Letters from a Pureblood to his son, commonly called the Azkaban Letters

My object is to have you fit to live; which, if you are not, I do not desire that you should live at all.

~ Lord Chesterfield’s letters.

The First Letter.

My dear son,

Circumstances prevent me from completing your education in the way that I would have wished. You may feel, with some justice, that these circumstances preclude me from offering advice in any way – what can you learn from a man who has failed?

It is that failure that makes it imperative that you should listen to me now. I am anxious that you should profit by my mistakes, and not suffer for them.

The proper place of the world is indeed at the Malfoys’ feet; all should be grist to our mill. Nonetheless the world is irrational and often has to be convinced of this fundamental truth.

What opportunity do you have of developing the practical skills you will need to make your way in the world in your present cloistered condition? More than I, in my more cloistered world, and yet there is opportunity enough for both of us.

Human nature is the same everywhere. I am uncertain whether this is a source of gratification or dissatisfaction: it is at least a source of instruction.

Your school is a microcosm of the wider world, with all its petty jealousies and jostling for position, but with fewer penalties for failure. All of your fellows absolutely convinced of their own worth, uneasily aware of the difference between that and the value that the world places upon them, and determined to make others acknowledge their superiority.

This is the fertile ground which you must plough. Flattery, if you can bring yourself to use it, sparingly applied, will yield far better results than any mercenary awards.

It is more economical too.

A softly murmured appreciation of the difficulties that a Minister – or prison guard – faces in dealing with others less intelligent and capable than himself, will achieve as much as a bag of galleons.

And when it comes from a Malfoy, how much the sweeter? Malfoys are proud and do not flatter, therefore those sentiments must be true. There is an old adage, vulgar as it is, that holds a germ of truth: buy a man once and you have to buy him again; flatter him, and he is yours for life.

Flattery is more powerful than Imperio, though not, I admit, as satisfying. Consequently, you should be careful of those that flatter you. Do not allow yourself to be tempted into unwise actions by the admiration of others. Make no Vows that cannot be broken, make no promises that cannot be dishonoured, and make no commitments that cannot be retracted.

Take particular care in the company of women. You are young, and it is inevitable that your attention will now be drawn to those incalculable and intoxicating creatures for the first time. They will always remain intoxicating, and it is likely that they will remain incalculable for a long time to come unless you master the art – given to few men, most being easily distracted by the flesh – to actually listen to them.

Do not make the mistake of assuming that merely because you do not understand them that they are foolish. Your mother should be example enough to the contrary, and your Aunt Bellatrix even more so.

I am sure you remember the last man that suggested that she was unsuited to the study of the Dark Arts. Doubtless the situation was more pleasurable to watch than to experience. Remember, witches have wands too.

You will have to find your own way in the art of seduction. You have good looks and money on your side; you will have no shortage of partners. You will not need to resort to Imperio and lust potions, as others do, but which bring no lasting satisfaction. Instead, you will always be in doubt whether their interest is in you or your position.

When it comes to forming a permanent attachment, always ask yourself whether you will be able to face her across the breakfast table in twenty years time. Malfoy Manor is large, but it will never be large enough to avoid a Xanthippe, and it is generally considered to be vulgar to eliminate ones own wife though if it becomes necessary I can always be called upon to help. That is what family is for.

Avoid redheads – passion so easily becomes petulance, and ceases to be engaging after a few months, and I would prefer my grandchildren not to bear any resemblance to a Weasley.

If your tastes do not incline to women, no matter.

You may suppose that you would understand a partner of the same sex better than a woman. I have no direct experience of such things, but this does not seem to be invariably – or even frequently – the case. Love is an awkward bitch no matter what the gender of the couple.

My father suggested it was better avoided. I did not listen to him, and I have never regretted it. It is a matter for you which path you choose to take, as is the case in many things.

Learn, and learn well. Experience is a better teacher than your father, but it is not a kinder one.

Your father,

Lucius.

Letter 2


My dear boy,

Your concern for my wellbeing is touching, but entirely unnecessary I assure you. My star may no longer be in the ascendant, but it is by no means eclipsed and may yet rise again. Azkaban is not pleasant, but the absence of the Dementors does mean that it is not the fearful place it once was.

I do understand your lack of enthusiasm for Muggle studies – why, you ask, should you concern yourself with the habits of an inferior race. The answer is simple: know your enemy.

Besides, even the lowliest animal is capable of providing a moral lesson. The eagle soars high and sees things with a dispassionate eye. (The eagle also mates on the wing. If you attempt the experiment remember both warming and cushioning charms for the broomstick, and for heaven’s sake do not lose concentration. It is embarrassing enough being taken to the Infirmary after crashing your broomstick without having to explain why the bristles are located where they are. I am sure I need not remind you of contraceptive charms; your mother assures me she is too young to be a grandmother. I believe her; it would be politic not to prove her wrong.)

The snake is cunning and cautious, with poison on his tongue. The badger is loyal and hardworking, all qualities that are admirable in others. The lion teaches the value of looking at things as they really are and not as others suppose them to be. It is lionesses that hunt, not lions, and they who should be the symbol of Gryffindor house. It is typical of that House that they should take as their mascot something that is essentially a counterfeit. They are all bluster and foolhardiness, which is useful to exploit but tedious to endure.

What then can we learn from Muggles?

My father always considered that the Roman Empire was instructive. The usual commonplace observations point to the Republic and its stern morals. Duty and honour were paramount – though if we examine history carefully we find that that is no more than a faint patina of respectability over the usual manoeuvring for power.

No, it is to the Empire that we must look for our education. It is the Empire that provides the exemplar for cruelty, greed, pride and lust, and shows us how those are all weaknesses that can and are exploited.

All men can be bought, Draco, and all women too. It is just a matter of determining their price. With some it will be a straightforward monetary transaction, with others it will be power and position. Those are the most common and the most reliable to deal with. Whilst you have money to give and power to share, they will be yours. Unless someone else offers them a higher price.

It is those that are driven by cruelty that are the most hazardous to deal with, for they will turn on you at the slightest fancied injury. It is no matter to them whether it is you or your enemies coughing out their last at their feet. They have no loyalty to anything other than their appetites and this makes them unpredictable, and being unpredictable makes them dangerous.

If you must deal with such people, do not rely on them, and do not trust them. I am sure that I need not remind you to trust no one lightly, but it is a lesson worth repeating until it is second nature, and in this case there is double cause for caution.

Nero may not have actually fiddled whilst Rome burned – not least because fiddles were not extant in that period – but he stood by and allowed his people to come to harm. He could afford to do this whilst he held on to the loyalty of his more powerful subjects, but once he had also turned on them to satisfy his vicious appetites then there was no chance that he would be allowed to survive.

But neither am I saying that you should trust no one, merely that you should be cautious. If you can do someone a favour at little cost to yourself, then it should be done. Later, they may return the favour, in which case you have gained an ally. If they do not return the favour then you have discovered something whose value exceeds the cost of learning it – they are not to be trusted. It is better to learn this over a trifle, than when your life or your liberty is at stake.

When it comes to favours, you should think like a goblin and keep your accounts current. Too much owing from someone is almost as bad as too much owed to another. In the former, you will not have their gratitude but their bitterness, as no man values generosity but rather envies your better fortune that makes that generosity possible. In the latter, you will be at the mercy of another.

Both situations are dangerous.

And yet, if you choose wisely, you will bind people to you with ties of loyalty – and even affection – that will withstand any reversal of fortune.

My boy, you will be surrounded by people who will revel in your disappointments, and those who are waiting to see whether they are temporary, and those who are truly your friend.

The trick is to tell them apart.

Your present situation makes this a simple matter – do not forget those who stand by you, and equally do not forget those that turn against you.

Both must be repaid, according to their deserts.

Your father,

Lucius.




Letter three

Severus,

Narcissa has told me what she has done.

I cannot bring myself to regret it, though I have no doubts that you do.

All that I have is yours if you can keep him safe.

Lucius.

Letter four

My dear boy,

There are those who would tell you that the Dark Arts are dangerous and addictive, feeding off all that is malevolent in the human psyche. There is some element of truth to this, but it obscures the more profound truth – it is not the Dark Arts themselves that are seductive but the power that they bring, and it is that power which tempts people into casual cruelty.

The bourgeois morality espoused by the Ministry doesn’t prevent them from using the same Arts, it merely allows them to restrict their use to those they approve of, and allows the average Witch and Wizard to stand idly by whilst brutality is practiced in their name.

I have been a loving husband and I hope that you will consider that I have been a good father. But according to received opinion – one hardly dare call it wisdom – I should be so much the slave of the Dark Arts that I should be hip deep in blood and buggering the House Elves twice a day. I rather think your mother would object to both practices. There are actions that I have taken – distasteful actions that some would consider beyond the pale – but they have been out of necessity and not for enjoyment.

I drink wine; that does not make me an alcoholic. I eat food; that does not make me a glutton. Why, therefore should using the Dark Arts make me their servant and not their master.

You practice them because they are useful, and for what they can bring you. You practice them to obtain power and influence, and you do that in the full awareness that it is the power and influence that are seductive and not the magic.

The Arts are a window into the soul. Most people are good, not because they are inherently good, but because they are afraid to be bad. They do not have the power to enforce their wishes, so they speak with horror of these matters so that they can conveniently pretend to themselves that they are not like that, that they would never kill or inflict pain on another, and gloss over the thousand trivial cruelties that they visit on others daily. Not for them the hot rush of Crucio or Avada Kedavra; instead it is the death of a thousand cuts of sneers, resentment, bullying and bureaucracy.

But if they were given their way, just for one night, what monstrous things they would do: what rapes, what murders, what tortures they would inflict on those who had crossed cross them.

It is these little men that are the most dangerous. They are powerless in their insignificant lives, and can only take their revenge in small ways, and dream bloody dreams of revenge and domination. Pettigrew was one such man. He did not betray his friends for the siren call of the Dark Arts, but for jealousy, for pride, and in the futile hope of gaining the respect and admiration he had been denied elsewhere.

That is not the Malfoy way. We do not need to seek out respect and admiration; our position is assured. There is little that we could not already achieve by the use of money, power and position. What power can the Dark Arts have over us then? Therefore, we may use these Arts that other, frailer, men are afraid to use. You should not rush to use these tools, but neither should you shy away from them; they are there to be used prudently.

I only wish that it were possible for me to provide more detailed and practical guidance on the matter.

Until that time comes, I remain,

Your loving father,

Lucius