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From what we have seen of the Patil twins [and it isn't much], Parvati seems to be the outrovert: the butterfly in her hair in GoF, the way she is with Lavender, etc. But Jo hasn't concentrated much on Padma. And that is who I'd like to know about.
Some TQ's:
Do you think that Padma ever had a problem with her sister getting Sorted into a legendary House while she was in Ravenclaw? [no offense, Claws]
How do you think she'd behave with Parvati?
Hope you guys can help!
I have always been peeved by J. K. Rowlings portrayal of the Patil twins. Parvati is the stereotypical girl- giggling and squee-ing and whispering with Lavender. Padma seems to be very flat, show-offy and snobbish.
Do you think that Padma ever had a problem with her sister getting Sorted into a legendary House while she was in Ravenclaw?
No, I don't think that when they went to Hogwarts, they had any such prejudices. Harry wouldn't have minded going to Ravenclaw, would he have? What I don't think she would've like is being separated from her sister.
How do you think she'd behave with Parvati?
It depends. If you guys imagine Parvati to be the "More Popular" sister (a topic I'll touch one later), I think Padma'd have been tired of being in the shadow of her sister. If not, they probably would have got on well, as they seem to have more or less the same type of personalities.
Quote:
She didn’t look too enthusiastic about having Ron as a partner, though; her dark eyes lingered on the frayed neck and sleeves of his dress robes as she looked him up and down.
~Page 359, Goblet Of Fire, British Edition
I prove what I said about JKR's portrayal with this quote. It's a widely known fact that Weasleys are poor, and cannot really afford much. Why must she make assumptions about Ron just by looking at his clothes? Might be not liking Ron much after he ignores her for the entirety of the ball, I understand, but not wanting to be his date just because he isn't dressed well, even when he has a reason for dressing so, is just... bad. I can't really pick a word... materialistic?
Quote:
Padma was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in time to the music. Every now and then she threw a disgruntled look at Ron, who was completely ignoring her.
~Page 366, Goblet Of Fire, British Edition
She doesn't like Ron much. I can sympathise with her in this scenario. If I went out with a girl who obstinately refused to have fun, and instead kept staring and getting angry at another boy, I'd definitely be very irritated. Padma seems to be quite a party animal, liking to have fun and dancing, as we can see from this quote.
Quote:
Parvati sat down on Harry’s other side, crossed her arms and legs too, and within minutes, was asked to dance by a boy from Beauxbatons.
~Page 367, Goblet Of Fire, British Edition
This isn't directly related to Padma, but it got me thinking. Padma was sitting there with Ron for all the time that Parvati was dancing and even after she went off after this quote from the book. It was only much later, that when asked to, a boy came and danced with her. But on the other hand, Parvati was asked to dance immediately. Why is this?
Even though they are twins, I feel that Parvati is perhaps more prettier that Padma, or may be she radiates beauty. Then again, it might be because people want to spite Harry by dancing with his date- though I sorely doubt this fact. Therefore, I have to go with the assumption that Parvati is somehow more aesthetically pleasing, or some how better than Padma.
If I were to choose three words to describe her, I'd choose loyal,, and rebellious, brave because she agreed with Dumbledore and Harry, and was part of the Dumbledore's Army. (Lol, I just typed "Dumbledore's Navy" there!). This was done against the Authority, AKA, Umbridge. Padma was also aware of the repercussions she would face if caught, yet she continued to be a part of DA.
Do you agree with the points I made? Why or why not? Opinions are always invited.
Thanks,
BB
This was an interesting question...made me think quite a bit about both of the twins, and I've never really considered either.
Stereotypes exist because there are people that fit into them. JK's portrayal of the Patil twins may be fairly accurate, because there are flat characters in real life just as much as in fiction.Quote:
Parvati is the stereotypical girl- giggling and squee-ing and whispering with Lavender. Padma seems to be very flat, show-offy and snobbish.
Most twins I've known have the extrovert/introvert and impulsive/pensive dynamic--the Patil twins being sorted into different houses seems to be just another way to point out that difference. The more introverted of the twins seems very rarely to mind being perceived as such--occasionally it's annoying, but mostly, it's just the way things are, the way things always have been.
I expect Parvati was asked to dance before Padma not because she was prettier or the way she was carrying herself--she took up the same position as Padma, legs crossed, foot jangling, etc.--but because the Beauxbatons boy noticed her while she was dancing with Harry. Everyone was watching the champions dance, noting their partners, seeing them stumble through the motions. Parvati had the spotlight for a bit, more opportunity to be noticed. Padma didn't.
A lot of what the Patil twins do may be competition--joining the DA, being asked to dance...it's a keep-up game, and Padma doesn't win very often. Part of her disdain for being Ron's partner was that Harry was so much more presentable. Ron's robes couldn't be helped, but she couldn't have known that, and to her, it may have translated into, "I didn't care enough about this ball to look nice." Ron's demeanor would have affirmed that. If she had been really excited about the ball and spent a lot of time getting ready, it's no wonder she was offended.
Three words to describe her (good idea on that one, sainyn): thoughtful, wary, and resigned.
All right, after doing a terrible job of organizing my thoughts, I'm off! Cheers!
Here are a few more little thought crackers to think about when it comes to Padma Patil.
What would make Padma different from her sister that would send them into seporate houses? They are identical twins, after all, so it's safe to say they would be pretty similar?
How do you think her experiences with Ron at the Yule Ball would effect any future relationships she might have?
Do you think Padma survived the Battle of Hogwarts? What about her sister? What leads you to think this?
What do think a potential future career for Padma might be? Do you see her as potentially becoming a Hogwarts professor? Which subject?
What would make Padma different from her sister that would send them into seporate houses? They are identical twins, after all, so it's safe to say they would be pretty similar?
Just becasue they are physically identical doesn't have to mean that their personalities are similar. It seems fair to say that Parvati was the more outgoing one of the twins. If that has been the case since they were born, it was likely that Padma learned to depend on other things, such books to entertain her, while Parvati had friends to play with. Though Padma is not known to be bookish, she must enjoy learning to some extent. Parvati seems to not care much about learning as she does about gossip or boys. Padma had not been asked to the Yule Ball when she was set up with Ron. Though we can not know for sure, Parvati's willingness to set her sister and Ron up seems to signify that at least in Parvati's mind, she didn't care nearly as much about getting a date as Parvati herself was, otherwise, wouldn't she have her own hopes as to who she wanted as a date? As Pendraegona said, it's possible that they competed a lot and that usually Parvati won. Though Parvati often won socially, it's probable to say that Padma was the one who won on the academic scale of things. When Ron dumps Lavender, Parvati is quick to defend her friend and doesn't hesitate to make her feelings known. However, when Ron ignores Padma thoughout the Yule Ball, Padma just sits there, angry, and takes it. She is far more passive agressive about it and hardly says a word. The words used to descibe her earlier in this thread are positive, but none of them are listed as outgoing, which would likely be Parvati's first description. They are similar in certain ways, but their personalties are different as well.
How do you think her experiences with Ron at the Yule Ball would effect any future relationships she might have?
Well she might be a little less likely to go on a blind date, or have her sister set her up. Padma was, rightfully so, angry at the lack of attencion that Ron gave her and though she did eventually find someone to dance with, may be weary of moody or guys who she thought would be easily jealous of other people.
Do you think Padma survived the Battle of Hogwarts? What about her sister? What leads you to think this?
We really didn't find anything out either way about the two of them as far as I can remember at least. Though you could probably argue any combination of the two living or dying, it really depends on what part of the battle they were in. They were both bold and were fighting for something they really cared about. They were both in the DA and trained by Harry. That would have given the two of them an advantage over some of the slower Death Eaters.
What do think a potential future career for Padma might be? Do you see her as potentially becoming a Hogwarts professor? Which subject?
Padma seems like someone who would like working as a Healer. Something that was challenging and yet rewarding at the same time. However, at Hogwarts, perhaps something like Ancient Runes or Charms.
What would make Padma different from her sister that would send them into seporate houses? They are identical twins, after all, so it's safe to say they would be pretty similar?
Identical twins having identical personalities is a stereotype. Identical twins share almost the same genes, but their personalities can be completely different. Padma was sorted into Ravenclaw, so it's probably safe to say that she enjoys books and learning much more then her sister. Like meryal said, she's probably more of an introvert than her sister, and that probably contributed to her sorting.
How do you think her experiences with Ron at the Yule Ball would effect any future relationships she might have?
I don't think that it would have affected her that much. She only went with Ron as a favor to Parvati, and when Ron wouldn't dance with her, she accepted the invitation of a Beauxbatons boy.
Do you think Padma survived the Battle of Hogwarts? What about her sister? What leads you to think this?
I think that if one of the twins had to die, it would most likely be Parvati. Being a Gryffindor, she was probably a bit reckless, as opposed to Padma, who was most likely more cautious.
What do think a potential future career for Padma might be? Do you see her as potentially becoming a Hogwarts professor? Which subject?
I've read a fic that has her as a Professor of Defense, but I don't really picture her as a Professor. I see her as more of a Healer type, because she's so calm, and since she's introverted, she won't get as attacted to her patients, it won't be as hard on her if she loses them.
Kate
Padma Patil is definitely one of the lesser known characters in the Potterverse. Even lesser then her twin sister Parvati which could be due to the fact that she is in Ravenclaw and not in Harry’s immediate circle. The only time we actually saw her properly is at the Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire when she was escorted their by Ron Weasley. It’s no surprise that she didn’t have a good time with him because frankly, Ron was not in the most agreeable of moods. I also feel that Padma was doing this as a favor to Parvati and would never actually like to be seen with someone like Ron, let alone date him.
Padma is often viewed in the books as nothing more then “Pravati Patil’s twin in Ravenclaw” which leads me to believe that her life has somehow been spent under her more exuberant twin’s shadow. As this is not the case of Fred and George where both twins were inseparable and did everything together, these twins were sorted into different houses and clearly shared different interests. Padma, being a Ravenclaw would naturally be brainier as apposed to her twin with the famous Gryffindor brawn.
Little quotes about a character tell us loads but the reaction of towards this character is what really defines them. So let’s see how Padma is viewed by her peers and the readers at large.
When Harry first arrives at Hogwarts and is in line for the sorting, the twins get sorted before him (with the alphabetical order) and he notices them as “a couple of twin girls”. At that time, they are both equal to him. But then Parvati gets sorted in Gryffindor and Harry convieniently forgets that Padma exists. This is a common fact sadly, but it appears that out of sight really equals to out of mind. We see Harry at his next sorting ceremony when he is in his fourth year and is watching little Dennis Creevey being sorted. He asks the question of whether siblings end up in the same house and is informed that mostly so but there are exceptions. He is then shown the example of Padma which tells us that he has forgotten all about her.
At the time of the Yule Ball, Harry is desperate to find a date and so, as a last minute resort, approaches Parvati who may or may not have dumped someone else to go with him as I doubt she would have risked being dateless till the last day. At any rate, we can surmises she was very keen to go with The Boy Who Lived and even asked her sister to escort Ron in return. And as it turned out, Padma consented.
This could be for a number of reasons. Paravati could have lied top Padma and told her that Ron was fun to be with, she could have begged Padma for this favor or promised something equally good in return but the bottom line remains the same, Padma agreed. This tells us that she is not an uncompromising person.
In her fifth year, we see that Padma became a prefect. And from her achievement we can assume that not only is she good in her studies but also must be thought of as responsible enough to handle the post.
We later see Padma during the DA meetings at the Hog’s Head and the Room of Requirements. While it isn’t clear what brought her to the meeting (it could be because of her internal sense of right and wrong, her sister’s persuasion, simply because it was the in thing to do or any other number of reasons.), the fact remains that she was there. And she worked hard. Harry himself noted her progress though not as carefully as he did Parvati’s simply because he knew Parvati better.
And another fact I find extremely interesting is Padma’s view of the Yule Ball compared to that of Harry and Ron and how much fun she had. In the beginning of Order of the Phoenix, Luna says that Padma told the ‘Claws (as I doubt she is so friendly with Luna to give her details so I am assuming this is popular knowledge in the ‘Claw Tower) that Padma did not have a good time with Ron and Ron, and Harry too, obviously felt no guilt whatsoever in abandoning their dates as they made an excuse that the girls would be preoccupied enough with all the French boys.
This tells us that Padma is not one to sit around and brood just because her partner was doing so and that she is brave enough to speak her mind. I would wager a guess that she was very mad at her sister after that particular incident. Who knows, she ,ay have even spread the word around just to show her sister how displeased she was with the situation. At any rate we know that Parvati never expressed any more interest in Harry. This could be because either she picked up on the fact that Harry had no interest in her like that or she did it to appease her sister.
All in all, I think Padma is a wonderful; charcter who was done an injustice and not given enough screen time. There was loads of potential in her character that Jo never got the time to explore (and bless her, she can’t be everywhere) and so left it to us fanfic writers. ;)=Sammy
What would make Padma different from her sister that would send them into seporate houses? They are identical twins, after all, so it's safe to say they would be pretty similar? Do you think that Padma ever had a problem with her sister getting Sorted into a legendary House while she was in Ravenclaw? [no offense, Claws]
Well, as others have said, being twins doesn't necessarily make them any more similar than your average siblings, except that they've pretty much had the exact same upbringing.
From the books we can tell that Parvati becomes more of a giggling girl while Padma becomes a responsible Prefect. By nature, they are simply a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw, respectively.
And I think Padma would have been really proud to be a Ravenclaw! I don't necessarily think that Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs saw Gryffindor as the best house. Padma probably thinks things through more than Parvati, who rushes into things with Gryffindor 'courage', which Padma would see more as 'recklessness'. I highly doubt she ever would have been jealous of Parvati being in Gryffindor. Padma would be happy and proud to be in Ravenclaw and probably wouldn't even see Gryffindor as 'the legendary house'.
As for the whole Ron-Yule-Ball incident, I don't think it would affect Padma in any way other than she'd be less likely to agree to go out with someone her sister recommended again! I don't think she was expecting romance with Ron or anything, but she was annoyed that he was quite frankly a terrible date.
At school, Parvati's best friend seems to be Lavender. Padma and Parvati don't seem to be super close, but I'd say they still have a twin bond and would do almost anything for the other (they'd just go about it in different ways!). I don't feel that either of them would have died in the battle... just a hunch. And I agree that Healer seems a likely career for Padma... it's not exactly original, but it seems to fit, doesn't it?
One last thing... I don't particularly feel that Padma was ever under Parvati's shadow. We simply see more of Parvati because she's in Harry's house, and Harry doesn't tend to notice many people :rolleyes: Parvati may be known by a few more people simply because she's more outgoing, but the only time she would have gained a significant amount of attention ws when she went to the Yule Ball with Harry. Padma is a prefect, which means she probably does reasonably well in her classes and is a good role model, so she's probably well-known and liked within her house!
That's my two knuts :)
-- Chelsea
I find myself needed to know the form of Padma's Patronus. I don't believe it was ever mentioned in the books, but since she was in DA, it is likely she has one.
Does anyone have any ideas? Is there some animals that isespecially associated with twins? Something in India?
I don't believe there's anything in canon... My opinion on Padma's patronus is that it would be a tiger. I have no idea why, though. I've just always thought a tiger. *shrugs*
Okay, I wasn't much help.
~~Azhure~~