Harry Potter and the Descent into Madness

100 View Special! Highlight: Draco Malfoy!

(This is so late!) I've decided to do this for my Harry Potter story too, I'll write view specials on the backgrounds of characters. You'll learn this in-story too, but more gradually, and it won't be as thorough. The view specials are intended for you to live through their past. For this reason, unlike the View Specials in Forgiveness, these will be moved to the back of the book.

Let's start with Draco! Why? Because Harry and Draco are the main characters of this fanfiction, and we have seven whole books (eight movies) of Harry's story.

This may not be accurate, but it's my take on what Draco's past could be.

Draco Malfoy: age 9

"I'm gonna use magic like you, someday, right Momma?" I ask, waiting for the answer my mother always gave. Her warm lap and proud, glittering blue eyes seem to invite me to smile. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a bun.

I've seen her face frost over before, but for me, it was warm.

"Of course, Draco." Momma says, smiling down at me. "You'll be the best wizard ever."

"That's only if the boy would listen." Father interrupts. "Now that the Dark Lord is gone, we need to be ready for whichever wizard comes next. We can't do that if the boy remains soft."

Momma frowns. "He will be."

I glance over to Father, his stern gaze over me. His pale blonde hair looks like my own, and it's tied back.  I slide down quickly.

Soft meant weak, and being weak was bad.

"I'm sorry, father. I'll do better."

"Honestly," Father frowns, glaring down at me. "If the Dark Lord was still here ..."

The Dark Lord was what Father called He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If I was soft, than the Dark Lord was my opposite. He was powerful, cruel, and able to bring our family back to where we belonged.

Sometimes though, the way Father talked about him like the Dark Lord was an old girlfriend. Other times, it sounded like the Dark Lord was an older brother to me: someone I could never measure up to. In this case, it was the latter.

"I will do better!"

"Then do so." He says, dismissing me.

I nod, before scurrying out of the room. When I go to close the door behind me though, I pause, hearing Father mutter something to Momma.

"Those muggle children are becoming a nuisance. If the Dark Lord was here, I would have killed them by now, but they insist on coming in and egging the place."

Momma's voice, now as cold as the wind, scoffs in agreement. "If we try anything magical, we risk revealing our world to the muggles. We'll just ha-"

I close the door softly, hoping they wouldn't notice my eavesdropping.

I pace the darkened corridor, threading my way to my room, passing paintings that attempt conversation and arched doorways.

Muggle children?

I pause, halfway up the stairs, as the thought hits me.

Of course!

I'll get rid of the muggles and that will prove that I wasn't soft.

Father would be proud. Maybe he'll even give me a smile as warm as Momma's.

I sneak down the stairs, past Dobby the soft house-elf, and rushed over to where we kept the brooms. I grab my toy broom and run back to the stairs, almost knocking over the house-elf in my hurry.