I don't read any fanfiction, but as most of you know, my story that I'm working on is a retelling of the classic, Beauty and the Beast. In that story, as you all know, there is a spoiled prince who gets what is coming to him and is turned into the monster. The only way he can be freed is to be loved by another.
Draco Malfoy, as they saw in A Very Potter Musical, is a little shit.
However, he's not the worst of the Harry Potter Villians. Personally, if I had a chance to take one out, it would be Umbridge, but I digress. I feel like at the end of the Harry Potter series that Draco has changed. He's seen the error of the ways and maybe even feels terrible for joining in with the Death Eaters. He was taught from an early age to hate and fear muggles and mudbloods and sadly had a crappy father that he looked up to.
I see a lot of similarities between my Beast--another spoiled rich kid--and Draco. Both grow up in societies where racism is tolerated, even expected, yet they come out on the other side. However, can people really change? Food for thought.
I'm a firm believer that people can change for the better, but it has to come from within. I was very careful in showing that Jesse/Beast changed on his own. He saw the error of his ways and what he needed to do to fix his situation. Perhaps Draco did as well.
Anyways, I'm just afraid people will think I took this terrible guy and made him into Prince Charming.
Harry Potter/Gone with the Wind reference for your viewing pleasure.
You know, I really liked Draco Malfoy and his progression throughout Rowling's novels. I feel like, intentionally or not on Rowling's part, there was a character arc, and you could see his development from a bratty, spoiled, racist rich kid into a teenager that that is torn between good and evil. I felt like we saw him really struggle, especially in the sixth book and onwards, between good and evil--polarizing as those terms are--and between doing what was right and what wasn't. Then again, I'm one of those people that is often interested more in the antagonist of the story than the protagonist, so maybe I was looking for character arcs/development. :P Antagonists are so fascinating, IMO, and sometimes you can't help but root for them--and wish they would make the right choice, rather than the wrong one.
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