Draco & Blaise: frenemies, not friends
While fanon often portrays Draco and Blaise as BFFs, when they hang out in canon they don't seem to like each other at all. They're actually in a vicious battle of egos, and I find that dynamic so much fun.
Both Draco and Blaise act as if they're above everyone else, including each other. However, Blaise's arrogance is smoother and more subtle. If anyone is the "Slytherin Ice Prince", it's Blaise the blasĂŠ, not Draco the dramatic â which must infuriate Draco.
When Blaise attends the Slug Club with Harry and Ginny (HBP7), he expresses his animosity towards them in a very contained manner:
âNow, do you know everyone?â Slughorn asked Harry and Neville. âBlaise Zabini is in your year, of course ââ Zabini did not make any sign of recognition or greeting [...].
â[...] Lily â James â and you survived â and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary ââ Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused scepticism.
âYou want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvellous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldnât cross her!â Zabini merely looked contemptuous.
As he pushed past Harry into the darkening corridor, Zabini shot him a filthy look [...].
Later that chapter, the scene where Harry spies on the Slytherin compartment provides a sample of Draco and Blaiseâs relationship. Itâs the only time they are seen together, but nearly every line highlights both the contrast between them as individuals, and how that affects their interactions.
Right off the bat, Draco laughs at Blaiseâs loss of composure after he âtoppled over sideways into Gregory Goyle's lapâ:
But then Goyle slammed the door shut and flung Zabini off him; Zabini collapsed into his own seat looking ruffled, Vincent Crabbe returned to his comic, and Malfoy, sniggering, lay back down [...].
Next, we are shown that theyâre not on first-name basis, even in private:
âSo, Zabini,â said Malfoy, âwhat did Slughorn want?â
And then they begin discussing who was or wasnât invited to the Slug Club. Throughout the conversation, Blaise keeps his cool indifference, even directs it at Draco in a comeback about Neville. Draco, on the other hand, is all vigorous body language and exclamation marks:
ââ and Longbottom, Potter, and that Weasley girl,â finished Zabini. Malfoy sat up very suddenly, knocking Pansyâs hand aside. âHe invited Longbottom?â âWell, I assume so, as Longbottom was there,â said Zabini indifferently. âWhatâs Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?â Zabini shrugged. âPotter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at âthe Chosen One,â â sneered Malfoy, âbut that Weasley girl! Whatâs so special about her?â "A lot of boys like her," said Pansy [...]. "Even you think she's good-looking, don't you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!â âI wouldnât touch a filthy little blood traitor like her whatever she looked like,â said Zabini coldly, and Pansy looked pleased.
If Draco had been at the Slug Club, itâs unlikely heâd have the self-control to remain as disdainfully calm as Blaise in the face of people he doesnât like receiving praise and attention.
Unlike Blaise, who asserts his superiority mainly through discreet dirty looks, Draco indeed goes on to further demonstrate how he needs explicit, verbal, verbose bragging and sour grapes:
âWell, I pity Slughornâs taste. Maybe heâs going a bit senile. Shame, my father always said he was a good wizard in his day. My father used to be a bit of a favorite of his. Slughorn probably hasnât heard Iâm on the train, or ââ
But Blaise has no qualms cutting off Draco, and heâs passionate enough to use longer sentences now to take Draco down a peg:
âI wouldnât bank on an invitation,â said Zabini. âHe asked me about Nottâs father when I first arrived. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard heâd been caught at the Ministry he didnât look happy, and Nott didnât get an invitation, did he? I donât think Slughornâs interested in Death Eaters.â
Draco responds with much less success at masking his struck nerves, and keeps harping on about Slughorn with insistence that comes off as obviously insecure:
Malfoy looked angry, but forced out a singularly humourless laugh. âWell, who cares what heâs interested in? What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher.â Malfoy yawned ostentatiously. âI mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, whatâs it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?â
In the end, Blaise is the one who actually doesnât seem to care what Slughorn is interested in â Blaise achieves the impression that Draco was trying and failing to convey. While Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy might not even notice this, I like to think Draco does, and it gives him an internal sting of failure in the repressed corners of his mind.
At this point, Draco stops playing defence and instead begins boasting about working for Voldemort:
âWell, you never know,â said Malfoy with the ghost of a smirk. âI might have â er â moved on to bigger and better things.â [...] Even Zabini had allowed a look of curiosity to mar his haughty features.
Blaise belittles Draco again, but this time Draco keeps the upper hand:
âAnd you think youâll be able to do something for him?â asked Zabini scathingly. âSixteen years old and not even fully qualified yet?â âIâve just said, havenât I? Maybe he doesnât care if Iâm qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isnât something that you need to be qualified for,â said Malfoy quietly. Crabbe and Goyle were both sitting with their mouths open like gargoyles. Pansy was gazing down at Malfoy as though she had never seen anything so awe-inspiring. âI can see Hogwarts,â said Malfoy, clearly relishing the effect he had created [...].
Outside of that chapter, the only other mention of Blaise in the series is "'Zabini, Blaise,' was made a Slytherin", at the Sorting (PS7).
From a Watsonian perspective, this means Harry, the POV character, never had reason to notice Blaise. Thus, although Blaise dislikes Harry, as is made clear when their paths finally cross in HBP, we can infer that Blaise doesnât go out of his way to bully him.
Draco constantly has to affirm himself over Harry â and everyone else, including Blaise â in the most grandiose ways, whereas Blaise is starkly more self-assured.
Furthermore, given that Harry often does notice Draco and the people with him, it stands to reason that Draco and Blaise donât tend to seek out each otherâs company â because they donât particularly enjoy it.
They do sit together on the train â a common enough occurence for Harry to figure he could spy on Draco if he followed Blaise â and Pansyâs âwe all know how hard you are to please!â does suggest a good degree of familiarity between all the Slytherins present.
However, especially in more public settings, itâs evident throughout the books that Draco prefers to be around people who enhance his self-importance, like Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy â not Blaise, who threatens it.
Blaise, in turn, looks down on Draco, hence doesnât give him any more time than he has to. In my headcanon, I imagine he would be the first to completely abandon Draco after the Malfoysâ fall from status.
