From Hogwarts bully to unexpected icon, Draco Malfoy, the antagonist from the Harry Potter series is taking over Chinese homes as fans plaster his posters on their doors, walls, and refrigerators.
As the Year of the Horse approaches in the Chinese lunar calendar (2026 begins on Feb. 17) – a year traditionally associated with strength, vitality and good fortune – an unexpected pop‑culture figure has emerged as a lucky symbol: Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin antagonist from the Harry Potter series.
A linguistic twist turns a villain into a lucky charm
The trend stems from a wordplay in Chinese: Draco Malfoy’s name is commonly transliterated as “马尔福” (Mǎ ěr fú), where the character “马” (mǎ) means horse and “福” (fú) means good fortune.
The coincidence that his name contains both “horse” and “fortune” has turned Malfoy into a whimsical mascot for the Year of the Horse.
Chinese netizens on platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu have been decorating their homes with red paper squares featuring Draco’s face, in a playful twist on traditional fu (福) character posters that are commonly used to invite good luck during Lunar New Year celebrations. Some even mimic the custom of pasting fu upside down, which symbolically suggests “fortune arriving.”
People are posting Malfoy posters on their doors!
Videos of people pasting Malfoy posters on their doors, walls and refrigerators have spread widely across social media – especially on TikTok, where a video explaining the trend garnered more than 1.5 million views by early February.
On Chinese e‑commerce platforms like Taobao, themed posters and decorations featuring Draco’s signature smirk are already on sale, and fan edits often remix his image with traditional red and gold New Year motifs.
Why is this becoming a trend?
In Chinese culture, the Zodiac animal for a lunar year is believed to influence fortune and personality traits for that year. The Horse is traditionally seen as a symbol of success, speed, freedom and good luck, making it a positive sign as 2026 begins.
Complementing this cultural outlook, the linguistic twist that turns Malfoy’s name into horse plus fortune has delighted netizens, who enjoy the humorous contrast between Draco’s villainous reputation and his new role as a good‑luck symbol.
Rather than a serious cultural change, the trend reflects the lively creativity of online communities – blending Western pop culture with traditional New Year customs to create a playful and memorable meme.
Reactions online
A TikTok video posted on Jan 31 explaining the trend had already racked up over 1.5 million views and 186,000 likes by Feb 2, with many viewers amused that a character known for being a villain is now a symbol of good luck.
One user commented, “Chinese people are genuinely so funny, I love this.”
Referencing Malfoy’s iconic line, “My father will hear about this!” several others joked, “Does his father know about this?”
It seems this trend is about to become impossible to ignore.
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