Gryffindor Pride

I still can’t believe it. My mind can’t accept it. Draco Malfoy is dead. I have always expected him to forever exist, taunting me, provoking me, keeping the balance. But I know it is true. The only heir to the Malfoy line, dead. I am grateful for what he did. Going against everything he was ever taught takes some nerve. The Daily Prophet says that Voldemort had been defeated by a Hogwarts student. Yes, it is true, but the Prophet says nothing about Draco, nothing about what he sacrificed. I know the truth. The truth is powerful, sometimes it may hurt, it may kill, but we have to accept it. We will be blind if we see only what we want to see. I once believed that he deserved to die. If you told me a year ago that I would respect Draco Malfoy, I would have laughed at you. But in death, he has earned my admiration. He should be honoured, for he ended Voldemort’s reign of terror.

     The potion he brewed was a complex one, maybe more so than the Polyjuice potion, but it was a dark one. It expels the soul of its magic. Voldemort, his body made of pure magic, was nothing more. Draco tricked Voldemort by taking some himself. Malfoy purged of magic, was nothing more than a squib. This is what he did to gain my reverence.

     They found his body the night after the Christmas feast at the top of the Astronomy tower. Very dramatic place to die. He killed himself, unable to bear the shame, unable to face his family, unable to face the world. Suicide. He didn’t deserve to die that way; no one deserves that. Tomorrow is the funeral for the friend I could have had. This world is in debt to him. To that friendless 6th year student. I’m asked to make a guest appearance at his funeral. To say some special words, but it’s really because the Malfoy family wants to be seen as friends of the famous Harry Potter. But I will go.

     As he looked out at the admiring crowd, admiring him for a thin scar on his forehead, he started his speech. "Today I have come to remember and honour a great man, a wizard who gave up everything for his fight against Voldemort. And, he succeeded we are forever rid of the Dark Lord. But, he isn’t honoured or remembered. If it was someone else, we - me included - would reach out to him before he made the final choice of his life. Before he was so alone, he took his own life. If it was someone else, they would be remembered. For, we were filled with Gryffindor Pride, no matter what house you were in. It is this pride that makes us refuse to see the world in a clear perspective. To see only what we want to. Draco Malfoy grew up learning the dark arts, but he was able to overcome that and become a hero. It is too late now, but I am sorry, Draco. Draco Malfoy was the person that defeated the dark lord, the forgotten hero. A Slytherin filled with Gryffindor Pride."