Why A Harry Potter Character Has Become The Unofficial Face Of Chinese New Year Celebrations
Draco Malfoy, the sneering Slytherin student and obnoxious antagonist in the "Harry Potter" movies, is experiencing an unforeseen resurgence thanks to the Chinese New Year.
In the Chinese zodiac, February 17, 2026 marks the beginning of the Year of the Horse, and people traditionally decorate their homes with the character "fu," which means good fortune and blessings. According to the BBC, Malfoy's name breaks down in Chinese as "Ma-er-fu," with "ma" being the word for "horse," so combining "ma" and "fu" bodes especially well for this particular year. E-commerce retailers are capitalizing on this trend, selling decorations featuring actor Tom Felton in character as Malfoy.
@love.biancama Happy year of the Malfoy...? #Chineseculture #chinesenewyear #trend #fun #viral #fypシ
HBO's upcoming "Harry Potter" TV series seems poised to resurrect the franchise after waning audience interest in Warner Bros.' misbegotten "Fantastic Beasts" films caused the studio to abort its plans to finish that saga. But unless the new show ends up being a ratings disaster (which seems unlikely), I think we're about to learn that "Harry Potter," as a piece of intellectual property, is going to live forever. In addition to being the subject of seemingly random instances of virality like this, it still has a stranglehold on the minds of a generation, and gigantic sums of money have been spent on things like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park lands which help keep it alive in people's minds when they're not reading the books or watching adaptations. Reasonable people can argue about whether or not this is a good thing, but Felton's probably feeling pretty good about the whole thing right about now.
Tom Felton seems to be having a good year so far
It must be unusual to have your face blasted all over Chinese social media and to become an unlikely symbol in a culture you have nothing to do with, but Tom Felton seems to be taking it in stride, reposting articles about it in his Instagram stories. I've embedded a screenshot of one of those instances below:
Instagram
Along with this unexpected profile boost, Felton made his Broadway debut reprising his role as Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in November of last year and is scheduled to appear in performances through May 10, 2026. That's driven a lot of excitement from folks who are eager to get a glimpse of the actor stepping back into that familiar role, and his participation in that show will likely provide a boost to his career. Since the "Potter" movies concluded, Felton played a significant role in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," popped up in 17 episodes of The CW series "The Flash," and goofed around in last year's parody film "Fackham Hall," but his many other on-screen projects have not made much of a mark in the pop culture zeitgeist.
Felton is not among the "Harry Potter" actors who have condemned J.K. Rowling's anti-trans comments.