Parvati Patil

Parvati Patil (born 1979 or 1980) is a witch who was in Harry Potter's year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was sorted into Gryffindor house, and soon became close friends with Lavender Brown. Parvati joined Dumbledore's Army her fifth year, and was again a member in her seventh, participating in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Early School Years
Parvati began attending Hogwarts in 1991 and was sorted into Gryffindor house, while her identical twin sister Padma was sorted into Ravenclaw. Parvati shared her dormitory with Hermione Granger and her best friend, Lavender Brown.

During her first flying lesson, Parvati came to the defence of housemate Neville Longbottom when Draco Malfoy threw away his Remembrall. Slytherin student Pansy Parkinson made fun of her for this.

Third Year
"She says I've got all the makings of a true Seer. I saw loads of stuff…"

- Parvati on Professor Trelawney

In her third year, Parvati began taking Divination, which soon became her favourite subject. She and Lavender grew close to Professor Trelawney, who believed that Parvati could be a Seer. She also alarmed Parvati by telling her to beware a red-haired man, making Parvati suspicious of Ron Weasley. Parvati also enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures classes when they were taught by Professor Grubbly-Plank, as opposed to Rubeus Hagrid.

That year, when Professor Lupin taught his Defence Against the Dark Arts class about Boggarts, Parvati's greatest fear was revealed to be mummies, although this could be translated as a fear of death or a fear of being buried alive.

Fourth Year
"She didn't enjoy it very much. She doesn't think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her."

- Luna Lovegood to Harry Potter on Parvati's experience at the Yule Ball

Parvati attended the Yule Ball with Harry Potter in 1994. She wore dress robes of shocking pink, gold bracelets, and had gold braided into her hair. She seemed to enjoy the attention she received for being the date of a famous wizard and was eager to dance. After being ignored by Harry, who was romantically interested in Cho Chang at the time, Parvati spent most of the evening with a boy from Beauxbatons, whom she dated for a time afterwards.

After the ball, she acted "very cool" towards Harry, presumably because she felt he treated her poorly.

Fifth Year


Parvati and Padma joined Dumbledore's Army in their fifth year, and it seems their attitudes towards Harry and Ron have mellowed. During one meeting, Parvati produced such a good Reductor Curse that she reduced a table to dust. She and Lavender were quite upset that year by Dolores Umbridge's treatment of Professor Trelawney, whom Umbridge wanted to dismiss, but Headmaster Dumbledore managed to keep on. Parvati and Lavender were both enamoured of the new Divination professor, Firenze.

Her experience in the D.A. likely contributed to Parvati achieving an O.W.L. in Defence Against the Dark Arts; she is also known to have achieved O.W.L.s in Divination and Transfiguration.

Sixth Year
In her sixth year, Parvati had to convince her parents not to take her and her sister out of Hogwarts, although they did return home the morning after Albus Dumbledore's death at the end of the school year. Parvati was shown to be slightly dismayed by her best friend Lavender's romance with Ron Weasley. Although Parvati initially was supportive of her friend's feelings for Ron, as the two seemed to whisper and giggle about him before they began dating, Parvati was put off by the almost obsessive degree to which Lavender threw herself into the relationship, often snogging him in public, pestering Harry with questions about his feelings for her, and giving him a necklace that read "my sweetheart". The two remained close, though.

Final Year
In 1997, Lord Voldemort took over the Ministry of Magic and attendance at Hogwarts became mandatory. Parvati returned for her seventh year and joined the second Dumbledore's Army, which was re-formed in order to oppose Professors Amycus and Alecto Carrow's teaching of the Dark Arts and anti-Muggle propaganda, as well as their cruel punishment of students. When Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to Hogwarts in 1998, the D.A. insisted on fighting Lord Voldemort's incoming army.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, Parvati dueled with Travers, but helped Dean Thomas by shooting a Body-Bind Curse at Antonin Dolohov to prevent him from retaliating against Dean for stunning another Death Eater.

As neither Parvati nor Padma were listed among the casualties, they presumably survived the Second Wizarding War.

Personality and Traits
"I still can't work out how you two got the two best-looking girls in the year."

- Dean Thomas on Harry Potter and Ron Weasley bringing the Patil twins to the Yule Ball

Parvati and Padma were described by Dean Thomas in 1994 as "the two best looking girls in the year". They are both very attractive girls with long black hair and are of Indian descent.

Parvati can be seen as the less serious of the two girls; like her friend Lavender, she enjoys gossip and fashion, and the two are often seen whispering and giggling together. They also share a great interest in Divination and are relatively close to Professor Trelawney. Parvati is also brave and loyal, as her sorting into Gryffindor house and participation in the final battle proves.

Padma Patil
"Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, and they're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"

- Hermione Granger

Padma Patil is Parvati's twin sister. The girls were separated once they began attending Hogwarts, as Parvati was sorted into Gryffindor and Padma into Ravenclaw, which also indicates differences in their character. Parvati appears to be less serious than her studious sister.



Lavender Brown
Lavender Brown was one of Parvati's roommates at Hogwarts and soon became her best friend. The two girls share many interests, including Divination, gossip, and fashion, and are both close to Professor Trelawney. They were often seen around school together, giggling and whispering. Parvati initially supported Lavender in her infatuation with Ron Weasley in their sixth year, but eventually became slightly dismayed with how intensely Lavender threw herself into the relationship. However, the two remained close.

Hermione Granger
Parvati and Lavender were not as close to their other roommate, Hermione Granger, as they were to each other. Hermione did not share the girls' interests, such as Divination and gossip, which occasionally led to conflict. For example, Parvati and Lavender were both offended on Professor Trelawney's behalf when Hermione made her disdain for the class clear in their third year. However, the girls do not seem to have disliked each other. In 1996, when Hermione was jealous of Lavender dating Ron Weasley, Parvati was noted to feel guilty over having laughed at Ron's cruel teasing of Hermione in Transfiguration, and the two girls discussed Hermione's attendance of the Slug Club Christmas party with Cormac McLaggen. Since Parvati looked "positively agog" at Hermione sharing this news with her, it can be assumed that Hermione seldom confided in her roommates.

Harry Potter
Parvati was not particularly close to Harry Potter, a Gryffindor in her year, but the two attended the 1994 Yule Ball together. Parvati was initially pleased with Harry as a date, since his fame gained her a lot of attention. However, Harry neglected to ask Parvati to dance and spent most of the ball staring at Cho Chang, which upset Parvati and led to her leaving his side for a boy from Beauxbatons. Afterwards, Parvati treated Harry coolly, but this did not impact her decision to join Dumbledore's Army the following year. In their sixth year, Parvati and Harry both found themselves rather annoyed by their friends' exhibitionist romance. This may have also indicated her attitude towards Harry has mellowed back to a level of friendship.

Etymology

 * Pārvatī is the name of a Hindu goddess, consort of Shiva and daughter of the Himalayas. Parvati translates into "she of the mountains" in Sanskrit. It possible Parvati Patil's name, and her sister's, may have been somewhat inspired by the model Padma Parvati Lakshmi.
 * Patil is a common Marathi surname in the state of Maharashtra, India.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaptations of the series, Parvati and Padma are portrayed as fraternal, rather than identical, twins.
 * In the films, both Parvati and Padma are in Gryffindor. In the books, Padma is in Ravenclaw.
 * In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the way Pansy Parkinson addresses Parvati suggests that the two were already familiar with one another, but this is never explored.
 * In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Professor Binns calls Parvati "Miss Pennyfeather".
 * In the films, Parvati is first seen portrayed by actress Sitara Shah in The Prisoner of Azkaban. In Goblet Of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, she has been portrayed by actress Shefali Chowdhury. Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter in the film, spoke at the launch of Goblet of Fire in London and said, "I had a dance scene with Shefali. She was completely gorgeous." Chowdhury has expressed an interest in reprising her role for Half-Blood Prince..
 * In Goblet of Fire film, Parvati is shown to spend a lot of time with her twin, Padma. However, in the books, she is seldom seen without her best friend, Lavender Brown.
 * In the film version of the Yule Ball, Parvati wears an Indian orange blouse and a pink skirt known in India as a "Laynga", gold bangles (known in India as Churia), and had gold braided into her hair (known in india as a Parandah Braid).
 * In the film verison of Goblet of Fire, Parvati seems to be friendly with Hermione Granger especially at the Yule Ball.

Notes and references
Parvati Patil Parvati Patil