Sometimes the worst people can be nuturing parents
For some reason, a few people have gotten the idea that both Viktor and Draco have horrible parents just because of the circumstances they grew up in (Viktor grew up at the Durmstrang Institute, a boarding school that focuses on teaching the Dark Arts and didn’t allow muggle-borns to enter, and, of course, Draco’s upbringing was laced with discriminating epithets and Death Eaters). But just because their upbringing might have had some parts that were less than stellar, it doesn’t mean that their parents had anything to do with it. I’m prepared to argue that their parents were, on the whole, quite loving and quite normal in terms of how they treated their children.
I think the main reasoning for the idea that Draco and Viktor had dictators as parents stems from the fact that their lives are intertwined with “evil” stuff. For Draco, he’s much closer to the negativity since his aunt and father were cronies to Voldemort. But just because someone’s parents might be involved in less-than-stellar activities doesn’t make them necessarily bad parents.
Evidence that Draco had relatively normal parents in terms of their caring ability can be found in The Goblet of Fire, in which Draco mentioned that while his father wanted him to go to Durmstrang to get what he thought was a proper education, his mother didn’t want Draco to be far from home. If Lucius didn’t care about his son’s well-being to some extent, he would never have cared about what education Draco got (even if his idea of a “proper education” is skewed). Also, if Narcissa was such a horrible mother, why did she want Draco to be close to home? To torture him some more? I don’t think so. Her behavior dictates that of a nuturing, over-protective mother.
Her over-protective behavior can also be seen in Half-Blood Prince, where Narcissa, frantic with worry about Draco’s security, gets Snape to complete the Unbreakable Vow, while Bellatrix, even though she administers the Vow, could really care less about Draco’s safety, believing him to have gotten a great honor from Voldemort by being given the task of killing Dumbledore. If Narcissa’s such a cold-hearted person, why even bother going through the ceremony in the first place? Why not be just like Bellatrix and say “Screw it! He’s helping the cause”?
Narcissa's (shown to the right) love for Draco caused her to make Snape take the Unbreakable Vow.
Viktor’s parents can also be excused from the idea that they’re tyrants. In Goblet of Fire, they obviously thought enough of their son to see him during the last task. If they honestly didn’t care, would they even bother trekking across Europe (or apparating) to see Viktor complete the final part of the Triwizard Tournament? I don’t think so. And besides, we don’t know enough about Viktor’s parents to even say if they’re bad or not! I will venture to say that they’re decent people due the nature of Viktor’s grandfather’s death. His grandfather was killed by Grindelwald, who believed in magically-inclined people reigning over Muggles for “The Greater Good”. Obviously, Viktor’s grandfather didn’t like the idea; he must have stood up in favor of Muggles either because he believed they didn’t need to be lorded over and/or he was a Muggle himself. For Viktor’s grandfather to be so dear to him must mean that he played a large role in his life and in the lives of his parents. Otherwise, it would’ve been just another relative who died.
Perhaps his grandfather's influence caused Viktor to see past blood status and, instead, to just see people as people (i.e. Viktor and Hermione's relationship)
On the flip side, many people in the story (as well as in real life) have had horrible, excruciating childhoods and ended up being normal, functional adults, and many times, end up fighting for causes. Case in point-Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Both young men had abusers for guardians, and both ended up saving the wizarding world from sheer destruction. And aside from that, they are well-rounded, charming, nice people.
I hope this has shed some light on how Draco and Viktor’s parents might be, and how the idea that sparkling-clean adults make the best parents isn’t necessarily true.
