Harry Potter: Did Narcissa Malfoy Deserve A Much Darker Fate?
There are a lot of bad guys in the "Harry Potter" universe, and the Malfoys rank pretty highly in that regard. The spoiled son of the wealthy pureblood family, Draco (Tom Felton), is an instant nemesis to Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) when the two arrive at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry's run-ins with Draco's haughty father Lucius (Jason Isaacs) aren't exactly great either. Harry doesn't interact with Draco's mother Narcissa (the late Helen McCrory) that much, but fans sure have some strong feelings about her — specifically, that she should have faced bigger consequences after the Battle of Hogwarts.
In a Reddit thread, u/Pitiful_Dawn outlines why they think Narcissa should have been sent to the wizarding prison Azkaban after the battle. "Narcissa accidentally 'saving' Harry isn't enough to exonerate her from all of her terrible crimes," they wrote. "She is portrayed in a far too sympathetic light. Saving Harry should have given her reduced sentence, but she still actively and eagerly abetted a murderous regime that her husband and sister are a key part of."
From there, the Redditor outlined a ton of reasons that honestly do make sense, from the fact that Narcissa and Lucius' home was a headquarters for Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his Death Eaters before the Dark Lord's defeat to overlooking the murder of her cousin Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) at the hands of her sister Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter). The list is pretty long, but ultimately, u/Pitiful_Dawn concludes, "The fact she actively abetted and supported Voldemort's regime should be enough to give her some sort of sentence, and please stop saying this Nazi wife didn't support Voldemort and was forced into it (or make up other facts that are contradictory to what happened in the books), that's simply not true."
Most people think Narcissa's husband Lucius is the real bad guy
Narcissa's certainly not a great person, that much is certain — but other Redditors insisted that Lucius is definitely the worse of the two, bringing up some of his darkest acts. As u/DishMurky put it, "More than Narcissa i am actually more annoyed that Lucius got free, he objectvely did way worse than Narcissa being Voldemort right hand man at some point." That's not wrong; as Voldemort continues his rise to power during the "Harry Potter" books and film, Lucius serves as his sort of lieutenant, and performs awful crimes at Voldemort's commands.
u/hoginlly also made an excellent point about Lucius, reminding everyone about the time he tortured a bunch of non-magical Muggles during the Quidditch World Cup in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: "He led the muggle torture at the Quidditch World Cup. Voldemort wasn't even around, it was all him. Lucius absolutely should have been left to rot in Azkaban." Again, this is correct, as Voldemort hasn't yet returned to power when Lucius and other Death Eaters hunt Muggles for sport. Other Redditors note that Lucius also slipped a dangerous, enchanted diary — that, as a Horcrux, contained a part of Voldemort's soul — to a young and impressionable girl and perhaps tries to murder Harry after the young wizard frees the Malfoy family house elf. Basically, the Malfoys are a rotten pair, and they probably both belong in prison.
What exactly does Narcissa do to help Harry?
So what does Narcissa do for Harry, exactly? As the Battle of Hogwarts draws to a close, Harry, realizing that the final Horcrux rests within him, understands fully that he must sacrifice himself to finally destroy the Dark Lord. He presents himself to Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest and, after briefly visiting the deceased Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) in a sort of afterlife, he's able to return to kill Voldemort once and for all and to finish what he started.
Laying on the ground in the forest, Harry tries to hide that he's breathing — at which point Narcissa is sent to see if he's alive or dead. Under duress, she leans over and lets her hair hang over her mouth, quietly asking if her son Draco is still alive. When Harry tells her that, yes, Draco is alive, Narcissa declares to Voldemort that Harry is dead, despite knowing full well that he's conscious. This act isn't even selfless, though; it's still about Draco, and if she didn't need information from Harry, she probably would have revealed that he was alive and let Voldemort finish him off. The Malfoys are selfish, bigoted, and just generally bad — so maybe these Redditors are right when they say both Narcissa and Lucius should be locked up in Azkaban forever.