Lucius Malfoy
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Lucius Malfoy is a fictional character in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling. The scion of an old - and later terrorist - wizarding family, until 1996 Lucius lived with his wife and son at the Malfoy's estate in Wiltshire. Lucius Malfoy was a governor of the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, until he was fired for blackmailing the other governors into suspending the school's headmaster. He is currently incarcerated at the island prison of Azkaban on charges of blackmail and Death Eater activity.
Forbes magazine states that Lucius Malfoy is currently number 15 on their fictional wealthiest characters list. [link]
In the movie, Malfoy is played by Jason Isaacs.
Background
Lucius Malfoy, the son of a prominent wizard named Abraxas Malfoy (who died years later of dragon pox), was born in 1954 and educated at Hogwarts School, presumably where he met his wife Narcissa Black, as well as many other Slytherin students who later became Death Eaters. He later married Narcissa and together they had one son, Draco Malfoy.
Through giving money to charitable causes and the Ministry of Magic, Lucius has become very well connected and frequently uses his political influence to further his own ends. At one time, Lucius Malfoy was a governor of Hogwarts.
Name Origins
The name Lucius, being one of the most common Roman names, is a probable allusion to the Roman Dictator Lucius Sulla, who extrajudiciously executed his rivals. His name could also be a reference to the Roman Emperor Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also known as Nero. Malfoy is derived from the French mal foi or mal foy, meaning bad and faith respectively. His name could have also been inspired in Saint Lucius (Lucius of Britain, mythical king of the Britons whose death caused his subjects to rebel against Rome, causing what is still known as the Interregnum of Severus. The name also echoes "Lucifer", a name for the Devil.Loyalty
He was a follower of Lord Voldemort, but left his master after Voldemort was defeated by one-year-old Harry Potter. Malfoy claimed that he had been bewitched by Voldemort and had not meant to serve him. Though this explanation was accepted by the Ministry of Magic, some, such as Arthur Weasley, believed it was a lie.
Role in the Books
Just before Draco and Harry's second year, Lucius planted Tom Riddle's old school diary in Ginny Weasley's potions cauldron while she was shopping for school supplies at Flourish & Blotts book store. It was an elaborate plot to use her to reopen the Chamber of Secrets, which would lead to attacks on muggle born students. Lucius knew the diary was cleverly enchanted, with the ability to influence others, but in fact it was also one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, containing a part of the Dark Lord's soul. Malfoy intended to use the opening of the Chamber of Secrets by Ginny to discredit her father Arthur Weasley, who was the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. Weasley, who is also a Muggle sympathizer, had proposed the Muggle Protection Act, and Malfoy intended to shame Weasley and overthrow his Act.
Malfoy's plan was initially successful, even though Malfoy's house-elf, Dobby, sneaked off to warn Harry Potter of the impending terrible events. After the Chamber was opened, several students, along with Argus Filch's cat Mrs. Norris, and even a school ghost were systematically petrified by the Chamber's Basilisk, which was controlled by Riddle / Voldemort; framing Ginny as an innocent patsy. Malfoy used the resulting terrors to influence the school's Board of Governors to discredit and dismiss Albus Dumbledore as Hogwarts Headmaster.
Ginny eventually stopped trusting the enchanted diary and threw it away, only to have it discovered by Harry. Malfoy's plan to discredit Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley began to unravel when Riddle / Voldemort decided to use the situation to go after Harry Potter, rather than just attacking the Muggle-borns in the school. Riddle / Voldemort captured Ginny, and took her to the Chamber, knowing Harry would attempt to rescue her. Harry not only rescued Ginny, but in the process also destroyed the Horcrux and the fragment of Voldemort's soul contained in it. Harry and Dumbledore discovered the truth behind Ginny's "attacks", proving her innocence and implicating Malfoy, who was consequently sacked as a school governor. Harry also managed to trick Malfoy into setting Dobby free, by handing Malfoy a dirty sock along with the diary, which he threw at Dobby. This constituted giving Dobby "clothes", which set the house-elf free. Malfoy then attacked Harry, but was blocked by Dobby, using some house-elf magic. In the film version, Lucius withdraws a concealed wand from his cane, and starts to attack Harry with an unknown curse but again is blocked by Dobby, who now considers Harry to be his new master.
When Voldemort rose again and summoned his Death Eaters, Malfoy rejoined him, claiming that he had done everything he could all along to find Voldemort and help him rise again. Voldemort, who is skilled at Legilimency (an ability to read minds and detect deception) seemed to accept that. Even though Harry witnessed Malfoy's declaration of loyalty to Voldemort, nobody in the Ministry believed him, and the very wealthy Malfoy continued maintaining strong ties to very high places in the Ministry, most prominently in the form of generous financial support. Voldemort also confirmed that Malfoy had taken part in the Death Eaters attack at the Quidditch world cup.
Malfoy was also present during the Battle Of The Department of Mysteries, as the apparent leader of the squad sent to recover a crucial prophecy from Harry. He was seen by many Ministry officials, summoned to the scene by Dumbledore; and now with irrefutable evidence pointing to his identity as a Death Eater, Malfoy was finally sent to Azkaban prison.
Lucius Malfoy's failure to retrieve the prophecy at the Department of Magical Mysteries, combined with accidentally causing the destruction of part of Voldemort's soul with the Diary of Tom Riddle, resulted in Malfoy's loss of standing with the Dark Lord. He is probably safer in Azkaban prison, than out in hiding or free, to face the wrath of Voldemort. In an attempt to redeem his father in the eyes of the Dark Lord, Draco Malfoy set out to earn favor with Voldemort by accepting a secret assignment.
Lucius Malfoy's family tree
Lucius Malfoy is connected to the Black Family by marriage- his wife's maiden name was Narcissa Black. A full version of the Black Family tree can be found here.Lucius's father's name was Abraxas Malfoy, and it seems that Lucius was born quite late in his father's life. This speculation is based on a comment made by Horace Slughorn. Given the potential life-span of magical people, Abraxas might well have been over 100 years old when Lucius was born. Abraxas died of dragon pox. It is unknown whether Lucius has any siblings, and his mother's identity is unknown.
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