Lucius Malfoy was a wealthy, influential, and arrogant pure-blood wizard. As the patriarch of the Malfoy family, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and a loyal Death Eater, he was a fervent believer in pure-blood supremacy and a devoted, albeit fearful, servant of Lord Voldemort. Throughout the series, Lucius serves as a significant antagonist, representing the corrupting influence of wealth, political power, and prejudice within the wizarding world. His family's arc demonstrates the high cost and ultimate hollowness of serving the Dark Arts.
Born into the ancient and affluent Malfoy family, Lucius was raised with a profound sense of his own superiority. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he was sorted into Slytherin House and became a Prefect. As an adult, he joined Lord Voldemort as a Death Eater during the First Wizarding War. After Voldemort's first downfall, Lucius successfully avoided imprisonment in Azkaban by claiming he had acted under the Imperius Curse, a lie that allowed him to maintain his respectable position and influence within the Ministry of Magic.
Lucius used his wealth and connections to maintain significant influence, notably over the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. As a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, he consistently sought to undermine Albus Dumbledore. In 1992, he orchestrated a plot to discredit Arthur Weasley and remove Dumbledore from Hogwarts by planting Tom Riddle's Diary, a hidden Horcrux, among Ginny Weasley's school things. This led to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. When his role in the scheme was exposed by Harry Potter, Lucius was removed from the Board of Governors. In a moment of fury, he inadvertently freed his house-elf, Dobby, when Harry Potter tricked him into throwing a sock at the elf.
Lucius was present at the rebirth of Lord Voldemort in the Little Hangleton graveyard and resumed his role as a Death Eater. He led the Death Eaters in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries but failed in his mission to retrieve the prophecy for Voldemort. His failure and subsequent capture led to his imprisonment in Azkaban. By the time he was broken out of prison a year later, Lucius had fallen from Voldemort's favour. The Dark Lord commandeered Malfoy Manor as his headquarters and humiliated the Malfoy family, even taking Lucius's wand for his own use. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Lucius and his wife Narcissa Malfoy showed no desire to fight, focusing solely on the safety of their son, Draco Malfoy. After Narcissa lied to Voldemort about Harry Potter's death to protect Draco, the Malfoys defected. Due to this last-minute switch of allegiance, the family avoided imprisonment after the final fall of Voldemort.
Lucius Malfoy is described as a tall man with a pale, pointed face, cold grey eyes, and distinctive pale blond hair. He carried himself with an air of cold, condescending aristocracy and was always impeccably dressed in expensive black robes. His personality was defined by arrogance, cunning, and an insatiable hunger for power and influence. He was deeply prejudiced against Muggles, Muggle-borns, and any who did not share his pure-blood ideals. While he projected an image of strength and conviction, he was ultimately a coward, driven more by fear of Voldemort and a desire for self-preservation than by true loyalty. His one redeeming quality was his genuine love for his family, particularly his son Draco, which ultimately led to his defection from the Death Eaters.