The Harry Potter book series ended in 2007, and the finale of the book-adapted film series came in 2011. So until the Harry Potter TV series comes to Max sometime in 2026, that leaves us voided of The Wizarding World. All the more reason why fans of J.K. Rowling’s creation have created their own original stories that fill the online space. Tom Felton says that he and his former co-star Emma Watson feel that fan fiction is not necessarily their “cup of tea,” but still explains why he finds these fan-created stories “amazing.”
Fan fiction is a great way to feel like you’re still getting doses of your favorite pop culture material. Writers can make up their own interpretation of Harry Potter, whether it’s a spin-off, sequel, reinterpretation, or giving characters that were minor characters in the books the heroes of their own story. Then, some fans really take their imagination to a whole other level, creating romances that never would have existed in the original material.
Draco Malfoy actor Tom Felton spoke on Jake’s Takes on how he became aware of the fan fiction and the crazy objects of affection they shipped Draco with that I never would have guessed:
That was through conventions and fan groups. Again, anything that inspires people to write and do artwork and anything is a positive thing. However, my brother had a drawing of Drarry — have you heard about this one, this is Draco and Harry — on his screensaver just to wind me up. And then I learned about Drapple, which is a whole other one about Draco and his apple which took me a while to figure out.
Ok, maybe with Draco and Harry I could see how fans could create a romantic tension between them. Even Daniel Radcliffe has attested to the spicy fan content that ships the two Hogwarts students. They definitely had plenty of dueling scenes throughout the Harry Potter movies that were hostile, but I can imagine fans finding romantic tension in there somewhere.
The apple, on the other hand, I had to Google myself to understand what the deal was with that. I never realized what a couple the Slytherin student and green apples were. We first saw him taking sweet bites of that juicy fruit in Prisoner of Azkaban during Hagrid’s Care of Magical Creatures class. Most notably was in Half-Blood Prince when Malfoy tested out of the power of the Vanishing Cabinet with an apple. I guess the longing gaze he gave to that apple and the way he caressed it when he opened the magical cabinet again made the duo ship-worthy?
If you want to talk about a magical friendship pairing, look no further than Tom Felton and Emma Watson. They had the most adorable moments in the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary special. Plus, the British actress played a huge part in Felton’s memoir with her sweet introduction and stories of their experiences acting together. Naturally, The Borrowers actor spoke about whether he and Watson have chatted before about the fanfics and what he found “amazing” about them:
We have. We’ve not read any of it, it’s not particularly our cup of tea I should say. But, it’s amazing that people using these characters to create their own stories, even if it is Draco with an apple.
Yes, even Draco with an apple has inspired hundreds of stories. I mean that literally, as fanfiction.net has 199 “Drapple” stories. As for Harry Potter stories as a whole, the popular fan fiction site has 850K fanfics from the fantasy series, and Wattpad has about 43.4K. Considering how expansive The Wizarding World is, the possibilities are endless for the stories that writers can come up with, no matter how mindblowing, funny, or unconventional they may be.
Harry Potter fan fiction may not be Tom Felton and Emma Watson’s “cup of tea,” but it is “amazing” that fans are inspired to create their own stories. An impactful piece of fiction can bring out the passionate writer or artist in anyone. The Harry Potter fandom can revisit the movies that sparked their creativity on your Max subscription and your Peacock subscription.