Narcissa Malfoy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
 Fan art of Narcissa Malfoy by Lisa M Rourke |
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| Narcissa Malfoy | |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair colour | Blonde |
| Eye colour | Blue |
| House | Slytherin |
| Parentage | Pure-blood |
| Allegiance | Unknown (Death Eater sympathiser)[1] |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
Narcissa "Cissy" Malfoy (née Black) (born 1955) is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. She is the wife of Lucius Malfoy, mother of Draco Malfoy, sister of Bellatrix Lestrange and was the cousin of Sirius Black — all are prominent characters, and as the series continues she takes on a larger role. She has yet to appear in any of the films; her character makes an appearance in The Goblet of Fire but was ultimately cut from the film adaptation.
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[edit] Family
Born Narcissa Black to Cygnus Black and his wife, Druella (née Rosier), Narcissa was the youngest child of three sisters, Bellatrix and Andromeda being her older siblings. She was the cousin of Sirius Black and Regulus Black, and later became an aunt to Nymphadora Tonks, although it is unlikely that she acknowledges the connection due to Nymphadora being the child of Muggle-born Ted Tonks. The Blacks were a very old pure-blood wizarding family with firm prejudices against those of impure magical blood, and Narcissa was no doubt taught these prejudices from an early age.
She is a tall and slim blue-eyed blonde with, at least when Harry Potter first meets her, "a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose." Harry notes that this habit of wrinkling her nose in disgust around those of non-pure-blood ancestry mars her otherwise beautiful looks. While Bellatrix's dark, strong features are quite the opposite of Narcissa's pale and fragile image, it is said that there is still a resemblance between the two sisters.
Narcissa completed her education at Hogwarts, where she was in Slytherin house. She later married Lucius Malfoy, a Death Eater and heir of a wealthy pure-blood family, and they had one son, Draco. They reside in a manor house in the southern English county of Wiltshire and they were previously served by a house-elf, Dobby, before he was freed by Harry Potter in 1993.
[edit] Name origin
Her name is derived from the mythical figure Narcissus, whose name is both the origin of the word narcissism and the name of the narcissus, a small, fragrant flower (it should be noted that there are several poisonous varieties of the narcissus flower). In one version of the Narcissus myth, he fell into the pool in which he saw his beloved reflection, and died of a broken heart as he kept fading. Interestingly, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [2], it is noted that "the long blonde hair streaming down her back gave her the look of a drowned person" in the darkness at Spinner's End. Another myth suggests that Narcissus wasted away after falling in love with his own reflection. The character Narcissa cares greatly for aesthetics in addition to purity and nobility of blood. Narcissa is nicknamed "Cissy" by her sister Bellatrix, whom Narcissa calls "Bella" — the same pet name Lord Voldemort uses to address her.
[edit] Role in the series
Narcissa made her first, brief appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She attended the Quidditch World Cup with her husband and son and they got prime seats in the Top Box due to Lucius' "very generous contribution to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries." The Minister for Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, smiled and bowed to her. Later in the book, Draco mentioned that his father considered sending him to Durmstrang for his education but that, "Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away."
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, after Kreacher the house-elf managed to leave Number 12, Grimmauld Place, he went to Narcissa's home, as she was the only available member of the Black family that he still respected. Since he was not Secret-Keeper, he could not reveal the location of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, although he did tell Narcissa about Harry and Sirius' close relationship. Thus the Malfoys discovered how to lure Harry to the Department of Mysteries, on Lord Voldemort's orders, by exploiting Harry's bond with Sirius. At the end of Order of the Phoenix, her husband gets imprisoned in Azkaban and her son gets hexed so badly on the Hogwarts Express by members of Dumbledore's Army that he no longer resembles a human being. Ernie Macmillan says, "I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing Malfoy's mother's face when he gets off the train."
Narcissa makes an important appearance in the second chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Despite Bellatrix's protests, she and Narcissa go to Severus Snape's house on Spinner's End. With her husband in prison and her son having become a Death Eater, Narcissa is distraught, almost hysterical. In fact, she tells her sister that "There is nothing I wouldn't do anymore!" Draco has been given an assignment by Lord Voldemort and Narcissa believes that it is punishment for her husband's mistakes in the previous book and that Voldemort doesn't mean Draco to succeed, but to be killed trying. In speaking about the plan, she could have been guilty of "great treachery," however, Snape claims to already know of the plan. This may be true, but he may have feigned knowledge or even used legilimency to learn of the plan from her. She begs Snape to help her son and manages to get him to pledge an Unbreakable Vow, stating that he will watch over her son, protect him from harm, and carry out the deed if it seems that Draco will fail.
Narcissa is later seen in Half-Blood Prince shopping with Draco in Diagon Alley for his new robes at Madam Malkin's. She and her son mock Harry when he enters the shop with his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry, Ron and Draco nearly start a duel, but Narcissa defuses the situation by leaving with her son, saying, "now I know the kind of scum that shops here ... we'll do better at Twilfitt and Tatting's." It is shown that Narcissa might be a bit overprotective of her son, when he tells her that he is "... not a child, in case you haven't noticed, Mother. I am perfectly capable of doing my shopping alone." He also tells his friends that "Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I don't see it as that important these days."
[edit] References
- ^ Narcissa forces Severus Snape into an Unbreakable Vow that, if Draco fails, he "will carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform" in Chapter 2 (Spinner's End). [HP6] Rowling, J. K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (in English). London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et. al. UK ISBN 0747581088/US ISBN 0439784549.
- ^ [HP6] Rowling, J. K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (in English). London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et. al. UK ISBN 0747581088/US ISBN 0439784549. Chapter 2
[edit] See also
| J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosopher's Stone | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Chamber of Secrets | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Goblet of Fire | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Order of the Phoenix | book | film | game | |
| Half-Blood Prince | book | film | ||
| Deathly Hallows | book | |||
| Other books | Other games | |||
| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup | |||
| Quidditch Through the Ages | ||||
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Characters • Places • Spells • Translations • Quidditch Films • Fandom • Controversy • Money |
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