"That filthy half-blooded traitor!" snarled Draco, I looked up, curious at the sudden angry outbreak, several first years jumped backwards from their spot playing wizards chess as the greenish lantern above their table emitted sparks from his anger. Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle, all looked menacing as they glared at the magazine just inches from the fire.
"Wingardium leviosa", I spat quickly before Draco destroyed it in his fury, only the edge was singed. Looking back at me was Harry Potters face, grinning sheepishly from the front of the Quibbler to make matters worse, it was followed by the headline:
HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:
THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED
AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN
As if it wasn't bad enough our escaped Death Eaters faces were hanging in every window of the Wizarding community, Potter had named all four of the guys fathers as active Death Eaters. I rubbed my Mark, out of habit. Draco was clearly ready to curse Potter to high heavens.
"Everyone thinks he's a nutter; don't worry over it just yet." I said flatly. Draco was clearly not convinced, his expression remained the same.
"I'm going to the library." He announced bitterly. "There's a book containing some of my family's history, and your future family, Astoria, you'd do well to come and read up on it." I stood up, unperturbed by his mood, clasped his hand in mine and we were followed to the library by Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle. It took us the better part of the evening to find the book but finally we found it among a Dark Wizarding history section. We sat down at a table, all of our heads together reading the entry:
"The Malfoy name comes from old French and translates as 'bad faith'. Like many other progenitors of noble English families, the wizard Armand Malfoy arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror as part of the invading Norman army. Having rendered unknown, shady (and almost certainly magical) services to King William I, Malfoy was given a prime piece of land in Wiltshire, seized from local landowners, upon which his descendants have lived for ten consecutive centuries.
Their wily ancestor Armand encapsulated many of the qualities that have distinguished the Malfoy family to the present day. The Malfoys have always had the reputation, hinted at by their not altogether complimentary surname, of being a slippery bunch, to be found courting power and riches wherever they might be found. In spite of their espousal of pure-blood values and their undoubtedly genuine belief in wizards' superiority over Muggles, the Malfoys have never been above ingratiating themselves with the non-magical community when it suits them. The result is that they are one of the richest wizarding families in Britain, and it has been rumoured for many years (though never proven) that over the centuries the family has dabbled successfully in Muggle currency and assets. Over hundreds of years, they have managed to add to their lands in Wiltshire by annexing those of neighbouring Muggles, and the favour they curried with royalty added Muggle treasures and works of art to an ever-expanding collection.
The substantial wealth at their disposal ensured them considerable (and much resented) influence at the Ministry for generations to come, though no Malfoy has ever aspired to the role of Minister for Magic. It is often said of the Malfoy family that you will never find one at the scene of the crime, though their fingerprints might be all over the guilty wand. Independently wealthy, with no need to work for a living, they have generally preferred the role of power behind the throne, happy for others to do the donkey work and to take the responsibility for failure. They have helped finance many of their preferred candidates' election campaigns, which have (it is alleged) included paying for dirty work such as hexing the opposition.
The family has, however, eschewed the somewhat dangerous practice of inter-marrying within such a small pool of pure-bloods that they become enfeebled or unstable, unlike a small minority of fanatic families such as the Gaunts and Lestranges, and many a half-blood appears on the Malfoy family tree.
Notable Malfoys of past generations include the fourteenth-century Nicholas Malfoy, who is believed to have dispatched many a fractious Muggle tenant under the guise of the Black Death, though escaping censure by the Wizards' Council; Septimus Malfoy, who was greatly influential at the Ministry in the late eighteenth century, many claiming that Minister for Magic Unctuous Osbert was little more than his puppet; and Abraxas Malfoy, who was widely believed to be part of the shady plot that saw the first Muggle-born Minister (Nobby Leach) leave his post prematurely in 1968 (nothing was ever proven against Malfoy)."
As I finished this passage, thoroughly intrigued, I realized all the men were looking at something else, Goyle was cracking his knuckles menacingly, while Draco was whispering malevolently to Crabbe and Nott, I heard him say very faintly to me: "Hex the mudblood."
I grinned and obliged, little did that mudblood Granger know, she would have a terrible timer concentrating on her homework tonight.
(I take no claim to that books passage, Pottermore posted the lovely history)