Tom Felton, who played the role of Draco Malfoy in the film adaptation of the Harry Potter series, has reprised the role for the Broadway musical of 'The Cursed Child'. While fans are excited, here are lesser known facts about the literary character that so many people loved to hate
Updated On: 2025-06-06 02:07 PM IST
Compiled by : Nascimento Pinto
Original names
While Draco Malfoy is a character that has been immortalised in literary history because of Harry Potter, the initial name for the character was Draco Spungen, according to the first draft, but was later changed to Draco Spinks, before finally arriving at Draco Malfoy, according to hp-lexicon.org. This is the photo of The Black Medicine Coffee Co. Cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 26, 2017. The cafe is one of the locations where author JK Rowling wrote part of her Harry Potter books
Meaning of the name
There are several theories about the origin of the name Draco Malfoy and some of them are really popular. Philip Nel, an American scholar of children's literature, believes it originates from the French word 'mal foi' meaning "bad faith" on the other hand an article published in Nielsen and Nielsen says that Draco could have originated from 'draconian' and Mal from the French prefix 'bad'
Tribute to the stars and constellations
Draco's mother Narcissa Black Malfoy is related to Sirius Black, who was named after the brightest star, but even other members of the Black family are named after stars or constellations. Some of them include Andromeda Black Tonks, who was Narcissa and Bellatrix Black Lestrange's middle sister. While Draco itself is the name of a constellation, he even named his son Scorpius after one which is in the southern sky
What's in the wand?
While Harry Potter's wand is spoken about a lot, Draco's wand made from the hawthorne plant and unicorn hair. Just like others whose wands have a meaning for choosing their owner, the unicorn hair signifies that Draco has some good in him, and hawthorne denotes those wizards who are going through great internal conflict
Popular culture
With the series have such a heavy influence on the literary world, Draco also inspired the name of the American band Draco and the Malfoys, which comprises of half-brothers Brian Ross and Bradley Mehlenbacher.
In another popular reference, Wizards of Waverly Place character Jerko Phoenix has been parodied on Draco's character
