Lucius Malfoy: The Elegant Death Eater and His Fall

He walks into a bookstore with a snake-headed cane and walks out having planted a catastrophe in a little girl's cauldron. Lucius Malfoy is the drawing-room villain of the series: he never gets his hands dirty, he always has a lawyer, and he ends up watching his world come apart.

Who he is

Lucius is a pure-blood wizard: rich, influential and a member of Hogwarts' board of governors. He is married to Narcissa and is Draco's father. He was a Death Eater, and when Voldemort fell he stayed out of Azkaban by claiming he had been forced. According to Rowling he was in Slytherin, though the books don't say.

His favorite weapon is money. He bribes, he threatens with letters to the Ministry and he pressures Dumbledore through the board.

Key moments

• Chamber of Secrets, ch. 4: at Flourish and Blotts he runs into Arthur Weasley, they trade punches and, on the side, he slips Riddle's diary into Ginny's cauldron.
• Chamber of Secrets, ch. 14: he arrives at Hagrid's hut with Fudge, and the whole school learns that the board of governors has pushed Dumbledore out.
• Chamber of Secrets, ch. 18: Harry hands him the diary with a sock inside. Lucius flings it away and unknowingly frees Dobby.
• Goblet of Fire, ch. 33: in the graveyard, Voldemort humiliates him in front of the Death Eaters for coming back late and with excuses.
• Deathly Hallows, ch. 23: at the Manor, Lucius can't bring himself to confirm that this is Harry, because he is already afraid of what may happen.

Relationships

With Draco he is a demanding father who wants a son to imitate him. With Narcissa, a couple held together by the fear of losing their family. With Voldemort the relationship is servitude: in Deathly Hallows (ch. 1) the Dark Lord takes his wand in front of everyone.

With Dobby he was a cruel master, and with Arthur Weasley it is an old rivalry in which money and blood make him feel superior.

What almost nobody notices

Lucius spends the seven books convinced he is on the winning side, and the moment he loses that certainty is subtle. At the Manor he hesitates in front of Harry, and in the last book, during the battle, we see him in the crowd calling for Draco, no longer caring who wins (Deathly Hallows, ch. 36). He wants his son back, not his side.

Do you think ambition defines Slytherin? Read Slytherin House: Why It Isn't the House of the Villains.