Narcissa Malfoy, nee Black
She's got mommy issues....
She's got mommy issues....
I'm endlessly fascinated by Narcissa, and not quite certain how to count the ways...
I've long argued that she is a far stronger character than we've yet had reason to suspect, to the point where she is probably more powerful, and stronger, than either her husband or sister (and I was convinced of this after Order came out). I think she wears the pants in the family. Draco's schooling and name were determined by Narcissa. Of all of Draco's sore spots, Narcissa is the one about which he is the most sensitive; he frequently boasts that he will manipulate Lucius to do this favour or pull that string, but makes no such claims about his ability to manipulate his mum. And he never calls her that. She is "mother."
She posesses a quieter, softer, less obvious brand of power, but more palpably intimidating for it. She's tightly wound, and tightly controlled, and that scares me far more than Bella's often impotent rages. The need that her family feels to protect her is facade, although they don't know that; she is perfectly content to let others feel they are in control, all the while pulling the strings.
Look at her manipulation of Snape at Spinner's End: how she plays her beauty, her expressions of helplessness against her sister's anger. Compare the vicious, righteous pureblooded fury of Bellatrix (pointedly, repeatedly rubbing Snape raw with his Muggle father's name) with Narcissa's tact. The lovely, wily pureblooded witch, grasping his ankles (classical signal of submission, gripping the back of Zeus's knees), and letting her hair spill over his lap. She's clever, she knows how to work people. Bellatrix just gets worked; she has no finesse, which is why her ability to perform or teach Occlumency surprises me greatly. Narcissa is likely a very clever Legimens. We see Bella and Lucius (and even Snape!) sputter; Narcissa never does, never falters. She's ruthless. She was even--dare I say it--classy in Madame Malkin's shop, a spectacular feat in the circumstances.
She is raw and focused Will, noun meaning volition, in the Nietzschean rather than Schopenhauerian sense (Snape is a Schopenhauerian Will), and that makes her spectacularly dangerous. When she says "there is nothing I wouldn't do anymore," I for one believe her.
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