JAKARTA - The antagonist in the Harry Potter series, Draco Malfoy, suddenly became a popular symbol in the Chinese New Year celebrations in 2026. This unexpected popularity emerged because the name Malfoy in Mandarin is considered to have a lucky meaning that is in line with the horse, the zodiac sign that governs the year.
In China, the name Malfoy is pronounced as "mǎ ěr fú". The first character "马" (mǎ) means horse, while the last character "福" (fú) means luck or blessing. It is this combination of meanings that makes the figure of Malfoy considered to carry a positive symbol in the Chinese New Year tradition.
This phenomenon prompted Harry Potter fans to print a photo of actor Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, to be used as a Chinese New Year decoration in the form of a fúzì. Fúzì itself is a typical Chinese New Year decoration in the shape of a red square that usually features the character "福" as a symbol of prosperity and luck.
Not a few fans have put Malfoy's fúzì upside down. In Chinese culture, upside down placement symbolizes "coming soon" luck, because the words "upside down" and "coming" have the same pronunciation, namely "dào".
Malfoy's popularity is unique because of his character's background as a Slytherin boarding student who is identical to the snake symbol. The snake zodiac year itself will end on February 16, 2025 and be followed by the horse zodiac year, two symbols that are indirectly associated with Malfoy's character.
This trend even caught the attention of Tom Felton. Last week, he re-uploaded content from China that showed his photo displayed on a large LED screen of a shopping center, accompanied by a meaningful "magical awareness that attracts a hundred kinds of sustenance".
The beginning of this trend originated from the social media platform Xiaohongshu. A Harry Potter fan shared a Draco Malfoy-themed fúzì design in mid-January, which then went viral and received an enthusiastic response from other users.
As his popularity increased, various Malfoy-themed products began to be sold on Xiaohongshu and online shopping platforms, ranging from fúzì, mobile phone holders, to refrigerator magnets at varying prices.
One of the sellers on Xiaohongshu even offered a Malfoy-themed fridge magnet for 27 yuan, or around Rp65 thousand, and has reportedly sold more than 5,000 units.
This phenomenon also shows the strength of Harry Potter's fan base in China. Chinese state media said that since the Chinese edition was published in 2000, it is estimated that Harry Potter books have sold up to 200 million copies in the country.
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