Drapple

Drapple is the cargo ship between Draco Malfoy and a green apple from the Harry Potter fandom.

Canon
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Draco is seen eating a green apple during their first class with Hagrid, indicating that he was probably bored. This is the first sighting of Draco with an apple. Later, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Draco puts a green apple in the vanishing cabinet. The apple is transported to Borgin and Burkes, and then sent back to Draco, with a bite taken out. Then, he rubs it fondly.

Quotes
"Draco moves down the corridor, eyes fixed oddly ahead. He looks pale in the moonlight. In his fist he grips an APPLE."

- From the official Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince screenplay

"Bringing the apple up, he opens the cabinet and places it within. Shuts it. Closing his eyes, he MUTTERS a LOW INCANTATION, barely discernible. He reaches out. Opens it. The apple is gone. He closes the cabinet again. Waits. Longer this time. Finally, he opens it. Removes the apple. Rotates it. Someone has taken a BITE out of it."

- From the screenplay

Fanon
Drapple is an infamous crackship and long-running joke in the Harry Potter fandom. It is popular for its comedic nature, and has inspired a range of memes, fanfiction, and fanart. It has become popular to the extent that Draco's actor, Tom Felton, is aware of Drapple and has openly talked about it, finding it bizarre, but also supporting it. In 2022, he even made a Drapple-related TikTok himself.

The ship originated from the Harry Potter film franchise and was popularised around 2011. There are no known appearances of Drapple in the books, but Drapple appears in two of the films (Prisoner of Azkaban and Half-Blood Prince). It specifically gained popularity after the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 2009, wherein Draco has multiple scenes with an apple. The first entry of 'Drapple' in the Urban Dictionary was added around 2011.

There are dozens of fanworks of Drapple. Fanart for this ship is common and often comedic. They tend to depict Draco eating or holding an apple, or even proclaiming his undying love for the apple. Chibi artwork is also common. Surprisingly, fanfiction for the ship exists. On AO3, there are over 100 fanfictions tagged under Draco/Apple. On Wattpad, there is even more, with over 400 works tagged under Drapple.

Fanfiction for Drapple is wild, crazy, often a parody and not meant to be taken seriously. Some fans have written stories about Draco falling in love with an talking apple, marrying an anthropomorphic version of an apple and in some Draco has a son who he names 'Apple'. Even smut has been written for Drapple. The possibilities are endless and crazy. In more serious fanfiction, writers sometimes include Draco eating an apple in reference to the ship, and often Draco is shown to have an affinity for apples, it being his favourite food.

Some fans have also made links to Draco's canonical wife: Astoria Greengrass. Her first name starts with 'A' for apple, and her last name includes the word 'green', leading some to make jokes and theories about Astoria being the human form of a green apple. Or alternatively a transfigured form of an apple. This originated from a post made by the Tumblr drappleconfessions in 2012.

The ship has also inspired other Harry Potter food related ships namely: Chickron; the ship between Ron Weasley and chicken, Remolate; the ship between Remus Lupin and chocolate and finally Ludding; the ship between Luna Lovegood and pudding.

Behind the Scenes
Tom Felton is aware of the ship, and has publicly talked about it at multiple fan conventions:

"Someone told me there was one called Drapple? Which is Draco and an apple. Really?! I mean. It's fantastic don't get me wrong, I think it's brilliant you guys are so creative. But yeah, I think it's very cool and you know, in all seriousness that her work has inspired people to write their own stories, as bizzare as they can be."

- Tom Felton at the FanExpo Canada (2011)

"I recently found out about Drapple... In fact, I had no idea it was a relationship. It was from the Half-Blood because he takes a bite out of the apple. Yeah, a lot of people seem to get a kick out of that, so I roll with Drapple."

- Tom Felton at Wizard World Tulsa Comic Con (c.2011)

"Well it's better than the Drapple ship. How is he supposed to be with an apple?"

- Tom Felton at Armageddon Expo in New Zeland (2017)

"Drarry makes more sense than Drapple, right? Yeah see, everytime. I'm not getting it on with a fruit."

- Tom Felton at ECCC (2017)

He has also supported the ship on multiple occasions. In 2021, on Instagram Live, Felton wrote a song about Dramione, Drarry and finally Drapple. . In 2022, he posted a TikTok of himself using an apple filter, and then taking a bite out of a green apple. The caption for the video is "#dracotok #drapple".

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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