I’ve seen a few variations on “why does Lucius prefer vengeance to maintaining/expanding his political power?”
First of all, for someone like Lucius, what’s the point of power if you can’t get stuff you want, like vengeance for your family members? Like how it’s pointless to save if you’re never going to spend.
And second, something that’s on my mind because I just finished The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley. Emotions like vengeance evolved for a reason. Harry sees it as a weakness of Lucius’s that he would give up anything politically to avenge his son. And it’s true, that can be manipulated by people who want to see him lose his political power. However, it is also a powerful deterrent to his enemies. If Lucius is publically known as someone who would stop at nothing to avenge his family, then those that would provoke him will be few and far between, and he will probably not have to make the sacrifices that his vengefulness commits him to.
When he accused Dumbledore in public of the murder of his wife, even at political cost, I’m sure everyone got the message: “if I hurt Malfoy’s family, even if I make sure it would be very politically costly for him to pursue me for it, he will pursue me for it anyway.” And this was a protection to his family.
Malfoy never got his vengeance for Narcissa, but Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard alive; everyone knows that they could not get away with what Dumbledore did (I’m describing this from Lucius’s perspective; I’m not committing to a judgment on Dumbledore’s guilt). But if he let Hermione Granger get away with an attack on his family, that’s a different thing entirely. If Hermione Granger, a child and, by birth, a second-class citizen in wizard society, can get away with an attack on Malfoy’s family because of all the benefits you pointed out to taking Harry’s deal, then maybe I can get away with an attack on Malfoy’s family because of something like that. Lucius is making sure that the class of people who can get away with attacking his family is very, very small; whatever it costs him is an investment in a reputation as someone not to be messed with.
I’ve seen a few variations on “why does Lucius prefer vengeance to maintaining/expanding his political power?” First of all, for someone like Lucius, what’s the point of power if you can’t get stuff you want, like vengeance for your family members? Like how it’s pointless to save if you’re never going to spend.
And second, something that’s on my mind because I just finished The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley. Emotions like vengeance evolved for a reason. Harry sees it as a weakness of Lucius’s that he would give up anything politically to avenge his son. And it’s true, that can be manipulated by people who want to see him lose his political power. However, it is also a powerful deterrent to his enemies. If Lucius is publically known as someone who would stop at nothing to avenge his family, then those that would provoke him will be few and far between, and he will probably not have to make the sacrifices that his vengefulness commits him to.
When he accused Dumbledore in public of the murder of his wife, even at political cost, I’m sure everyone got the message: “if I hurt Malfoy’s family, even if I make sure it would be very politically costly for him to pursue me for it, he will pursue me for it anyway.” And this was a protection to his family.
Malfoy never got his vengeance for Narcissa, but Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard alive; everyone knows that they could not get away with what Dumbledore did (I’m describing this from Lucius’s perspective; I’m not committing to a judgment on Dumbledore’s guilt). But if he let Hermione Granger get away with an attack on his family, that’s a different thing entirely. If Hermione Granger, a child and, by birth, a second-class citizen in wizard society, can get away with an attack on Malfoy’s family because of all the benefits you pointed out to taking Harry’s deal, then maybe I can get away with an attack on Malfoy’s family because of something like that. Lucius is making sure that the class of people who can get away with attacking his family is very, very small; whatever it costs him is an investment in a reputation as someone not to be messed with.