Pansy Parkinson

Pansy Parkinson was a witch in Harry Potter's year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was sorted into Slytherin house and in her fifth year she became a prefect along with her fellow student and friend, Draco Malfoy. In the same year, she was one of the members of the short lived Inquisitorial Squad. When the final battle of the Second Wizarding War began at Hogwarts, Pansy spoke up in favour of turning Harry over to Lord Voldemort, only to have many of her schoolmates draw their wands upon her in Harry's defence.

Early years
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

- Pansy mocking Parvati Patil and Neville Longbottom

Pansy Parkinson began her education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991 and was sorted into the House of Slytherin. She soon became good friends with fellow Slytherins Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Pansy also was popular with the girls; Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass and her room-mate and acted as the group's leader. She and Draco were both mean and powerful amongst their friends and used this to bully other students.

During Pansy's first class of flying, which Slytherin shared with its rival house, Gryffindor, she teased Parvati Patil for defending Neville Longbottom when Draco Malfoy threw away his Remembrall.

This was the start of a long-lived mean streak for Pansy; throughout her education, she would belittle countless other students whom she disliked. During her second year, Hogwarts was under threat of closure when the Basilisk that lived down in the Chamber of Secrets was loose; it attacked several Muggle-borns, among them Hermione Granger, whom Pansy enjoyed to tease frequently.

Third year


In 1993, the Hogwarts Express was stopped and entered by Dementors searching for Sirius Black. During this infiltration, Harry Potter fainted in the presence of a Dementor and Pansy was one of the Slytherin students who took to mocking him for this throughout the rest of the school year.

During a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Draco Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak the hippogriff after he approached it without caution and insulted it, even after Hagrid had stated that this was an extremely dangerous thing to do. She was in tears after the attack and was concerned enough to follow him to the hospital wing. Afterwards, she frequently fawned over Malfoy for the injury, which he exaggerated in order to get attention and in an attempt to get Rubeus Hagrid into trouble with the Ministry of Magic, which evidently he did, as it resulted in the planned execution of Buckbeak, much to the delight of Pansy and her friends.

Fourth year
"Stunningly pretty? Her? What was she judging against – a chipmunk?"

- Pansy about Hermione Granger when her looks are complimented in an article

During Pansy's fourth year, Hogwarts hosted the Triwizard Tournament, a special wizarding event that attracted a lot of media attention. Pansy was among the students who gave Daily Prophet journalist Rita Skeeter false information on Harry Potter, Rubeus Hagrid and Hermione Granger, one of which was the making up of a false rumours that Harry and Hermione were romantically involved. She was highly amused by the Potter Stinks badges passed around by her fellow Slytherins, and laughed when Draco's Densaugeo hex accidentally hit Hermione when he and Harry started a duel in a school hallway, leaving Hermione with temporarily over-sized front teeth.

Pansy accompanied Draco to the Yule Ball that Christmas, wearing frilly pink robes; by this time, the two may have been romantically involved. While there, she expressed outrage upon seeing famous Quidditch player and Triwizard Champion Viktor Krum escort Hermione Granger to the ball, and again later when a Daily Prophet article commented on how stunning Hermione looked at the event. Also that year, a slightly softer side of Pansy was shown when she clearly expressed (although she later tried to conceal) a fondness for unicorns during a Care of Magical Creatures class.

During this school year, she was known to wear a watch, which Nifflers tried to bite off her wrist during one of Hagrid's classes.

Fifth year
"Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle, anyway? Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"

- Pansy taunts Angelina Johnson and the Gryffindor Quidditch team



In her fifth year, Pansy became a Slytherin prefect along with Draco. At the start of the school year she shared a Thestral drawn-carriage with Draco for the ride up to the castle. This school year would see Ministry Official Dolores Umbridge appointed as the school's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Later on in her regime, Umbridge created a group called the Inquisitorial Squad, of which Pansy was a member. While Hagrid was away, Professor Grubbly-Plank stood in for his position as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. During one lesson Draco imitated Hermione by raising his hand over-enthusiastically, which caused Pansy to shriek with laughter, only then to be startled by the pile of sticks they were studying as they turned out to be Bowtruckles. When Hagrid did indeed return to position, Pansy crudely remarked to Dolores Umbridge that it was difficult to understand Rubeus Hagrid when he spoke and that everyone hated his subject.

During Quidditch matches that year, Pansy directed her fellow Slytherins to sing Weasley is Our King to mock Ron Weasley, as well as other Gryffindor players. Pansy attempted to unsettle Harry before a game by telling him that C. Warrington planned on knocking him off his broom, although Harry was unfazed and responded that Warrington's aim is so pathetic he'd be more worried if he was aiming for the person next to him. Later on in the year when she saw Harry Potter and Cho Chang out on a date on Valentine's Day, Pansy insulted them both, as well as the memory of the late Cedric Diggory. Insulting means she could have possibly been jealous of the romantic relationship, adding to the fact she wasn't that involved with Draco Malfoy.

When Dumbledore's Army members attempted to escape from the Room of Requirement later in the year, Pansy searched for female D.A. members in the girls' lavatory and grabbed the list of names as evidence. Pansy and other Squad members were jinxed during a student rebellion after Fred and George Weasley's departure from Hogwarts; Pansy missed a day of classes while recovering from a hex that made her sprout a pair of antlers.

Sixth year
In 1996, on her way to Hogwarts for her sixth year, Pansy sat in the same train compartment with Draco, Blaise Zabini, and a few other Slytherins. Draco had his head in Pansy's lap, and she stroked his hair while smirking, like she was the luckiest girl. Although upset by Draco's suggestion that he might not return to Hogwarts for his seventh year, Pansy seemed impressed by his implication that he had taken the Dark Mark and joined the Death Eaters. Harry Potter got the impression that she and Draco were cosier than ever during their sixth year. When the train stopped Pansy held her hand out in offer for Draco to take it, he however rejected her hand and told her to go ahead as he wanted to check to see if his suspicions that Harry was spying on him were true.

At the Welcoming Feast this year Albus Dumbledore announced that Severus Snape would now be taking on the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Pansy, along with the all students in the Slytherin house, roared with applause at this, save for Draco who was still brewing over his decision to become a Death Eater. Also in Potions that year Horace Slughorn would be filling in for Snape after he took on his new position as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Later on in the year, after Harry Potter discovered that it was Draco behind Katie Bell's injury, Harry injured Draco with the spell Sectumsempra. Upon hearing the news, Pansy rushed to visit him in the hospital wing, and "lost no time in vilifying Harry far and wide". At the end of the year Albus Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape and students attended his funeral service in which he was buried next to the school Lake.

Seventh year
"Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in front of him had risen and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead, and Harry, awestruck and overwhelmed, saw wands emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and from under sleeves."

- After Pansy suggests turning Harry Potter over to Lord Voldemort.

During Pansy's final year at Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort was in indirect control of the school through Severus Snape as headmaster and Amycus and Alecto Carrow as professors. As a Slytherin and, most likely, a pure-blood, Pansy was probably one of the favoured students and would not have been on the receiving end of their brutal and unfair punishments.

"But he's there! Potter's there. Someone grab him!"

- Pansy wants to turn Harry over to Voldemort.

In May of 1998, Lord Voldemort approached the school with his Death Eater army, and offered those inside the Hogwarts castle a chance to turn Harry Potter over to him in exchange for sparing them all. Pansy was the only person to stand up in favour of doing so. The students of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw houses all drew their wands on her as a result, and Professor McGonagall dismissed Slytherin house from the Great Hall first, starting with Pansy.

Pansy left Hogwarts with her house-mates, and likely was not one of the few to return as reinforcements during the Battle of Hogwarts with Professor Slughorn. Instead, she may have been among the Slytherin students that Voldemort told Lucius Malfoy had come to join him, however Pansy seemed to fear the prospect of battling as she was quick to try and get others to find a solution to stop the chance of a battle by handing Harry over and is unlikely to have fought out of fear of being hurt or killed in battle.

Later life
Very little is known of what happened to Pansy after the Second Wizarding War or her later life.

Personality and traits
"Hey, Potter! Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooo!"

- Pansy makes fun of Harry Potter

She is often seen making snide and cutting remarks at the expense of Gryffindor students, such as making fun of Angelina Johnson's braided hair by wondering aloud who would want to look like they had worms coming out of their head. She was even callous enough to disrespect the late Cedric Diggory, shrieking at Cho Chang when she went on a date with Harry Potter in 1996: "I don't think much of your taste...at least Diggory was good-looking!" She has a tendency to shout her insults loudly, so as to gain the attention and have more people laugh at the object or person of her insults.

Pansy may not be very bright, at least socially (academically, she was a prefect), as Hermione Granger once described her as "thicker than a concussed troll", though this might have to do with Hermione disliking Pansy. She also tends to be rather dramatic, as she overreacted to any injury Draco Malfoy suffered and fiercely blamed those she considered responsible. Pansy also enjoyed gossip, particularly spreading rumours against those she disliked, such as when she lied to Rita Skeeter about Hermione Granger possibly brewing Love Potions to entrance boys like Viktor Krum and Harry Potter.

Judging by the amusement Pansy expressed when Blaise Zabini made a rude comment about Ginny Weasley being a "filthy blood traitor", her association with the prejudiced Draco Malfoy, and the stance she expressed just before the Battle of Hogwarts, she is most likely a pure-blood who disdains Muggles, Muggle-borns and blood traitors.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Care of Magical Creatures: From her third year onwards, Pansy took Care of Magical Creatures classes along with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and other third years. She liked unicorns, as did many of the other girls, but tried to hide it so as not to look soft.

Physical description
"Looking down, Harry saw the pug-faced Pansy Parkinson right at the front of the stands, her back to the pitch."

- Harry Potter's view of Pansy

Pansy was described as a "hard-faced Slytherin girl" by Harry Potter, and on several occasions, students described her as "pug faced". However, Pansy seemed to believe herself to be better-looking than other girls, as she frequently made disparaging comments about the appearances of others, such as Angelina Johnson and Hermione Granger, but this may have been just her way of trying to make herself feel better. Rita Skeeter, at least, described her as "pretty and vivacious" in her article about Hermione.

Draco Malfoy
"You go on, I just want to check something."

- Draco Malfoy rejects Pansy's offering hand.

Pansy got on seemingly well with Draco Malfoy during their school years. They were both sorted into Slytherin house and each had dominant personalities, both being leaders in their house. By her third year, Pansy had developed tender feelings for Draco, appearing overly concerned by his injury to his arm caused by Buckbeak during a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, after which she rushed out of class to the Hospital wing to visit him. She was often seen fawning over him and Draco seemed to greatly enjoy her attention.

By 1994, possible romantic feelings between the two had developed, as they attended the Yule Ball together. In their fifth year, Pansy and Draco were both made the Prefects of Slytherin, and both had joined the Inquisitorial Squad, Pansy and Draco are friends. . On the Hogwarts Express journey to school for their sixth year, Pansy and Draco sat together, with Draco's head in her lap as she stroked his hair. They appeared affectionate, but Draco did not confide in Pansy about the mission Lord Voldemort had given him that year. Also, when she offered him her hand when they got off the train, Draco rejected her, perhaps indicating that Pansy had stronger feelings for him than he did for her. Their relationship remained at least till the end of sixth year; after Draco was sent to the Hospital wings because of Harry's curse Sectumsempra (early May, 1997), Pansy immediately visited him.

Sometime after Pansy and Draco had finished their education, their relationship drifted further, and Draco ended up marrying Astoria Greengrass.

Other students
"Potter, have you split up with your girlfriend? Why was she so upset at breakfast?"

- Pansy teasing Harry Potter and Hermione Granger

Pansy did not seem to get along with any students outside of the house of Slytherin, particularly other girls and Gryffindors. At some point during her time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Pansy had either teased or offended Angelina Johnson, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, multiple members of the Weasley family, Cho Chang, and Cedric Diggory.

Pansy frequently taunted others about their physical appearances, such as Angelina Johnson's hair or Neville Longbottom's weight, about their love lives, or about their families. She also tended to take great amusement in seeing others publicly embarrassed or hurt.

Etymology
A pansy is a type of violet. Its name is derived from the French word pensée, meaning "thought" or "remembrance." In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the juice of the pansy flower is used as a Love Potion. In folklore, the pansy represents separated lovers. The slang term pansy can also refer to a cowardly person, or a weak and effeminate male. The face of a Persian cat, flat and squashed, is sometimes described as a "pansy face", and may refer to Pansy Parkinson's looks.Pan was the greek god of the wild, forests, nature, etc. His name means "all", however the literal meaning in Ancient Greek of "Pan" is "rustic".

Behind the scenes

 * J. K. Rowling has said that Pansy did not end up marrying Draco because Rowling always hated her: "I loathe Pansy Parkinson. I don't love Draco but I really dislike her. She's every girl who ever teased me at school. She's the Anti-Hermione. I loathe her."
 * Pansy has been portrayed by three different actresses in the film series. In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Pansy Parkinson was portrayed by Genevieve Gaunt. In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she was portrayed by Lauren Shotton; however, the role was uncredited and was a non-speaking cameo. In Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows: Part 1, and Deathly Hallows: Part 2, she was portrayed by Scarlett Byrne.
 * Pansy was not in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where, instead of Pansy, a Beauxbatons student appeared at the Yule Ball dancing with Draco Malfoy.
 * Pansy's name continues a pattern of flower names in the series. For instance, in the generation of the First Wizarding War, there was Lily Evans, Petunia Evans, and Narcissa Malfoy. A lily and a petunia are both flowers. In the generation of the Second Wizarding War there was Pansy, Fleur Delacour, and Lavender Brown. In the generation after the war there was Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger's daughter, Rose. There was also Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's daughter, Lily. Madam Pomfrey's first name is Poppy, another flower.
 * Interestingly, another female Slytherin's personality was once contrasted to Hermione's in a similar way as Pansy's was; this may indicate some similarity between the two.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone


 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * Pottermore

Notes and references
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