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In your opinion, was Narcissa Malfoy a good or bad person?

This is based on the movies since I haven't read the books yet, but from what I got, Narcissa Malfoy isn't a bad person. She's just a loving mother doing anything she can to protect her son, even if it means being a Death Eater. In the movies anyway she never did anything bad and from the looks of it, hated Voldemort and being a Death Eater since she lued to him about Harry being dead and when Voldemort was killed she ran from the death eaters.

I don't think Lucious was a good or a even bad person either. He was just a snobby scared little bitch who feared Voldemore and when he had his chance he ran.

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u/calciphe avatar

More along the bad end of the spectrum. JK said she did share her husbands beliefs, just never joined the Death Eaters herself. She wanted Voldemort to take over, so I would say that would be equivalent to a real world fascist supporter.

She did love her son, so not completely along the path as Voldemort, but that's a low bar.

u/calciphe avatar

Lucius was worse because he actively joined the Death Eaters, and hence likely murdered, tortured etc.

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Both bad with good parts of them. Hating mud bloods and muggles to the intensity they did was extremely bad.

u/InquisitorCOC avatar

In real world equivalent, she would be a firm believer of the Nazi ideology with some redeeming qualities.

Lucius Malfoy could be considered Rudolf Hess of the wizarding Britain.

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Literally the examples I like to use. Like minds.

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That’s the thing with Harry Potter. There are many grey characters.

She was a bad person and a good mother, and I'm glad she chose to follow her better nature when these two sides of her collided. Lucius, I feel, is one of the most evil characters in the series. That sad, they both live in a corrupt society and most people in such a society wouldn't be much better than that, especially not as the immediate beneficiaries of said corruption, so it's hard to tell what would have become of them if the circumstances of birth had been different.

I feel like thinking bad people can't love their families is fundamentally misunderstanding what evil is. Evil people are evil in important ways but not necessarily in every way.

I consider this basically a plot hole, but consider Voldemort's reaction when Bella dies. He loved her. He also has some of the sickest puns in the series. He's still a seriously bad dude.

I think she had been a bad person but when it came down to the tough decisions in the end her love for Draco made her see things differently, she started to see them heading towards a world she didn't want for him, she felt trapped in that life because of family ties and how dangerous it would be for her immediate family if they tried to break free. I think even Lucious, while he certainly had more hatred in him and wanted the money, power, and control, he didn't really want the violence that went along with it. They were both in too deep and couldn't see a way out.

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She’s a bad person for being bigoted. She didn’t kill anyone herself. BUT she was a good mother and put her family before anything else. I would imprison her in Azkaban for like 3 months. Her husband on the other hand should get a longer sentence.

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Azkaban after dementors tho

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They need to build a patronus prison for those backstabbing mfs

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u/PlanGoneAwry avatar

I'd say she was pretty alright considering where her life was. Had Bellatrix lestrange as a sister (I know Andromeda went full good, but I'd say that's more of an exception than the rule), married Lucius Malfoy which I don't think was too much of her wish. When your family is pressuring to marry a Pure Blood and there are only a handful of those, you don't have too many options.

Yet she was never as active about the dark arts as her sister or husband. Pretty much the only thing we know about her from the books is that she loves Draco.

She definitely wasn't a super good person, but she wasn't nearly as bad as you would expect from someone in her situation.

u/Balance_Medium avatar

She helped have her cousin killed. She was obviously awful and her marriage with Lucius was a happy one.

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In the graveyard Voldy asks if Lucius is ready to resume his role in leading muggle torture. And he says yes. Going along to get along is one thing. Rising through the ranks to be in charge of things is another. He's bad. And when did he run? He constantly sucked up to and begged for forgiveness.And Narcissa only lies after Voldy has kept her family prisoner in their home and treated them like servants. For a haughtily proud woman such as herself that's a rough as the cruciatus curse. She didn't lie for the sake of good. She lied to get Voldy out of her house and life.
Edit to add that at the World Cup, Lucius and friends tortured the muggle family after the match.

Maybe they got in over their heads and ran when given a chance, but they aren't that grey.... both were people who hated people because of the nature of their birth who committed dozens of crimes that would have gotten them life in Azkaban. Including literal attempted child murder. Towards the end of the series there was clear compulsion, but there are alot of times in the books where you can tell it's malice driven by their love for the cause.

I've never understood how they both didn't end up in prison after the end of the war. Narcissa helping Harry doesn't absolve her of decades of terrible criminality.

u/Halcyon2192 avatar

Bad.