HBO's Harry Potter remake has the opportunity to take a new and more faithful approach to the books, but its runtime gives it room to expand on them as well. And it appears it's officially doing so, as we've gotten confirmation that it will feature the home life of a character we rarely see in that environment: Draco Malfoy.
In an interview with 1883 Magazine, Lox Pratt — the actor taking on the role of Harry's Slytherin nemesis — revealed that the HBO series will feature perspectives outside of Harry's. This means the remake will, indeed, be expanding on book characters and storylines rather than adapting them 1:1. The examples Pratt gives are a bit surprising though:
"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 [showrunners] 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."
The Harry Potter show has the right idea, but expanding Draco's home life is an unexpected choice
Moving away from a single perspective is a smart choice for the Harry Potter series, as it will enable the new adaptation to go deeper than even the source material. It will also separate the show from the Warner Bros. films, which continue to be well regarded, and thus, will take creativity to rival.
So, the upcoming series has the right idea when it comes to exploring other characters when they're outside of Harry's vicinity. This will give the Wizarding World a greater scope, and it will take a more objective view of Harry's story. There are challenges that accompany this — most notably, hiding the twists that Harry and the viewer shouldn't know about — but it's likely to be a positive.
That said, showing us Draco's home life feels like an odd direction to go in, at least at first glance. It risks adding unnecessary fluff, especially when there are more interesting perspectives to make use of. However, there is one way visiting the Malfoy home more regularly could benefit the series. And it would fix an issue from the books and films.
The remake's Draco Malfoy approach could fix a big movie & book problem
Although expanding on Draco's home life feels like an odd choice for the Harry Potter remake, it could actually fix a movie and book problem. Draco is far from the worst villain we meet in either iteration of the story, but the books don't take a hard enough stance on his character. They want us to believe that he has some good in him — at least based on his guilt and doubt in the last two — but he never fully earns redemption.
At the very least, the HBO show can fully capture his complexity by showing more of his struggles at home, and eventually, with the Death Eaters. It won't make up for the terrible things he does, but it will provide a more layered portrayal of the character. It's what the earlier iterations seem to be going for. And it opens the door for a proper redemption, if that's something the series is interested in. It would certainly make it less frustrating that the Malfoys are ultimately spared.
What other characters should the Harry Potter series show us more of?
Bringing us into Malfoy's private life is just one way the Harry Potter series can utilize multiple perspectives, and there are so many other possibilities based on Pratt's comments. In the later seasons, the remake can take viewers into the Order of the Phoenix, showing what its members are up to. It can do the same with the Death Eaters, offering more action and suspense to balance Harry's life at Hogwarts.
The Marauders are another group of characters rife with potential, both in their present-day narratives and backstories. Giving fans more of them would make later emotional beats even more gutting, something that's also true for prominent characters like Dumbledore and Snape. Needless to say, this approach opens up a world of possibilities.