I thought the reason that that statement freaked him out is because Lucious was talking to harry as if he was possessed by Voldemort in an attempt to see if that was the case, and he interpreted the remark about age as a confirmation. It makes sense if you look at the statement as a deception because Ms. Longbottom walked up. I’m paraphrasing the first part:
I wont tell Ms. Longbottom to leave because “I prefer to deal with the part of House Malfoy that’s my age” =>
I would like to tell Ms. Longbottom to leave because I prefer to deal with the part of House Malfoy that’s my age(but I wont because I want to keep up appearances).
Part I: Lucius accosts Harry and speaks to him as if he were Voldemort. Harry pretends to be Voldemort (without meaning to). Lucius maintains his calm.
Part II: Harry goes “you think I could benefit from doing Draco harm. But it is irrelevant, Lucius. He is my friend, and I do not betray my friends.”
Lucius goes ‘what the fucking FUCK?’
Part III: Longbottom arrives, Lucius asks Harry to send her away, Harry spouts the “my age” comment, and Lucius goes, “I do feel the fool now. This whole time you were just pretending to have no idea what we were talking about.”
Judging by part 3, Lucius wasn’t fooled by Harry’s act in part 1, but kept playing along just to make sure. Harry says enough incriminating stuff in part 1, but that doesn’t convince Lucius… Clearly, he realises that that’s what anyone trying to gain information would say. Since he’s convinced in part 3, though, he must have had a relatively low prior on anyone except Voldemort saying what Harry did… But why? Why? What’s so special about that one off-hand comment?
<retracted, see Locke’s reply> Then again, if he wasn’t convinced in part 1… Why was he shocked in part 2? I can imagine him being shocked at Voldemort saying something like that, but why would he be shocked at Harry Potter saying it?
If he was indeed a 2nd-level player, he would have pretended to be shocked as a part of his 0th-level act. Then he somehow comes to the conclusion that Harry is 3rd-level.
Of course… he was still keeping up the act… he even went “lol Longbottom’s now working for Voldy” a little while later. It never occurred to me that the shock could be fake.
In other words, everything makes perfect sense assuming that “I prefer to deal with the part of House Malfoy that’s my age” has some hidden significance that associates it with Voldemort.
I still think he takes it as a confirmation that Voldemort is possessing Harry. Voldemort is much closer in age to Lucius then Draco. Voldemort playing strange games with your son is much more concerning then the boy who lived playing strange games with your son. Also consider Lucius’s parting statement: “And as you have asked nothing more of me, I will ask nothing more of you.”
Why would the boy who lived ask anything of Lucius? Voldemort certainly would.
I thought the reason that that statement freaked him out is because Lucious was talking to harry as if he was possessed by Voldemort in an attempt to see if that was the case, and he interpreted the remark about age as a confirmation. It makes sense if you look at the statement as a deception because Ms. Longbottom walked up. I’m paraphrasing the first part:
I wont tell Ms. Longbottom to leave because “I prefer to deal with the part of House Malfoy that’s my age” =>
I would like to tell Ms. Longbottom to leave because I prefer to deal with the part of House Malfoy that’s my age(but I wont because I want to keep up appearances).
That reading seems far-fetched.
Let’s go over the conversation....
Part I: Lucius accosts Harry and speaks to him as if he were Voldemort. Harry pretends to be Voldemort (without meaning to). Lucius maintains his calm.
Part II: Harry goes “you think I could benefit from doing Draco harm. But it is irrelevant, Lucius. He is my friend, and I do not betray my friends.” Lucius goes ‘what the fucking FUCK?’
Part III: Longbottom arrives, Lucius asks Harry to send her away, Harry spouts the “my age” comment, and Lucius goes, “I do feel the fool now. This whole time you were just pretending to have no idea what we were talking about.”
Judging by part 3, Lucius wasn’t fooled by Harry’s act in part 1, but kept playing along just to make sure. Harry says enough incriminating stuff in part 1, but that doesn’t convince Lucius… Clearly, he realises that that’s what anyone trying to gain information would say. Since he’s convinced in part 3, though, he must have had a relatively low prior on anyone except Voldemort saying what Harry did… But why? Why? What’s so special about that one off-hand comment?
<retracted, see Locke’s reply> Then again, if he wasn’t convinced in part 1… Why was he shocked in part 2? I can imagine him being shocked at Voldemort saying something like that, but why would he be shocked at Harry Potter saying it?
.… Something’s not right about this whole thing.
If he was indeed a 2nd-level player, he would have pretended to be shocked as a part of his 0th-level act. Then he somehow comes to the conclusion that Harry is 3rd-level.
Of course… he was still keeping up the act… he even went “lol Longbottom’s now working for Voldy” a little while later. It never occurred to me that the shock could be fake.
In other words, everything makes perfect sense assuming that “I prefer to deal with the part of House Malfoy that’s my age” has some hidden significance that associates it with Voldemort.
As to what that significance could be...
Voldemort is actually hundreds of years old and prefers to communicate with Malfoy’s ancestor, Helga Hufflepuff’s ghost?
I still think he takes it as a confirmation that Voldemort is possessing Harry. Voldemort is much closer in age to Lucius then Draco. Voldemort playing strange games with your son is much more concerning then the boy who lived playing strange games with your son. Also consider Lucius’s parting statement: “And as you have asked nothing more of me, I will ask nothing more of you.”
Why would the boy who lived ask anything of Lucius? Voldemort certainly would.
No shit, Sherlock.
The question is “why?”