No. Atleats not as evil as people think...

I chose "Maybe" because I think he is both evil, and not evil.

Evil- because of yes his family, but how he taunts people, embarrases them, and trys to hurt them.

HBP SPOILER
Not Evil- because if you remember, before Snape rudley butted in , Draco had lowered his want, as if he really didn't didn't want to honestly kill someone.

Sam

Another lovely poll about "good and evil"

I don't think that Draco is anything near evil at present time.
Evil to me means much more than hating somebody or having prejudices against aome people or even bullying people around. As far as I am concerned "evil" is more. Much more. I would define someone as "evil" (once again: I have a problem with absolute words like good and evil) when he has stepped over the line from sheer hatred to cold, emotionless calculation (not sure if I got the right word here. Sorry - I'm no native speaker). Being blinded by hate and/or some ideology and real joy in other peoples miseries, even if you don't know them is something different.
While Lucius is totally this kind of character his son is not. Otherwise he wouldn't have needed more than a second to finish off Dubledore at the end of book 6. As Dumbledore rightly says: he is no murderer. Or at least he's not yet. Draco is still afraid of the effect of his action. This may or may not change now that he is out of Hogwarts far away from his former life. Maybe he turns into a true death-eater, maybe he will start to realize why he has come to this point of no return and stand against Voldemort. But if he does so he might be even more "evil" than before only that he is fighting for the "right" side but for his own purpose. Who knows?

I personally think that Draco is not Evil, just troubled. there is also some evidence to back this up!

1. When Draco was going to kill Dumbledore he was hesitating.

2. Draco was about to lower his wand then the Death Eaters came!

3. Draco still wouldnt kill Dumbledore when the Death Eaters were there!


These are my reasons for believing Draco is still Good!

No, I just think he is confused and doing what he thinks he's obligated to do since his father failed Voldemort. Draco has a conscience, when he was supposed to kill Dumbledore he was hesitating because he really didn't want to do it, he's not a killer, if he was he would've killed Dumbledore and been done with it, not even letting Dumbledore talk to him and make him think.

I do not think that Draco is evil.

I think he was trying to be evil, but can't because he is not truly evil.
He couldn't kill Dumbledore and I don't think he is evil.

Gack, I'm lazy, so I just copied and edited something I posted somewhere else...

His situation was very difficult, but that wouldn't have made stepping out of it easy. It would have definitely taken some bravery to decide to accept Dumbledore's help. There was a lot of uncertainty about such a decision - what would happen to his father, for one. And yet, he wouldn't be tempted by the offer if he wasn't mortally afraid of Voldemort. In truth, either choice would have required a different type of bravery - at the very core, he would have had to decide if he was really good or evil. Would he choose the good side and face uncertainty, or would he choose the evil side, and clench his teeth and face the task he was being set - of murdering.

And he did choose. He wouldn't have killed Dumbledore. Isn't that a sign that indeed, at that moment, he had a change of heart - or at least, his heart revealed the truth to him?

So I chose 'no' - he made a decision... Well, that's what I think today.

I don't think Malfoy is really evil because he was desperate---LV made him follow him. If his dad satisifed LV enough, he wouldn't have forced him join the deatheaters. And in the last battle with dumbledore, he knew what he was doing wasn't right so he hesitated. This obviously shows that he is innocent, but he is influenced to be evil, then he realised that he was evil and tried to turn back good!

Look at Malfoys family, evil is etched across the generations...*how poetic!* We look at him in the tower, and although he is weak and he is scared, he still puts Dumbledore into the position that results in his death. He almost killed Ron and Katie Bell and didn't care two hoots about them. He's bullied his way through the school, and to make things worse he lets the death eaters into Hogwarts. I mean so what if he was just a frightened child up there in the tower? So what if he was crying to myrtle, he turned round and tried to Crucio Harry! Draco is undoubtedly evil, he is not a nice guy, he actively takes pleasure from other people suffering....

I don't think Draco is really 'Evil' as such...He's just like the bad boy who wants to do bad things,dominate and bully people.Maybe he's awed by his fathers works and wants to try and be like him...Or maybe he's not evil yet....I'd rather say he's bad and wants to be evil but is not "truly evil"!

No, I don't think Draco is truly evil - not in the Voldemort, Lucius or Greyback sense anyway.

He's power hungry, and he loves the weight that having bigger, scarier guys on his side wields. That's because he, himself, is weak. You can see that when Dumbledore tells him about the threat Greyback poses...not realising what he had done when he'd let someone like him into the school where his friends are. Draco is a classic thug really - acts first, thinks later. Yes, it seemed cool to be doing Voldemort's work at first because it gets him the recognition that he's always wanted - his desire to be in the Slug Club proves that. He's jealous of Harry, always has been. His flippancy about the club shows how much it truly bothers him and I guess you have to feel kind of sorry for him there.

But he doesn't have the guts to kill anyone. He wouldn't have killed Dumbledore - even if he had been forced to attempt the AK, it is very likely he would have failed. Harry couldn't do it - and I'm sure that he really meant to kill Bellatrix. He's just a coward who enjoys power and being in a position where he can dictate to others. That doesn't really make him evil - it makes him weak, incapable of empathy, but not evil. He's just supremely self centred and he acted out of fear for himself and his family. When it counted, he just couldn't cut the mustard and I have no doubts that he'll probably suffer for it when he gets back to Voldemort.

Unless my man, Snape, protects him, of course *Go Snape!!* *does little Joey-type dance*

I think Draco isnt really evil, cause even though he hates harry and he says he hates Dumbledore, what he said at the end of Half-Blood Prince where he almost let Dumbledore live.

opps forgot to finish, anyway I think deep deep down he isnt evil but his dad has twisted him by predujices and stuff but he really likes Dumbly

i think Draco is truly evil he would do any thing to bcome his dad and plus he wouldn't let his father down every one in his family were all supporters of Lord Voldemort and what he did so now it is Draco's time to become a real Death Eater.

i dont think Draco is truly evil just a mean boy. he likes to bully people and be rude and all that stuff but when it comes to truly evil stuff,such as killing someone, he just cant bring himself to do it beacuse unlike his dad and LV hes not a truly evil person

I think he thinks he is evil be he isn't. Becasue he is in Slytherin and they are percieved to be "Evil" he thinks that he should act in that way. His dad is a death eater and so all that he has been thought is how to be evil. I think he dad is influencing him to be evil but in his heart its not who he wants to be. In the 6th book he was meant to kill Dumbledore but he only managed to corner him. He couldnt do it. When the necklace and the drink(which Ron drank) fell into the wrong hands the victims didnt die they were just seriously ill and surely Dumbledore could sense a curse from miles off. I dont think Draco's heart was in it to be honest. He only did it out of fear of Voldemort and having him and his family killed. Ok so he isnt the nicest of people but I dont think that he is Death Eater potential.

I really think that Draco is not evil.I think that had to be evil in HBP or he would die and at that moment when he had to kill Dumbledore he didn't kill him.He trys to be evil but, i think he just doesn't have it in him.He can be mean and obnoxious.I think that deep down he is not a evil person though.

I think he's not evil...
that night when it happend (can't say it, too terrible )
you could see that he was sorry, he diddn't want to do it.
I think he just like being impotant, cause his dad is always pushing him down and stuff...
he just like being noticed, do something you know...
and he know his mother won't stop him...
he wanted to show that he is good, he is smart and that he can do something

HE IS VERY EVIL IS ON SLYTERINS AND HE HATE HARRY




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i don't know how you think he is not evil. he was going to kill Dumbledore. he was so excited that Voldemort assigned the job to him so in other word he was happy about becoming a death eater. he hates harry and everyone else on the earth. so in my case that is evil to me.

He's really really close to evil - but when you've been raised by Lucius Malfoy, I don't really think you can blame him. Though I think his reluctance to kill Dumbledore shows that he's not totally bad.

He's a Death Eater, but I really don't think he understands what it is to be one, he justs likes the feeling of power, the way it scares people. In the final book, we will probably see just how unsuited he is to the role -he'll redeem himself towards the end.

No no no no no no no no he is not evil, he will be good, he will not take his fathers past. He is destined to go to the good side with Harry and the gang. Yay!

HE DEF. GOOD!!!! JUST A LITTLE UNSURE ANOUT HIMSELF!!!!

hey spencer

i really doubt that Draco malfoy Harry's Ron's and Hermione's enemy will join there gang, they hate him and he hates them infact Draco hates All Gryffindors. that is like saying that lord voldemort will become a teacher at Hogwarts i don't think it will happen. i think Draco is truly evil and will be put into prison in the 7th book for being a death eater.

This is a great topic. When you think of his actions, there has never been anything clarifying that he is 'evil'. Most things just make him look like a jerk . When he finally had his chance to kill Dumbledore, he backed down. If he was purely evil, surley that would be something that would come of ease to him? I think he will end up being evil, no way possible he'll end up being best bud's with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It just dosent fit.

I think that Draco really is good, as long as he's not in the pressence of his father. I think his father pressures him to be mean, and evil to everyone. I think that Draco deep down is really good, I mean he didn't kill dumbledore.

I don't think that Draco is truely evil. I know he hated Dumbledore and all, but when it came to killing him, he obviously didn't want to do it, but he didn't really have a choice, it was that or he would be killed.

It seems the consensus is that the biggest influencing factor on Draco's "evilness" is the family background. I quite agree though, people have been known in the books and in "real life" to reject their upbringing and forge path's of their own.

On the blatant surface we see the Malfoy's "holier than now" attitudes and their complete belief that the "Holy Grail" is the blood line (so to speak), and that they see nothing wrong in resorting to violence to protect that "Holy Grail". In a sense they may feel it a sacred obligation to fight for this belief as if they were the "Knights Templar" (Though they call themselves "Death Eaters" instead). I think that their ultimate motivation for joining the "Death Eaters" is to preserve said "San Greal".

However, I feel there is a somewhat more subtle layer to the Malfoy Family. This is a layer that can lift them out of the clutches of evil if they so choose it too. This layer contains the power of which Lord Voldemort knows not. This is the power of love. Despite how wicked and cruel the family appears to be, they obviously care deeply for one another. This is the layer that feeds Draco's conscience. This is the layer that prevents Draco (and Lucius and Narcissa for that matter) from being truly evil. This is the layer that I am hoping will bring them out of the darkness and open their hearts to the larger picture.

In summary I do not think Draco is truly evil as he still has the capacity to love.

I don't think that Malfoy is evil... I think that the only reason that he was playing the "Bad guy part" was because he didn't want to get his parents killed. He said that if he didn't succeed, that Voldemort would kill him and his mom. He loves his mom and wants her to live... i think that that is the only reason for him being "evil" if you must.

Draco is not evil. He's stupid enough to think that Voldemort is cool and admirable because of his powers, but if Draco really was evil, he would've killed Dumbledore...

even though he went over to the dark side i dont think he is truly evil. if he was truly evil he would've just finished dumbledore off then and there in like 2 seconds. but he didnt, he hesitated before and never did it. that's why snape ended up doing it. so he could be truly evil..but i dont think so.

im not sure on that one...he definatly seems to be and with his dad being a death eater and evil..he would definatly be taught to be well...evil..but, he didnt kill Dumbledore..snape did..which tells me that he isnt all evil. but im not sure...thats why i picked maybe.

dont get me wrong, he will never be harry's best friend, but i dont think he is evil. i just keep remembering the end of HBP when he wasn't going to kill dumbledore. i realise that this post was written before that book came out, but that is what my impression of him is. before that happened i think i hated with all my heart, but i dont think he was ever truly evil. think of the figure heads that he had in his life. his father, his mother, all of his paretns friends. it would have been a loving family of death eaters. those are the people that he modled himself on. those are the people that he grew up watching, and mimicking. and remembering that wizards stayed at home until they were ready for hogwarts. he would have watched his parents and all their friends talking about the demize of muggles, and mud-bloods.
not to mention when he did finally get away from his family and family friends and went to hogwarts, he had snape who, even though i dont think is entirely evil, always acts and appears very much like draco's father. no wonder he grew up with the values and ideals that he has. but he could still see reason in what dumbledore was saying to him, which indicates that he is not an evil person, he just doesnt know any better.

I dont think he is truely evil.
I think he does what his father told him to do. Sometimes it seemed to me as if he wasnt sure of what he was doing as if deep inside he thoght it was wrong, like in scene he is crying on the bathroom...
Maybe now that his father is not around he will stop acting like "bad boy" and ,who knows, end up helping harry...

In my opinion, I would say he's evil. I have my reasons for saying this, so bear with me. For example, he was on a special mission for Voldemort in HBP with Snape's guidance. He also dislikes Harry Potter probably because his father is a follower of Voldemort aswell as his friends, Crabbe and Goyle and their parents. Draco also likes to pick on Harry's friends, especially Hermione. That's what I think.

How evil can one be if they break down in the bathroom and have a good cry with Myrtle? I think hes a little over the normal level of evil but i believe he will go to the good side. There would still be a lot of head butting with the trio but i think he will eventually come out to be a good guy.

I dont think Draco is evil at all. when people think draco they think he is evil.
i think he is just being awful just for his parents sake.

Draco is definitlely not evil...he's just trying to impress. I can imagine his father didn't give him the love and attention a typical growing boy needs. And a young boy looks up to his father. Thus, growing up in an environment that stresses doing things for the dark lord to be accepted and loved, would definitely make a boy do things that are not exactly nice.
And the greatest moment that showed Malfoy to be good doing what is evil inorder to be accepted by his father is when he was trying to kill Dumbledore at the end of HBP. He couldn't do it... and didn't for that matter! And Dumbledore managed to talk him out of it, but then the other death eaters came and started coaxing him.
I see Malfoy as a product of his parents...specifically his father. If Malfoy were to have another family, that taught him to love, and most of all that loved him and built his self worth, then I'm sure Malfoy would have been quite a pleasant guy! He would have never needed to prove himself in all the wrong ways.

No, Draco isn't actually really evil. I won't deny that he's probably a Death Eater now but that probably wasn't out of choice. He was doing it for is father. And because Voldemort chose him to be one, he couldn't really refuse somethin g that Voldemort offered him, imagine what he'd do if he did! I'm not convinced that many of the Death Eaters are truly evil, it's only under Voldemorts influence that they act that way.

I don't think he's evil his dad just sort of bullys him into being a death eater. He wasn't born evil. I think the only reason he bullies everyone in school is because his dad bullies him and he also dosn't have great friends. (and I think he doesn't know how to get his anger out so he bullies) I think he's just misunderstood.

Hes a bit evil but not totally evil he has a bit of his father but the rest is good but maybe im just saying this because I fancy Tom (I love you Tom)

no he isnt evil he just wants to make daddy proud

That is a could question. Personally I do think that on the inside he is actually a good person but on the outside he does have his fathers image to maintain. It's easy to live in someone's shadow when all you have to do is snap your fingers and what you want is done but now Draco has to perform in his fathers shoes and he doesn't really have the stomach for it.

Do you really think Draco wanted to be a Death Eater? To me, it seems like he was just pressured into it by his parents (well, his mother mostly since Lucius went to jail after the whole Ministry fiasco) And if he really was pressured into it, I really wonder whether he regrets it sometimes. Although I'm sure most Death Eaters regret their choice at time - not exactly the most luxurious way to lead a life, is it?

This is shown in HBP; Remember when he's crying in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom? Most would say that that's queer. I say that is expected - can a 16 yr. old really handle the pressures of being a Death Eater? I think now. I don't have the exact quote, but I know it states that when Dumbledore suggested that they hide Draco and his mother (Lucius would be safe in Azkaban), Draco seemed to whimper or he seemed to want to give in to the suggestion. Also, if I remember correctly, he descended to sit on the ground, or something of the sort, or dropped his wand. To me, this is the first sign that Draco was just plain scared. He's just a poor kid that made a mistake! That's what I think.

And I know he isn't the most pleasant a character, but we've got to understand that he is human (well, in the book at least) and he has feelings. You never know what caused him to be the way he is, unless JKR explains a reason in the seventh book, and I have a strong feeling it has to do with his past and how his parents treated him; I'm almost sure they weren't exactly loving towards him, and that always causes trauma.

caballo potro you arent the only one tom is totally hot but no i dont think draco is evil at all i think he was doing it for his family because eh doesnt want his mother to be killed well thats whata i think

I agree completely with Anastasia K, and I would highly recommend that everyone read that post - she worded everything fantastically!

To that I'd like to add that if you're looking just pre-HBP, Draco never does anything "evil". The most he does is call Hermione a "mudblood" and try to get Harry and the gang in trouble. That's typical teenage and kid stuff. Also when you look at his relationship with his father, Draco is always trying to live up to Lucius' expectations. Lucius wants him to be the top of the class, and when he can't make it because of Hermione - he gets upset. He lashes out at her just the way, I imagine, Lucius lashed out at him when he found out. I'm not going to say he's the best person in the world, but he's definitely misunderstood. And I think JKR is going to show that there are more faces to Draco than what we've seen before. And to look at his character positively... here are some of his characteristics:
smart - as before said he does well in his classes, especially Potions. Well enough, at any rate, to be given the job of prefect.
artistic - he came up with a pretty nifty song, Weasley is our King. Also, some of his other ideas, like the Potter Stinks buttons, while rather negative (and childish), have some very interesting concepts about them.
caring - he loves his mother and his family. HBP proved this.
And I know there are more. So basically, Draco's not evil. He's a teenage boy trying to live up to his father's expectations. He's caught up in something he can't control.

Im not really sure. i mean he didn't have the guts to kill DD. But yet he has done some seriosly bad things. Though i suppose his father counts against him. Doesn't it. I guess that we will all have to wait till book 7 to be sure.

Malfoy is a lot of things -- cowardly, manipulative, selfish, and sometimes downright cruel -- but I don't think he's evil. The fact that he couldn't kill Dumbledore proves that. The only reason he tried to kill DD in the first place was because his life and his family's depended it on it, and even then, he couldn't do it. Being mean and being evil are two totally different things. Voldemort was evil -- he didn't want or need "friends", spent a majority of his time alone, and didn't really care about anything else but himself and the whole idea of immortality. Malfoy, I think, likes having friends, and likes being popular. That would explain why he's so jealous of Harry all the time, and why he was bragging about his Death Eater status to his friends. He's just trying to live up to his father's name, but doesn't have the heart...but I'll guess we'll find out later next year.

No I don't think he is all evil, it's a front. He is trying to live up to Lucius Malfoy, and now that Lucius is gone to Azkaban, he has to take over his old man's job as one of Voldy's follwers, he does not want to do it but he's afraid if he does not then he will be killed. Does anyone remember him crying in the bathroom to Moaning Myrtle? Come on now, tough bully like Draco crying like a baby? He's got to have soft side to him, he just tries to act like he's tougher than what he is, w/o Crabbe and Goyle Draco would be a spineless jellyfish. He needs them to make his bad boy image shine through. Deep down he is an insecure guy.

Oh my good. Mus I point out the obvious. The answer is yes. Draco Malfoy is evil. He inherited the traits from his father and probably is a death eater as well.

I don't think he's truly evil, just bad!! I mean he was brought up to be an evil little thing...but i don't think he's as evil as his father.