expectavi

Meanwhile, Voldemort:

In my last meta, I explained why Draco DID want to be a Death Eater, rather than being forced into it. In this one, I will argue that Lucius not only did not coerce Draco, but was actually opposed to his son’s taking the Mark — and for this too the story is more compelling and tragic.

Lucius’s actions suggest he became a Death Eater more out of self-interest than ardent devotion to Voldemort or his cause. For Lucius, joining the Death Eaters seems more like a pragmatic matter of being wherever power and privilege are. 

Of course he believed in pureblood supremacy, but he wouldn’t die for it, like Bellatrix. He was also not disenfranchised like Snape, so it’s not like Voldemort was his only option. Voldemort was simply a convenient option at the time, but Lucius wasn’t that attached.

That’s why he doesn’t stay loyal to Voldemort after he loses the First War. As soon as there’s nothing in it for him, Lucius dips out: “[Malfoy’s family] were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they’d been bewitched” (PS6).

Between the wars, then, Lucius forgets about Voldemort and simply puts his efforts towards other sources of influence: joining the Hogwarts Board of Governors, currying political favour through “donations to excellent causes” (GF36)...

He even acts directly against Voldemort’s wishes by smuggling Tom Riddle’s diary into Hogwarts. As Dumbledore tells Harry:

Lucius was supposed to wait for Voldemorts sayso [...]. No doubt he thought that Lucius would not dare do anything with the Horcrux other than guard it carefully, but he was counting too much upon Lucius’s fear of a master who had been gone for years and whom Lucius believed dead. [...] Had Lucius known he held a portion of his masters soul in his hands, he would undoubtedly have treated it with more reverence — but instead he went ahead and carried out the old plan for his own ends. By planting the diary upon Arthur Weasleys daughter, he hoped to discredit Arthur and get rid of a highly incriminating magical object in one stroke. (HBP23)

Lucius gets away with that for the time, and by the 1994 Quidditch World Cup he’s feeling unstoppable, gathering with the old Death Eaters in a highly public place to torture Muggles for sport. However, he’s in for a brutal surprise when Voldemort returns:

“Lucius, my slippery friend,” [Voldemort] whispered, halting before him. “I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. [...] Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay… but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master? [...] You have disappointed me… I expect more faithful service in the future.” (GF33)

Plus, says Dumbledore:

“[Voldemort] was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been destroyed until he forced the truth out of Lucius Malfoy. When Voldemort discovered that the diary had been mutilated and robbed of all its powers, I am told that his anger was terrible to behold.” (HBP23)

So Lucius is fully aware that he is on thin ice with Voldemort. Retrieving the prophecy from the DoM is his chance to regain his standing, but that goes horrifically for him:

“Ah, poor Lucius… what with Voldemorts fury about the fact that he threw away the Horcrux for his own gain, and the fiasco at the Ministry last year, I would not be surprised if he is not secretly glad to be safe in Azkaban at the moment.” (HBP23)

At this point, Lucius surely realises that being a Death Eater isn’t the advantageous pursuit it once was, at least not for him. So why would he want to bring his son aboard a sinking ship?

Lucius has high expectations for Draco’s future: in the same scene where he berates Draco for not being top of his class, he also says, “I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin” (CS4). In the past, he might have imagined joining Voldemort would bring Draco the prestige he dreamed for his son, but by now that has no reason to remain the case.

Although Lucius’s love for Draco isn’t the healthiest, he never wanted harm to come to him. In the Nimbus 2001s and Buckbeak incidents, Lucius shows concern for Draco’s well-being, even if it might be mixed with pride and possessiveness. Lucius is not Bellatrix, who “would be glad to give [her sons] up to the service of the Dark Lord!” (HBP2) — Lucius’s son is his.

Proud, arrogant Lucius also wouldn’t want to rely on Draco to save the family. For one thing, it would only compound on Lucius’s post-DoM humiliation to need his sixteen-year-old son to fix his mistakes, to allow his son to be more competent than him.

For another, Lucius struggles to believe Draco is competent at all. As mentioned, Lucius does have high expectations of Draco, but at the same time he’s very worried that Draco can’t fulfil them. So, when it comes to being a teen Death Eater — something many people justifiably doubt Draco’s capacity for — Lucius would likely be sceptical, too.

This lack of validation is the root of Draco’s daddy issues, and that’s precisely what Voldemort exploits to concoct a beautifully evil scheme.

Voldemort lures Draco into serving him by promising Draco the recognition he never got from his father. Everyone else can tell that Draco isn’t expected to succeed (if Narcissa and Snape can, I don’t see how Lucius wouldn’t), but Draco is so desperate to prove his worth that he believes Voldemort. 

Thus, Lucius’s punishment is not simply that his son is endangered for Lucius’s failure as a Death Eater. The most cruel part of it is that Draco goes willingly — and that it’s Lucius’s own fault for his failure as a father.

It’s also thematically more logical that Lucius not be in control of the situation. He starts out as a cunning man who can manipulate his way out of anything and pull all the right strings to get what he wants, but then his arc is about losing all that due to his hubris.

After the DoM, the fitting plan for Lucius would be to distance himself and his family from Voldemort, just as he did after the First War — only now that’s no longer possible. “Slippery” Lucius can’t slip away this time, because he’s literally trapped in prison. 

He has been caught by the Light side, invoked the wrath of the Dark Lord, and now he can only watch impotently as the bigoted and callous upbringing he inflicted on Draco leads his son to towards his death.

In the end, Lucius loses command of his estate, loses his wand, loses his dignity, and very nearly loses his son. The puppet master becomes Voldemort’s helpless puppet himself.