There’s probably no character who’s as polarizing for the movies making the mistake of adapting the character as too sympathetic while leaving out a lot of his mean-spirited traits from the books. After all, this is the boy who was openly prejudiced against Muggle-borns and was the youngest Death Eater.
Still, it wouldn’t be fair to consider Malfoy an outright villain, seeing as there were multiple factors that made him the way he turned out to be. While he was by no means completely sympathetic, there are things that make him misunderstood.
Coward: Abandoning His Own Faction The First Chance He Got
The Malfoys can always be found in the biggest betrayals of the series since they only look out for themselves. Draco was no exception, as he abandoned the Death Eaters the first chance he got and cut off all ties to them.
Moreover, he abandoned anyone who took him in or rescued him, as he claimed he was still a Death Eater when he was cornered in the Battle of Hogwarts even after his life had been saved by Harry and his friends. Simply put, Malfoy aligned with whatever faction was the safest.
Misunderstood: He Only Conducted The Killing Of Dumbledore Under The Threat Of Death
In the books, Harry was unsure if Malfoy really would have gone through taking Dumbledore’s life, and he was actually right in surmising that Malfoy didn’t have it in him. That’s because Deathly Hallows revealed that Voldemort had kept him under constant pressure.
Harry saw Malfoy being forced to torture another teacher by Voldemort who promised to kill him if he didn’t do as he was told. While Malfoy was certainly not a good person, he was also far from a killer and wouldn’t have murdered Dumbledore.
Coward: Insulting Lily Potter And Molly Weasley Knowing That Umbridge Will Protect Him
Malfoy was among the few students who didn’t agree that Dolores Umbridge was the worst DADA teacher since she favored the Slytherins. After losing the Quidditch match to Gryffindor, Malfoy let out his anger by insulting Lily Potter and Molly Weasley to get a reaction out of Harry and the Weasley siblings.
The boys ended up beating Malfoy down for provoking them but ended up getting banned from Quidditch itself by Umbridge. Malfoy wouldn’t have dared insult them without Umbridge’s backing and only did so knowing that Umbridge was prejudiced against Harry and his friends.
Misunderstood: He Never Knew The Death Eaters' Plans
While Malfoy attended the Death Eater meetings conducted by Voldemort, he actually never was part of their plans. Voldemort knew Malfoy was far from powerful, and only made him attend as a way to antagonize Lucius since it put his son in peril.
Even during the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco had no idea that things would escalate to war since he was only at the school as a student rather than as part of the Death Eater army.
Coward: Bullying Kids By Using Crabbe And Goyle
There were plenty of bullies shown at Hogwarts, including Harry’s own father. However, Malfoy was the most cowardly of the lot, as he would bully kids like Neville only when he had Crabbe and Goyle as his backup.
Malfoy attempted to bully Ron on his own in Philosopher’s Stone but stopped when Ron hit him back. Following this, Malfoy became known as the bully who used Crabbe and Goyle as his muscle and it was obvious he wouldn’t dare to speak up otherwise.
Misunderstood: He Genuinely Did Love His Father
Contrary to popular belief, Lucius was never abusive toward Draco, who also loved his father. In fact, part of Draco's motivation to do Voldemort’s bidding was his fear that the Dark Lord would kill Lucius.
This actually gives him a more sympathetic outlook since it proves that Draco was at least a boy who had consideration for his parents. He was devastated when Lucius was separated from his family and sent to Azkaban. It also confirms that Draco followed his father’s teachings not out of fear but out of love.
Coward: His Attempt At Capturing Harry In The Room Of Requirement
Despite Malfoy clearly not having any loyalty toward Voldemort, he still decided to aid him during the Battle of Hogwarts. He did so with the hope that he would be rewarded and intercepted Harry in the Room of Requirement with the hope of capturing him.
This was a move that a coward like Peter Pettigrew would pull, as Malfoy looked to capitalize on a situation that had nothing to do with him to squirm his way into a favorable position with the big bad.
Misunderstood: He Was Given The Wrong Impression Of The Death Eaters
There’s no doubt that Malfoy was smug about ing the Death Eaters, which was proven when he gloated to his friends on the Hogwarts Express in Half-Blood Prince. However, this was due to Malfoy having the wrong impression about the Death Eaters all along.
As far as he was concerned, the Death Eaters were only supposed to be pureblood fanatics, as opposed to the killers he later realized they were.
Coward: Calling Hermione A Mudblood Only When He Had Backup
Malfoy’s treatment toward Hermione became worse after she helped Gryffindor win the House cup in their first year. In the following year, he first called her a Mudblood and did so frequently. What’s interesting to note is that he always did so in public or amongst allies.
Hogwarts always seemed to have lax rules about discipline since Malfoy wouldn’t be reprimanded for calling Hermione a derogatory word but Harry and Ron would be warned when they attacked him for it. Malfoy was aware of this and only insulted Hermione when he felt he was safe since he knew she could pack a wallop otherwise, as seen when she hit him in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Misunderstood: He Was A Product Of His Parents' Prejudice
All things considered, the truth is that it all came down to nurture where Draco was concerned. Whatever hate-filled words he spewed were the things he heard his parents speak and thought it would make him sound superior in front of the kids at Hogwarts.
A significant portion of the fanbase considers him to be the representation of pureblood fanaticism mainly because Malfoy was the only source of this for Harry, who is the point-of-view character in the series. Had he been raised in a different childhood, it’s more than likely that Malfoy would have turned out differently.
