As wife to Lucius and mother to Draco, the complex character of Narcissa Malfoy plays a modest yet invaluable role in the Harry Potter series. Narcissa is a fair-haired beautiful woman with a cold voice and a strong attitude, often driven by reason and love. As such, she represents a stark contrast to her older sister Bellatrix, dark of hair and twisted of nature. In fact, she considers her sister’s behavior revolting and only tolerates her for the sake of her family. Meaning, anyone too quick to judge this seemingly negative character will be surprised to discover how much lies beneath the surface of Narcissa Malfoy.
And although her screen time in the movies is limited, it’s irrefutable to the unfoldings of the events in the last book. So for all of you who have been itching to learn more about this character, here are the top 15 things you didn’t know about Narcissa Malfoy.
Updated October 26th, 2020 by George Chrysostomou: The Wizarding World is constantly throwing up new secrets about its famous creatures, locations, and characters. One of the least talked about witches is Narcissa Malfoy, but there’s so much more to explore about Draco’s mother!
She Hates Her Daughter-In-Law
Draco eventually went on to marry Astoria Greengrass, despite some of his other on and off again relationships throughout his early years. Astoria was exactly the sort of person that Draco needed to ground himself.
However, the suspected Slytherin member wasn’t well-liked by Draco’s mother. Narcissa didn’t at all agree with Astoria’s attitude towards blood tolerance. Despite being of a pure-blooded family herself, Astoria certainly didn’t hold the same views as the rest of the Malfoy family.
She Had A Power Struggle With Her Sister
Narcissa was often overlooked in her family, perhaps due to the far more charismatic nature of her sister. She struggled within her family to always agree on how they should behave within the wizarding community. As the years went on she had larger power struggles with her sister Bellatrix.
As late as the return of the Dark Lord himself, Narcissa had huge fights over who was in charge of the Malfoy household. This struggle was evident even up until she lied to Voldemort, finally going against what Bellatrix would have wanted her to do.
She Enjoyed The Finer Things In Life
Much like her husband, Narcissa very much valued the finer things in life. This was a trait somewhat shared by the rest of the family. However, Narcissa took it a step further. She thoroughly enjoyed the status the Malfoys had garnered.
From her huge Manor house, her expensive clothes, and even her prime seats at the Quidditch World Cup, Narcissa gained a lot of pleasure from those luxuries, in comparison to Lucius who gained great pleasure in rubbing it in other people’s faces.
She’s Incredibly Strategic
Narcissa is a quick thinker and is able to put a plan together that benefits her and her family with impressive alacrity. Her choice to link Snape in the unbreakable vow, for instance, was incredibly strategic, pushing him into a corner.
Lying to Voldemort was another example of some quick thinking to secure what she needed long term, and there are plenty of other instances in which Narcissa might have actually been the slyest person in the room!
Her Hair Represented Her Allegiance
Narcissa’s hair subtly changes throughout the film. While the colors do represent her joint allegiance between the Malfoys and the Blacks, there’s also a larger change as her hair gets wilder and darker as the films progress.
This demonstrates her further confusion on who she should be caring for, with the growing black hair significant of the Black family, shunning what Lucius wants and ultimately following her own path away from Lord Voldemort.
She Is Not A Death Eater
Though her husband was a loyal Death Eater held in high regard by the Dark Lord himself, his wife Narcissa never officially became one. She did, however, share his elitist views of wizarding supremacy and the importance of blood purity.
We see her supporting her husband and playing host to the Death Eater meetings that take place in Malfoy Manor in the final book, yet you can rest assured that Narcissa was never beneath one of those dark hoods. This much has been confirmed by J.K. Rowling herself.
She Is Nymphadora Tonks’ Aunt
Many of you already know that Narcissa is the sister to Bellatrix Lestrange, even those of us who’ve only seen the movies. However, she’s also the sister of Andromeda Tonks, who is the mother of a prominent side character in the seventh book - Nymphadora Tonks.
However, Narcissa being a strong supporter of pure blood wizards, disowned her cousin and looks down upon her because of her affiliation with Remus Lupin, who’s a Werewolf.
She’s A Loving Mother
Narcissa is a deeply flawed and prejudiced character who’s been on the side of You-Know-Who all the way until the very last book. Be that as it may, she’s an incredibly caring and loving mother to her son Draco. In fact, her love for Draco far exceeds her loyalty to both her husband and Lord Voldemort, as showcased by her actions in the Battle for Hogwarts where she betrayed the Dark Lord by lying about Harry being dead - something only one other person would dare to do. She did this because she knew her family would not find peace and safety in the grasp of Voldemort. Essentially, Harry’s life was saved by the love of two mothers: his own, and Narcissa’s love for Draco.
Apart from that iconic scene, Narcissa has been a caring and protective mother since before Draco received his Hogwarts letter. Initially, he was to attend the Durmstrang academy for purebloods, but being a worried and loving mother, Narcissa begged Lucius to let Draco attend Hogwarts so he would be closer to her. Also, she would not tolerate anyone attacking or insulting her son, not even her husband.
“If you attack my son again, I shall ensure that it is the last thing you ever do.”
She Gave Draco Her Wand
After Harry disarmed Draco in Malfoy Manor, Draco was left wandless, prompting his mother Narcissa to gave him her own. This meant that now both she and her husband Lucius, who had given his wand to Voldemort, were without wands. However, in the Deathly Hallows sequel, during the final battle, we see Narcissa holding another wand of unknown origin. This is because Narcissa was originally to retrieve her son’s wand from Harry after he was “killed” by Voldemort.
However, in the movies, we see that Harry has kept the wand after he reveals he is alive. And given that the wand Narcissa gave to Draco burned up in Crabbe’s Fiendfyre accident in the Room of Requirement, he should have no wand either. So the wand Draco visibly has at the end of the movie should have been retrieved by Narcissa from Harry while he was pretending to be dead and given to Draco. Yet, this scene was cut out of the final movie. So in the final battle, both Narcissa, Harry, and Draco are shown carrying what is essentially the same wand.
She Earned Her Family A Reprieve From Azkaban
Betraying Voldemort and later leaving him, together with her husband Lucius and son Draco in the midst of the movies’ final battle, Narcissa was able to earn her family a reprieve, evading Azkaban imprisonment. Furthermore, following the events of the Second Wizarding War, her husband Lucius turned against his fellow Death Eaters by providing evidence that would lead to their incarceration.
So, after the events of the movies, the family continued a relatively normal life. Though, Narcissa and her Husband were still intolerant of muggle-borns and “blood traitors,” unlike their son Draco who had experienced a significant transformation of character.
She Was Highly Prejudiced
Raised in the Black family, Narcissa has grown up with the notion (which was instilled deep inside her) that all non-magical people, muggle-borns, and other beings that are not of pure blood like Werewolves are beneath wizards and those who associate with them are “blood traitors.”
Because of this, she frequently scoffed and grimaced at the sight of anyone who she would see close to these characters… even her own family. In fact, her beauty was often tainted by her uncomfortable and condescending expression described as looking like “she’s got dung under her nose.”
Narcissa Actress Almost Played Bellatrix
Actresses considered for the role of Narcissa Malfoy included Natasha Richardson and Allison Doody. On the other hand, Helen McCrory, the actress we now know as Narcissa, was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Though, from the current point of view, no other actress would have been a better fit for Bellatrix than the great Helena Bonham Carter, and the same goes for Helen McCrory’s brilliant portrayal of Narcissa Malfoy.
Her Name Is The Only Unusual One In House Black
This one’s quite obvious for a hardened Harry Potter fan, yet many didn’t notice Narcissa’s uniqueness when it comes to her name. Of all the Black children since Phineas Nigellus Black, Narcissa is the only one who hasn’t been named after a star or a constellation. In fact, her name presumably comes from the mythological Narcissus, which pairs well with both her appearance and her elitist behavior.
But, that’s not the only thing that makes her special; she’s also the only Black born with completely blond hair. In the movies, however, the stylists decided she would have a partly black hair to represent her connection to the Black family and her older sister Bellatrix, while her blond locks would clearly mark her as a Malfoy.
She Was Partly Responsible For The Death Of Sirius Black
Though she grew up in an elitist pure-blood family and later married into one as well (both of which belonged to the Sacred Twenty-Eight) Narcissa treated her house elf Kreacher more kindly than Sirius. This is why Kreacher didn’t hesitate to snitch on Sirius and his relationship with Harry to Narcissa, who passed the information along to Voldemort.
With the help of Narcissa, Voldemort was now able to conjure a vision of Sirius’ torture to attract Harry to the Department of Mysteries, leading to the battle in the Order of the Phoenix and Sirius’ death.
Narcissa Is A Highly Skilled Witch
House-elf Kreacher describes Narcissa as a Dark Witch, suggesting her prowess in the dark arts. As we learn in the books, Narcissa is more than a capable witch and a great duelist. In fact, she was able to hold her own against both Harry and Ron, and was even not afraid to stand up to her insanely powerful and twisted sister Bellatrix.
She was also likely a skilled occulumens, given she was able to lie to Voldemort about Harry’s death without being detected - something only Severus Snape wasn’t capable of. Finally, Narcissa was great at apparition - a very difficult magic that allows the caster to instantly change location.
