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OotP has pleased me greatly. And whilst I usually prefer preaching to the choir, this is just too good not to be shared with everyone. Without further ado, here is my Malfoy rant:
Hah. This book has definitely, definitely been the most satisfying for me, if only for its Malfoy activity. I am perfectly pleased with the characterisation of all three, although there have been a lot of Draco gripes--oh, get the fuck over it, he was like this in the other four, too--but Narcissa in particular pleases me. Oh, and I assure you I use only canon evidence in this rant. If something can only be made true by a complete stretch of fancy (i.e. the Blacks being a predominantly-Slytherin family just because of Sirius's Slytherin great-great-grandfather, which I know is far-fetched but I do include it), I either will not include it or will specifically say that it's only assumed. Now, down to business.
-- Firstly, we address the issue of age. As my LJ name suggests, forty-one is, indeed, the answer. It is with regret that I inform the fandom that Lucius is nowhere near sixty, nor did he attend school at the same time as the elder Weasleys, and was certainly not around during Tom Riddle's years. What part of "50 years was before his time" do you all not understand? That showed up in CoS, and two books later, people still assume that he just waited forever and a day to have children. Assuming that Snape is thirty-seven (37) in OotP, Lucius was in his fifth year when MWPP started Hogwarts -- and that depends entirely on his exact date of birth. In any case, he is, indeed, an MWPP contemporary.
-- Narcissa and Lucius's marriage was not an arranged one. How could it be? It has already been established that the Black family is wealthy, powerful, and very concerned with pure blood. So if the Blacks were the type to arrange marriages, how did poor Andromeda end up married to a Muggleborn? We already know Bellatrix's attitude, and in terms of marriage, I don't think there's any argument that Narcissa did better regarding wealth, power and prominence -- so why is she suddenly the snivelling, redeemed one?
-- Sirius says himself that all his family has a "pure-blood mania", and the attitude that "to be a Black makes them practically royalty". For goodness' sake, the tapestry on the wall proudly sports the slogan "Toujours Pur" -- Always Pure. And we all know what happens to those who are not Always Pure, as well as those who associate with riff-raff, Muggles, Mudbloods, or who fail to comply with the family's rules in any way. Yet Narcissa is still on the family tree! And, on top of this, we all saw her family's delight that Sirius's brother joined the Death Eaters. Sirius has said that his family supports Voldemort, and it has been made clear that Narcissa is a typical member of the Black family. Moreover, Sirius says that he is actually ashamed to have Narcissa and Bellatrix as relatives. Now does that sound like a sweet, innocent girl forced into an unfair marriage to you, or what? *rolls eyes*
-- Narcissa/Sirius is dead, dead, dead, and not simply because they are related: there would always be the possibility of incest, and there is enough incestfic in the fandom that a thousand and one S/N fics will probably show up in a week or so simply because it is incest. However, there is more proof against a Sirius/Narcissa relationship -- Sirius ran away from home when he was sixteen, was erased from the family tree, and labeled a "blood traitor". Kreacher despises Sirius, and wants nothing to do with him -- and vice versa. Narcissa, on the other hand, is described by Dumbledore as the only living member of the Black family whom Kreacher still respects. If she were in a relationship with a "blood traitor" (he was a traitor as early as sixteen! There is no "old flame"!), Kreacher certainly would not respect her! I reiterate: Sirius has said that he is ashamed to have relatives like Narcissa. She is not an old flame of his.
-- Let me stress this again: Narcissa is the only living member of the Black family for whom Kreacher still commands any respect. Dumbledore said it himself. If Narcissa were tolerant of Muggles, associated with riff-raff, or was a "blood traitor", Kreacher would treat her in much the same manner as he treats Sirius. However, does he? No. It is Narcissa whom Kreacher runs to when Sirius shouts at him to get out. Narcissa comes from a wealthy family of pureblood supremacists and Voldemort-supporters, and it has been proven that she is not a black sheep. She is just as much of an elitist snob as Lucius.
-- Gryffindor!Narcissa. No. Draco has clearly stated in PS/SS that all his family has been in Slytherin, she has Slytherin relatives (which is shoddy evidence but supports the case nonetheless), and what's more, Lucius willingly married her. She's cunning (using her connections to pass information on to Voldemort), ambitious (anyone who says otherwise is forgetting the hordes of people dying to marry any wealthy and powerful man who's about to inherit a massive sum of money; being the lucky girl is no easy job -- a job that, incidentally, involves "going to any means to achieve one's ends" -- hah!), certainly not brave (weasling out of Azkaban, anyone? Fleeing from the Dark Mark at the QWC?), and there's no evidence that she was Lily's friend whatsoever, which is the only reason people put her in Gryffindor besides a relationship with Sirius, anyway; in fact, she was probably several years Lily's senior.
-- Narcissa is most likely not a Death Eater, but she is working for Voldemort. According to Dumbledore, when Kreacher left the house, he went straight to Narcissa, and although he, not being the Secret-Keeper for the Order, was not available, he did divulge very important information to Narcissa. Narcissa then proceeded to pass that information on to Voldemort. Would she do that if she disapproved of him so? Would she even ask for information, were she so opposed to Voldemort? I repeat: Narcissa is working for Voldemort. She is affiliated with Voldemort through blood, marriage, and her sister's in-laws, and if she is not working for him, she at least supports him and his cause.
-- Draco does love his mother, and Narcissa does love her son. She wants him close to home, she sends him sweets, he takes great offense when she is insulted. I know everyone and their dog who is even loosely affiliated with the fandom can figure this out by his or herself, but it's only here to stress the fact that yes, Narcissa is working for Voldemort, and yes, she does love her family. Everyone seems to think it's such a ludicrous concept, and I was expecting Lucius to prove them wrong in further books, but it seems that Narcissa has beat him to the punch.
-- Draco and Pansy are a couple if I've ever seen one. There are only one or two instances when they are seen without each other. They laugh at all the same things and sulk about all the same things. Hell, they wrote and composed a song together. It is not entirely proven that they are romantically involved, but they are certainly friends. If Pansy were an annoying sycophant who followed Draco around and was thoroughly despised by him, would he have composed a song with her? It's pretty obvious Draco wrote it; would he ask someone whom he hated to conduct it? The Yule Ball wasn't a Sadie Hawkins dance, dearies; I'd bet anything that he asked her. Pansy seemed genuinely upset that Draco had "hurt" his arm in PoA. Yes, he winked to Crabbe and Goyle whilst she unknowingly fawned over him, but it wasn't because he thought she was stupid for believing him, it's because he wanted attention from girls. Duh.
-- Borgin and Burkes may have shown a rather disappointing view of Draco's relationship with his father, but OotP offers hope. First of all, there was very little evidence of physical or emotional abuse in the first place. Abused children do not talk about bullying their parents into anything. Abused children do not so openly parade their emotions on display for all to see. Harry is a truly abused child, and when do you ever see him stomping his foot and making petulant remarks about the state of his robes? And, may I add, Harry was NOT abused physically by the Dursleys! Draco does not act like a child who has been even remotely abused, be it physically, verbally or emotionally. Draco is spoilt through and through. Was I the only one who caught him reaching for an entire pot roast in the Philosopher's Stone movie? High expectations are NOT abuse. Telling a child not to touch anything is NOT abuse.
It is obvious that Draco respects his father and hangs onto his every word: the things he tells his classmates his father says do not sound like things Lucius would tell his son, it sounds like Draco was eavesdropping on his parents' conversations. However, the point here is that OotP has shown that Draco not only respects but truly does care for his father. Just look at that scene at the end; if Draco really wanted Lucius to die, would he confront Harry about it so blatantly? And most importantly, the cat is out of the bag. Draco most definitely ruined his Aloof, Unavailable Malfoy image (not that he was ever particularly Aloof or Unavailable) when he referred to Lucius as "Dad". I'd wager that he always calls him Dad, and only refers to him as "Father" in public.
Um. Woo! Triumph for the Malfoys!
Feel free to comment/discuss/argue/thwap me upside the head for being so obsessed. Feedback is welcome, as one would expect from a public post.
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