Lucius - Full blood (was The [Real] Importance of being Draco Malfoy)

[onnanokata]

No: HPFGUIDX 114385

Dharma replies:
 
There is nothing conclusive about this argument one way or another.
  
There is no irrefutable proof that any of the Malfoys is a pure 
blood, other than what the characters say.  Again that leaves all 3 
of the Malfoys' claims as up in the air as anyone else's.  What proof 
do we have beyond Lucius Malfoy's word that there are no half bloods, 
Muggles or Muggleborns in the Malfoy line?  The only Malfoys we know 
are Lucius, Draco and Narcissa.  Unless you can prove that everyone 
is correct in his or her understanding his or her heritage, it makes 
little difference to determining if Draco could be the HBP.  Lucius 
could be lying about or under a false impression of his family's 
history.  Canon shows us that the characters can sincerely believe 
what they are saying and be wrong, or just not tell the truth.  Any 
argument about Draco's resemblance to Lucius is just not definitive.  
It does not further the case one way or the other.  Draco has 2 
parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents and so on
.
 

cunning spirit ponders:
 
The tapestry showing the geneaological connections of the House of 
Black is an ancient object that was charmed in one manner or another 
to update the information it shows with regards to marriages and 
births within the family. 
 
Were these changes entered manually a la Sirius' demonstration of his 
mother's methods for deletion, or was the magic involved in additions 
somehow  automatic, sort of like the magical quill at Hogwarts that 
notes the births of all magical babies in the British Isles?  If the 
latter is true, then the tapestry might be the one source where the 
failings of human error and opinion would be minimal.  The tapestry 
seems to think that Lucius Malfoy is a pureblood, so possibly he may 
just be that.

Dharma replies:

Again, there is canon for powerful magical objects being bamboozled.  
The Gringott's vault in SS and the actual Goblet of Fire are perfect 
examples.  Less prone to error is not error proof.  

Furthermore, there is no evidence that the tapestry reflects only 
pureblood heritage other than what Sirius says about that people on 
the tapestry.  Speculation about how the tapestry works is not 
canon.  Canon states very clearly that Mrs. Black blasted people off 
of the family tree.  The tapestry did not do this on it's own.  So 
again we have canon to the idea that a powerful Witch or Wizard can 
tamper with a magical object.  So we are back to the argument not 
being conclusive.  

After Andromeda, Sirius and Uncle Alphard were removed from the 
tapestry, the only thing that we can truly conclude is that their 
families were not on it either.  Their link to Black line was cut 
off.  This is not equivalent to proof that Lucius Malfoy is a 
pureblood.