Lucius Malfoy

"Lucius, my slippery friend. I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius."

- Lord Voldemort to Lucius Malfoy after his return

Lucius Malfoy (born in 1954) is a pure-blood wizard, the husband of Narcissa Black, and the father of Draco Malfoy. Lucius is an aristocratic wizard who believed strongly in notions of blood purity, and thus joined the Death Eaters and participated in the First Wizarding War. After Lord Voldemort's first defeat, Lucius managed to avoid imprisonment by claiming that he had been under the Imperius Curse. He and his family remained members of the social elite, though Lucius continued to demonstrate his prejudice. He attempted to sabotage "blood traitor" Arthur Weasley's career by slipping Arthur's daughter an old school diary of Tom Riddle's, launching the opening of the Chamber of Secrets in 1992, and in 1994, he participated in the humiliation of a Muggle family after the Quidditch World Cup. When Voldemort returned, Lucius once again served him as a Death Eater, leading the efforts to obtain the prophecy Voldemort sought. The battle that ensued resulted in the prophecy being destroyed and Lucius and his comrades being imprisoned in Azkaban. Although Voldemort broke them out of prison in 1997, he was displeased with Lucius for his failure and treated the Malfoys with disdain. Lucius and his family defected at the end of the Second Wizarding War, and were thus pardoned for their crimes after Voldemort's final defeat.

Early Life
Lucius was born in 1954, and was the son of Abraxas Malfoy and his wife. In The Deathly Hallows it is described that at the time when James, Sirius, Remus and the gang got sorted in 1971, Lucius was already a prefect of the Slytherin house and was just starting his sixth or seventh year in Hogwarts, which leads to conclude that he started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1965 or 1966. At some point after his time at school, he married Narcissa Black; their son Draco was born in 1980.

Lucius eventually became a Death Eater, one of the followers of Lord Voldemort, but abandoned that side after the Dark Lord's first fall in 1981. Lucius claimed he had been bewitched by Voldemort through the Imperius Curse and had not meant to serve him. Though this explanation was accepted by the Ministry of Magic, some, such as Arthur Weasley, believed it was a lie. Lucius then went on to get a job at the Ministry of Magic as a school governor of Hogwarts.

Lucius knew Igor Karkaroff, headmaster of Durmstrang Institute and a former Death Eater as well, and considered sending his son to Durmstang rather than Hogwarts. However, Narcissa did not like the idea of Draco going to school so far away, thus they sent him to Hogwarts. Lucius also associated with a gang of Slytherins that included Severus Snape. In his later life, Lucius retained his acquaintance with Snape, speaking highly of him to Ministry officials such as Dolores Umbridge. Snape also seemed to favour Lucius's son Draco when he was a student.

Involvement with the opening of the Chamber of Secrets


In 1992, after selling some of his poisons among other items at Borgin and Burkes, Lucius set in motion an elaborate plan that involved planting the old school diary of Tom Riddle on Ginny Weasley, knowing full well that it would possess her and attempt to use her body to open the Chamber of Secrets, releasing a basilisk that would target Muggle-born students. The plan would have accomplished several feats which would all have been in Lucius' personal interest. For starters, Arthur Weasley would have been discredited, Albus Dumbledore would have been thrown out of Hogwarts, the Diary would have been out of his possession (It was after all "a highly incriminating object") and finally Ginny ,along with several Muggle Borns would have been put through a terrible ordeal which they might not survive. He slipped Ginny the diary while in Flourish and Blotts, after he had fought with her father and was hit in the eye by a copy of Encyclopedia of Toadstools.

This plan was initially successful, despite his house-elf Dobby's attempt to warn Harry Potter. Students, animals and ghosts were systematically petrified by the basilisk a possessed Ginny released as the diary's grip on her became gradually stronger. With pressure from Lucius, in the form of their families being attacked if they did not cooperate, the school governors voted to dismiss Albus Dumbledore for his poor running of the school. The plan failed, however, when Riddle decided to pursue his own goals, and rather than continue to petrify the Muggle-borns of the school, he set his eyes on the destruction of Harry Potter, the boy that Ginny told him would kill him in his future. Ginny finally stopped trusting her diary and threw it away, but Riddle soon took control of her again, forcing Ginny into the Chamber of Secrets in hopes of Harry trying to rescue her. He did so, but also killed the basilisk and destroyed the diary, as well as the Horcrux inside. Harry proved Ginny's innocence and pointed an accusing finger at the true culprit — Lucius, who was consequently sacked as a school governor. Adding insult to injury, Harry also managed to trick Lucius into setting Dobby free. The house-elf also protected Harry from Lucius's subsequent attack and blasted his former master down a flight of steps.

It was hinted that Lucius's target in this plan was not the Muggle-born students or even Ginny, but that his true intention was to discredit Arthur Weasley and thus sabotage the Muggle Protection Act Arthur had recently proposed, which Lucius, a believer in blood purity and the inferiority of Muggles, found offensive. Lucius' selfishness risked the endangerment of the diary, which, unbeknownst to him, was actually one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes.

During this year, Malfoy also bought the whole Slytherin Quidditch Team Nimbus 2001 broomsticks, as Draco was made the team's Seeker.

The Buckbeak Case
During the 1993 school year, Lucius’ son Draco was attacked by the hippogriff named Buckbeak after he provoked it during a Care of Magical Creatures class. Lucius took the case to court and insisted that the hippogriff be put to death. Buckbeak's owner, gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid, desperately tried to defend him, with the assistance of Hermione Granger, arguing that Buckbeak had been provoked by Draco and had attacked in self-defence. Despite his actions, Malfoy still won the case and Buckbeak was sentenced to death. However, before Ministry executioner Walden Macnair could carry out the execution, Buckbeak was saved by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, and subsequently came to be owned by Sirius Black.

Life as a Death Eater
"I have never renounced the old ways. The face I have been obliged to present each day since your ... absence, that is my true mask."

- Lucius Malfoy

In 1994, Lucius attended the Quidditch World Cup with his family, sitting in the luxury box of Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge. In the aftermath of the cup, Malfoy and some other former Death Eaters were involved in the torture and humiliation of the Muggle site manager of the stadium and his family, though was not known at that time to the public and officials. He fled when the Dark Mark was launched into the sky.

When Lord Voldemort rose again in the summer of 1995, Malfoy returned to him on his summons, claiming that he had done everything he could all along to find Voldemort and help him rise again. Voldemort believed that Malfoy had not completely renounced his old ways, but mildly doubted his loyalty because Malfoy had fled the Dark Mark at the World Cup. Even though Harry witnessed Malfoy's declaration of loyalty to Voldemort, almost nobody in the Ministry believed him and Malfoy continued maintaining strong ties to very high places in the Ministry, most prominently in the form of financial support, as has been in the past.

In 1995, after the trial of Harry Potter, Malfoy and Fudge encountered Harry, and it was implied that Malfoy was giving money to the Ministry. (Book). Malfoy appeared doing shady dealings with Cornelius Fudge in the Department of Mysteries just prior to Harry's trial. Malfoy could possibly have been convincing Fudge not to clear Harry's name. (Movie)

Malfoy's frequent excursions to meet with Fudge were also used as excuses to place the Imperius Curse on Ministry officials such as Broderick Bode and Order of the Phoenix member Sturgis Podmore on Voldemort's orders. These curses were placed in a bid to obtain Sybill Trelawney's prophecy. However, these attempts were short-lived, as Bode failed to obtain the prophecy, therefore causing Voldemort to murder Bode, and Podmore was arrested for attempting to break into the Hall of Prophecies.

Battle of the Department of Mysteries


After the failure of his previous attempts to obtain the prophecy, Voldemort successfully attempted to lure Harry to the Hall of Prophecies by planting a vision of his godfather being tortured in his mind.

Malfoy — along with Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Augustus Rookwood, Antonin Dolohov, Nott, Mulciber, Jugson, Crabbe, Walden Macnair, and Avery Jr. — was involved in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, when they were sent to pry the prophecy from Harry's hands. However, Harry and the five friends who accompanied him, all D.A. members, managed to hold off the Death Eaters until several members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived.

Lucius's mission to retrieve the prophecy ultimately failed when Neville Longbottom, under the influence of a Step Dance Curse from Antonin Dolohov, accidentally broke the prophecy. Lucius was seen by a myriad of Ministry officials called by Albus Dumbledore to the scene; now with irrefutable evidence pointing to his identity as a Death Eater, Lucius was promptly sent to Azkaban prison. However, his assistant commander of the Death Eater squad, Bellatrix Lestrange, escaped via Voldemort apparating her out. After the events in the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort mainly blamed Lucius for the failure, as Lucius was the commander of Voldemort's small task force. Lucius Malfoy's failure at the Department of Mysteries combined with accidentally destroying part of Voldemort's soul with the diary of Tom Riddle resulted in his loss of any standing with the Dark Lord. Some believed that he was safer in Azkaban than being free.

Escape from Azkaban
In the summer of 1997, Lucius and all incarcerated Death Eaters escaped Azkaban prison with the help of Voldemort. However, the Malfoys were no longer held in high regard by the Dark Lord, who commandeered their home as his base of operations. Voldemort openly mocked the family at a Death Eater meeting in the summer of 1997, taking Lucius's wand and deriding their relation to werewolf Remus Lupin through Narcissa's niece Nymphadora Tonks. Lucius had become little more than a servant.

Battle of Malfoy Manor
The Malfoys were desperate for a chance to be forgiven, and thus were excited when a group of Snatchers led by Fenrir Greyback brought Harry Potter and his friends to the Manor in the spring of 1998. Lucius pressed his reluctant and fearful son to identify Harry, and identified Ron Weasley as one of Arthur Weasley's sons. He then argued with his sister-in-law about who would be the one to call Voldemort with their Dark Marks, but they held off when Bellatrix noticed Godric Gryffindor's Sword, which she had believed to be in her Gringotts vault, among their possessions. Subsequently, Bellatrix tortured Hermione Granger for information about the sword with the Cruciatus Curse while the others were taken to the cellar downstairs.

After Hermione lied about the sword being a copy and Griphook went along with her story, Bellatrix signalled Voldemort, but Dobby, the Malfoys' former house-elf, came to the rescue of the prisoners. Harry and Ron ran back upstairs, and the former stunned Lucius. After their escape, the Malfoys and Bellatrix were severely punished by Voldemort.

Battle of Hogwarts
By the time of the Battle of Hogwarts, Lucius showed that he was more concerned with his son's safety than Voldemort's cause, begging to be permitted to find him when the fighting began. Narcissa lied directly to Voldemort for Harry's sake when he informed her that Draco was still alive, and she and Lucius ran through the crowd, "not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son".

Following Voldemort's defeat, Lucius, Narcissa and Draco sat in the Great Hall during the celebrations, looking unsure that they belonged there.

After the War
Lucius and Draco's crimes were forgiven due to their abandonment of Voldemort and his cause, as well as Narcissa's lie to the Dark Lord that saved Harry Potter's life in the Forbidden Forest. Neither served time in Azkaban. Lucius would eventually gain a grandson, Scorpius Malfoy, after Draco married Astoria Greengrass.

Physical Appearance
Lucius has a pale, pointed face, with pale blond hair and cold grey eyes. In the films, he carries a walking stick with a snakehead that contains his wand. His son Draco resembles him strongly.

Personality
Lucius Malfoy was generally a ruthless, aristocratic snob, who had a dislike of Muggles, Muggle-borns, and half-bloods. He was also arrogant, selfish, and highly concerned with his reputation and family's social standing. He was said to be skilled with the Imperius Curse and was cruel to Dobby when the house-elf was in his service. His ruthlessness was shown when he dispassionately utilised 11 year old Ginevra Weasley in an attempt to both discredit her father in the Ministry, and remove Albus Dumbledore from his position as headmaster of Hogwarts. This attempt would have resulted in her death, had Harry Potter not intervened. .

Magical abilities and Talents
Imperius curse: Lucius was talented with the imperius curse, using it multiple times on the minstry of magic

However, Lucius cared greatly for his wife and son. They were indulgent and protective of their only child, though Lucius also demonstrated that he had expectations for his son, in one instance berating him for being beaten academically by Hermione Granger. When Lucius displeased Voldemort, the Dark Lord charged Draco with the task of killing Dumbledore as an indirect attack on Lucius. In the end, he demonstrated that his family was more important to him than serving Voldemort.

Narcissa Malfoy


Lucius and his wife, Narcissa Malfoy née Black, appear to have a close and affectionate relationship. They both enjoyed being members of the social elite of the wizarding world and spoiling their only child, Draco. Lucius acquiesced to his wife’s wishes when she wanted their son to attend Hogwarts, rather than Durmstrang. Narcissa was very upset when her husband was briefly imprisoned in Azkaban and became highly defensive when others mentioned it. In 1997, when Lord Voldemort took over Malfoy Manor and demanded that Lucius give him his wand, he looked to Narcissa, and only when she touched his wrist did he turn it over.

Draco Malfoy
"Father's not very happy about my injury...he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know."

- Draco Malfoy boasting about his father’s power to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley

While both Lucius and Narcissa spoiled their son, Lucius was the more demanding parent, although he loved his son very much. Although he purchased broomsticks for the entire Slytherin Quidditch team when Draco was made Seeker, he was also openly critical of Draco’s school marks being lower than those of Hermione Granger, a Muggle-born, snidely remarking that he ought to be ashamed. Draco looked up to his father, often boasting about his influence and emulating him. He was furious with Harry Potter after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, blaming him for getting Lucius incarcerated.

Draco was terrified that his parents would be punished for his failure to assassinate Albus Dumbledore on Lord Voldemort’s orders, and appeared to be close to accepting Dumbledore’s offer to keep them safe before Severus Snape interceded and killed the Headmaster. Lucius too cared far more about Draco than about his life as a Death Eater, begging Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts to allow him to go search for Draco. Once it resumed, neither Lucius nor Narcissa fought at all, instead desperately searching for their son.

Arthur Weasley


Lucius and Arthur Weasley despised each other, often exchanging insults when they met, and even getting into a fistfight on at least one occasion. Lucius disdained the Weasley family for its poverty and so-called blood traitor status; while the Malfoys prized their pure-blood heritage, the Weasleys accepted Muggles and Muggle-borns. He and Arthur apparently clashed multiple times over this at the Ministry of Magic, where they both worked. When Arthur proposed the Muggle Protection Act in 1992, Lucius was furious to the point of trying to sabotage Arthur by placing an old diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle’s on Arthur’s eleven-year-old daughter, Ginny, endangering her life as well as those of Muggle-born Hogwarts students, as this led to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. Also, Arthur never believed Lucius' claim that he had been under the Imperius Curse during the First Wizarding War, indicating that their enmity likely dates back to their younger years.

Severus Snape
"Lucius always spoke highly of you."

- Dolores Umbridge to Severus Snape

Lucius ran in the same circles as Severus Snape since their Hogwarts days, welcoming him into Slytherin house when Severus was sorted there and Lucius was a prefect, and as part of a group of future Death Eaters. Lucius continued to think and speak highly of Severus later in life, and Severus seemed to favour Draco as a student in his Potions class, leading Sirius Black to once acidly comment that Severus was Lucius’s “lap dog”. The fact that Narcissa Malfoy went to Severus for help when Lucius was in Azkaban and Draco had been given a dangerous mission by Voldemort demonstrates the trust and respect the Malfoys had for Severus, apparently in spite of his being a half-blood, though it is possible they were unaware of his blood status.

Lord Voldemort


Lucius was one of Lord Voldemort’s most trusted and high-ranking Death Eaters, serving him in both the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Upon his rebirth in 1995, Voldemort questioned Lucius’s loyalty, since he had never tried to find the Dark Lord after his fall in 1981. Voldemort accepted Lucius’ explanations and exultations of devotion, and entrusted Lucius with the task of obtaining a prophecy concerning him and Harry Potter. Lucius’ failure and subsequent imprisonment in Azkaban made him and his family lose any favour in Voldemort’s eyes, and the Dark Lord may have given Lucius’ son a nearly impossible task to punish Lucius. Although he broke Lucius out of Azkaban in 1997, along with many other Death Eaters, Voldemort treated him with disdain, taking over his home and his wand, and mocking the Malfoys for their relation to a werewolf through Narcissa’s niece. Lucius was desperate to regain his master’s favour, but the opportunity for this that came with the capture of Harry Potter in the spring of 1998 ended in disaster; Harry and his friends escaped, and the Malfoys were severely punished. By the Battle of Hogwarts, Lucius abandoned his loyalty to Voldemort to protect his family, and they were pardoned for their crimes for this last-minute defection.

Etymology

 * The name Lucius may come from the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who extra judiciously executed his rivals. His name could also be a reference to the Roman Emperor Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also known as Nero. Lucius is a name that derives from Latin meaning "bright" or "intelligent" and is related to the name Lucifer, the first name of Satan, which may reference Lucius Malfoy being bright but evil, or just evil.
 * Malfoy is derived from the French mal foi or mal foy, meaning bad faith or unfaithful.

Behind the scenes

 * In the movies, Malfoy is played by Jason Isaacs. To prepare for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and to get a sense of how nasty Lucius should be, Isaacs went back and watched Tom Felton's performance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Also, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Tony Coburn plays Lucius as a teenager.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Lucius accidentally smashes the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, rather than Neville Longbottom.
 * Despite not having an appearance in Half-Blood Prince as an adult, Jason Isaacs will cameo in a photograph.
 * Also, in the films, Lucius's wand is concealed within a snake-handeled walking stick that he carries with him at close to all times.
 * In the film adaptation of Chamber of Secrets, after Harry caused him to inadvertently set Dobby free, Lucius Malfoy was about to use the Killing Curse on Harry, but was stopped by Dobby.
 * Lucius Malfoy is ranked Number 12 on the Forbes Fictional 15 list of the richest people in the world.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Notes and references
Lucjusz Malfoy Люциус Малфой