In childhood, Draco associated mainly with the pure-blood children of his father's ex-Death Eater cronies and therefore arrived at Hogwarts with a small gang of friends already made. While on the Hogwarts Express for the very first time, Draco Malfoy offered his friendship to Harry Potter as his father believed that Harry was a Dark wizard, and Draco wished to impress him and relay some interesting news home. However, Harry didn't like the attitude Draco expressed towards Ron Weasley, with whom Harry had already made friends, and also found that Draco reminded him of his cousin Dudley, with his disdainful attitude. Thus, he turned him down, creating animosity that lasted through the rest of their schooling.

Draco was Sorted into the Slytherin House, like many other members of his family. He rapidly formed friendships with fellow Slytherins, while remaining hostile toward Harry to the point of challenging him to a duel, after Harry beat him to Neville Longbottom's Remembrall during their first Flying lesson. This was, in fact, an attempt to get Harry into trouble for being out after curfew. He resented the attention Harry received because of his fame and his prodigious flying ability, which led to Harry being permitted to join his house's Quidditch team at a younger age than most.

In general, he tried to follow in his father's footsteps, with his cold and arrogant manner, and often it was found he was jealous of Harry. He was also known to be teacher's pet to Professor Snape-Lucius and Snape were friends.