Lucius, his ‘snakelike’ comment, his fate, Draco (and Bellatrix)

[chthonia9]

No: HPFGUIDX 62420

I was hoping that OotP would shed more light on the Malfoys than it 
has, but there are some tantalising tidbits nonetheless.

*** Lucius' relationship to Voldemort***

I tend to believe that Lucius is more interested in acting on behalf 
of the Malfoys than of the Dark Lord (due to his general arrogance, 
his belief in pure-blood superiority, his flight from the Dark Mark 
at the QWC and Voldemort's `slippery' comment in the graveyard).  

So I'm intrigued by Lucius' comment to Harry in Chapter 9 – "Quite 
astonishing, the way you continue to wiggle out of very tight holes 
 
_snakelike_, in fact" (OoP UK edition, p141).  This foreshadows 
Voldemort's attempted possession of Harry, and Lucius' emphasis 
of `snakelike' suggests that it is deliberate on his part.  However, 
the members of the Order of the Phoenix believe that Voldemort is not 
aware of the link until the attack on Arthur. So:

- Were the OotP wrong, and Voldemort (and Lucius) knew about the link 
earlier?

- Did Lucius know something at this point that he was hoping to use 
to his own advantage, and so hadn't told Voldemort?

- Was Lucius just playing on Harry's fear of his Slytherin side? 
(Lucius must know that Harry is a Parseltongue, and possibly knows 
more about the Potter family tree than Harry does)

- Or
?

However, by Chapter 35 he appears to have (re?) gained a place as 
second-in-command – he's clearly leading the DEs in the DoM. 
[Although, there are by my reckoning at least eight DE's not 
present  - Wormtail, Goyle, three or four Azkaban escapees (possibly 
including Jugson and Travers) and `some' (I assume at least three) 
DE's who were unnamed in the graveyard (and who possibly included 
Jugson).]

Still
 maybe it's just me, but I was immediately struck by the 
ambiguity in his response here (OoP UK edition, p689):

`Where's Sirius?' Harry said.
[Bellatrix] said triumphantly, `The Dark Lord always knows!'
`Always,' echoed Malfoy softly.

Is he in smug agreement with Bellatrix about the Dark Lord's 
superiority, or could he be momentarily reflecting on whatever 
Voldemort did to reel him (Lucius) in the first time round?  Tenuous, 
I know, but it struck me forcibly on first reading, and I find it 
unlikely that the ambiguity he displayed in GoF has completely gone.  
Not, that is, unless Voldemort really has put some kind of spell on 
him.

Perhaps Voldemort's response to Lucius' imprisonment will tell us 
more



***Lucius' role in Books 6 and 7***

I was pretty convinced that JKR wouldn't kill Lucius off in OoP, as 
that would have left Lucius as the only credible villain apart from 
Voldemort himself.  However, in Chapter 35 Bellatrix comes across 
very strongly – under Lucius' command, but taking more initiative 
than the others. I was expecting Lucius to continue his balancing act 
with the Ministry beyond Book 5, but if he's really going to prison 
it seems that game is up.  Has he outlived his usefulness, now that 
the war is out in the open (as implied by the title of the last 
chapter)?  Will Bellatrix – a more loyal Death Eater – now replace 
Lucius as Public Enemy Number 2?  Voldemort may well feel safer with 
Lucius out of the way, and while Bellatrix is less rational than 
Lucius, so is Voldemort.

I do hope he doesn't rot offstage for the next two books; surely the 
vein of Arthur-Lucius animosity that has run through the previous 
books can't just fizzle out.  I really want to see a showdown between 
those two.

And, come to that, a one-on-one fight between Harry and Draco.

Speaking of whom



***Lucius and Draco***

There is little hint in OoP of an estrangement between Lucius and 
Draco – Lucius has trusted him with information about Sirius at the 
beginning, and at the end Draco remains fiercely supportive of 
Lucius.  Lucius is respected by Umbridge (p657, UK ed), who recruits 
Draco to her Inquisitorial Squad. Indications of a Lucius-Draco 
working partnership?
 
Perhaps Draco's prefect status has finally given Lucius confidence in 
his son and Draco confidence in himself. (Though equally Draco-as-
prefect could be a result of Lucius leaning on Snape.)  Draco struck 
me as a lot less whiny in this book – is that a sign of him growing 
up to face his insecurities, or just that he now has the 
power/authority to take out his insecurities on those less powerful 
than himself?  To me, his behaviour suggests the latter - he's 
changed from being a whining cowardly bully to a more vicious 
cowardly bully.

I was intrigued to see what Draco made of Lucius' unmasking.  We see 
that his reaction is to seek revenge on Harry rather than to question 
his father's competence.  I'd expect that as an initial response, but 
for Draco to say "I'm going to make you pay for what *you've done to 
my father*" and "*You* can't land my father in prison" (p750, UK 
edition, my emphases) does make Harry sound more powerful than 
Lucius.  Why isn't Draco saying something more along the lines 
of "you were lucky"? (After all, if the OotP members had arrived 5 
seconds later Lucius would have Disapparated with the prophecy, 
though Draco probably doesn't know that).  Is this a sign that Draco 
will respect (but loathe) Harry more now? 


***So, can Draco be redeemed?***

I thought that there would have to be more Draco character 
development in OoP for this to be convincing, but he remained a `bad-
guy' stereotype, getting steadily more evil. (While reading, I 
couldn't help wondering how fanon-Draco aficionados were reacting. ;)

I really, really hope that JKR isn't going to undermine her message 
of tolerance by leaving the Slytherins as two-dimensional villains.  
I still hold onto the hope that she's leading her readers to condemn 
them totally so that she can challenge that assumption later.  
Perhaps Imprisoned!Lucius is the key to this – I will be *very* 
interested to see how Draco copes with life when his father is 
treated as a criminal rather than a pillar of society.  Now that 
Lucius has been removed, Draco will have to learn to stand on his own 
two feet and might actually develop enough of a spine to enable him 
to have a showdown with conveniently-still-alive-Lucius. Though at 
the moment it does seem as if said feet will march him straight into 
Voldemort's camp


Chthonia