Lucius - Death Eater during the first war and no doubt had a hand in killing and torturing Muggles and enemies of Voldemort. Pre-war years he tried to frame Ginny Weasley with the diary and his actions released the basilisk into Hogwarts, put on a mask and led the Death Eater remnants into a riot at the World Cup where he tortured a Muggle family including children. After Voldemort returned, he continued to work for Voldemort. Strongly implied that he put the imperius curse (an unforgivable curse) on Bode and Podmore. Joined in the Battle at the Ministry and was caught. After he escaped from Azkaban he let Voldemort hide out at his mansion. Yet once the war was over, he was pardoned because he didn't fight during the battle. He should have spent the rest of his life in Azkaban.

Then Draco, was a turd for much of his time at school but never did anything illegal. Until he became a death eater and used an unforgivable curse on Rosmerta and in the process almost killed Ron and Katie. Then continued trying help the Death Eater and showed zero remorse at all.

Both should have been banged up in Azkaban for a long time, yet got away scott free. Narcissa I don't think technically did anything illegal, unless you include aiding and abetting on her rap sheet. But she did lie to Voldemort to save Harry so she could deserve a pardon.

But fact is, two of the three Malfoys should have ended in Azkaban. Lucious for life. Draco for a good ten years at least.

 

I'd say they probably lost their reputation and influence in politics, considering that everyone during the final battle at Hogwarts saw them siding with Voldemort to the end. If they kept their wealth then maybe they made reparations. Narcissa lost the only family member she still loved, so there's that.

Also, if Draco using an Unforgivable Curse should send him to Azkaban, then Harry should join him. Harry actually used two (he used the Cruciatus twice, the second time for a very petty reason), while we only know Draco used one.

 

Yes definitely, I kinda understand Lucius getting away with it, since according to the Malfoy WizardingWorld article he ended up revealing information that lead to the capture many of Voldemort's followers who went into hiding

I personally dislike it, but it makes sense why they would allow hin to get away wirh it, and we already saw a precedent through Kakaroff

Draco on the other hand fully deserves Azkaban, and unlike his father didn't seem to have done anything to help our the goos side. Like just look at this list of his more serious crimes.

* Draco tortured multiple people with the cruciatus on Voldemort's orders
* attempted to use it on Harry in the bathroom
* used the imperius to enslave Rosmerta for a year, and had her carry out several attempted murders and had her use the Imperius Curse in Katie
* almost murdered Katie, Ron, Harry and Slughorn(the last two also almost drunk the poison),
* he was responsible for letting Death Eaters into Hogwarts, including Greyback who procceeded to partially ate and disfigure Bill Weasley
* was at the very least accesory to the murder of Dumbledore
* During the battle of Hogwarts he actually tried to capture Harry
* and he was old enough to understand the severity of what he was doing during all of that.

And at no point does he actually try to redeem himself or at least show that his views on blood purity dont align with Voldemort and his followers. And the nicest thing hes ever done in the books, is not identifying Harry in his manor, which he quickly ruins by later trying to personaly capture Harry and deliver him to Voldemort. So yes, I think he should have gone to prison, you dont deserve a get out of jail free card, because you were to cowardly to look a person in the eyes when murdering them.

 

I mean, it happens all the time, rich people getting away with stuff. Besides, like someone else mentioned, Lucius's testimony helped put a lot of Death Eaters away. That is also a common practice out in the world.
Draco, though a little shit, didn't have much of a choice in what happened during Voldemort's reign. The most powerful Dark Lord ever was living in his house, his father was in Azkaban, he was a sixteen year old with no one to protect him, and he also had to think of his mother. We like to think we'd have done better, but the reality is, he was a teenager that was being threatened by a very scary dude. Most people would have obeyed.
But I think the most important reason they got away is that Harry literally won the war due to Narcissa. If she hadn't lied to Voldemort, in the forest, everything would have been lost. For that alone, Harry (and everyone, really) owes her one. Keeping her family away from Azkaban sounds like a fair reward.

 

I think that it's in line with both their characters, but also it makes canonical sense. The wizarding Britain had just come out of a war, so some concessions had to be made to keep the peace. Lucius was a very popular and well connected wizard, and let's be honest, the Imperius defence, even if frequently used on false pretences, is completely valid in the wizarding world.

Don't forget that through Karkaroff, there's a precedence for informants being granted leniancy, and it's entirely likely that the Wizengamot still had a substantial number of Death Eater sympathisers amongst its ranks at he end of the war.

 

Exceedingly.

None of the Malfoys did anything that even came close to making up for the havoc they wrought.

Yes NM didn't out Harry. That does not make up for being a die hard blood purist to her dying day, nor for being a Quisling that harbored a terrorist mastermind.

LM was a insurgent, the head of muggle torture, tried to murder Ginny, tried to murder Harry, corrupted the political process for decades with bribes, scrambled back to LV in GoF, attacked the MoM, escaped Azkaban, remained a die hard blood purist till his dying day, and was an avid collector of Dark Artefacts even after DH.

DM was a insurgent who orchestrated a terrorist attack on a boarding school. Remember back in 2014 when Boko Haram attack the Chibok Secondary School in Nigeria and kidnapped 276 schoolgirls? Yeah, Draco is the magical version of whatever cunt planned and orchestrated that.

Life in Azkaban at a minimum for all three. The DP for Lucius and Draco would have been preferred. Sure the MoM stopped using the Dementor's Kiss, but it's not like they were above just straight up beheading things.

 

Double penetration?
Dementors' Piss?

Are we sure they wouldn't have enjoyed those?

 

Well, I'm not completely cruel. I'd grant a double penetration sesh followed by a Magical Golden Shower, before giving them the Death Penalty.

 

I can see the argument for them getting lighter penalties: Lucius became an informant, Draco was pretty much indoctrinated from birth, and Narcissa seems to have avoided getting personally involved in any criminal activity. However, the total absence of any penalties doesn't sit right with me. I would've liked it a lot better if Draco and Lucius at least spent five years in Azkaban or something.

 

I'm the total opposite of that train of thought. I can see them getting harsher penalties because of those reasons, because it all boils down to what made them change sides. It wasn't because they 'saw the light'. It was because they were being shit on by Voldemort. It's the only reason. While they were high and mighty, they didn't seem to care much about torturing people with Unforgivables (or being married and raising a little shit to do the same, in Narcissa's case. Guilt by association.)

The only person who might deserve a lighter sentence would be Narcissa, because of her saving Harry's life in the forest, but even then it was for a price, so I wouldn't be irked at all to toss her in Azkaban as well, at least for a short time. For Draco and his dad? Life.

 

Draco is pretty much a child soldier though. Indoctrinated from birth to participate in violence, and then compelled by fear to carry out that violence in the moment. I don't think any reasonable society would sentence someone like that to prison - mandatory life long therapy perhaps, but not prison.

If Lucius turned snitch, then that explains him getting off. And honestly...I don't disagree with the decision. If they need the information that an informant in Lucius's position could provide, the only way to get that is some form of immunity agreement. They suck but are necessary tools for law enforcement.

Narcissa has a similar, but even better, claim than Draco - indoctrinated from birth, forced by fear to carry out any illegal actions she's taken (do we actually see her do anything illegal? I can't think of anything off hand), and then at the last minute breaking free from those chains to save Harry Potter's life. Not only is it dubious to hold her truly accountable for her previous actions, she then redeemed herself by risking her own life to save that of the only person who could kill Voldemort. No court in the wizarding world would be sending her to prison after that.

 

Agreed, I don't like him being cut loose entirely, but considering his age and lifetime indoctrination I'd say some sort of mandatory therapy/reeducation is the right path to take, not locking him up and throwing away the key.

Narcissa seems to have kept a distance from all the illegal activities, sort of a classic mob boss's wife scenario. For Lucius himself, I definitely grasp the logic behind him testifying for immunity and think it's not an unrealistic outcome, but from a storytelling standpoint it's not a very satisfying outcome. He's just responsible for too many evil things to get away with no comeuppance.

 

And if that was the case then I might agree, but it wasn't. There was no fear involved up until the point that Voldemort was shitting on them. They did what they did, because they thought themselves superior and they could do what they wished without consequence. They reveled in the power until it was taken from them, then they did what they had to do to survive.

One might argue that Lucius didn't want Voldemort to come back into power, because that would erode his own standing at the top of the heap. Even then there wasn't much in terms of evidence to that fact, just shitty fan fics where the Malfoys were a family that weren't really evil, just misunderstood.

As to Narcissa doing anything illegal:
Housing a known criminal? and Conspiracy to commit murder (Dumbledore/Snape/Bellatrix) Of course that's at the beginning of V's second reign, so arguable.
Covering up her husband's involvement in said organization? Then and now. Conspiracy, I suppose.
Possession of illegal Dark artifacts and or Dark material (at the manor) If Draco knew there was a cache then she did too.
Raising Draco... that should be enough right there. (kidding)

That's just what we know of, because she wasn't an important character. Just because she's in the periphery doesn't mean she didn't do anything.

 

"The incredibly dangerous mass murdering lunatic arrived at my house, my husband let him in, and then I couldn't do anything about him because he threatened my life. Besides, he'd taken over the Ministry at that point...so who could I go to for help?"

"My incredibly violent, murderer of a husband threatened my life and the life of my son if I testified against him."

"My incredibly violent, murderer of a husband threatened my life and the life of my son if I testified against him."

And there we have a clear case for her not to be charged with anything. Shifts all the blame onto her husband, who is then gives immunity for testifying.

I'm not saying its fair, but its absolutely reasonable to see how the end result came about. As Chengar says...the classic Monster's wife. Obviously aware and involved, but never demonstrably so.

 

Yes, Narcissa was just misunderstood or could put up a lame defense. I get where you're going with this. Thing is, you have to keep in mind the people that would be putting her on trial just had their children and grandchildren assaulted and killed at their school, after a year of seeing what their brutal ruling class could do while they were in charge. They're in charge now.

They saw what actually happens when Voldemort and his lackeys have power. I highly doubt any of them would have made it anywhere other than prison in the real world, not for a second time in a row. Sure, the Imperius defense worked once, but it's not likely to be believed a second time. Then again, people are stupid and Wizards more than most. So in this storybook setting it's easy to see how everyone lived happily ever after, but we know it's not what would really happen. People would call for blood. Nuremberg Trials II.

 

Yeah, this is a key point. The Malfoys weren't repentant Nazis who saw the error of their ways. They were Nazis who fell out of favor. Everything they did in book seven was to regain favor with Voldemort, except for Narcissa's lie in the forest.

It would be an interesting case to try in a court. The outcome would probably depend on how much Harry tells the judges about their actions over the years. I could see Narcissa getting away with everything, per @Mordecai's defense, but not Draco and Lucius. Their situation is a lot more complex.

The one thing Draco has in his favor is his hesitation to identify the trio at Malfoy Manor. During the battle of Hogwarts, however, he is still trying to capture Harry for Voldemort. He's the one who let Crabbe and Goyle into the RoR, and he's the one who wanted to find the diadem and give it to Voldemort. He's also responsible for letting an army of terrorists into Hogwarts in sixth year, leading directly to Dumbledore's death. Plus attempted murder several times over with the mead and the necklace, unforgivables galore, etc. He might have been unenthusiastic about his options, but we have to remember that he wouldn't even accept help from other Death Eaters in his murder attempts. Why? Because he thought taking sole credit would restore his family's standing in Voldemort's eyes.

If the judges learn all that, there's no way he gets away scot-free. The child-soldier defense wouldn't fly. He's no more brainwashed than other Death Eater kids, and he was an intelligent, legal adult when he performed his crimes, not a 10-year-old.

Lucius gets away with no jail time only if the judges don't know everything he did as a Death Eater. It's possible he didn't know he was setting loose a basilisk on school children, but he did know he was giving a deadly artifact to a little girl, and that his actions led to all the attacks in Hogwarts. He also attempted to murder Harry before Dobby intervened. If you consider the fact that Voldemort trusted him with a horcrux, just as he did with Bellatrix, there's no way he doesn't have a serious amount of blood on his hands from the first war.

If the judges stuff truth serum down his throat before he offers to help, at best he gets 10-20 years in Azkaban instead of an execution.

 

Maybe, people get away with evil shit all the time.

I'm also annoyed Hermione wasn't killed by the troll.