Lucius Therories

[jodel at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 44377

EmeralsxSnake writes;

>>So what do you guys think about him? Personality? His occupation? Past? Is 
he having an affair with Snape?<<

The theory with the widest degree of controversy is related to just how old 
Lucius is. The animosity displayed in the Flourish and Blotts scene in 
Chamber of Secrets is so clearly "personal" that it gives a strong hint of 
there being a long history between him and Arthur Weasley. I could easily see 
him and Arthur being the major Gryffandor-Slytherin rivals of their mutual 
years in Hogwarts (with Arthur narrowly beating Lucius out for the honor of 
being Head Boy.)

Another hint of this is the fact that Draco starts spitting slurs at the 
whole Weasley family the minute he lays eyes on Ron on the Hogwarts express. 
This all had to come from somewhere. We have absolutely no reason to assume 
that the Burrow is placed anywhere where the Malfoys would be required to 
have any interaction with the Weasleys, so it is unlikely that Draco has ever 
met Ron before. Clearly Draco has been sent off to school well-primed by 
fulminations regarding penniless redheads who breed like rabbits from his 
father (who he clearly idolises). One glance at shabby, red-headed Ron is 
enough to identify him as "the enemy".

On the other hand, most fanon writers who produce marauder-era fics seem to 
be determined to put him into the same year as Snape. I don't believe it for 
a minute, but it has made for some fine stories, whether dramatic or comic. 

As to his circunstances; I can see the Malfoys as being one of those families 
who have been living on the procedes of their investments for generations. 
Once a fortune reaches a certain level, the holder's primary job is managing 
their money, no other occupation is necessary. Lucius is at least the second 
or third head of the Malfoy family who has been in the "business" of money 
farming. Possibly more like 5th, 6th or 7th. Or even more. Farming his money 
is his primary occupation. The secondary one is to farm influence (which, of 
course, protects the sources of your money). To this end he has a finger in 
just about every pie worth the baking in the British (and international) WW. 
This brings with it any number of advantages.

For one thing, natural-born toadies in high places, like Fudge, are easily 
guided to follow policies which further Lucius's adgenda. A reasonable 
"donation" here and there and some judcious flattery and Fudge, even if he is 
not "ever-so-evil" is eating out of his hand. (Fudge, as any reader will 
notice, is second in the cast of characters only to Draco in his habit of 
quoting "the world according to Lucius Malfoy".) For the record; I believe 
that Malfoy put Fudge where he is and doesn't let him forget it. Fudge, for 
his part, is a lot cleverer than he comes across and uses that fussy, 
bumbling manner to disarm critics (much as Peter Pettigrew uses his cowering 
little wimp mode to deflect his enemies). The only uncertainty is just how 
aware Fudge is on exactly whose purposes he is serving. He is not unaware of 
Lucius's sympathies, and shares them.

For another thing, the right donations to the right worthy causes gets you a 
place on the BoD and into a position to set policy. We know that Lucius 
managed to elude justice in the Voldemort trials by convincing the Court (and 
had he purchased that Court? Even under Crouch Sr?) that he had acted under 
force of the Imperius curse during the war and could not have been held 
accoutable for any actions he had performed during the war because of this. 
Again for the Record; I believe that in the absence of Hogwarts graduates who 
have been formally trained in Dark Arts theory (which has been the case ever 
since Dumbledore became Headmaster at least, and may have been the case even 
earlier) the Ministry of Magic must officially engage the services from a 
short list of trusted Dark Arts consultants when a situation calls for it. 
Lucius Malfoy, possibly before he became head of the Malfoy family, was one 
of these consultants. Consequently, a strong case could be made that he would 
have been one of the first people that Volemort wanted under control, both 
for the sake his position and to limit the potential damage he might have 
done to Voldemort's cause had he been allowed to continue to opperate 
independently. (The claim was manifestly untrue, bit it would have been 
easily believed by a wizarding world primed by the articles covering the 
trial in the Daily Prophet. Did I mention that there was a Malfoy on the BoD 
of the Prophet?)

As for Narcissia; This is one of my own theories. Narcissia is MUCH younger 
than Lucius, who, unlike Arthur, did not marry until he was around the age of 
40, after a decade or two of being one of the WW's most "eligible" bachelors. 
In fact, she IS from the Marauder's generation, although possibly not from 
the same year. Despite her strong resemblance to the classic "trophy wife", 
she was actually by family basckground and fortune a very reasonable match 
for Lucius, and there may even have been formal arangements to that effect on 
the part of their families. 

And, it was during the period that Lucius was "courting" Narcissia that he 
(already one of Voldemort's followers) recieved such information regarding 
her schoolmates which led him (over the next couple of years) to recruit some 
of the more promising of the new alumni. Snape among them. They, for their 
part were understandably impressed by the fact that so important a public 
figure as Lucius Malfoy should be taking such an interest in *them*. 

He is proud of, and rather coldly fond of Draco, indulges him, but holds him 
to high standards. And he is not impressed by whining and general brattiness. 
He is not abusive, but somewhat remote and does not hesitate to coldy depress 
the boy's pretentions. Consequently Draco's chief ambition is to impress his 
father. 

He is demonstrably cold, calculating and clever. And not notably delusional. 
He MAY possibly intend to use Voldemort to attain further his own ends and is 
engaged in investigating a possible way to surplant him once the WW has been 
taken. He may well view their association as an "alliance" rather than an 
"alegiance". Voldemort just might also. We did not see Malfoy groveling at 
his feet in the graveyard. Voldemort, in return may intend to dispense with 
Lucius as soon as the WW is securely his. 

As to affairs; Lucius comes from the kind of social level which traditionally 
kept mistresses. There may very well be some discrete, bijou residence for 
which Malfoy is paying the household accounts about which Narcissa is not 
"officially" aware. The objects of such liasons were traditionally chosen for 
their status value rather than any great degree of affection and discarded as 
soon as the "patron" became dissatisfied. Since I am postulating that Lucius 
is anything up to 20 or so years older than his wife, he would likely have 
been well accustomed to making such arangements.

As to Snape; The WW is a very small society. In such societies, particularly 
in a subset which is obsessed with their bloodlines, everybody tends to be 
related to just about everybody else. Snape (if he is a pureblood from the 
same general socal group as Malfoy) is probably some degree of cousin either 
to Lucius or Narcissia, and quite possibly both.

Personal Theory (which is shared by more than one fanfic writer, apparantly); 
Purebloods come in a couple of different varieties within the WW. There are 
the "noble" purebloods like the Malfoys and their set and there are "plebian" 
purebloods like the Weasleys. (Rather like rich WASPs and poor WASPs) The 
plebian variety are to a large degree the decendents of the retainers of the 
noble sort. Somewhere in the dim and misty distance the Muggle-born ancestors 
of the plebes were "discovered" and educated by the "great house" with the 
understanding that they would serve them. They often share their "masters'" 
prejudices and are even nastier about upholding them. This kind of class 
system was not as strong as its equivalent in the outer Muggle society, but 
it never quite went away. With the increasing incidence of Muggle-borns as a 
result of the enclosure acts of the early 19th century, even more of the 
distinction between the noble families and those of plebian but pureblood 
families has become somewhat less important. (Although far from ignored.) The 
upper echelon of the MoM of course is a bastion of the plebian purebolood. 

Of course in some cases, such as with the Weasleys, it seems largely a matter 
of chance that they even ARE still purebloods by this point in time. It seems 
unlikely that all of Arthur and Molly's grandchildren will all be regarded as 
such by the hoity-toity set that measures and categorises such things. (and 
much Arthur and Molly will care about their opinions, anyway. They will love 
their own "little brown ones" just as much.)

-JOdel