ANGELCAKE

Chapter 3 - Lucius The Druggie (...and Murderer)

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LUCIUS THE DRUGGIE (...and MURDERER)

He had started taking the Imperial during the first war to deal with the feelings and fear he had, once he realised he was in too deep and the situation wasn't just going to go away. It gave him the super boost of extraordinary confidence and aggression he needed to deal with everything and was wonderful in removing all of the agonising feelings he had. Once 'The Psycho' who had caused the wars had disappeared, he weaned himself from the gripping addiction, but found he still needed the drug –a potion from his world– to cope with the guilt and shame and hatred he had developed for himself. With his father mentally faltering and near death, he had become solely responsible for the entirety of the family's dealings. With his own mind running wild, he found restrained use of the potion essential to keeping his performance up. He was actually thankful for the potion at the time. Once the signs were clear that the Psycho was returning after thirteen years of absence, his regular doses of Imperial increased again dramatically, but then he was sent to Azkaban prison, where there were there were Dementors yearning to suck his soul out and violent inmates to deal with on a daily basis. Having a heightened sense of aggression and lack of control in such a prison was more trouble than it was worth. One needed to have all the magical potency and intellect they could summon to stay alive in the all Magic prison, so he started taking Euphoria to deal with the dangerous path of coming off of the Imperial Potion. By the time he came out of prison, he was actually cleaner than he had been in years, but when he returned home and saw what was going on, he started dosing himself again almost immediately – more than ever. The Psycho had taken up residence in his house; it was a nightmare come to life. Things quickly became so bad, he needed to alter heavy doses of both drugs, fortified by alcohol and a slew of other potions to counteract their maleffects, just to function.

Although Imperial and Euphoria were drug potions of choice among the rich and powerful (or those who wished to be) and not against the law, taking them was a huge social taboo in Magical society. In a world where power and control were everything, the taking of any serious mind-altering potion was viewed as exceedingly shameful. This sentiment was especially true in the upper classes to which Lucius belonged. Lucius himself agreed more than most that losing control, or gaining the appearance of control through trickery or artificial means, were signs of pathetic weakness.

Roughly a year before the final battle, Lucius entered into the treatment which would knock his addictions once and for all, when he was blackmailed by Severus Snape (or rather "incentivised" as Snape put it). Lucius was not to attain or maintain completely clear headedness straight away however. Purging the potions from his system took many months and nearly killed him, leaving him in heavy sweats and shakes and bouts of uncontrolled sobbing. To cope with the continuing horrors of the war, when not bullied by Snape into doing hero's work he truthfully had no stomach for, Lucius drank more heavily than he ever had as a new method of keeping himself inebriated. Having a front seat to the on-going wickedness of the organization he held a high command in, without the extreme emotional numbing of the potions, he grew outwardly mentally and emotionally fragile and it was believed he had lost his mind. Once absolutely venerated by other Death Eaters and even the Psycho himself, Lucius had become a mockery within the evil organization he had little choice to remain a part of.

Lucius had fallen from one of the highest possible summits in his world: During the lead-up to the Second Wizarding War and the war itself, which culminated in the Death Eater Trials, he went from untouchable, revered (and feared) aristocrat, to broken Wizard, facing dozens of charges of war crimes, which included: improper use of Magic, deceit, torture, and murder. He had already been sent to Azkaban prison for several months before and after the second war. With the new bout of grievous charges against him, his disgraced reputation seemed as though it could fall no further. Yet to make matters worse, he was indeed further humiliated when his enormous drug potions habit was exposed and highly publicised. After six months of incarceration, the messy primary trial and short re-trial lasted 14 long months; it seemed like his potions habit was referenced almost as much as the accusations of murder and other perversions.