CHAPDISC: DH, EPILOGUE

[kneazlecat54]

No: HPFGUIDX 185648

<snip>
>  > zanooda:
<snip>Narcissa was also the first to recognize Hermione <snip> and she 
seemed rather excited about it. I don't see any indication that she  
Draco to identify Harry.
> > 
> > Laura says:
> > 
<snip>At this point, she sees that her family is in mortal danger, and 
she's not willing to take any chances that might put especially her 
son at further risk.  Draco has gotten the message and won't do 
> > anything overly risky. <snip> So Draco refuses to identify Harry, 
then crosses the room and stands next to his mother, who drives the 
rest of the Malfoy family actions in the scene.
> 
> Magpie:
<snip> I think what zanooda was referring to was that Narcissa is 
keeping *Lucius* from taking a risk by calling Voldemort without a 
clear ID, thus backing up Draco's inability to say for sure who they 
are. Isn't Narcissa actually  encouraging of Draco to ID them? <snip>
>
Laura replies:

My reading is based on what I understand of the Malfoy family 
dynamics.  We see in HBP that Narcissa is willing to go against LV's 
wishes in order to protect Draco.  Narcissa is similar to Regulus in 
this situation:  once she sees exactly what it will cost her to let LV 
have his way, she backs out.  By the time Lucius gets out of Azkaban, 
he's broken and frightened.  Narcissa is the effective head of the 
house, and Draco, always the coward looking for a protector, knows it.  
He understands that Narcissa fears another mistake that could cost her 
family dearly, so he refuses to commit himself to something that is a 
huge risk to himself and his parents.  No one cares if the other two 
captives aren't Ron and Hermione, but everyone knows that LV is about 
out of patience at that point.  Narcissa's actions in the forest show 
that indeed, she had ceased caring whether LV got his way, as long as 
her son was safe.