Pansy Parkinson (Was: House characteristics)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 150604

Alla wrote:
<snip>
> I am not sure how I feel about the main issue of that rant, but what
made me laugh is her last sentence ( I think), which reads I want my
girls to be Hermiones rather than Pansy Parkinsons.
> 
> Now, Okay, she likes Hermione, she really likes Hermione, I
understand that, so it is understandable that she wants young girls to
be like her, but what is so BAD about Pancy Parkinson that she does
not want the girls to be like her, except that Pancy is in Slytherin
House?

Carol responds:
I don't really care about Pansy Parkinson one way or the other, but I
agree that she's not as bad as, say, Millicent Bulstrode. She (Pansy)
does have her human, or maybe I should say feminine, side, really
liking the baby unicorns in COMC and trying her best to hide the feeling. 

But to try to answer your question, she's the leader of a gang of
Slytherin girls and before she becomes Draco's girlfriend she's more
or less his groupie, screaming with laughter at what passes for his
witticisms and yelling out insults at the Gryffindors, primarily
Hermione. She's the one who circulated the Witch Weekly article about
Hermione.And of course in HBP, she's lets the little DE lie with his
head in her lap and strokes his hair, all the while knowing that he's
on a mission for Voldemort. When Draco is injured by Buckbeak in PoA,
she's one of the first (IIRC) to suggest that Hagrid should be fired,
but under the circumstances that's understandable. I assume that she
holds the usual Slytherin pureblood ideology, and in OoP she's a
member of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad. (Umbridge tells her to check
the girls' restrooms to search for DA members. It's possible that she
also goes around docking points like Draco and Montague, but I don't
recall her doing so on page.) as for why JKR doesn't want the girls to
be like her, maybe she means that girls should use their brains and
not spend all their energy shrieking insults at rivals and chasing
boys, especially bad boys like Draco.

Pansy, BTW, is a flower name like many girls' names in the HP books
(Padma, it turns out, means "lotus"), and derives from French "pensee"
 meaning "thought." ("There is pansies, that's for thoughts," says
poor mad Ophelia.) Apparently pansies also relate to memories of a
(dead?) loved one, which doesn't bode well for Draco but says nothing
bad about Pansy herself. Old Mr. Lawrence in "Little Women" refers to
pansies as heart's ease and says that they're his favorite flower. The
term is also used for the wild pansy.

Just for fun, here's some interesting info on heart's ease (don't know
whether it also applies to domesticated pansies with the last name of
Parkinson:

"HEART'S EASE    VIOLA TRICOLOR
A strong decoction or syrup of the herb and flowers is an excellent
cure for the venereal disease.(!) Also known as the Wild Pansy, the
flowers are a beautiful purple variegated with yellow.
Where to find it: Fields and gardens.
Flowering time: Spring and summer.
Astrology: The herb is saturnine, cold, viscous and slimy.(!)
Medicinal virtues: Good for convulsions in children and a remedy for
the falling-sickness, inflammation of the lungs and breasts, pleurisy,
scabs and the itch. The flowers are cooling, emollient and cathartic
when used on their own, but it is best to make a syrup of them when
they are fresh, as their virtues are lost by drying.
Modern uses: The Pansy is mildly laxative, diuretic, diaphoretic and
expectorant.(!) It is also considered to be a good blood purifier.(!!)
An infusion is recommended for skin eruptions in children, catarrh and
asthma. The dose is half a teaspoonful of the powdered leaves in a
cupful of boiling water." 

The site, if anyone is interested, is
 http://www.magdalin.com/herbal/plants_http://www.magdalin.com/herbal/plants_pages/h/hearts.htm

The page links to other herbs and flowers starting with "h" but I
couldn't find a main page to look up Lily, Petunia, or Narcissa.

Carol, wondering if anyone more familiar with herblore can add
something more directly related to Pansy Parkinson