on the [[Hogwarts Express]]. After Draco ridicules [[Ron Weasley]]'s family, Harry rejects his offer of friendship, demonstrated by a handshake, and their mutual antagonism is born. 

According to Rowling, Malfoy originally makes an effort to be Harry's friend because "it will be cool to turn up at the school being Harry Potter's friend, because Harry is so famous."<ref name="WBUR"/> However, Harry did not want Malfoy as a friend because he "has been so rude about [[Rubeus Hagrid]] and about Ron, who Harry likes so much". 

At the first years' Sorting Ceremony, the [[Sorting Hat]] places him instantly into Slytherin, the house that has developed all of the bad wizards, where he becomes an instant favourite of Potions teacher and Slytherin Head of House, [[Severus Snape]], an apparent follower of Lord Voldemort. Draco attempts to get Harry expelled by falsely challenging him to a midnight duel and informing [[Argus Filch]] in advance of Harry's plans to be out of bed; Draco's attempt fails when Harry evades Filch and safely makes it back to his dormitory.

===''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets''===
In ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'', Draco becomes the new Seeker for the Slytherin [[Quidditch]] team after his father, [[Lucius Malfoy]], donates new, high-quality [[Nimbus 2001]] broomsticks. When [[Hermione Granger]] comments that the Gryffindor players made the team through talent and not bribery, Draco responds by calling her a "[[Mudblood]]", a derogatory term for people of mixed magical and human ancestry. This provokes an immediate, violent response from Ron. Because of Draco's contempt for Muggle-borns, Harry, Ron, and Hermione suspect that Draco is the Heir of Slytherin, who has recently reopened the [[Chamber of Secrets]]. Harry and Ron disguise themselves as Crabbe and Goyle with Polyjuice Potion and infiltrate the Slytherin common room in an attempt to collect additional information, whereupon they realise that their initial suspicion about Draco is incorrect.

===''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban''===
During Hagrid's debut as [[Care of Magical Creatures]] instructor in ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', Buckbeak the [[hippogriff]] attacks Draco after he fails to observe proper protocol while approaching it and insults it. He exaggerates the extent of his injury, giving Slytherin a chance to postpone their Quidditch match against Gryffindor until later in the year and as an attempt to have Hagrid fired. Hermione punches Draco when he mocks Hagrid for crying over Buckbeak's death sentence. Draco, who implies that he is aware of how [[Sirius Black]] was supposedly involved in the deaths of Harry's parents, also taunts Harry about the impending threat of Black: "If it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself."

===''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''===
After Harry is unexpectedly chosen as a Triwizard Tournament champion in ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', Draco shows off a "Support [[Cedric Diggory]]" badge to Harry, then presses it to replace the phrase with "Potter Stinks." Draco also gives malicious and often false information about Harry and Hagrid to [[Muckraker|muckraking]] ''[[Daily Prophet]]'' journalist [[Rita Skeeter]]. When Draco attempts to curse Harry behind his back, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor [[Alastor Moody]] (actually [[Barty Crouch, Jr]] in disguise via Polyjuice Potion) humiliates Draco by transforming him into a [[ferret]] and repeatedly slamming him against the ground as well as dropping him down Goyle's pants.

===''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''===
In ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'', Draco is named a Slytherin prefect along with [[Pansy Parkinson]]. He gets Harry and the [[Fred and George Weasley|Weasley twins]] banned from the Gryffindor Quidditch team when they attack him during a postmatch brawl after Draco insults their families following Gryffindor's win over Slytherin. He later joins [[Dolores Umbridge]]'s Inquisitorial Squad, with whom he plays an important part in the exposure of [[Dumbledore's Army]]. As the D.A. flees the [[Room of Requirement]], Draco earns Slytherin fifty points after catching Harry, and helps hold several members captive in Umbridge's office, letting them free only after Ginny Weasley performs her famous Bat Bogey Hex. After his father and other [[Death Eater]]s are captured and sentenced to Azkaban following the events at the [[Department of Mysteries]], Draco twice attempts to get revenge on Harry, but Snape and [[Minerva McGonagall]] thwart his first effort, and while returning home on the Hogwarts Express, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle are transformed into giant slugs by a barrage of hexes cast by several D.A. members coming to Harry's defence.

===''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''===
Draco is drawn into Death-Eaters' activities more directly in ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''. Because of Lucius' arrest and fall from Voldemort's favour, [[Narcissa Malfoy]] and [[Bellatrix Lestrange]] visit Snape at his home to discuss a dangerous task that Voldemort has assigned Draco. Narcissa, deeply worried that her son will be killed in his attempt to complete it, begs Snape to make an [[Unbreakable Vow]] to aid Draco with this task and protect him at all costs, and if Draco fails to complete the mission, he will complete it himself; he agrees.

Under the [[Cloak of Invisibility (Harry Potter)|Invisibility Cloak]], Harry, Ron, and Hermione follow Draco to [[Borgin and Burkes]], a dark magic shop in Knockturn Alley. Draco threatens Mr. Borgin about repairing one item and keeping another safe for him. Draco shows Mr. Borgin something on his arm that Harry believes to be the [[Dark Mark]], Voldemort's sign, though whether or not Harry is correct is never confirmed. (In the film version Draco Malfoy shows Dumbledore the Dark Mark on his arm.) On the Hogwarts Express, Harry invisibly spies on Draco and overhears him discussing Voldemort's task with several other Slytherins. Draco knows Harry is present and, once alone in the compartment, immobilises him and breaks his nose causing Harry to hate Draco even more. Harry is left stranded on the train until [[Nymphadora Tonks]] ([[Luna Lovegood]] in the film adaptation) rescues him. Harry spends much of the year trailing Draco's whereabouts on his [[Marauder's Map]], but loses track of him once Draco enters the Room of Requirement. When [[Katie Bell (Harry Potter)|Katie Bell]] is almost killed in Hogsmeade after handling a cursed necklace and Ron nearly dies by drinking poisoned [[mead]], Harry suspects Draco is behind both attacks.

In this book, Draco is, for the first time since being introduced in the series, portrayed as having considerable initiative, ingenuity, and perseverance. However, unlike Harry, who always relies on his friends' support and help, Draco mostly works alone in the Room of Requirement, refusing to confide in or involve his own circle of friends, whom he treats more as underlings. This, and the realisation of what he is ultimately expected to do, nearly drives him to a nervous breakdown. When Harry walks in on Malfoy crying in [[Moaning Myrtle]]'s bathroom, Draco attempts to cast the Cruciatus Curse. Harry is faster to the draw with an obscure ''Sectumsempra'' spell that he learned from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince's book. The spell cuts deep gashes into Malfoy's face and chest, resulting in severe blood loss. Snape, alerted by Myrtle's screams, swiftly arrives and heals Draco's cuts, then takes him to the hospital wing.

Near the conclusion, Draco ambushes and disarms a gravely weakened Dumbledore at the Astronomy Tower. After Draco disarms him, Dumbledore calmly reasons with the frightened teenager and persuades him to reveal how he was, according to Voldemort's orders, to kill the headmaster through the cursed necklace and the poisoned mead. Malfoy reveals that he mended the broken [[Vanishing Cabinet]] in the Room of Requirement to act as a portal enabling Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts. Draco is hesitant to kill Dumbledore and he eventually lowers his wand. Snape arrives, dispatches Dumbledore himself and then flees Hogwarts with Draco in tow. As revealed during his confrontation with Dumbledore, Draco was an insecure boy incapable of committing cold-blooded murder and was forced to do Voldemort's bidding under the threat of his and his parents' deaths. Harry, who was horrified by the result of his duel with Draco in the bathroom incident, feels "the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike" for his old rival.

During an interview in 2005, Rowling revealed that she enjoyed writing Draco in this book, and that the character "did a lot of growing up" as well.<ref name="tlc">{{cite news |title=The Leaky Cauldron and MN Interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling – Part 2 |url=http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/07/28/jkrhbp2/ |access-date=9 February 2022 |publisher=[[The Leaky Cauldron (website)|The Leaky Cauldron]] |date=28 July 2007}}</ref>

===''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''===
The Malfoys remain reluctant followers of Voldemort, who now uses their home as his headquarters; Draco passes out after witnessing Voldemort murder [[Muggle Studies]] professor [[Charity Burbage]]. Harry experiences occasional and disturbing visions of Draco being forced into performing Voldemort's bidding and feels "sickened... by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort." When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, Draco is asked to identify them, and though they are clearly recognisable, he only ambiguously replies "It might be." During the successful escape from Malfoy Manor headed by [[Dobby the house elf|Dobby]], Harry overpowers Draco and captures his wand.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione seek [[Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem|Ravenclaw's diadem]] in the Room of Requirement, Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle (Blaise Zabini in film version rather than Crabbe), attempts to capture Harry alive. However, Crabbe (Goyle in film version) defies Draco's orders and attempts to kill the trio by casting the deadly [[Fiendfyre]]; unable to control the spell, he dies in the blaze while the trio rescue Draco and Goyle (Zabini in film version). Draco, despite his often condescending and belittling attitude toward Crabbe and Goyle (as well as his other underlings), grieves for his lost friend. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco is seen pleading with a Death Eater who seems intent on killing him. He is once again saved by Harry and Ron, the latter of whom punches Draco in the face under the invisibility cloak for attempting to appease the Death Eater.

At about this time, it is revealed through the [[Pensieve]] that Dumbledore had known he was dying after being cursed by [[Magical objects in Harry Potter#Marvolo Gaunt's ring|Voldemort's ring]]. However, to spare Draco's soul from being forever tainted by committing murder, Dumbledore pre-arranged his own death with Snape. Voldemort intended Draco to die in the attempt to kill Dumbledore so that Lucius would be punished for his failure to retrieve the prophecy from the [[Ministry of Magic]].

After Harry is struck by the ''[[Avada Kedavra]]'' curse, Voldemort orders Narcissa to verify that Harry is actually dead. She detects his heartbeat, but she lies to Voldemort, knowing that she will be allowed to search for her son if the Death Eaters return to Hogwarts ''"as part of the conquering army."'' Although Draco does not directly take part in Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort, as he and his parents flee the battle for their personal safety, he influences its outcome; a plot twist reveals that Draco had unwittingly become the [[Elder Wand]]'s master when he disarmed Dumbledore, even though Draco never actually possessed the wand. The wand's allegiance passes to whoever defeats its owner, so Harry, having taken Draco's wand at Malfoy Manor, became its new master; this prevents Voldemort from using its full power. In the end, it is Narcissa's lie to Voldemort concerning Harry's death that enables the Malfoys to narrowly avoid imprisonment in Azkaban.<ref name="chat">{{cite news|url=http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript|title=J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript|date=30 July 2007|access-date=30 July 2007|publisher=[[The Leaky Cauldron (website)|The Leaky Cauldron]]}}</ref>

====Epilogue====
In the epilogue, Draco marries Astoria Greengrass and has a son, Scorpius Malfoy.  Draco's hairline has receded, making his face look even more pointed. Though they are not friends, Malfoy has somewhat decreased his animosity toward Harry, and, upon seeing them at [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross station]], gives a brief and curt nod to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.<ref name="chat" />