Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, I’m going to be discussing
Malfoy- and I’m not talking about Draco or Lucius, I’m not even talking about Abraxas-
I’m going to be talking about Draco Malfoy’s great-great-great grandfather Brutus- one
of the most prejudiced wizards of his era.
I can’t say this with complete certainly, because there are gaps in the Malfoy family
tree, but I suspect that Brutus is the son of Lucius Malfoy I- who far preceded the Lucius
Malfoy that we know from the Harry Potter story. Brutus was born sometime in the early-mid
1600s, while the Lucius we are familiar with was born in 1953. Between those two men, however,
are, in chronological order: Septimus Malfoy- who was born sometime between 1770 and 1780,
and Abraxas Malfoy- Lucius’ father- a man you’ve probably heard of before. Abraxas
was Draco’s grandfather and was born sometime in the early 1900s. With this information,
I feel that we can safely infer that Brutus was the great-great grandfather of Lucius,
and great-great-great grandfather of Draco.
When we think of the Malfoy family lineage- certain words come to most peoples minds-
but these words scarcely hold a positive connotation. Usually when someone says ‘Malfoy’- you
might think ‘bigot’ or ‘prejudiced’- but that’s a reputation that was earned
through centuries of intolerance. These are characteristics almost ingrained in their
bloodline, and it wasn’t until really, Draco, that this intolerance began to waiver somewhat.
Historically, they are a wealthy family of morally crooked witches and wizards, that
will whimper when caught red handed, and gloat when in a position of power.
"It is often said of the Malfoy family that you will never find one at the scene of the
crime, though their fingerprints might be all over the guilty wand. Independently wealthy,
with no need to work for a living, they have generally preferred the role of power behind
the throne, happy for others to do the donkey work and to take the responsibility for failure.
They have helped finance many of their preferred candidates’ election campaigns, which have
(it is alleged) included paying for dirty work such as hexing the opposition."
But, after doing some research, I think I’ve managed to find the most awful malfoy- Brutus.
Let’s kick things off with one of his quotes:
"Nothing is a surer sign of weak magic than a weakness for non-magical company"
This is a clear representation of the mindset of Brutus Malfoy- a british pure blood wizard
who happened to be the editor of the anti-muggle periodical ‘Warlock at War’. It’s probably
no surprise to you that Brutus was prejudiced towards muggle-borns- but that alone wasn’t
good enough for him, he was intent on targeting and exposing anyone and everyone that would
even dare to fraternize with muggles or muggle-borns. He was an advocate of the fact that witches
and wizards who associated with Muggles lacked magical talent- an entirely skewed perspective
likely fabricated out of hate. From the Beedle and the Bard book:
“Influential wizards of the day, such as Brutus Malfoy, editor of Warlock at War; an
anti-Muggle periodical, perpetuated the stereotype that a Muggle-lover was about as magical as
a Squib. In 1675 Brutus wrote:
This we may state with certainty: any wizard who shows fondness for the society of Muggles
is of low intelligence, with magic so feeble and pitiful that he can only feel himself
superior if surrounded by Muggle pigmen. Nothing is a surer sign of weak magic than a weakness
for non-magical company.”
What likely induced this perspective, however, was the era that Brutus was born in to. During
his lifetime, persecution of witches and wizards by Muggles was at its height. The magical
and muggle worlds were interwoven somewhat- and tensions were high. Anti-muggle sentiment
was popular and widespread- Brutus was just a strong advocate of spreading the message.
What made him truly evil, however, was that he used his influence and his platform for
evil. A large platform can be as sinister as any tool in the wrong hands- and Brutus
truly took advantage of his editorial position.
What I can say, however, is that fortunately his message wasn’t powerful enough for witches
and wizards to ignore the absolute fact that fraternizing with muggle-borns had no relevance
to magical capability.
“The prejudice eventually died out in the face of overwhelming evidence that some of
the world’s most brilliant wizards were, to use the common phrase, ‘Muggle-lovers’.”
Though there are very few references to Brutus in Harry Potter canon, some have suspected
that he may have appeared in a portrait in the Malfoy manor.
That’s it for this video! Had you guys heard of Brutus before? Let me know in the comment
section below.
Until next time
There is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be