Draco Lucius Malfoy is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. He is a Slytherin student in Harry Potter's year. He is frequently accompanied by his two accomplices, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who act as henchmen. Although Draco is often regarded as a cowardly bully who uses psychological manipulation and verbal taunts to denigrate his victims, he reveals an ability to cunningly wield magic to attain his objectives.

Character development[link]

Draco serves as a literary foil to the hero, Harry Potter, and is loosely based on bullies Rowling encountered during her school days.^[1] Harry first encounters Draco's snobbish bigotry after their initial encounter at Madam Malkin's.^[2] 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."^[2]

Malfoy was originally named "Draco Spungen" in the earliest drafts of Philosopher's Stone.^[3] "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."^[4] 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".^[5]

Appearances[link]

[edit] Harry Potter and the Sorcerer'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 (for him) polite conversation. Harry, however, is alienated by the arrogance of Draco, who asks whether the orphan's parents are "our kind" (pure-blood wizards). Draco then proclaims that "the other sort" (Muggle-borns) 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 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."^[1] 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". Barely touching Draco's head, the Sorting Hat places him into Slytherin, where he becomes an instant favourite of Potions teacher and Slytherin Head of House, Severus Snape. Draco attempts to get Harry expelled by tricking him into participating in a midnight wizard's duel after secretly informing Argus Filch in advance, but the plan fails when Harry evades Filch and safely makes it back to his dormitory.

[edit] 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. This provokes an immediate, violent response from all the Gryffindors present, except Hermione and Harry, who, having been raised by Muggles, do not know what the epithet means. 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.

[edit] 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, the hippogriff, Buckbeak, 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 slaps Draco when he mocks Hagrid for crying over Buckbeak's 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."

[edit] 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 that phrase with "Potter Stinks." When Malfoy says that he does not "want a Mudblood sliming it up" in reference to Hermione, Harry and Draco simultaneously fire off spells which ricochet and hit Goyle and Hermione instead. Draco also gives malicious and often false information about Harry and Hagrid to 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. Draco is romantically linked to Pansy Parkinson, who attends the Yule Ball as his date.

[edit] 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. He gets Harry and the 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 the Bat Bogey Hex. After his father and other Death Eaters 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.

[edit] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Draco emerges as the primary antagonist of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and its film adaptation. 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 he fails complete his mission; he agrees.

Under the 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. 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 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, and he is extensively using the Room of Requirement. However, unlike Harry, who could always rely on his friends' support and help, Draco mostly works alone, refusing to confide in or involve his own circle, which he treated more as underlings rather than as friends. 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 disarmed 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.^[6]

[edit] 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, Harry overpowers Draco and captures his wand.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione seek Ravenclaw's diadem in the Room of Requirement, Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle, attempts to capture Harry alive. However, Crabbe 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. Draco, despite his often condescending and belittling attitude toward Crabbe and Goyle, 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 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.

Although Draco does not directly take part in Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort, he influences its outcome. 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." 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.^[7]

Epilogue[link]

In the epilogue, Draco has married and has a young son, Scorpius Hyperion. Rowling revealed that Draco married Astoria Greengrass, the younger sister of his Slytherin housemate Daphne Greengrass.^[8] 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 King's Cross station, gives a brief and curt nod to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.^[7]

Film portrayal[link]

Tom Felton played Draco Malfoy in all of the Harry Potter films. Prior to landing the part of Malfoy, Felton auditioned to play Harry and Ron.^[9] Having read more of the Harry Potter books, Felton reflects: "I have had input into Draco. If they give me a line and I don't think it is something he would say, I suggest changing it. They do listen to you and you do feel a part of it."^[10]

Felton contributed to premieres, articles and interviews, and received the Disney Channel's Kids Awards for Best DVD Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 22 September 2003.^{[citation needed]} He also won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for his portrayal as Malfoy in the 2010 MTV Movie Awards and the 2011 MTV Movie Awards.

Malfoy grew into one of the series' most popular characters due to Felton's performances and Felton quickly became synonymous with the character to many female fans, much to Rowling's dismay. "I'm trying to clearly distinguish between Tom Felton, who is a good looking young boy, and Draco, who, whatever he looks like, is not a nice man. It’s a romantic, but unhealthy, and unfortunately all too common delusion of girls...it actually worried me a little bit, to see young girls swearing undying devotion to this really imperfect character… I mean, I understand the psychology of it, but it is pretty unhealthy."^[6] Rowling has also noted that Malfoy "is certainly stylish in the film."^[2]

Characterisation[link]

Outward appearance[link]

Draco is a tall, slender boy with a pale, pointed face, sleek white-blond hair, and stone grey eyes.

Personality[link]

Draco opts to attack his enemies through psychological warfare rather than by physical force. His elitist upbringing is often used as a weapon to belittle those less prosperous than himself, such as Ron Weasley. He also insults Hermione Granger's Muggle-born status by referring to her as a "Mudblood", a term that, as stated by Hagrid, is one not used in civilised conversations. As Rowling explained in 1999, "He's a bigot and he's a bully, and as I say, in the most refined sense, he knows exactly what will hurt people".^[1]

In a July 2005 interview, Rowling added that Draco, unlike Harry, never feels remorse for his actions: "I thought of Draco as someone who is very capable of compartmentalising his life and his emotions, and always has done. So he's shut down his pity, enabling him to bully effectively. He's shut down compassion— how else would you become a Death Eater?"^[6]

Draco, as well as Dudley Dursley, was indoctrinated with his parents' beliefs. Rowling commented that "The moment Draco got what he thought he wanted, to become a Death Eater, and given a mission by Lord Voldemort, as he did in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, reality finally hit him" because his dream was "so very different". Rowling also stated that there was a real moral cowardice in Draco, but that he was not wholly bad.^[11]

Magical abilities and skills[link]

During the series, Draco is portrayed as a cunning, competent young wizard. In his second year, he successfully performed the Tarantallegra curse against Harry,^[12] a curse used by Death Eater Antonin Dolohov in book 5,^[13] and also cast the Serpensortia spell in the same scene, conjuring a serpent from his wand as Voldemort would do against Dumbledore in book 5,^[13] and Snape against McGonagall in the final book.^[14] His character further develops in the sixth book, in which he is among very few students able to reach the required level to take advanced potions.^[15] Draco also proved capable at Occlumency, which he learned from his Aunt Bellatrix.^[15] Rowling recalled a discussion with her editor about Draco having mastered Occlumency while Harry could not. The author said that this is due to Draco being someone "very capable of compartmentalising his life and his emotions".^[6] Draco's wand is 10 inches precisely, made of hawthorn and unicorn hair, which Ollivander states that it is "reasonably springy".^[16]

When asked what shape Draco's Patronus Charm is, Rowling replied that, at least by the end of the sixth book, Draco was not capable of producing a Patronus as it is not magic routinely taught at Hogwarts.^[17]

Family[link]

The Malfoy family is one of the few remaining pure-blood wizarding clans in the Harry Potter series, and among the wealthiest. The anti-Muggle editor Brutus Malfoy is their ancestor. Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater during both wizard wars. He marries Narcissa Black and together they have one son, Draco, who is the first Malfoy family member introduced in the series. The Malfoys are related to the Black family through Narcissa (a first cousin of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather), which makes Draco a nephew of both Bellatrix Lestrange and Andromeda Tonks. Draco is also Nymphadora Tonks' first cousin through their mothers. Three of Draco's grandparents are identified: Abraxas Malfoy, Cygnus Black, and Druella Rosier. Abraxas died before the series begins and was a friend of Professor Slughorn. Draco is, therefore, the scion of two old magical families. The Malfoy home, Malfoy Manor, is an elegant mansion located in the western English county of Wiltshire. They were served by Dobby the house elf until the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The Malfoys are respected in the Wizarding world mainly from Lucius' influence with Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, gained mostly from his monetary donations to the Ministry and St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, as well as from his post on the Hogwarts board of governors. However, he was removed from his position at the conclusion of the second book and imprisoned in Azkaban following the battle at the Department of Mysteries in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Despite maintaining a respectable, but false, image before these events, some in the Wizarding world were previously aware that the Malfoys were devoted to Voldemort and the Dark Arts. Draco constantly uses his elite status and his father's name and influence to gain advantages and to threaten others. Lucius is also known to have used bribery and threats.

Reception[link]

In an interview at the Royal Albert Hall, Rowling noted that boys liked to dress up as Malfoy a lot more than Harry, and that people are "getting far too fond of Draco", which she finds "a little bit worrying".^[2] In the same interview, Stephen Fry noted that just as Harry met Malfoy, he found out that there is also racism in the wizarding world and that many characters in power can be "as nasty and corrupt as in our world". Fry also noted that while "Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe are almost irredeemably bad", Malfoy, unlike his companions, "is reasonably stylish".^[2] IGN listed Malfoy as their ninth top Harry Potter character.^[18]

In popular culture[link]

Draco and the Malfoys during a performance at Los Angeles Public Library in July, 2006.

Wizard rock band Draco and the Malfoys' lyrics are inspired by the Harry Potter books but from Draco Malfoy's point of view.^[19] One chorus goes: "My dad's always there to open all my doors, you have to call a Patronus just to catch a glimpse of yours/My dad is rich, and your dad is dead."^[20] As well as Harry and the Potters, the members of Draco and the Malfoys dress themselves as Hogwarts students, in this case in Slytherin-themed costumes. The band is one of about 750 bands of young musicians playing music inspired by the Harry Potter series.^[19][21]

Draco is parodied as Jerko Phoenix in the series Wizards of Waverly Place, during the episodes "Wizard School Part 1" and "Wizard School Part 2", in which Alex and Justin Russo go to a wizarding school named Wiz-tech, where everyone wears yellow and black robes, and glasses reminiscent of Harry Potter.^[22] Draco also appears as Sacco (played by Shane Lyons) in the Harry Bladder sketches in All That, in which Harry Bladder and other students often encounter Sacco's mischief-making. In the stage production Harry Potter and the Obnoxious Voice, Malfoy is seen interacting with Hagrid and a dementor.^[23] Draco was also parodied in a Big Bite sketch, where he was known as Mailboy (with his father Lucius being parodied as Mailman). In Neil Cicierega's Potter Puppet Pals, Draco stars in the episode "Draco Puppet". He is different from all the other characters, simplistically made out of paper and is a smaller puppet, held and voiced by the Harry puppet. Harry created him in order to torture him, and after the puppet "annoys" Harry, he does a series of strange things to the paper Draco and eventually burns it on a stove. In A Very Potter Musical Draco is played by actress Lauren Lopez. He has a very obvious crush on Hermione and spends a great deal of time posing and rolling around on the floor.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Harry Potter portal
	Fictional characters portal

	Book: Harry Potter
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Draco Malfoy on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• Draco Malfoy at the Harry Potter Lexicon
• Mugglenet: Role in the Books^{[dead link]}

Tom Felton
Felton in November 2010
Born	Thomas Andrew Felton (1987-09-22) 22 September 1987 (age 24) Epsom, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actor, musician
Years active	1997–present
Website
tomfelton.com

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Felton^[1] (born 22 September 1987)^[2] is an English actor and musician. He is best known for playing the role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, the movie adaptations of the best-selling Harry Potter fantasy novels by author J. K. Rowling, for which he auditioned at age twelve.

Felton started filming in commercials when he was eight years old and in films at the age of ten, appearing in The Borrowers and Anna and the King.^[3] After being cast as Draco Malfoy he has subsequently appeared in all eight Harry Potter films, from 2001 to 2011.^[4][5] Felton's portrayal of Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 won him the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2010 and 2011.^[6]

In his first post-Harry Potter film, Felton appeared in the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes series.^[7]

Early life[link]

Felton was born in Epsom, Surrey, as the son of Sharon and Peter Felton. He is the youngest of four brothers, and lives in Surrey with his dog Timber. He was a member of four different choirs throughout his childhood, starting with his church choir at age seven. Felton was educated at West Horsley's Cranmore School, until the age of thirteen.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Felton began acting in commercials for companies such as Commercial Union^[8] and Barclaycard.^[2] In 1995, he performed the voice of James in the television series Bugs and landed his first feature film role in 1997 when he played the part of Peagreen Clock in Peter Hewitt's film The Borrowers.^[3][9] Felton played witness Thomas Ingham opposite Clive Owen in Second Sight in 1999.^[3][10] Felton's role of Louis T. Leonowens in the film Anna and the King, starring Jodie Foster, was also filmed in 1999 in Malaysia.^[2] Felton made an appearance in the episode "Hide and Seek" of Second Sight 2 followed in 2000.^[11] The Guildford Cathedral Choir also offered him a position.^[12]

2000–present[link]

By autumn in 2001, he had become known internationally for his portrayal of Draco Malfoy, the bully, enemy, and foil of Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. As of 2011, Felton has appeared in all of the Harry Potter films. Before landing the part of Malfoy, Felton had auditioned to play Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.^[13] Of the four young actors who succeeded in getting the main roles, Felton had the most extensive film experience.^[14] Thereafter Felton's schedule began to fill with the work of filming the first four movies, premieres, and contributing to articles and interviews. He also received the Disney Channel's Kids Awards for Best DVD Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 22 September 2003.^[15] Felton started his Official Tom Felton Fan Club in 2004 and took part in autograph signing events.^[16][17] His fan club was reported to have attracted so many fans that Felton had to put a temporary stop to people signing up to his fan club.^[18] The autographing session in Germany drew people from Chile and one fan in Cologne summarised: "Tom is a real nice, professional young man, always happy, smiling, laughing, full of power — a real gentleman."^[19] When the fan asked Felton what kids should do if someone like his character is bullying them, he said: "Tell someone. You don't want to keep it to yourself."^[13]

After filming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Felton made a guest appearance on Home Farm Twins in 2005, where he played Adam Baker in the short-lived series.^[20] He attended Collectormania on 30 April 2005^[21][22] and London's world premiere for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.^[23] On 11 November 2005, he and Rupert Grint presented Liz Carnell with the Daily Mirror's Pride of Britain Award for all of her work to raise awareness of the dangers of bullying.^[24][25] Felton worked on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix throughout 2006. Now having read more of the Harry Potter books, Felton reflects: "I have had input into Draco. If they give me a line and I don't think it is something he would say, I suggest changing it. They do listen to you and you do feel a part of it."^[14]

Felton at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con

In July 2007, Felton visited Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado in a pre-screening charitable event of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.^[26] He was also present at Leicester Square for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on 3 July 2007.^[27][28]

Felton also appeared in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film of the series.^[29] When asked whether he was looking forward to playing a good guy in the future he answered: "No. Well, I don't know. I suppose for now I'm happy with sticking to what he is. But after the Potter legacy is over I look forward to playing a good guy or someone different anyway, someone not so spiteful."^[30] Felton also played the character Simon in the 2009 horror/thriller movie The Disappeared.^[31]

Felton posted three music videos on YouTube under an account called "Feltbeats", in which he performs fragments of original songs. Nine songs have been re-recorded and are now available on iTunes: "Time Well Spent," "Time Isn't Healing", "One of These Days", "Under Stars," "Right Place, Right Time," "In My Arms," "All I Need," and "I'll Be There" join the instrumental "Silhouettes in Sunsets." He also recorded an album available on iTunes and Amazon.com named In Good Hands. It includes the six songs "If You Could Be Anywhere", "We Belong", "When Angels Come", "Convinced", "Father of Mine", and "If Thats Alright With You".

In 2010, Felton released his original song "Hawaii" exclusively on www.sixstringproductions.com/store.aspx^[32] – an independent record label run by Felton, David Proffitt and Philip Haydn-Slater promoting creative independence and ownership of artists’ material and musical talent.

In November 2010 the movie White Other, which Tom played the main character, Ray Marsden, was released. Tom's character Ray is a troubled youth in the "ends" of England and Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, also makes an appearance as one of the other main roles in the movie.^[33]

Felton had a cameo role in Get Him to the Greek, released on 4 June 2010.^[34] In February 2010, he was cast in the thriller film The Apparition.^[35] Felton portrays the human character Dodge Landon in the 2011 science-fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes.^[7]

On 18 March 2011, Felton appeared in a comedy sketch on Red Nose Day 2011 alongside James Corden, Rupert Grint, George Michael, Justin Bieber, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Gordon Brown MP, Professor Robert Winston and Keira Knightley.^[36]

In August 2011 Tom did a photo shoot with his friend and Harry Potter co-star Rupert Grint in Los Angeles for the fall/winter collection of the fashion label Band of Outsiders.^[37]

Personal life[link]

In 2003, Felton and his brother Chris worked with Joe Babbitt, the St. Lawrence County Angler's Association, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Region 6, the Chamber of Commerce, and a diverse group of other organisations to form the World Junior Carp Tournament,^[30][38] which involves competitive fishing for ages eleven to eighteen in a family-friendly environment.^[39]

Felton's favourite hobby was fishing and he once said that he planned to pursue some qualification in fishery management at Sparsholt College in Winchester, where his brother had gone years before. Felton now intends to pursue his acting career.^[30][40] Apart from fishing, Felton also enjoys other sports, such as cricket, basketball, football, roller skating, golf, horse riding and tennis.^[20] He said during an interview, "I am generally more and more in my comfort zone in the wild. The only time I can really relax is up a tree or somewhere outside. I love being outside."^[30] His ideal place for a holiday is the United States.^[40] More specifically, in an interview, he said he liked to go to the St. Lawrence River in New York.^[30] His favourite villain in movies is Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,^[40] who stars in the Harry Potter film series as Severus Snape. He said during an interview that his favourite characters in Harry Potter are Gilderoy Lockhart^[13] and Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.^[30] Felton said that if he could play another character in the film, he would play Lucius Malfoy, or even Voldemort. When asked which house in Hogwarts he would like to stay in, Felton said it would definitely be Slytherin.^[41]

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of Harry Potter films cast members

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Felton

Official Sites

• Official website
• Six String Productions
• Tom Felton at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Felton's channel on YouTube

Fan Sites

• Tom Felton EU
• Feltbeats

Hermione Jean Granger ( /hərˈmaɪ.əni ˈdʒiːn ˈɡreɪndʒər/) is a fictional character and one of the three protagonists (the other two being Harry Potter and Ron Weasley) of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. She initially appears in the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as a new student on her way to Hogwarts. After Harry and Ron save her from a mountain troll in the girls' toilets, she becomes close friends with them and often uses her quick wit, deft recall, and encyclopaedic knowledge to help them. Rowling has stated that Hermione resembles her at a younger age, with her insecurity and fear of failure.^[1]

Character development[link]

Hermione is a Muggle-born Gryffindor student, and the best friend of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. J.K. Rowling states that she was born on 19 September 1979^[1] and she was nearly twelve when she first attended Hogwarts.^[2] She is an overachiever who excels academically, and is described by Rowling as a "very logical, upright and good" character.^[3] Rowling adds that Hermione's parents, two Muggle dentists, are a bit bemused by their odd daughter but very proud of her all the same."^[4] They are well aware of the wizarding world and have visited Diagon Alley with her. Rowling has described the character of Luna Lovegood as the "anti-Hermione" as they are so different.^[5] Hermione's foil at Hogwarts is Pansy Parkinson, a female bully based on real-life girls who teased the author during her school days.^[6]

Rowling claims the character of Hermione carries several autobiographical influences. "I did not set out to make Hermione like me but she is...she is an exaggeration of how I was when I was younger."^[3] She recalled being called a "little know-it-all" in her youth.^[1] Moreover, she states that not unlike herself, "there is a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure" beneath Hermione's swottiness. In fact, it is revealed in the fifth book that the sorting hat considered sorting Hermione into Ravenclaw. Finally, according to Rowling, next to Albus Dumbledore, Hermione is the perfect expository character; because of her encyclopaedic knowledge, she can always be used as a plot dump to explain the Harry Potter universe.^[7] Rowling also claims that her feminist conscience is saved by Hermione, "who's the brightest character" and is a "very strong female character".^[8]

Hermione's name is derived from William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale;^[9] Rowling claimed that she wanted it to be unusual since if fewer girls shared her name, fewer girls would get teased for it^[9] and it seemed that "a pair of professional dentists, who liked to prove how clever they are...gave [her] an unusual name that no-one could pronounce."^[10] Her original last name was "Puckle", but Rowling felt the name "did not suit her at all", and so the less frivolous Granger made it into the books.^[1] Rowling confirmed in a 2004 interview that Hermione is an only child.^[11]

Appearances[link]

[edit] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Hermione first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when she meets future companions Harry and Ron on the Hogwarts Express. She constantly annoys her peers with her knowledge, so Harry and Ron initially consider her arrogant, especially after she criticises Ron's incantation of the Levitation Charm.^[12] They heartily dislike her until they rescue her from a troll, for which she is so thankful that she lies to protect them from punishment, and their friendship begins.^[13] Hermione's knack for logic later enables the trio to solve a puzzle that is essential to retrieving the Philosopher's Stone, and she defeats the constrictive Devil's Snare plant by summoning a "jet of bluebell flame".^[14]

Rowling said on her website that she resisted her editor's requests to remove the troll scene, stating "Hermione is so very annoying in the early part of Philosopher's Stone that I really felt it needed something (literally) huge to bring her together with Harry and Ron."^[1]

[edit] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Hermione (along with Mrs. Weasley and a few female students of Hogwarts) develops a liking for Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart as he had written all the books required for the subject of Defence Against The Dark Arts in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.^[15] During a morning confrontation between the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams, a brawl nearly ensues after Draco Malfoy calls her a "Mudblood," an insulting epithet for Muggle-born wizards which she does not yet understand and later ignores. She assembles the Polyjuice Potion needed for the trio to disguise themselves as Malfoy's housemates to collect information about the Heir of Slytherin who has reopened the Chamber of Secrets. However, she is unable to join Harry and Ron in the investigation after the hair plucked from the robes of Slytherin student Millicent Bulstrode (with whom Hermione was previously matched up during Lockhart's ill-fated Duelling Club) was that of her cat, whose appearance she takes on in her human form; it takes several weeks for the effects to completely wear off. Hermione is Petrified by the basilisk after successfully identifying the creature through library research. Though she lies incapacitated in the hospital wing, her information is crucial to Harry and Ron in their successful mission to solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. Hermione is revived after Harry kills the basilisk, but she is devastated to learn that all end-of-year exams have been cancelled as a school treat.^[16]

[edit] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Hermione buys a cat named Crookshanks, who takes to chasing Ron's pet rat, Scabbers.^[17] Before the start of term, Professor McGonagall secretly gives her a Time-Turner, a device which enables her to go back in time and handle her heavy class schedule, though this is not revealed until the penultimate chapter. Much tension comes into play between Hermione and her two best friends; Harry is furious with her because she told McGonagall that he had received a Firebolt, which was confiscated to be inspected for traces of dark magic. Ron is angry because he feels Crookshanks is responsible for Scabbers' disappearance, while Hermione fiercely maintains that Crookshanks is innocent.

While filling in for Remus Lupin in one Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Severus Snape labels Hermione "an insufferable know-it-all" and penalises Gryffindor after she speaks out of turn in her attempt to describe a werewolf when no one else does. She correctly deduces Lupin's secret after completing Snape's homework assignment from the class, while Crookshanks proves vital in exposing Scabbers as Peter Pettigrew, a friend of James and Lily Potter who revealed their whereabouts to Lord Voldemort the night of their murders, and was able to wrongly implicate Sirius Black (revealed to be Harry's godfather) in the Potters' deaths.^[18] The Time-Turner enables Hermione and Harry to rescue Sirius and the hippogriff Buckbeak.^[18]

[edit] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Hermione is horrified by the cruelty she witnesses to house-elves and founds S.P.E.W., the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, as an effort to gain basic rights for the elves. She is Bulgarian Quidditch prodigy Viktor Krum's date at the Yule Ball of the Triwizard Tournament.^[19] The proper pronunciation of her name (Her-my-oh-nee) is interjected into the plot when she teaches it to Krum; the best he can do is "Herm-own-ninny," but she has no problem with it.^[1] She later gets into a heated argument with Ron after he accuses her of "fraternising with the enemy" in reference to her friendship with Krum. In the book, Hermione's feelings toward Ron are hinted at when she says that Ron can't see her "like a girl," but Krum could. She supports Harry through the Triwizard Tournament, helping him prepare for each task. At the end of the second task, she was asked by Krum to come to Bulgaria with him, but she politely refused. It is unknown if Krum and Hermione kissed, as mentioned in the sixth book. Near the end of the term she stops fraudulent tabloid reporter and unregistered Animagus Rita Skeeter, who had published defamatory material about Hermione, Harry, and Hagrid during the Triwizard Tournament, by holding her Animagus form (a beetle) captive in a jar.^[20]

[edit] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Hermione becomes a Gryffindor prefect along with Ron, and befriends Luna Lovegood, but their friendship gets off to a rocky start after Hermione chastises the publication of Luna's father: "The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that." She also lambasts housemate Lavender Brown for believing the Daily Prophet's allegations of Harry fabricating stories of Voldemort's return. Ron and Hermione spend much of their time bickering, likely due to their growing romantic feelings toward one another, but they show continued loyalty to Harry. Later, with Luna's assistance, Hermione blackmails Rita Skeeter into interviewing Harry for an upcoming issue of The Quibbler. Attempts to ban the magazine from Hogwarts are futile as the story spreads quickly through the school. One turning point in the series is when Hermione conceives the idea of Harry secretly teaching defensive magic to a small band of students in defiance of the Ministry of Magic's dictum to teach only the subject's basic principles from a textbook, with no hands-on practice. Hermione gets an unexpectedly huge response, and the group becomes the nascent Dumbledore's Army. She is involved in the battle in the Department of Mysteries and seriously injured by a spell from Death Eater Antonin Dolohov, but makes a full recovery.^[21]

[edit] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

New Potions professor Horace Slughorn invites Hermione to join his "Slug Club,"^[22] and she helps Ron retain his spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team when she secretly jinxes Cormac McLaggen, causing him to miss his last save attempt during Keeper tryouts. Hermione's feelings for Ron continue to grow and she decides to make a move by inviting him to Slughorn's Christmas Party, but he romances Lavender instead in retaliation for his belief that Hermione had kissed Krum years earlier. She attempts to get even by dating McLaggen at the Christmas party, but her plan goes bust and she abandons him midway through the party.^[23] Ron and Hermione continually feud with each other (Ron is upset with her because she set birds to attack him after seeing him and Lavender Brown kissing; Hermione is mostly mad because of her growing jealousy) until he suffers a near-fatal poisoning from tainted mead, which frightens her enough to reconcile with him. Following Dumbledore's death, Ron and Hermione both vow to stay by Harry's side regardless of what happens.^[24] A minor subplot in the book is that Hermione and Harry form a rivalry in Potions, as Hermione is used to coming first in her subjects and is angered that Harry outperforms her undeservedly by following tips and different instructions written in the margins of Harry's potions book by the previous owner. Hermione is also the only one of the trio to successfully pass her Apparition test (Ron failed and Harry was too young).