While the main villain in the Harry Potter franchise was Lord Voldemort, he had plenty of minions who helped him along the way. These included the most influential family that served the Dark Lord in the Malfoy Family. They made an early appearance in the first movie and book in the form of their youngest: Draco Malfoy. Draco quickly became the primary antagonist to a young Harry Potter, who were students at Hogwarts in opposing houses. Their rivalry grew throughout the years, from their opposition in classes, to the Quidditch courts, up until the final battles with Voldemort.
This is because, while Draco was initially an instigator at Hogwarts, his family was also full of Voldemort's Death Eaters. His father was a high-level Death Eater from early Wizarding Wars that involved Voldemort and he was on the front lines when he returned to seek out Harry Potter and the Elder Wand. However, while the Malfoys were bad guys throughout the story, there was a lot of things about the family that made absolutely no sense when it came to the way they carried themselves. Here is a look at 20 Things That Make No Sense About The Malfoys.
THEY DIDN'T ALWAYS DISLIKE MUGGLES
One of the biggest things that both Draco and his father Lucius Malfoy always talked about was how their family is superior, since they are pure-bloods. They also said that they dislike Muggles, which Draco showed consistently when he treated Hermione (a muggle-born) poorly. However, this makes no sense because the Malfoy family didn't always dislike Muggles.
In 1692, the family actually integrated themselves into the Muggle society, gaining much of their riches by delving into Muggle businesses and currency. They also originally opposed the Wizarding World's Statute of Secrecy and did not want to separate themselves from the Muggle world until they felt forced to break off from it and had to pretend that they didn't like Muggles at all.
LUCIUS WAS A FAILURE
It seems almost hard to believe that, as a student at Hogwarts, Lucius Malfoy was one of the brightest in his class. He was a Prefect and was a very successful student. Despite that, he was an abject failure in his life as a wizard. Forget the fact that he sided with Lord Voldemort as a Dark Wizard, as many wizards did that. It was just the fact that every time he was tasked with something, he was unsuccessful.
He was smart enough to stay out of Azkaban after both the first and second Wizarding Wars, so at least he had that going for him. However, he was part of the reason that Voldemort lost the second war – mostly due to his actions concerning his family. He was also the reason the prophecy was destroyed and he lost his wand to Voldemort.
DRACO WAS MISTREATED
Draco Malfoy was a tragic figure when looking at his family. He was intelligent and crafty, yet, his father was so busy making plans based on Voldemort's teachings that he never seemed to care. Draco showed in the books and movies that he loved his mother much more than his Death Eater father, and that is likely because he was mistreated throughout his life.
This might be one of the biggest reasons that Draco mastered Occlumency: the ability to block people out of his mind. If someone was abused as a child, it makes sense that he would develop the ability to shut down emotionally and deny the parts of himself to others that would make him seem vulnerable. On the flip side, it also caused Draco to grow into a conflicted man.
NARCISSA WAS NEVER REALLY “GOOD”
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it appeared that Lord Voldemort had won. He cast down Potter and the first person to reach the young wizard was Narcissa Malfoy, who did the unthinkable. She lied to Voldemort about whether or not Harry was still alive, which allowed the young wizard to rise at the Battle of Hogwarts and finally win the duel that brought down the Dark Lord once and for all.
However, Narcissa was not a hero, nor was she really good at this moment of decision. Narcissa didn't lie to Voldemort to become a heroic figure, but did it to protect her family. It was a good deed done for selfish reasons, and Narcissa remained an unlikeable person later in life as she disapproved of Draco's wife due to their disagreements on continued pure-blood dominance.
DRACO FEARED HIS DESTINY
Draco Malfoy was set up from the start to be the enemy of Harry Potter. He treated Harry poorly in school and then had a number of chances to show up Potter throughout the series. However, every time Draco got the chance to get one up, he would end up balking and failing. It was almost like he was nervous to win.
That actually made sense when his final fate was shown. Draco was chosen by Lord Voldemort to be the person to take the life of Dumbledore, but he was unable to do so. He was unsuccessful and Snape was forced to do the deed, which was what Dumbledore had planned anyway. It seems almost ironic that it was his son, Scorpius Malfoy, who was finally able to stand up and face his destiny, unlike his father.
LUCIUS WAS A CRIMINAL
Lucius Malfoy broke more Wizarding laws than almost anyone around him. Despite this, he never seemed to pay for his crimes. After the first Wizarding War, Lucius was arrested and put on trial for his crimes, but he claimed that he was working against his will due to the Imperius Curse. Although this kept him out of Azkaban, there were still those who did not trust him (for obvious reasons).
While Voldemort was gone, Lucius continued to live the life that the Dark Lord taught, and when the Voldemort returned, Lucius went right back to him, still never paying for his crimes. After Harry Potter eliminated Voldemort, Lucius and Narcissa ran. Lucius then turned on other Death Eaters and wasn't sentenced because he traded his testimony for his freedom. Even after that, he still continued to illegally collect dark artifacts.
DRACO'S INTELLIGENCE
When looking at the world of Harry Potter, it is clear that there were few people smarter than Hermione Granger. However, when looking at Harry and Ron, it is interesting to consider that Draco Malfoy was a smarter, and better, student than either one of them. Well, it might not be hard to believe in the case of Ron, but Draco was miles smarter than Harry when it came to their studies.
Draco was a skilled wizard, despite his inabilities at times to match up to Harry in a duel. This makes sense because Draco was a Malfoy, and anything less than the best was not accepted by his family. He ended up as the Prefect of the Slytherin house by his fifth year and his grades were one of the determining factors for receiving this honor.
LUCIUS WAS A COWARD
As a family, the Malfoys seem more willing to protect themselves than to serve the greater good. Instead of standing by his fellow Death Eaters in the name of Lord Voldemort after the first Wizarding War, Lucius lied and claimed he was jinxed, saying he was forced to serve the Dark Lord. This kept him out of Azkaban and allowed him to live a life of luxury despite his crimes.
He spent years denying that Voldemort could still be alive and simply protected himself. Near the end of the second Wizarding War, Lucius ran away with his family, leaving Voldemort and the Death Eaters behind for their own safety. Then, Lucius testified against his fellow Death Eaters to stay out of Azkaban. From the start to the end, Lucius was a coward who only looked out for himself.
DRACO NEVER TOOK CHANCES
Draco Malfoy seemed like he was never ready to take the major steps he needed to achieve his full power levels. Maybe, that is what kept him from eventually stepping over the line to become a true villain in the end. When it came time to eliminate Dumbledore, he balked and Snape had to do it. When he had a chance to end Harry's life, he couldn't do that either. In the end, it seems the only thing that got in Draco's way was his own lack of self-worth.
However, through it all, he was always prepared and rarely took chances. When Draco arrived at Hogwarts, he knew almost all the students that would be there, thanks to his family's ties. His father had an ear inside the Ministry of Magic, so Draco knew what was coming before it arrived. Despite this inside information, he was never able to use it to his advantage.
BAD PARENTING
Lucius Malfoy was a poor father, which is not surprising since he was a Death Eater and cared more about the Dark Arts and Lord Voldemort's teachings than he did his own son. This was what molded Draco into an instigator and what made him take out his inner pain on those around him – pain that was inflicted on him at home.
Lucius even stood by and watched as Voldemort marked Draco with the task of taking out Dumbledore, something that meant that Draco was likely marked for his own end. As an adult, Draco married a pure-blood and his family was still dissatisfied with his life choices. Luckily, Draco was able to get past all that and grew into a man and a father himself, one that proved to be a much better father than the one who raised him.
THEY MIGHT BE RELATED TO WEASLEYS
Almost every pure-blood family in the Wizarding community are related. This is because there are only a small number of Wizarding families that are still pure-bloods, which limits who people can date, marry, and mate with. While the Malfoy family have stepped outside of the pure-blood lines on occasion, they would play the purity game when needed.
This means that the Malfoys are related to a number of other famous families: Narcissa's sister, Bellatrix, married Rodolphus Lestrange, so they are related to that family; Andromeda married Edward Tonks, and their child married Remus Lupin. Sirius Black even said that he was related to the Weasleys, which means the Malfoys were, too.
LUCIUS WANTED TO MARRY QUEEN ELIZABETH
The Malfoy family did not originally dislike Muggles at all, and the very first Lucius Malfoy actually wanted to marry one. Not only did he want to marry a Muggle, but he wanted to marry Queen Elizabeth. This happened back in the 16th century, but he had his proposal for marriage rejected.
This was not good. According to legends, as a result of Queen Elizabeth refusing to marry Lucius Malfoy I, he cast a curse on her and she never married anyone at all before she finally passed away at the age of 69. The Malfoys denied these rumors, but imagine how powerful the family could have been if they were not only one of the most influential families in the Wizarding World, but also royalty in the Muggle world as well.
THEY ARE NOT ALL PURE-BLOODS
The Malfoys have the term “purity” on their family crest in the Latin words “Sanctimonia Vincet Semper” (Purity Will Always Conquer), though they did not always practice this lifestyle. The fact is that the only way to remain a pure-blood is to only mate and marry other pure-bloods, which will lead to inbreeding over time.
The Malfoy family exhibits pure arrogance, and for them, that even defeats their desire for blood purity. Despite their talk about a pure bloodline, the Malfoy family have had no problem with marrying half-blood wizards and witches whose family line have included Muggles throughout the years. However, they will always deny the existence of Muggle-blood in their lineage.
THEIR WEALTH WAS NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE
By looking at Lucius Malfoy and seeing how he acts, it is clear that he is extremely wealthy; however, he had nothing to do with this. He was the descendant of a family who became extremely rich thanks to their dealings in the Muggle world – although they denied this later. Aside from that, did this wealth that Lucius used to mark his place in the world really mean anything?
Yes and no. It helped in the area of Lucius' obsession with collecting Dark artifacts, and he also used his money to assure that he held onto control of certain people within the Ministry of Magic. However, Sirius Black was also one of the wealthiest wizards in the world and it did him no good when he was cast into Azkaban. Yes, Lucius had a lot of money, but it never helped him succeed in the areas of life most important to him.
THE MINISTRY IGNORED THEM
The Malfoy family was part of the Wizarding War and Lucius was a Death Eater. Despite this, when Voldemort was vanquished, the Ministry of Magic pardoned the family. Then, after the main Harry Potter franchise ended, the Malfoy family abandoned the Dark Lord and went on living their comfortable lives once again.
The thought after the first Wizarding War was that they had the Ministry of Magic in their pockets. This goes all the way back to Septimus Malfoy, who was an influential adviser to Unctuous Osbert, when he served as the Minister of Magic. It appears that the Malfoys have had their hands in the Ministry of Magic for well over 200 years as shadowy figures who pulled the strings and were allowed to be pardoned no matter what their family was involved in.
LUCIUS AND THE UNFORGIVABLE CURSE
Before anyone knew that Lord Voldemort was really back and in power, Lucius Malfoy cornered Harry Potter in Hogwarts. At this point, he aimed his wand at the young wizard and tried to cast the Avada Kedavra curse at him. This was an unforgivable curse and would have resulted in Lucius ending up in Azkaban for life.
This makes no sense at all. Lucius lied about being cursed to get out of his Azkaban prison sentence after the first Wizarding War and he abandoned Voldemort during the second war to protect himself. Why would he cast a curse that would result in no chance for freedom before even knowing if Voldemort was actually back? Luckily, Dobby saved Harry from this, which in turn, saved Lucius as well.
DRACO WANTED TO BE FRIENDS WITH HARRY
While the story continued on and Draco grew into a very dangerous young man, it might be easy to forget that he originally tried to be friends with Harry Potter. While Draco was sorted to Slytherin, like his family, Potter went to Gryffindor. However, it was not their separation in the Hogwarts' houses that ended any chance of friendship, but Draco's insincere reasons for wanting to be friends with Harry.
Instead, Draco wanted to be friends with Harry because he thought Potter might be a Dark Wizard that could grow into the leader Lord Voldemort used to be. This was also a theory that Lucius held, as they believed it was what saved Harry from Voldemort's curse as a baby. Harry knew that Draco was not a good person and rejected the offer of friendship.
NARCISSA WAS NOT A DEATH EATER
While she was married to a Death Eater in Lucius and was the sister of a very deranged Death Eater in Bellatrix Lestrange, Narcissa was never one herself. While she never got the mark and gave herself over to Lord Voldemort, she still believed in the importance of being a pure-blood and supported Lucius in his work nonetheless.
However, since she was not a Death Eater, it made it easy to cut corners and protect her family when needed. She lied to Voldemort about Harry Potter during the Battle of Hogwarts and she was able to escape during that battle and remain a free wizard after the smoke had cleared.
MALFOY MEANS “BAD FAITH”
There has to be something wrong with anyone who trusted the Malfoy family. Their entire name proves that they are untrustworthy as “Malfoy” is an old French term that means “bad faith.” Of course, this is a J.K. Rowling trait. She did name Lupin based on the fact that he was a lycanthrope: a werewolf.
The name Malfoy fits the family perfectly. Draco was always looking for a shortcut in school, despite his natural intelligence, and had no problem bending the rules in Quidditch. His father didn't have a problem cutting corners to get what he wanted either, and he proved that he worked in bad faith when his family was pardoned and immediately ran back to Lord Voldemort.
BOTH LUCIUS AND DRACO SAVED HARRY POTTER
While Lord Voldemort tasked Draco Malfoy with a great deed (ending the life of Dumbledore), the young wizard was not able to do it. Some could call him a coward for not being able to follow through with this task, but since Dumbledore was not going to fight back, it looked more likely that Draco was not willing to take a life – and this wasn't the first time.
When Harry was trying to get a Horcrux, Draco and his minions interfered, but Draco ordered his friends to spare Harry. Later, Draco refused to identify Harry, Ron, and Hermione to Death Eaters, saving them once again. Even Lucius inadvertently saved Harry's life in Goblet of Fire when he kept Voldemort talking long enough for the cavalry to arrive and save Potter.
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What else did you notice about the Malfoys that didn't make sense? Let us know in the comments!