I intended to discuss my favorite HP villain today, which got me thinking about the Malfoys, which then led me to contemplate Narcissa’s role in the books, which in turn made me realize that I instead would like to talk about something quite different: a mother’s love. JK has always made it very clear that there is a centrality in the series around the devotion of mothers to their children (much of which is probably based on her own mother’s death prior to the publication of the series). But when you think about it, there is so much more to the theme than “Oh, Lily saved Harry! Yay mums!” No, mothers’ love for their children is what saved the wizarding world time and time again. The women involved are not necessarily good role models – or even good people – but the strength of their love for their children has outweighed all other ideologies. There are three primary examples that I would like to discuss – one of a mother’s sacrifice, one of a mother’s fierce protectiveness, and one of a mother’s devotion to her child above all else.
We begin with Lily. By this point, Lily’s love for Harry has been literally pounded into our minds to the point that sometimes I wish she had just stood aside and been like, “Okay, Voldy, fine! Take the baby! I don’t care!” But she did not, and thus, we have Harry Potter. Let’s just take a quick look-see at Lily’s actions: her self-sacrifice allowed Harry to survive Voldemort’s Killing Curse, causing it to rebound and reduce the man who had been terrorizing Britain into a weak spirit. When he attempted to steal the Philosopher’s Stone (which would have ensured him eternal life), he was again thwarted by Lily’s love. As long as Lily’s blood ran in Harry’s veins (and only Harry’s veins), Voldemort – and, by extension, his host body of Quirrell – could not touch Harry. Once more, Voldemort’s takeover of the wizarding world was put off; yet his existence was recognized by Dumbledore, which gave him time to begin preparing for the growing strength of Voldemort again. Even after Voldemort used Harry’s (and, by extension, Lily’s) blood in his resurrection into a human form, Lily’s love continued to impede his plans. This time, when Harry was, for all intents and purposes, killed by Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest during the Battle of Hogwarts, he remained tied to life because of Lily’s blood now flowing through the living body of Voldemort.
Secondly, there is Molly Weasley. Now Molly is just a fucking kick-ass beast 24/7, and the love she has for her children (and for her family as a whole) is endless. But let’s concentrate on that one moment where she definitively alters the course of the Battle of Hogwarts – and, thereby, of wizarding history as a whole – by murdering Bellatrix Lestrange. Everybody wanted to kill Bellatrix, let’s be honest, but her skill and absolute insanity was such that she was nigh invincible. Until she tried to kill Molly Weasley’s only daughter, that is. That was enough for Molly to shove everyone else out of the way and take on the madwoman herself, but throw in the moment when Bellatrix cruelly asked, “What will happen to your children when Mummy’s gone the same way as Freddie?,” and kind, plump, stern, and moral Mrs. Weasley turned into a murderer without shame or hesitation. The reminder that Molly had lost one of her dearest sons, the taunting thought of her children being left motherless (she had long seen how horrible that fate was for Harry), it all was enough to redirect Molly’s focus into a Killing Curse strong and precise enough to bring the downfall of Voldemort’s right-hand woman. She had been the last standing Death Eater during that final battle, and her defeat allowed Harry to finally directly confront Voldemort, which, of course, led to his own death.
The third and final example of a mother’s love that I am choosing to discuss here is that of Narcissa Malfoy. Perhaps more than either Lily or Molly, Narcissa’s actions had the single most direct influence over the outcome of the Battle of Hogwarts and the fate of the wizarding world. Yet she is also a character that had been reviled throughout the entire series for her belief in Pure Blood superiority and her devotion to Voldemort and his cause. While it was obvious throughout HP7 that the Malfoys were growing more and more disenchanted with Voldemort’s insanity, it still came as a shock when she risked death and lied to the Dark Lord, proclaiming that Harry was dead when it was clear to her that he was not. This was not due to some revelation about the equality of those of all blood statuses, nor because she felt guilt about her previous role in the war; no, Narcissa remained someone whose values most would be disgusted by. Rather, her devotion to her son overrode her loyalty to her own beliefs, to Voldemort, to her extended family (including her sister Bellatrix). The knowledge that Draco was even possibly alive in the school was enough to convince Narcissa to take one of the greatest risks that anyone throughout the series had. This was the turning point of the battle, and had Narcissa not gambled everything on her love for Draco, Harry would have been immediately revealed as being alive still, and would (no doubt) promptly have been killed or otherwise incapacitated to prevent his involvement in the upcoming takeover of Hogwarts. I can’t help but find the case of Narcissa particularly fascinating because she, like so many other characters found in HP, represents so clearly what Sirius once said to Harry: “…the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters.” Narcissa’s beliefs and actions may have been abhorrent, but the love that she held for her only child elevated her from a one-dimensional stereotype to a complex character who forced readers to contemplate a difficult question – if a “bad” person performs an act that is world-alteringly “good,” what does that say about that person? About the way we look at that person? About the way we define “good” and “bad,” about the lines between the two that we draw so definitively in the sand?
Moving on from that, perhaps even more striking is what the lack of a mother’s love can create. Merope Gaunt was endlessly devoted to the Muggle Tom Riddle, and because of this she used a potion to make him (falsely) fall in love with her. But when she discovered that she was pregnant, her hope was that the baby would force Tom to love her, and she lifted the magic from him. She sought to use her child as a method for convincing the one she loved to stay, which would fulfill her own desires. Yet this is not how things worked out, obviously. Tom Riddle immediately fled the relationship, Merope was left destitute, and she died after giving birth to her son. Her last wish? To name her child after the man who had never honestly loved her or her child. Tom Marvolo Riddle was born, as were the origins of the creation of Lord Voldemort. Without a mother’s love to guide him through his childhood, a baby eventually morphed into the world’s most evil wizard in history.
JK herself once said, “To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.” Lily and her sacrifice for Harry is obviously the physical form of such a thing, but the love of mothers throughout the series – both those you would expect it from and those whose affection was shocking – protected not only their children, but the wizarding world as a whole.
