Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy (born June 5, 1980) is a student at Hogwarts in Harry Potter's year. He was sorted into Slytherin House and is Harry's archenemy at Hogwarts. Draco Malfoy is tall and slender, with pale skin and a sharp featured face. He has sleek, silverish, long blond hair and cold, grey eyes.

Childhood
Draco was born to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy (née Black), who are both pure-bloods. They are quite proud of having pure blood and, at least until Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, their continued allegiance to Lord Voldemort while maintaining a respectable public image.

Both the Malfoy family and the Black family have traditionally been in Slytherin House for centuries; indeed, the Blacks usually disowned anyone who was not (for example, Sirius Black). This tendency caused Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in Chamber of Secrets to suspect Draco of being the Heir of Slytherin.

The Malfoys are rich and therefore spoil their son, giving him the best of everything as far as material possessions go. The only hand-me-down thing Draco has ever received would be the old family prejudice against Muggles, Muggle-borns, and half-bloods; in short, prejudice against anyone who is not a pure-blood witch or wizard.

Hogwarts
When Draco goes to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies, he meets Harry Potter in Madam Malkin's, without knowing who he is. He makes a rather intolerant speech about Muggle-borns, but otherwise acts in a friendly way towards Harry. Later, on the Hogwarts Express, he offers his friendship to Harry. Harry, however, does not like the attitude he has toward Ron Weasley, with whom Harry has already made friends, and so turns him down, creating animosity that lasts through the rest of their schooling. In Order of the Phoenix, for example, Draco joins Dolores Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, and plays an important part in the discovery of Dumbledore's Army, which is founded and headed by Harry.

Draco seems to be a talented wizard. In his very first Potions lesson, his potion-making is held up to the class by Professor Snape as a very good example. He is able to block jinxes nonverbally[HP6]. He is also accomplished at Occlumency, and can perform the very difficult Protean Charm, though he can not yet produce a corporeal patronus.

In Half-Blood Prince, Draco is presumed to have joined the Death Eaters, having replaced his father, who was locked up in Azkaban after the "fiasco" at the Ministry of Magic in Order of the Phoenix. He brags about the mission he has been given to his fellow Slytherin friends on the Hogwarts Express. However, later on in the school year, when his mission is going badly, he is seen crying in a bathroom in fear and despair because he cannot repair the Vanishing Cabinet that is so crucial to his mission of killing Albus Dumbledore, which he has been assigned to do. He finally manages to fix the cabinet, thereby letting several Death Eaters into Hogwarts, but when he is finally given the opportunity to kill Dumbledore, he is unable to do it, instead lowering his wand. Snape, who has made an Unbreakable Vow to Draco's mother, Narcissa, steps in at that point and finishes the task for him, and promptly leads him out of the school grounds, presumably to safety.

Draco is friends of a sort with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, although he looks upon them as being slow and stupid, which is perfectly true. He is also seen sometimes with Blaise Zabini. J. K. Rowling intended, several times, to include a scene with Draco talking to Theodore Nott, whom he considers a superior, but she could not work it in. Draco also appears to enjoy the company of Pansy Parkinson.

Character
During the first four years of school, Draco's character remained mostly undeveloped, leaving the reader with the impression that he was merely an annoyance. However, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, he is shown in the end to be the informer and impetus behind Rita Skeeter's continuing assault on Harry's credibility, which sets the stage for widespread disbelief of Harry's announcement that Voldemort has returned. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he joins Professor Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, thereby gaining more power than was granted to prefects (which he also was at the time), and in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince he is presumed to have joined the Death Eaters. Over the course of that school year, he seems to realise that he is in over his head and is seen in a bathroom crying in fear and despair due to his inability to fix the Vanishing Cabinet. When Draco eventually proves unable to kill Dumbledore, Dumbledore remarks "Killing is not as easy as the innocent believe," which suggests that Draco still retains at least some of his innocence.

Fandom
Draco Malfoy has developed a cult following amongst some Harry Potter fans, especially for his cunning, ambition, arrogant streak, and the "Malfoy smirk". He's a popular figure in fan fiction, due mainly to Cassandra Claire and her "black leather pants" version the character. In her "Draco Trilogy" and many other works of fan fiction, Draco is portrayed as a kind of tragic hero.

J. K. Rowling has attributed the Draco's popularity to Tom Felton and the "bad boy" persona he has on celluloid. Rowling has expressed many times that she thinks fans like the character too much.