If you’ve been on the app Tiktok at all in September, then you’ll likely have seen at least a few Wizarding World related Tiktoks, specifically about Draco Malfoy. But why the sudden resurgence of this infamous fantasy series, especially after the author herself revealed her true colors over and over again (the final straw being the extremely transphobic tweets in June), finally losing the favor of the general public over the summer?
Whether or not you agree with the principle of death of the author- where an author’s harmful intentions or actions hold no special weight in determining an interpretation of their writing- the series still holds an important place in the hearts of many, especially marginalised readers. The love and resurgence for Draco Malfoy has acted almost as a rebellion against the author’s resentment for his character and all Slytherins in general. But why Draco?
People feel for him because his parents’ hatred and bigotry corrupted him. It’s the same for any person who was abused growing up. They are the victim, until after a certain point when they become the perpetrators of the next generation of victims of abuse. He is the epitome of an anti-hero. The appeal comes from the fact that these anti-heroes’ moral complexity more closely mirrors our own. They’re flawed. They’re still developing, learning, growing. And sometimes in the end, they trend toward heroism. We root for their redemption and wring our hands when they pay for their mistakes. They surprise us. They disappoint us. And they’re anything but predictable.
Draco was torn between loyalty to his family, fear of Voldemort and worry for his former classmates. The exact moment of change for many fans occurred in The Deathly Hallows, when Harry was being held hostage and the Death Eaters needed Draco to confirm his identity in order to sacrifice him for Voldemort. But Draco could not just flit from one position to another in one fell swoop – and instead of denying it was Harry completely, settled for a passive, “I don’t know.” We forget that he was still only a boy, and seeing innocent people tortured and killed was not something he was prepared for. All the fandom reimaginings and Tiktok POV’s portray him as a tortured soul, who succumbed to his parents’ wishes, but showed his humanity in moments of doubt, his knowledge of the Death Eater’s horrendous actions making him hesitate.
Many fans have also written or made videos of Draco falling in love with “y/n” or the fanfiction term for *insert your name here.* In these fan reimagings, Draco is more of a harmless bad boy that charms all the girls at Hogwarts rather than actual Death Eater and bigot. In these romantic scenarios, he’s pitted against Hufflepuff Head Boy, Cedrick Diggory, Ron Wealsey, or even the boy who lived- Harry Potter in a plethora of love triangles. Some other situations include sleeping over in his dorm, going to the yule ball together, or him defending “y/n” from bullies at Hogwarts. These rewrites have all created a wizarding world separate from the actual canon because of the lack of redemption for Draco in the actual story as he chooses to side with his parents in the final battle, a choice many fans remain disappointed with and seek to rewrite. SMHS student Deniz Ibrahimzade began making Draco related Tiktoks earlier this year after she reread the books and was reminded of her intrigue with his character. “Despite Draco’s actions, I always felt terrible for him…a lot of what he did was because he was conditioned that way. I think he had the potential to do good, but because of Rowling’s stubbornness to show him as evil from the start, there was no redemption arc,” she wrote.
The Tiktoks have gotten so popular that the actor of Draco Malfoy, Tom Felton has even downloaded the app and joined in on the fun. He’s commented about the phenomenon on some of his lives previously, but had also uploaded some “reaction” videos to the Draco fanfiction Tiktoks.
“POV: watching [Tom Felton] react to your #dracotok videos,” Felton wrote in his caption, along with a snake emoji (for Slytherin) and the hashtags #amidoingthisrightyet? and #TikTom.
In the reaction video, Felton goes through a series of exaggerated emotions that include shock, disgust, amusement, confusion, and ultimately sheer joy. Fans were shocked, but also nervous for him to find more explicit content after he’s found the more tame and popular Tiktoks about him. But rest assured, Felton wants to see it all: “Hide nothing,” he says “ I find this all hilarious!”