Although Lord Voldemort was the ultimate evil of the meant to be one of Harry's biggest and most consistent adversaries in the series.
Draco's involvement with the dark side of wizardry only got deeper and more intense as the series went on, but after dabbling in serious evil it seems that Draco completely changed his ways. So with that dichotomy in mind, here's 5 reasons why Draco is misunderstood, and 5 reasons why he is actually the worst.
Misunderstood: He Has No Friends
Although Draco does seem to have henchmen and other students that he socializes with, one of the reasons why he's a somewhat pitiful figure in the world of Harry Potter is that he has no real friends.
No one ever seems to like Draco for Draco, they either stick to him because he's an authoritative bully or just because he's a member of the rich and powerful Malfoy family.
The Worst: He's Spoiled
Draco seems to get everything in his life based on the fact that he is a Malfoy. Being a member of a prominent wizarding family accords Draco a lot of privilege, but even beyond that, his parents go far out of their way to spoil him rotten.
When so many other characters have almost nothing, it's hard not to hate Draco when he has everything handed to him and is still so awful.
Misunderstood: He Has Terrible Parents
Being spoiled isn't a very good excuse for being horrible, but to be honest, Draco does deserve a bit of a break considering who his parents are.
His mother Narcissa is from one of the darkest and most bigoted wizarding families in the world, and his father is an arrogant and cruel bully who only cares about his own power. It's not hard to understand why Draco is who he is when these are his role models.
The Worst: He Idolizes His Parents
Although Draco's parents are clearly terrible influences on him, the fact of the matter is that he loves their influence. He goes out of his way to emulate his parents and parrot their beliefs, especially when it comes to his father.
He may not have had much exposure to other ideas or kinds of people, but the very fact that he idolizes his own parents indicates that he's a bit of a jerk naturally.
Misunderstood: He's Bullied
Draco may be the biggest bully in Harry's year at Hogwarts, but one thing that is hard to deny is the fact that the bullying does go both ways. Plenty of people make fun of Draco, are rude to him, or even downright assault him.
Even a teacher has mistreated and humiliated Draco, and while he may have deserved punishments for his behaviors, bullying him probably isn't going to make him improve much.
The Worst: He's A Bully
While Draco does deserve a bit of pity due to the fact that plenty of the students at Hogwarts treat him poorly, it's not as if that treatment stems from nothing and nowhere.
And while Draco seems to be mistreated because of his own behavior and attitude towards others, Draco is the kind of bully who torments other students over things that they can't control. Draco can control his behavior, and he chooses to be a bully.
Misunderstood: He Has A Heart
Obviously one of the most shocking turns of events in the Harry Potter saga was that Draco Malfoy not only became a Death Eater, but that his experience on the dark side actually made him realize how much he didn't like it.
Draco may be nasty and enjoy kicking dirt into other people's faces, but when the reality of actually seriously hurting people or even killing them becomes his reality, he is too good to do it.
The Worst: He's Cruel
While Draco deserves a lot of credit for having a change of heart once things got a little too real for him, the unfortunate reality is that his change of perspective didn't result in much of a change of behavior.
Yes, he wasn't bad enough to actually kill anyone or get people killed, but he was still an unusually cruel and unkind person regardless.
Misunderstood: He's Ignorant
Probably the biggest reason why Draco is a misunderstood character is because he lives in an extremely privileged and isolated bubble, so frankly he's just ignorant about a lot of real world issues.
And because he was raised by haughty and arrogant parents, he reacts to his ignorance through cruelty instead of trying to actually understand how he affects others. Given his turnaround later in life, it seems that his bad behavior was a result of nurture, not nature.
The Worst: He Doesn't Want To Learn
It's clear from the moment that Draco arrives at Hogwarts that the school experience is pushing him very far outside of his comfort zone.
And while he did change his behavior eventually and after experiencing a lot of horrific things, the truth is that he was given many opportunities to learn and change, and throughout the entire course of the story he simply chose not to.
