[HPforGrownups] Riddle House

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 61108

I wrote:
>
> > I think it's Lucius Malfoy - I deleted a post where someone was 
>responding
> > to me talking about the mystery house in the audio clip possibly being 
>the
> > Riddle House - I'm not wedded to the concept, it could really be 
>anywhere -
> > but I accidentally deleted before I could respond:  it's mentioned that 
>"a
> > wealthy man" owns the house.  It's been vacant a *long* time.  No reason 
>why
> >
> > Lucius couldn't be holding onto it "for tax purposes", but also for 
>reasons
> > of loyalty/sentimentality - and why he couldn't have had the doorknobs
> > fitted with serpents just for the heck of it.  :-)
> >
> > Felinia
> >
>
>Why has everything got to be Lucius?
>Would Lucius really keep that house and pay a muggle for the gardening?
>Sentimental reasons?  He doesnt love Voldemort or anything.  If anything, 
>he hates
>him like everyone else he just wants the power.  I dont think Lucius did 
>buy
>that house.  I think thats just ludricous.  He has better things to do and
>worry about then buy a old house inhabited by Muggles.  If it is to be 
>bought for
>tax reasons by Lucius, how would he get the money from Muggles?  He doesnt
>have a bank account!
>It might be mentioned in later books, it might be from somebody we have 
>met,
>or might be just totally unimportant, whatever who it is, it isnt Lucius!
>
LOL!  Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion...and I have never 
said "everything has to be Lucius"; in fact, I think you'll find a lot more 
"everything has to be Voldemort" on here - and a healthy smattering of 
Dumbledore, Wormtail, etc.  :-)

I just find the obscure "a wealthy man" line to be something of a red flag; 
it drew my eyes back again and again when I read the book for the second 
time.  It could be *any* wealthy man - but the odds of it being someone 
*significant to the plot* are pretty high, because that's how JKR writes - 
pure and simple.

And I don't think it would be really "for tax reasons" - that's most often 
what's given as a reason when someone holds onto a piece of property that 
has no logical leg to stand on - it's a euphemism, in many cases.  Buildings 
have been held by people that are actual drug labs or other fun things "for 
tax reasons".  It can be a way of hinting at nefarious purpose.

He doesn't love Voldemort???  Where do you get that from canon?

Also, where from canon do you get "he doesn't have a bank account"?  How on 
earth can you know this or even guess it?  It's nowhere in canon one way or 
'tother.  Lucius may hate Muggles, but it's not enough of a true principle 
to prevent his having interests in the Muggle world if it would do him any 
good whatsoever.  I'm sure he has no dealings with "filthy mudbloods", and 
he could, quite logically, have agents who dealt with such unpleasant things 
for him - he's a rich man, the very picture of an aristocrat with the 
accountant, the solicitor, the property managers, the "muscle" to make sure 
tenants pay rent on time.  Maybe the WW doesn't have all those things 
*literally*; but I think it's a mistake to take any of this too literally 
and not see the picture JKR is trying to draw:  Lucius is an effete 
aristocrat, a prejudiced member of a fading elite with some very shady 
connections, and I would put absolutely *nothing* past him.

He is, in point of fact, a great character and I think he's ultimately going 
to end up being pivotal to the plot in some manner - whether he becomes MoM 
as I've theorized, whether he kills Draco or is killed by him in the "Star 
Wars-like" scenario of a father-son duel...

You are correct in all the "mights" that it might be someone we haven't met, 
someone unimportant, etc.; but IMHO incorrect in not adding "it might also 
be Lucius".  Your fervor does nothing to convince me, and I think you've 
made into "absolutes" some things that just *aren't* in canon and can't be 
known one way or the other - and those variables make the whole equation 
very far from being able to be determined "ludicrous" one way or the other.

Cordially,
Felinia

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