Extracts from The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
referring to Lucius and the Malfoys
The above book (proceeds all to charity) contains fairy tales of the wizarding word - or witch tales if you
prefer. The tales have been "Translated from the original runes by Hermione Granger" according to the title page.
Each tale has a commentary after it by Albus Dumbledore. His notes on
the tales were amongst the papers left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives.
Two of these commentaries mention the Malfoys, and give us even more insight into their world view. These
sections are reproduced below:
Tale 1: The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
As I have already hinted, however, its pro-Muggle sentiment was not the only reason that The Wizard and
the Hopping Pot attracted anger. As the witch-hunts grew ever fiercer, wizarding families began to live double lives, using charms of concealment to
protect themselves and their families. By the seventeenth century, any witch or wizard who chose to fraternise with Muggles became suspect, even an outcast in
his or her own community. Among the many insults hurled at pro-Muggle witches and wizards (such fruity epithets as "Mudwallower",
"Dunglicker" and "Scumsucker" date from this period), was the charge of having weak or inferior magic.
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."
Tale 2: The Fountain of Fair Fortune
The Fountain of Fair Fortune is probably the most popular of Beedle's tales, although, just like
The Wizard and the Hopping Pot it has its detractors. More than one parent has demanded the removal of this particular tale from the Hogwarts library,
including, by coincidence, a descendant of Brutus Malfoy and one-time member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, Mr Lucius Malfoy. Mr Malfoy submitted his demand for a ban on the story in writing:
"Any work of fiction or non-fiction that depicts interbreeding between wizards and Muggles should be
banned from the bookshelves of Hogwarts. I do not wish my son to be influenced into sullying the purity of his bloodline by reading stories that promote
wizard-Muggle marriage."
My refusal to remove the book from the library was backed by a majority of the Board of Governors. I wrote to
Mr Malfoy, explaining my decision:
"So-called pure-blood families maintain their alleged purity by disowning, banishing or lying about
Muggles or Muggle-borns on their family trees. They then attempt to foist their hypocrisy upon the rest of us by asking us to ban works dealing with the truths
they deny. There is not a witch or wizard in existence whose blood has not mingled with that of Muggles, and I should therefore consider it both illogical and
immoral to remove works dealing with the subject from our students' store of knowledge."*
This exchange marked the beginning of Mr Malfoy's long campaign to have me removed from my post as
Headmaster of Hogwarts, and of mine to have him removed from his position as Lord Voldemort's Favourite Death Eater.
* My response prompted several further letters from Mr Malfoy, but as they consisted mainly of opprobrious remarks on my sanity, parentage and hygiene, their relevance to this commentary is remote.
