Harry doesn't think Draco is handsome
... and yet, his eyes keep finding him across the room.
I’ve noticed that some people like to bring up the characters Harry actually describes as beautiful or attractive — almost like it’s some kind of argument against Drarry. Like, "See? He never says Draco is good-looking, so case closed."
But there are a few big problems with that logic.
First. You’re basically saying Harry likes Ginny because she’s pretty.
Yeah, yeah, I know. “He likes her for other reasons too!”
Sure. But those other reasons are vague at best… and honestly, those same traits apply to all the other Weasleys siblings.
So what makes Ginny “the one”? It kind of feels, to ME, like she just got lucky, lucky to be a Weasley-GIRL and lucky to conveniently turn out to be as attractive as Cho.
Second. The implicit idea that you can only fall in love with someone if you find them physically beautiful. When in fact, it’s love that makes someone beautiful in our eyes. And as for attraction, not everyone experiences attraction the same way. And sometimes, especially when feelings are confusing or complicated, that attraction doesn’t come through in obvious terms.
Third. Draco’s physical appearance — whether Harry found him handsome or not — does not erase the clear emotional pull or fascination Harry seemed to have toward him.
Maybe Draco isn’t as handsome as Cedric, Tom Riddle or young Sirius. But it’s remarkable how Draco is the only Slytherin classmate whose appearance Harry doesn’t describe using insulting terms.
Compare how Harry talks about other Slytherins:
Pansy’s pug face,
Crabbe and Goyle as apes,
Flint looked like a troll.
The only other Slytherin Harry gives objective, neutral, and non-offensive descriptions of is Zabini.
“a tall, dark-skinned boy with high cheekbones and long eyelashes.”
And everyone immediately assumes Zabini is handsome.
Instead, about Draco, what we do get are oddly detailed, almost poetic descriptions:
His sleek, platinum-blond hair catching the sunlight.
His pale skin and pointed features.
His light gray eyes, described as bright or flashing.
The drawl in his voice, the way he moves, the way he talks...
These aren’t necessarily compliments. But they’re not insults either. These are not neutral observations. They’re intimate. Focused. Sensory.
They don’t scream “I hate this guy,” they whisper “I’m watching him. Closely. All the time.”
And that’s exactly what Harry does, he notices Draco. Constantly. Even when there’s no plot reason to. Even when Draco isn’t talking to him. Even when he’s just there.
Over and over again throughout the books, we’re told that Harry could recognize “that blond head” anywhere, even in a crowd. Or that “that voice, that specific cadence” is unmistakable to him.
We don’t know if that’s true for anyone else. But it’s definitely true for Harry.
Harry can’t even recognize the scent he smells in the Amortentia — supposedly the potion that reveals your deepest desires — as being Ginny’s. When he later catches a whiff of the same scent around her, he doesn’t even make the connection.
We're supposed to interpret these scenes as "Harry likes Ginny, but he doesn't realize it yet," but it seems much more like he's oblivious to her and little details about her.
And in my opinion? That whole Amortentia moment felt less like Harry realizing he loves Ginny, and more like the narrative trying to convince us that he does.
(Personally, I don't think the third scent Harry smells in the Amortentia is specifically about Ginny — I see it more as a reference to the Burrow and the Weasley family in general. But that’s a discussion for another post.)
So maybe Harry doesn’t think Draco is traditionally handsome or attractive.
But the way he sees him, with that level of attention and vivid detail, says a lot more than just physical attraction.
It speaks to fascination. Obsession, even.
He’s not staring at Seamus’s hair in the sunlight. He’s not recognized Ron’s voice in a crowd.
He’s not even describing Ginny in that much visual detail or frequency.
But Draco? Draco gets all of it.
Maybe it’s not love, certainly not at that time. But it’s something. Something that could grow and be explored by Harry when he was older, after the war, when he and Draco could interact on new ground, without the prejudices that would alienate Harry. But Harry didn't get the chance to explore this, because JKR tied him to his very convenient and boring girlfriend.
To conclude, the fact that Harry never openly thinks of Draco as handsome or uses more flattering terms could very well be the result of unconscious — or even deliberate — denial. After all, he sees Draco as a rival, as someone he should dislike.
But his behavior, and the frequency of that behavior, tells a different story: it speaks of a deep fascination. One so intense that it can’t be explained away as mere rivalry.
annaxmalina
kaledo-art
pixelskylines
gummygunk
