That Draco Malfoy was a genius surprised everyone but himself.
When Draco was six months old he began his first experiment- that of magic. He’d had consciousness for almost three weeks now, enough to ascertain that he was in fact in existence, and was entirely too bored. The adults could use “magic” to entertain themselves, so why couldn’t he?
By the time his mother decided to teach him English, Draco already knew more about magic than most of the people attending their fifth year at Hogwarts. He’d eagerly watched the dark-cloaked men his father had worked with, memorising their spells and attempting wandless magic. Along with this came the words. Death Eaters spoke a mix of English, French and Latin, so Draco was more or less fluent in all three.
When the bright-coloured men and women came and searched the entire mansion, Draco learned more words, many of which sounded better than the ones his fathers’ friends used. He used his language skills to ascertain that most of the people didn’t like him or his family.
In all honesty, Draco had begun to agree. After all, mother was always so rude to the house elves, and father had recently begun trying to teach him the bad words some of his friends used to say- he had also introduced Draco to Crabbe and Goyle, the two most boys he had ever had the displeasure of being placed near.
By his sixth birthday, Draco hardly spoke. This wasn’t due to lack of knowledge; rather, ones secrets were revealed when one spoke too often, and he didn’t want people knowing what he thought. Draco had long since ascertained that he thought differently to other wizards, and he didn’t want anyone else to know his cards too soon.
Occasionally Lucius would drag his son into his work at the Ministry of Magic. This was because Draco had begun to resemble his father almost exactly- a big thing in pureblood society because often the distant wives of rich men would cheat on their husbands and sire an unpure child. Draco’s appearance was proof of his “betterness to the filth that riddles our society”, and he was encouraged to know his place at the top of the food chain.
Draco knew that he was in the top rung of society, but he didn’t think it was because of his pureblood status. Draco was a genius, and more intelligent than any of the politicians his father aligned himself with.
By the time Draco Malfoy started Hogwarts he had built up the facade of rich, pureblood boy. All of that was about to change.
