Ever since the world laid eyes on Draco Malfoy, it seemed obvious that this arrogant, elitist bully was meant to be one of the main villains of the Harry Potter series. And for the most part, he was. Draco was a rude and cruel boy who was unnecessarily mean to plenty of people who didn’t deserve it, and often times he seemed to take pleasure in causing others embarrassment or pain. He may have been a far cry from Lord Voldemort, but he was definitely a bit of a nightmare.
However, like everyone, Draco eventually grew and evolved. It took a very long time and it wasn’t easy, but he eventually transformed into a pretty decent person. Even within the Harry Potter series, Draco had moments where he really got his chance to shine, and he occasionally did things that seemed downright heroic. So here are 10 undeniably heroic deeds that Draco Malfoy performed.
Buying The Slytherin Quidditch Team Brooms
Obviously, Draco’s decision to fund the new brooms for everyone on the Slytherin Quidditch team was pretty self serving. Granted, he wasn’t the one literally spending his own money on the brooms as it was clearly Lucius who was footing the bill, but it was still an extremely generous thing for Draco to do.
Draco may be one of the wealthiest wizards in the wizarding world, but he wasn’t prone to sharing the wealth very often. Buying his way onto the Quidditch team wasn’t a very classy way of doing what he wanted to do, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did the entire Slytherin team a big solid.
Leading Slytherin House
Draco Malfoy may seem like an utterly insufferable bully to most outsiders, but it seems like he was actually a pretty popular boy within house Slytherin. Undoubtedly being the only son of a rich and well known wizarding family helped, but Draco was also made a school prefect once he reached his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The role of a prefect is usually saved for exceptional students, who both excel in school and are natural leaders within their house. We never got to see the better sides of Draco, but it would seem that he did show some of his more positive qualities with his housemates.
Befriending Moaning Myrtle
Obviously befriending Moaning Myrtle wasn’t an entirely benevolent action on Draco’s behalf. Draco was in way over his head with Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters, and he really had no one to talk to and share his feelings with besides Moaning Myrtle. However, he did seem to develop a genuine friendship with Myrtle, and Myrtle apparently got to see a lot of the goodness and kindness that Draco always tried to hide from the rest of the world.
Pretty much every student at Hogwarts complained about how insufferable Myrtle was, so the fact that Draco of all people managed to win her over and the fact that he enjoyed her company does say a lot about him.
Trying To Befriend Harry
Draco Malfoy was never going to be a hero like Harry, Ron, or Hermione were, but it seems clear in retrospect that he was a naturally okay boy who was just incredibly misguided and misled by his parents. And while his behavior when he first meets Harry was incredibly rude, from Malfoy’s perspective, he was genuinely trying to be Harry’s friend and help him out.
Draco was raised to stay away from the “wrong sort,” so when he offered his hand to Harry he seemed to be sincerely (or as sincerely as the young and spoiled Draco was capable of) offering a new boy who was a stranger to the magical world a helping hand.
Not Killing Dumbledore
One of the most difficult decisions that Draco ever faced in his life was whether or not he was going to kill Albus Dumbledore in service of Lord Voldemort. Throughout The Half-Blood Prince, it looks like Malfoy is trying to, but he doesn’t seem to be putting his heart and soul into it either.
He was faced with a pretty impossible choice, because his failure would endanger himself as well as his entire family, but his success would mean that he had to murder someone. And try as he might, he ultimately couldn’t do it, even if he was putting himself at great risk by failing Voldemort’s task.
Protecting Ron And Hermione
Few people within the Harry Potter world have had their mettle tested as much as Draco Malfoy has, and he was only a teenager when he was forced to make many life or death decisions that would have permanent consequences for him.
When the golden trio is captured by the Death Eaters, he surprisingly seemed to do what he could to protect them. Harry may have been hard to recognize, but Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger certainly weren’t, and he chose not to rat them out despite the fact that he could have benefited enormously by doing so, even though there was no love lost between Draco and the two of them.
Covering For Harry
Covering for Ron and Hermione was one thing, because they weren’t particularly valuable targets for Voldemort. But the same can’t be said for Harry Potter himself. Harry is easily the most valuable wizard in the entire world by the time he has been captured and imprisoned at Malfoy manor, and giving Harry up to the Death Eaters would end the wizarding war and ensure that Malfoy and the rest of his family wind up on the winning side.
By covering for Harry, Draco was risking the wrath of the Dark Lord and literally risking his life. But that didn’t stop him from doing it.
Helping The Golden Trio Against Delphini
Even some Harry Potter fans may not be familiar with the fates of the characters after the Second Wizarding War, but Draco Malfoy experienced quite a personal turn around after Voldemort was defeated for good.
For those who are unaware of the way things unfolded post-Deathly Hallows, Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort actually had a secret daughter prior to their deaths. She was named Delphini, who eventually rose to power and decided that she would much prefer it if her father had survived and won the war. When she decides to use a time turner to change the past, Draco actually teamed up with the golden trio in order to stop Delphini and ensure that she didn’t succeed in saving Voldemort.
Changing His Mind About Muggles And Muggle-Borns
It may not seem particularly heroic to actually start believing what any sensible and remotely kind person would already know is true, however the fact that Draco completely changed his mind about muggle and muggle-borns after his experiences in the war actually does mean a lot.
Draco was raised to believe that he was inherently superior to everyone else around him, and he was taught to have an especially intense disdain of normal people as well as muggle-born witches and wizards. He was also a part of an elite family that would downright disown its own members for being pro-muggle, so changing his mind and giving up everything he was taught was true was a big deal.
Raising His Son To Be Better Than He Was
Draco was an absolute nightmare of a child, and he was never really given any reason to question his own behavior or beliefs. But he did, because despite his awful upbringing and extraordinarily cruel parents, he had enough natural goodness and kindness in him that he eventually made the decision to be a better man than his father was.
When he had his own son, he and his wife made the decision to raise him to be more open minded and kind to people than he was ever taught to be. By raising Scorpius as a more egalitarian wizard, Draco really did make the wizarding world a better place.
