The Present for Lucius Malfoy

[rainy_lilac at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 16119


Hmmmm... Once upon a time, I did development research at harvard (specifically researching  very wealthy alums who might give money to te school).

One thing that often struck me was how so many of the people I had to research had long resumes of "accomplishments"-- which really existed mainly because they had, say, enough money to buy their own radio station, or whatever. (The Ketchup Heiress was the one who really stuck in my mind.... Accomplishments that required a life of leisure...Dont get me started!)

A half million dollar donation entitled the donor to postions on a variety of committees which, far from being decorative, actually influenced the course of the University. Almost all of the top donors had long long lists of all the many committees they had served on, and all of the places were they had power. So many that I really had to wonder how much actual WORK was involved in all this influencing!

But all of them had more than money going for them-- they all had something else to show for themselves. Status required at least te illusion of accomplishment. (Buy the Daily Prophet!!) I cant get away from the idea that there must be more to Lucius than just money and brie cheese. 

He is a Slytherin, and ambitious, right?

No bongos for Draco....

--Suzanne


--- In HPforGrownups at y..., heidi <heidi.h.tandy.c92 at a...> wrote:
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> 
> rainy_lilac at y... wrote:
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> > Real-To:  rainy_lilac at y...
> >
> > Doesn't Rowling say in a number of places that Malfoy as a high position in the MoM? Draco doesn't miss a chance to rub this in when he heckles Ron. 'My father is Senior and associates with the important people in the ministry; Your father is junior <snort> and runs an unimportant department... '
> 
> No, she doesn't say it anywhere.
> The bit you're thinking of is on the train in GoF - "But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry. . . . Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley. . . yes. . . they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him. . . ."
> 
> Associated with does not = "worked with" - in fact, it means quite the opposite. It means socialized with, worked on committees with...not "has senior rank over..."
> 
> >
> > People like Lucius, who value rank and position, are often very hardworking (even workaholics), and greatly skilled at working the system-- but have strong ideas about what kind of work enhances their position, versus that which is beneath them. It is not about money.
> 
> Oh, absolutely!