Draco Whumpee Malfoy

<3 Best AU

You can't go wrong with turning Draco into a ferret as punishment / torture. I have him with a small gold birdcage in the parlour he lives in as a ferret =D (That would be really stressful to a ferret, don't do it to a real one, animal cruelty PSA)

Voldemort can give people false memories / horrifying visions when he wants to torture them without making them useless to him, so that's fun to play with.

Lucius being really messed up and traumatised from the year spent with the Dementors. Lucius being on the same level as Wormtail. Lucius showing surprise depth and actually trying to protect his family, granted that Voldemort's never actually going to let that work without making it abundantly clear he can do whatever he wants and is just ~allowing~ it...

On that note, cruel choices and Voldemort using them against each other. Things like "I let your failure of a son live, but now you're asking to be allowed a wand as well? Well, I suppose if you want that more..." or "Lord Voldemort is magnanimous; decide between you who will be punished for this". Forcing Lucius to Crucio Draco (because they all know if he doesn't Draco'll be killed). I'd say forcing Draco to Crucio one of his parents but I genuinely don't think he could. Could force him to try and then be punished for it.

Nagini. Just.... Nagini. Completely terrifying. You know she needs to eat a person every month or two.

Snape doing whatever he can to help without blowing his cover.

Bellatrix trying to get Narcissa to come to Voldemort's side and abandon her family, even offering to get rid of the family holding her back, but also Bellatrix being absolutely ready and willing to hurt Narcissa if Voldemort even hints he would like that.

Normally I leave Narcissa relatively unscathed... well, no, she's scathed, but she's less actively tortured. 🤔 Of the twice I've written something adjacent to this AU, once I had her mind controlled and kept by Rabastan, and the other I had her badly injured while trying to help Draco escape (oh, yeah, another trope: Narcissa trying to help Draco escape) and sent to the hospital. Both times I had her get out of the house and join up with the good guys and be on the other side in the final battle. Interesting trend I hadn't recognised in myself. I know you like female whumpees, though, so you have a whole world of "She comes from good Pureblood stock and it's a shame to waste it" at your fingertips, if you want to get that uncomfortable with it.

The absolute terror of knowing Voldemort can read your mind whenever he wants and will know everything you do and everything you say and everything you think.

Voldemort is such a good villain for absolutely terrorising the poor dears.

The subtle dehumanisation that a Muggle wouldn't understand, of casually using magic on another witch or wizard.

Instead of engaging in conversation, or even telling someone to be quiet, just Silence them.

Instead of going around someone, just summon or levitate their clothes to move them around, or use a jinx to knock them aside.

Someone annoying you? Just suspend them in midair.

Is someone being too weepy and bringing down the mood? Apply a Cheering Charm and get back to the party.

These are things that are all easily accomplished, but just socially Not Done. These are things you do to an object, not a person.

food for thought

A Harry Potter-verse witch or wizard who loses the use of, or fingers on, their dominant hand needs to learn to use magic all over again.

A slow, humiliating, overwhelmingly frustrating process as they continue to find things they can no longer do that had once been second nature. An extended period of recovery that may never be 100% complete.

My favourite Harry Potter AU is the one (mostly) in my head where over seventh year instead of being "basically prisoners" Voldemort keeps the Malfoys as literal prisoners and lets the Death Eaters have their way with them.

Lucius is chained up in the cellar. Draco forced into the role of a house elf, scurrying around serving and always available for casual torture. Narcissa mind-controlled and given to Rabastan but she keeps throwing off the spells. Not a wand among them.

Let Mulciber loose with his creative Imperius stylings. Let Bellatrix gleefully show how much more important the Dark Lord is than her blood relations. Let Fenrir Greyback have a taste of tender Pureblood meat. Let the Crabbes and Goyles demonstrate how a refined and elegant "good breeding" stacks up against a common fist. Let Snape be helpless to intervene.

And the sheer power perversion potential. Silencio. Petrificus Totalus. Diffindo. Incarcerus. Flagrante. Transfiguration into a ferret. Healing magic. Legilimency. Shrinking. Creating rooms without doors. Human transfiguration. False memories. Erased memories.

They could be destroyed.

And then Voldemort falls.