NARCISSA MALFOY – DARK OR NOT?

It was the question asked to us in our page - WISDOM OF ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE

“Is Narcissa Malfoy a dark witch?”

Narcissa Malfoy is an aristocratic pure-blood witch. She was originally from the vain Black family. All the members of her family joined the ‘dark’ side except for her sister Nymphadora Tonks and her cousin Sirius Black. Her husband, Lucius Malfoy, was a death eater, one of the loyals of Lord Voldemort but she never became one, nor did she have the “dark” mark on her arms.  The reason for her hesitance is not clear.

She is not particularly highlighted as someone important but as we read the story, we cannot help but notice her vitality and the reason for which, interestingly and rather surprisingly, can be summarized by a word that may not suit her kind, love.

Yes, her significance in the story is due to the love that she has in her heart for her son Draco Malfoy. Quite remarkably, Rowling gives her a special position in the story when she was to vouch for the death of Harry Potter in the Forbidden Forest, near Hogwarts. She lied to Dark Lord declaring that Harry Potter was dead, when, in fact Harry Potter had survived the killing curse casted upon him by Lord Voldemort. But why was Narcissa kind to Harry Potter when her decision, if found incompatible with the truth, could have led to her death? The answer can be summarized by one word – love and that for her son, Draco. When Narcissa went to examine Harry, she found him alive. She then quietly asked Harry if Draco was alive and Harry, in return, quietly assured her of Draco’s safety. She then did a terrible favor to Harry; she lied to apparently invincible Dark Lord.

The one who loves cannot do wrong; provided one does, the mistake finds its way to rectify itself.

But that cannot be all, can it? We shall come back to it.

Even at Malfoy manor, I insist, it was because of her influence that Draco lied to Bellatrix, claiming that he was not quite sure if the disfigured head was of Harry’s or not when Rowling gave us abundant hints that he knew it was Harry.

Now the readers claim that it was because of her love towards Draco that forced her to lie to lord Voldemort. That cannot be a complete logic. Because Narcissa was an expert, no less than Dark Lord himself, in Occlumency. She could have easily known the truth and in fact, I guess she had known the truth. Her act was because of her prejudice and vanity, though on this occasion it was not pernicious.   

I seriously suspect if she was loyal to the Dark side. She never joined the Death Eaters despite the fact that her husband and her son were one. She was never comfortable to have Voldemort in her mansion. She was never comfortable when Voldemort asked her son to murder his headmaster Dumbledore. Yes, she loved her husband and her son; but she was never faithful to the dark side. Yes, she was vain, proud and possessed the prejudice which was not rare in most of the pure bloods; but she wanted Voldemort to die. She never casted any injurious spell; even in the Malfoy Manor (after Potter’s abduction) she was hesitant to cast spells upon Harry and the worst spell that she casted was merely a stunning spell which was a joke to any third year student of Hogwarts. Let me remind you, Narcissa was a really bright witch – she was the best disapparitor, charmer and occlumensor. She could have damaged Harry easily provided she desired.

Besides, I hypothesize that there was something secret, something not so obvious but not improbable. She might have been a spy of the Order of Phoenix, or Dumbledore. Besides, she might have detested, in her hearts, Bellatrix for killing her cousin Sirius Black.

She might not be a good wizard but she is definitely not a dark one.