Pansy Parkinson

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

- Pansy in favour of handing Harry over to Voldemort

Pansy Parkinson (b. 1979/1980) was a witch in Harry Potter's year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was born into the Parkinson family, members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Pansy was sorted into Slytherin House and in her fifth year became a prefect. In the same year she became a member of the short-lived Inquisitorial Squad.

When the final battle of the Second Wizarding War broke out at Hogwarts on 2 May, 1998 Pansy spoke up in favour of turning Harry Potter over to Lord Voldemort. This reaction caused the majority of her schoolmates to draw their wands upon her in Harry's defence.

It can be assumed that Pansy survived the Second Wizarding War, as she left the Great Hall with the other Slytherins before the Battle of Hogwarts broke out and most likely did not return to the castle to fight. Also sometime after the war, Pansy apparently fell out with her former friend Draco Malfoy.

Early Life
Pansy was born in Great Britain or Ireland. She was a member of the Parkinson family and a possible descendent of Perseus Parkinson, a former Minister for Magic. Her family is listed as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. As Pansy was born after the directory was published, it is unknown if she was pure-blood herself.

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

- Pansy meanly mocking Parvati Patil and Neville Longbottom Pansy Parkinson began her education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991 and was sorted into Slytherin House. She soon became good friends with fellow Slytherin boys Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle. She was also popular with the girls; Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, and Daphne Greengrass. Both she and Draco were like leaders amongst their friends, and used this position to bully other students.

During Pansy's first flying class, which Slytherin shared with its rival house, Gryffindor, she teased Parvati Patil for defending Neville Longbottom, after 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.

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's 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
"Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm."

- Pansy as Draco Malfoy's Yull Ball date

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 piece was the making up of false rumours which detailed 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. 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 taunting 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 returned to his teaching post, Pansy crudely remarked to Dolores Umbridge that it was difficult to understand him when he spoke, and that everyone hated his subject, while giggling herself.



During Quidditch matches that year, Pansy directed her fellow Slytherins in singing 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. Harry was unfazed and responded that Warrington's aim was so pathetic, he would 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.

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' bathrooms 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 anyone would have loved to be in her place. 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 told her to go ahead without him, as he wanted to check to see if Harry really was spying on him, as he thought he saw Harry's trainers.



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. Pansy was not among the few students who advanced to N.E.W.T.-level Potions. Later on in the year, after Harry Potter discovered that it was Draco behind Katie Bell's injury, Harry cursed 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

Pansy was present on 1 September, 1997 aboard the Hogwarts Express when Death Eaters stormed the train in search of Harry Potter. 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 the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies professors. As a Slytherin, Pansy was probably one of the favoured students and would not have been on the receiving end of their brutal and unfair punishments.



On 1 May, 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. When in the Great Hall, 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, this is unlikely as she seemed terrified of the thought of Voldemort attacking Hogwarts, so it is more likely that she didn't take either side.

Later life
Very little is known of what happened to Pansy after the Second Wizarding War or her later life. Her friendship with Draco apparently ended sometime after they completed school.

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 opinion of Pansy's appearance

Harry Potter thought of Pansy as "hard-faced" or "pug-faced" on more than one occasion. This opinion may have been influenced by his enmity with her friend, Draco Malfoy, and her Head of House, Professor Snape.

However, Rita Skeeter described Pansy as "pretty and vivacious" in her article about Hermione Granger during her fourth year. This could simply have been flattery on Rita's part, or because in her fourth year, Rita seemed to hold grudges, that most likely were not personal, against Harry Potter and was rude to numerous others.

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

- Pansy poking mean-spirited fun at Harry Potter Sadistic, mean-spirited, and petty, Pansy often bullied and teased Gryffindor students, as well as students in general. She might have targeted them in particular because of Harry Potter's aforementioned hostile relationship with Draco Malfoy (and also his general unpopularity among Slytherins), but it seems that by all appearances she just had a fondness for tormenting other students in general. She apparently had some sort of friendship with the Gryffindor Parvati Patil at one point, or at least respected her, though this friendship appears to have evaporated by the time of their Fifth Year. During their first flying lesson in the 1991-1992 school year, Pansy disapproved of Parvati defending Neville Longbottom (after he injured himself during the lesson). She said that she "never thought Parvati would like fat little cry-babies".



Similarly, she and her fellow Slytherins joined Hufflepuff in supporting Cedric Diggory, whom they considered to be "the real Hogwarts champion" for the Triwizard Tournament during the 1994-1995 school year, but this was likely done less out of kindness or respect for Cedric, and more out of a desire to denigrate and antagonise Harry Potter (who Pansy and most Slytherins looked down upon). However, she did later refer to Cedric as "good-looking" when she saw his former girlfriend, Cho Chang, with Harry, indicating that she liked his handsomeness if nothing else.

Hermione Granger once described Pansy as "thicker than a concussed troll". This may not have been totally inaccurate, as Hermione typically showed respect for genuine talent and skill in people, even if said people had upset her, as Professor Snape did on a few occasions. Therefore, if Hermione had no such praise to give, it indicates that Pansy probably did lack talent or intelligence, though the fact that she was made a prefect and got a high score in at least her Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL should be considered.

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 then-prejudiced Draco Malfoy as well as the stance she expressed just before the Battle of Hogwarts, she was most likely a prejudiced pure-blood herself.

Despite her nastiness, Pansy was ultimately a weak-willed coward, incapable of thinking or acting for herself, and simply followed Draco and his lackeys around out a desire to feel powerful and important. She was terrified of the thought of Voldemort and his Eater's attacking Hogwarts, so she decided to foolishly call for Harry Potter to be turned over, showing very poor common sense and fear of facing reality.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Defence Against the Dark Arts: Pansy attended the N.E.W.T.-level Defence Against the Dark Arts class, during the 1996-1997 school year. She must have achieved a high O.W.L. score in the subject.
 * Care of Magical Creatures: From her third year onward, Pansy took Care of Magical Creatures classes along with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and other third years.

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 quite 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. 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 were clearly affectionate. Draco did not confide in Pansy about the mission Lord Voldemort had given him that year. However, this may have been due to the Dark Lord's command that Draco and his mother not speak of the mission to anyone. After Draco was sent to the hospital wing because of Harry's curse Sectumsempra Pansy immediately visited him.

Sometime after Pansy and Draco had finished their education, their friendship ended. Draco's changed views on pureblood supremacy, caused by the events during his last year of school, may have contributed to this. He eventually married Astoria Greengrass, who had a more tolerant stance about Muggles and Muggle-borns, much to his parents' chagrin. Draco and Astoria also had a son together, whom they named Scorpius.

Hogwarts staff
Like other members of Slytherin, Pansy respected their Head of House, Snape, and enjoyed his teasing and taunting of Gryffindor students. She joined the other Slytherins in applauding him when he was finally given the job of teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts in 1996. He favoured students in his own House but still expected a lot from them. As mentioned previously, it is possible that he was pleased with Pansy and selected her as a prefect in 1995, unless prefects were chosen by the Headmaster.

Pansy was unkind to at least one of her teachers, Hagrid. When Dolores Umbridge inspected his Care of Magical Creatures class, she questioned Pansy about the lessons. Pansy took the opportunity to openly criticise him.

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

- Pansy's mean-spirited teasing of 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 is a type of violet. Its name is derived from the French word pensée, meaning "thought" or "remembrance." In William Shakespeare's , 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".
 * Parkinson is an English surname meaning "son of Parkin", with Parkin itself being a diminutive form of the given name Peter, which comes from the Greek petros, meaning "rock" or "stone". The idea behind giving an antagonistic character the name Parkinson may derive from, a brain disease that causes degradation of motor skills and speech.

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 four different actresses in the film series. According to a forum, Katherine Nicholson was listed to portray Pansy as a background extra in PS F and in . In, Pansy Parkinson was portrayed by Genevieve Gaunt. In , 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, 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, the first names of whom are all known to be flowers. In the generation of the Second Wizarding War, there was Pansy, Fleur Delacour, and Lavender Brown, again all flowers. In the generation after the war, there was Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger's daughter, Rose and also Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's daughter, Lily. Also, Madam Pomfrey's first name is Poppy, another flower.
 * In the film version of Deathly Hallows, Pansy gets sent to the dungeons along with all the other Slytherins as punishment for wanting to give Harry to Voldemort. This part is controversial with the fandom, as it is not consistent with McGonagall's character to send students to the dungeon.
 * There has recently been a fandom theory questioning Pansy's motives for wanting Voldemort to take Harry during the Battle; whether it is the obvious idea that she is a cruel person, as the series often shows, or whether she is genuinely hoping that if he is handed over, Voldemort will not attack the school.
 * For all of her many obvious character failings, Pansy was still made a prefect in her fifth year. Her Head of House, Snape, had high expectations, and he might not have selected her if he was disappointed with her (he later gave two of her fellow Slytherins, Crabbe, and Goyle, detention for not passing their Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. exams). However, it is unclear whether a Head of House always chooses prefects, and in fact it might not be so; Harry Potter asked Albus Dumbledore why he did not make Harry a prefect, which Dumbledore replied that he felt Harry already had enough weight on his shoulders, indicating that Dumbledore had taken notice that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were made prefects, which then implies that Dumbledore had been the one to make them prefects, but not Harry. Thus, it is possible that someone else made Pansy a prefect in lieu of Severus Snape (though which teacher would wish to do so is a mystery).

Appearances

 * PS undefined
 * PS F

Notes and references
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