Lucius & chronology

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

So. Let's consider what we could learn by closely reading Lucius' cv (on his user profile):

Lucius Malfoy
Slytherin Prefect, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 1969-1972
Hogwarts Head Boy, 1971-72

Board of Directors, Wizarding Wireless Network, 1973-present
Board of Governors, St. Mungo's for Magical Maladies & Injuries, 1981-1986
Board of Advisors, Daily Prophet, 1981-present
Board of Directors, Nimbus Racing Broom Company, 1986-present
Board of Directors, Obscurus Books, 1975-1980, 1988-present
Board of Governors, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 1989-present

Member, Committee for the Regulation of Magical Commerce, Ministry of Magic, 1984-present (Chairman, 1988-1990)
Member, Committee for Muggle-Born Labour Services, 1985-present
Consultant, Department of Mysteries, 1987-present
Consultant, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, 1983-present

I'll start. In general, Lucius' career seems to be fairly conventional for a man of social means and influence. He serves his first directorship beginning a year out of Hogwarts in 1973 (the WWN) and then adds a second in 1975 (Obscurus Books). His commitments begin to multiply, though, in 1981 -- which, as we know, corresponds with Voldemort's rise (culminating in canon, but not in game, with the Potters' deaths at the end of October). It also corresponds with Lucius' transition into fatherhood and a new phase of adult responsibility, so the political and the personal go hand-in-hand as we see him expand his corporate service to include St. Mungo's and the Daily Prophet -- surely the Lord Protector's hand, not just Lucius' ambition, is behind these particular appointments.

Why does he suspend his service on the Obscurus Books board in 1980, though? If it's so obscure, surely it wouldn't have needed to be eschewed in order to make time for the bigger things ... and if it were so very obscure (and immaterial), why would he have gone back on its board in 1988? What on earth is Obscurus Books?

In the middle 80's we see a steady increase in Lucius' influence and commitments:

in 1983, he begins as a consultant at MLE
in 1984, he steps onto the Committee for the Regulation of Magical Commerce
in 1985, he joins the Committee for Muggle-Born Labour Services (is this when the program began?)
in 1986, he joins the Board at Nimbus Racing Brooms
in 1987, he becomes a consultant at the Department of Mysteries
in 1988, he becomes Chair of CRMC
in 1989, he goes on the Hogwarts Board

The only thing he steps down from is the St. Mungo's board (in 1986).

I keep coming back to the gap in his service at Obscurus Books, which is (ahem) the most obscure of his "appointments," and I wonder what sort of cover operation that is.

In any case, I take this cv as a pretty neat chronology of the Lord Protector's influence over various wizarding institutions.

Thoughts?

Comments

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

You know it's almost eerie, because I was looking at Lucius' CV too and trying to make some inferences -- though I think I was more focused on getting a fix on Lucius' own character and didn't think to look on it as a series of milestones in V's spreading influence, as well. Anyway, some thoughts, mainly about Lucius:

What kind of a feel do I get about what Lucius is really about, at the core? Before Voldemort's takeover (but presumably while V was a growing political force) Lucius is basically a rising media baron -- wireless, publishing, eventually newspapers. (Even in this week's posts, he's got his eye on the Quibbler as a possible acquistion for the Prophet.) Since the murder of the Potters was late in '81, let's play the odds and say Lucius got on to the board of the Daily Prophet before, rather than as a result of, V's coming to power. Maybe it was the sort of career path that made him stand out among V's followers -- L had both the resources and the disposition to be serviceable to V.

My read on Obscurus Books is totally speculative, but let's call it a vanity interest, a frivolous interest. Maybe our Lucius has the soul of a poet, under a certain number of layers . . . Or maybe, Lucius is fond of illustrated volumes of a certain sort. :) He drops Obscurus when the career stakes first begin to skyrocket for him under Voldemort, but picks it back up, along with a similar recreational interest in Nimbus racing brooms, as he reaches mid career and feels a little more established and assured. At the same stage, having less to prove, he drops the social burdens of St. Mungo's fundraising and leaves that to Narcissa.

So, what is the area where L first takes on a role in Voldemort regime? I think it's interesting that he seems to start out not as an ideologue but just as a competent businessman. I suppose his very first position, consultant to law enforcement, could be anything, but it's likely to relate to commercial law enforcement since he moves quickly to the regulation of commerce, and that seems to remain his primary interest, the area where he eventually becomes a committee chairman. So, let's say he's the voice of the business community in the V regime, and also the business pillar of V's power, perhaps.

His branching out to Muggle Labor seems like a natural outgrowth of his regulation of commerce. His appointment to the Hogwarts Board is a nice senior sinecure for a loyal servant of V, especially as Lucius' son approaches Hogwarts age.

The only odd and intriguing career move here is Lucius' appointment to the Department of Mysteries. I would love to know what's up with that. I suspect they're a power center that V hasn't quite taken over, so he's put his best man on it. And meanwhile the Mysterians themselves seem to be happily bamboozling Lucius with their apparent incompetence at arranging catered lunches. More on that as the game develops, I hope!

Otherwise, all of this is consistent with someone who is basically an executive type fond of control and efficiency, and perhaps out for the main chance, rather than someone driven by a passionate ideology or a fundamentally warped nature. He probably stands out as the most sheerly competent and reality-oriented of V's followers.

This is also consistent with the picture of Lucius that emerges from his posts as well. He seems like a reasonably typical executive, immersed from day to day in an almost overwhelming proliferation of meetings and decisions and monitoring followup. But he's not so much passionate about his mission as he's passionate about efficiency, getting things done.

His rage, when it bursts out, is focused in typical "get it done" fashion on things that make the gears cease to turn smoothly: apparent incompetence and mistakes by middle-management subordinates like McG, the deliberate insolence and defiance of those at the bottom, whose job is to shut up and obey orders, or the drama-queen ressentiment of people like Sirius, which, from L's perspective, can only create headaches and upset the political barnyard and demoralize a well-ordered society. :)

[continued . . . ]

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

Interesting in regard to Obscurus Books, that Lucius now tells McG "I chose to write, rather than teach" (http://alt-lucius.livejournal.com/4750.html?thread=29070#t29070) (obnoxious little monsters like Hogwarts students, that is).

Wonder what he writes, our boy Lucius.

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

A journalist? A propagandist? Or, again, a secret poet? Or perhaps he specializes in memos . . .

Must catch up this weekend, to have something useful to say. :)

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

[. . . continued]

In this sense it's interesting to look at Lucius' interventions at Hogwarts. He's not actually on a crusade to shut down Hermione's access to the Journals, for instance -- it's enough that she learns she mustn't become a distraction and a nuisance. McG and others can sometimes play him, as in the matter of the Book, not necessarily because he's stupid (though Sirius at one point suggests he is) but because he's busy enough to gloss over details sometimes. He's a bureaucrat with a checklist rather than an obsessive crusader.

I'm thinking of posting separately on the different types of evil this game seems to be at some pains to distinguish -- from moral cowardice and laziness to active perverseness. Lucius moral failing seems to be to approach everything instrumentally, without giving serious attention to ends. And he's awfully good at it, and can maybe do more real harm than a committed maniac like Bella.

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

He seems like a reasonably typical executive, immersed from day to day in an almost overwhelming proliferation of meetings and decisions and monitoring followup. But he's not so much passionate about his mission as he's passionate about efficiency, getting things done.

I like this reading of Lucius. Indeed, I think this is just the personality type we see.

The point I'm not sure about is whether the 1981 additions to his portfolio are Lucius' own initiative (and fruits of his own logical trajectory of interest and influence) or whether they are markers of Tom Riddle's sphere of influence. It's difficult in canon to read through the accounts of his wave of terror (which so often focus on the attack at Godrics Hollow) to know how much concrete political power he and his circle had managed to exercise prior to October 1981. I don't have a convenient way to check that here (I've just moved away from my books), but my sense is that we err if we take 1981 as a starting point for the Death Eaters rather than as a period of climaxing power (if, perhaps, an early climax). Our view of that moment is skewed by its (then) surprising consequences.

Maybe someone else will have canonical details more easily to hand (or mind).

Obscurus Books

[angstalaska.livejournal.com]

Wild Speculation:

Obscurus Books was a retailer/distributor of rare (read: dark arts) volumes before the Lord Protector's regime took power. It closed in 1980 due to political pressures from outgoing regime. In 1988 V's plans for the journal were communicated to L, and the old company was exhumed so that it might bid for the hefty government contract that was to become available once production and distribution of the magical journals and quills went into full swing.

Re: Obscurus Books

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

It closed in 1980 due to political pressures from outgoing regime.

Oh, that's an interesting possibility. I hadn't considered that the business might have been defunct during the interval.

In any case, I rather expect that you are right that the company has some role in advancing the government's purposes behind the scenes.

One of the things I like about this game is that we are getting glimpses of some interesting books/parchments -- in various places and serving a variety of purposes. (It's good to hang out in the company of book geeks.)