History

Lucius Malfoy was said to be born around 1953 or 1954. He was raised in luxury at the Malfoy Manor, which is located in Wiltshire, England. This mansion was in the possession of the Malfoy family for centuries. The Malfoy family was well-known for their belief in pure-blood superiority over Muggles, and Lucius adopted these beliefs from a young age which encouraged him to make friends ‘of the right sort’ when he attended Hogwarts.

From around the year of 1965/1966 to 1972/1973 Lucius attended Hogwarts. Just like the rest of his family, Lucius was sorted into Slytherin House. This house is known to be home to like-minded individuals that share the same values as the Malfoy family. During his time at Hogwarts he met his future wife, Narcissa Black who was part of one of the most important pure-blooded wizarding families in Great Britain. The Blacks were, just like the Malfoys, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

It is said that Lucius was a model student that became a voice of power and authority among his peers. He also managed to maintain his family’s name by being a credit to Slytherin House. This eventually led to Lucius being named Slytherin Prefect in his fifth year. Besides this, he was also invited to a social club known as the ‘Slug Club’, which was hosted by Potions Master Horace Slughorn.

During his time at Hogwarts, Lucius developed a strong dislike for the Head of Transfiguration, also known as Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore was a vocal pro-Muggle advocate and this was seen by Lucius as the worst thing to happen to Hogwarts.

After graduating Hogwarts, Lucius continued living a wealthy and privileged life and married Narcissa Black. By this, he continued the pure-blood traditions of the Malfoy family. He used his influence and fortune to become closely connected within the Ministry of Magic. Drawn by his own ambitions and pure-blood ideology, Lucius decided to join Lord Voldemort and quickly rose through the ranks of the Death Eaters. He became one of their leaders and an important figure in the First Wizarding War. He was involved in violent acts and manipulation in service of the Dark Lord.

At the height of Voldemort’s power, Lucius was entrusted with the diary that was meant to reopen the Chamber of Secrets and around this time his son Draco was born as well. Voldemort’s downfall after the failed attack on the Potters made the Death Eaters collapse. In order to avoid punishment, Lucius used bribery and his influence to claim he had acted under the Imperius Curse, which resulted in successfully escaping imprisonment.

Later on, in 1992, Lucius learned that Harry Potter had rejected his son’s friendship in favour of Ron Weasley. This disappointed him but it did not lead to open hostility. Lucius preferred to protect the family’s social standing. When Arthur Weasley began raiding houses for Dark artefacts, Lucius sold some of his personal objects and used Tom Riddle’s diary to reopen the Chamber of Secrets by planting it in Ginny Weasley's cauldron.

Lucius then bribed the Slytherin Quidditch team with the newest Nimbus 2001 brooms to make sure Draco was on the Slytherin team as Seeker. While the Basilisk attacked students, Lucius used the panic to have Dumbledore removed as Headmaster. However, Harry Potter managed to defeat the Basilisk and destroy the diary, which led to exposing Lucius’s involvement, though it could not be legally proven.

Harry tricked Lucius into freeing Dobby the House Elf, and when Lucius tried to attack Harry in rage, Dobby stopped him. Although this all made Lucius lose his position as Hogwarts governor, he kept his influence within the Ministry of Magic.

When Lord Voldemort returned in 1995, Lucius Malfoy answered his summons to reaffirm his loyalty. He claimed that he had always worked to help his master rise again, though Voldemort remained doubtful of him. Despite Harry witnessing this, the Ministry refused to believe Voldemort had returned, which allowed Lucius to continue operating freely and maintaining his connections within the Ministry through financial influence.

Using his ties, Lucius provided the Death Eaters with inside information and helped manipulate Ministry officials, including using the Imperius Curse on some of them in an attempt to retrieve a prophecy concerning Voldemort. These efforts ultimately failed, leading to arrests and deaths.

Lucius was also a supporter of the rise of Dolores Umbridge by backing Education Decree Twenty-Three, which was used as a means to undermine Dumbledore while pretending it was out of concern for Hogwarts’ welfare.

Lucius Malfoy’s mission to obtain the prophecy failed when it was accidentally destroyed during the battle in the Department of Mysteries. Many Ministry officials witnessed his presence, which led to Lucius finally being exposed as a Death Eater and him being arrested. He was put on trial and sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban along with most of Voldemort’s followers.

Voldemort blamed Lucius for the failure, as he was in charge of leading the mission, and his earlier loss of Voldemort’s diary further destroyed his reputation with the Dark Lord. Some, including Dumbledore, believed Lucius was safer in Azkaban, as his imprisonment spared him from Voldemort’s vengeance.

Lucius escaped Azkaban in the summer of 1997 after being imprisoned for around a year. Voldemort wanted to use Draco Malfoy to assassinate Albus Dumbledore. However, Draco wasn’t able to kill Dumbledore himself which resulted in the Malfoys no longer being held in high regard by the Dark Lord. His favour instead fell on Bellatrix Lestrange.

When the Battle of Hogwarts happened, Lucius made clear he was concerned for his son’s safety rather than Voldemort’s cause. Narcissa managed to lie to Voldemort for Harry’s sake in order to obtain information about whether Draco was still alive, and Lucius and her ran through the crowd without trying to fight.

After the final battle, Lucius and Draco’s crimes were excused because they abandoned Voldemort’s cause. None of the family members had to serve time in Azkaban because Lucius presented evidence against other Death Eaters which helped capture a lot of Voldemort’s followers who went into hiding.

Credits/References

Written by Corban Havilliard
Base code by Andrew Sutherland, edited by Iselin Merilä and Desmond Gray.