When Draco Malfoy arrives in HBO’s new TV show adaptation of Harry Potter, his story will come with some key changes from the movies and book series.
After being portrayed throughout all eight movies by Tom Felton, who has also recently reprised his role in Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sequel play, Draco Malfoy will be played by up-and-coming actor Lox Pratt in HBO’s Harry Potter series. While Harry Potter isn’t set to hit HBO and HBO Max until early 2027, the latest adaptation has received some exciting teases about its story and how it’ll be distinguished from the movies and original novels.
According to Pratt (via 1883 Magazine), one key change that will be made in HBO’s version is that Harry Potter season 1 will include multiple scenes of Draco Malfoy at home. The upcoming episodes, which are still in production, will feature moments set at Malfoy Manor that help viewers “start to get an insight into how he is,” rather than simply seeing Draco from Harry’s point of view at Hogwarts or Diagon Alley:
“I think with this adaptation, you get to see so much more than the books. [The books] are very much over Harry’s shoulder, which is great, and that’s how they played the film as well. And I think Francesca [Gardiner] and Mark [Mylod] have been audible about this in their interviews, there’s just so much more that you get to see. You get to see all the teachers in their little rooms. You get to see Draco at home. I won’t spoil too much about that, but there are some brilliant scenes at home where you start to get an insight into how he is.”
Comparing his Harry Potter role to his upcoming BBC series adaptation of Lord of the Flies, in which he plays Jack, Pratt praises the depth in which HBO’s show gets to showcase characters like Draco. By making departures from Harry’s perspective in the kids’ first year at Hogwarts, the actor teases that these changes help make Draco a more well-rounded, three-dimensional character early in the story:
“Similar to Flies, I was grateful that we had the same freedom to explore these characters. Because in the films, Draco is sort of 2D; he is the sneery villain. I feel like there’s so much more – you need to understand why. And you see little glints of it in the film with Lucius and stuff. I think [the series] is really brilliant. I can’t wait to bring it to the screen.”
The inclusion of Malfoy Manor in Harry Potter season 1 marks a significantly different story approach from the movies and J. K. Rowling’s books, especially when it comes to the young villain characters. In both the films and novels, Draco Malfoy’s home wasn’t visited until toward the very end of the series in Deathly Hallows.
Even then, the inclusion of Malfoy Manor in Deathly Hallows is due to the location being taken over as Voldemort’s headquarters to meet with Death Eaters. At that point in the story, it’s difficult to simply see Malfoy Manor as Draco’s home and a direct reflection of the Malfoys themselves. Therefore, by showing Malfoy Manor much earlier in season 1’s take on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the TV show gives a more accurate glimpse into Draco’s upbringing and dynamic at home.
The series introducing Draco’s home so much earlier also aligns with his father, Lucius Malfoy (Johnny Flynn), also appearing earlier than he did in the books or movies. While he didn’t directly join the narrative until the second installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, of the novel and film universes, HBO has confirmed that Lucius Malfoy will be featured in Harry Potter season 1.
With Draco, especially, there looks to be a more concerted effort to avoid simply painting him as the villain outright at the beginning of the Harry Potter show. While he’s still an antagonistic figure, the deeper complexities and nuances of his persona will come to light more clearly early in the series, painting a more sympathetic picture of the young wizard as he gradually becomes entangled in Voldemort’s dark return to power.
In addition to Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, the young cast of Harry Potter season 1 will include Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Finn Stephens as Vincent Crabbe, Elijah Oshin as Dean Thomas, Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley, Tristan and Gabriel Harland as twins Fred and George Weasley, and Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil.