Things You Didn't Know About The Malfoy Family

Although the Malfoys are fanatics for pure-blood supremacy, they don't resort to marrying their own relatives, which the Gaunt family and others have done because so few pure-blood families remain to marry into.

The Malfoys have avoided inbreeding because they believe that children born of such unions can "become enfeebled or unstable."

The Statute of Secrecy, passed in 1692, forced wizards to distance themselves from Muggles to avoid persecution by non-wizards. The Malfoys were at first adamantly against this law, because they liked mixing with Muggle aristocracy and didn't want to give up the wealth and favors they earned from these relationships.

When power shifted to the Ministry of Magic, however, the Malfoys did an about-face. They shifted their attempts at currying favor instead to Ministry members.

Due to the Malfoys' wealth, they've had the necessary financial influence to steer election campaigns. Still, no Malfoy has ever held the top job at the Ministry of Magic.

That hasn't stopped the family from financing its preferred Minister for Magic hopefuls, and they have allegedly hexed wizards running against their endorsed candidates.

Despite the current hatred of Muggles by the more recent generation of Malfoys, the family's wealth was possible in part because of their ancestors' use of Muggle money. The earlier Malfoys successfully dabbled in Muggle currency and assets to become rich, and that wealth was handed down through the generations.

The Malfoys also acquired a great deal of property in Wiltshire by annexing their Muggle neighbors' lands.

The Malfoys make it appear as if they come from a line of pure-bloods, but half-bloods have been part of their family as well. Apparently, before the Statute of Secrecy was enacted in 1692, the Malfoys amassed a good part of their fortune via relationships with wealthy non-wizards, acquiring Muggle money, property, artwork, and other assets.

After the Statute of Secrecy became law, however, Muggles were shunned and were no longer viewed as a potential source of power. So the Malfoys denied any relationships, including marital ones, with Muggles, and after that no longer married Muggles or Muggle-born wizards.

This means their claim of being part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight isn't true because they're not a fully pure-blood family.

Nicholas Malfoy, who lived during the 14th century, was a noted hater of Muggles. He killed many of his Muggle tenants but made it appear as if they had perished due to the Black Death.

The Wizards' Council didn't prosecute Nicholas, however, and he never paid for his misdeeds.