Malfoy Manor

"He always did himself well, Lucius. Peacocks..."

- Yaxley while entering Malfoy Manor

Malfoy Manor is the home of the wealthy pure-blood Malfoy family, located in Wiltshire, England. It was used as the base of operations for Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters during the Second Wizarding War, much to the discomfort of Lucius, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy.

Description
Malfoy Manor is a "handsome manor house" surrounded by elaborate gardens, including a fountain and roving white peacocks, and enclosed by wrought-iron gates that permit select individuals to pass through them as if they were smoke. The interior is described as "sumptuously decorated", and includes ornate furniture, marble fireplaces, and gilt mirrors. It has a large entrance hallway with portraits lining the walls and a stone floor mostly covered by a magnificent carpet.

Many of the activities of the Death Eaters took place in the drawing room, which had purple walls and a large chandelier, which was eventually destroyed by Dobby during the escape of several prisoners. These prisoners were held in the secret room below the drawing room According to Draco Malfoy, the family's collection of Dark artifacts were hidden below ground level in this room so as to prevent any from being seized during Ministry raids. During Lord Voldemort's stay in the manor, the function of this room changed to that of a holding cell for the aforemetioned prisoners.

Second Wizarding War
By the summer of 1997, Lucius Malfoy and many other Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban prison, and the Dark Lord had made the Malfoys' home his headquarters. While the Malfoys were very uncomfortable with this, Bellatrix Lestrange, who also resided there, claimed there could be "no higher pleasure" than having Lord Voldemort stay with them.

Shortly before Harry Potter's seventeenth birthday, Death Eaters Yaxley and Severus Snape entered the Manor to bring news of how the Ministry of Magic was being infiltrated and of the activities of the Order of the Phoenix, respectively. The resulting plans would lead to Voldemort's take-over of the Ministry using the puppet Minister for Magic Pius Thicknesse, and to the Battle over Little Whinging. At this meeting, Voldemort also killed Charity Burbage, the professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and fed her to his snake familiar Nagini.

By 1998, Malfoy Manor was also being used to hold some prisoners of Lord Voldemort, such as Mr. Ollivander, Luna Lovegood, Griphook, and Dean Thomas.

When Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were caught by a group of Snatchers led by Fenrir Greyback around Easter of that year, they were brought to Malfoy Manor so that one of the Death Eaters residing there could signal Voldemort with the Dark Mark. However, Bellatrix Lestrange spotted Godric Gryffindor's sword among the prisoners' possessions and delayed calling the Dark Lord. Instead, she interrogated and tortured Hermione with the Cruciatus Curse to try to find out how the trio had obtained the Sword. All the prisoners managed to escape with the assistance of the house-elf Dobby.

After Voldemort's defeat, the Manor was presumably once more in the control of the Malfoys, though they may have had to surrender the many Dark artifacts in their possession to the reformed Ministry.

Behind the scenes
J.K. Rowling has stated that there was a deleted scene, which was to take place either in Chamber of Secrets or Goblet of Fire, in which Draco Malfoy would be shown talking to fellow Slytherin Theodore Nott in the gardens of Malfoy Manor. Rowling said that she really liked the scene:

"Firstly because it showed the Malfoys' home, and the difference between the place where Draco has grown up and number four, Privet Drive; then because we rarely see Draco talking to anybody he considers a real equal, and he is forced to see Theodore as such, because Theodore is just as pure-blooded as he is, and somewhat cleverer. Together these two Death Eaters' sons discuss Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts and Harry Potter, with all sorts of stories that the Death Eaters tell about how this baby boy survived the Dark Lord's attack."

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows