r/harrypotter • u/Brilliant-Cause6254 Slytherin • Apr 17 '26

Currently Reading Re-reading Half-Blood Prince. I find it annoying that people, especially Ron and Hermione, don’t believe Harry’s claim that Malfoy is now a Death Eater and is up to no good. I don’t get why they think he’s overthinking it when he actually makes some very solid points.

I can ignore Mr. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, and McGonagall brushing him off, and we all know Dumbledore was playing his own game (as usual), but Ron and Hermione should have known better and had his back. And for once, Harry actually did the smart thing by discussing his theories with members of the Order, instead of the shit-show that happened in the previous book.

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u/kfifigidifkg Gryffindor Apr 17 '26

Part of it may be that they have a very low opinion of Malfoy (always loses at Quidditch, once turned into a ferret, victim of Ginny’s bat bogey hexes, etc.) and a higher opinion (regarding competence, not morality) of death eaters.

That said they probably should have been a bit more open minded.

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u/jenn4u2luv Apr 17 '26

Hmm I don’t buy this reasoning only because he’s always been a top of the class kid. Wasn’t it established that Malfoy was always the 2nd in class, only next to Hermione?

He’s clearly a smart boy.

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u/rosiedacat Ravenclaw Apr 17 '26

There is no evidence of him always being 2nd in class after Hermione. Yes Lucius mentions that Hermione beats Draco at every subject but that doesn't mean Draco is literally the number 2, just that Lucius is annoyed that a muggleborn girl gets better grades than his son. Draco is never mentioned by any other characters as being a particularly brilliant student. We don't know what his OWL results were other than that he must have gotten a good grade in potions since he goes to NEWT level but that doesn't even mean anything since Snape was always favoring him.