While I wouldn’t say Lucius Malfoy was physically abusive, I definitely would say that he lead Draco down a path that was going to get him killed. I don’t really like the interpretation that the Malfoy’s were loving parents that doted on Draco at every turn because it seems more like they just threw money at him to keep him quiet.
Draco’s entire personality hinges on his family, particularly his father. I think it is very obvious that he’s overcompensating for some sort of inferiority complex he might have. I think he envies the golden trio for what they have. Harry is famous, he’s loved, he gets attention. Ron has a family that is loving (even though I do think Molly and Arthur were unintentionally neglectful) and he’s friends with Harry. Hermione is extremely intelligent and that challenges the ideology Draco has been raised in. I think he feels inferior to them and that scares him.
Draco isn’t very noteworthy if you take his family away. He’s well known, but not as well known as Harry. He’s intelligent, but not as intelligent as Hermione. He has friends, but they only really stick around him for his status. That’s why he brings his family up so often. It’s literally the only thing he has that they don’t.
I think it’s also worth mentioning that Draco was groomed. There’s no other way to put it, his parents are in a cult. They are HEAVILY involved in the cult. People like to say he had a choice but in actuality, he was set up for failure the moment he was born. Even Voldemort’s task was a death mission for him in both ways; He is sixteen and sent to kill the most powerful wizard in the world, one that not even the dark lord could kill, and if he doesn’t his entire family will die. That doesn’t really sound like a choice.
All of Draco’s actions beforehand are bad choices fueled by the shit his parents were telling him and the envy he felt towards others, but becoming a death eater wasn’t a choice for him. His ultimatum was death or more death, and he chose the one he could hopefully survive only to almost die because Harry didn’t know Latin.
Also Narcissa you are not off the hook put your husband on a leash
