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. :)
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Date: 2008-10-02 04:07 am (UTC)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 . . . ]