Education Department joins viral 'Malfoid' trend as 'Harry Potter' rewrites sweep social media

The Department of Education (DOE) on Tuesday joined in on the viral "Malfoid" trend, with a social media post depicting the alternative version of a "Harry Potter" character.

Under the Trump administration, myriad government social media accounts have been eager to join in on viral trends or memes to link the administration's agenda to popular culture.

"There’s Magic in Learning!" read the post from the DOE. "Make education great again."

Accompanying the post was an image of Hogwartz Castle, the primary setting of the "Harry Potter" series, with the image of a white-haired girl (Malfoid) in school robes hiding behind a tree, while secretly observing three others, who match the appearances of protagonists Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermoine Granger.

"Malfoid" is a portmanteau of "Malfoy," the surname of Draco Malfoy, a secondary antagonist in the series, and "foid" a contraction of "female humanoid" that has become an internet term for "woman."

The "Malfoid" craze embraces the concept of gender-swapping Draco Malfoy and rewriting portions of the series to include the female version. The most common fan-fictions depict the female, Dracaena Malfoy (Malfoid) as a "tsundere," which is a term in Japanese media for a woman who assumes a standoffish or hostile demeanor to mask her romantic interest in the protagonist.

The trend appeared to begin with X user REDTEN, whose Sept. 22 post of a Japanese-style gender-swapped Malfoy has attracted more than 23 million views on X alone.

Gender-swapping characters is a common trope of fan-fictions and a favorite way to engage with a franchise among the LGBT community. Fans have, however, pointed out the irony of the trend's popularity with conservative accounts and the absence of trans themes, with many noting that author J.K. Rowling's own comments on transgender issues have likely deterred that community from participating.

Rowling herself has not commented on the craze, despite the public urgings of prominent accounts for her to weigh in.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.