Chapter One
Pure & Proud
Chapter One: Pansy Parkinson
An Incomplete Autobiography
Story by Sea Isle Witch
November 2002
As an only daughter of an aristocratic wizarding family, I have been doted on my entire life. It took me seventeen years to sort out what a little horror I was.
During the year-long Wizarding War, my parents sent me off to the Continent with a female tutor. We stayed with several of my married cousins in Paris and Barcelona. It was a good thing too, because I was desperately in need of a diversion from my recently broken heart. Between soirees and travelling, I had plenty of time to reflect on who I was and who I wanted to be. The result? I began to grow up.
My English pure-blood pedigree was highly prized among foreign wizards, and that made the time pass pleasantly. I'm sure the fact that I turned out rather lovely helped as well. Continental wizards have a way with words, but I never let any of them get too close. I was not interested in them for more than a conversation or a dance because none of them were the wizard I loved.
I began to realise that I had to make a life for myself, before my parents did. Mother and Father have been keen on finding a suitable match for me ever since I became of age -- as if that was the only thing I was good for! You should see my N.E.W.T. results! I wasn't going to let them pawn me off to the highest bidder. If I couldn't marry for love, then I would become an independent witch.
My dear departed grandmother knew me better than anyone, and she believed in me. She was the one person in whom I could always confide, and she was the only one who knew how devastated I was when my wizard disappeared without a word. Grandmother was also there for me through many uncomfortable dinners with potential suitors. She knew I could be more than a trophy wife to some wealthy wizard twice my age or a mommy wife to some young, trust fund prat.
When Grandmother died she left me a considerable fortune, so I'm free to do as I wish -- in my mind, anyway. Although I've always spent my time on the Continent or at Blossom Hill Park, the family estate, I am contemplating letting a flat in London. My publicity events and social commitments keep me in town the majority of the time, so it's a logical choice. I'm not sure how my parents will react to the news should I decide to go ahead with my plan. My second book, Charms for Charming the Charmless, has just been published, and it promises to be just as successful as my first.
Where did I get the inspiration for my books? That's a heavily guarded secret, but I will tell you. When my dear grandmother gave me a book for Christmas three years ago, I didn't know that it was anything more than the beautiful volume of faerie tales she used to read to me when I was a little witch. After her death, I discovered a letter addressed to 'My Pansy' in the Gringotts vault she bequeathed to me. The letter instructed me to cast a spell on the book, and when I did, it transformed into a special book of magic. The tome is an explanation of magical theories and original spells, started by an ancestor, Violetta of Vinchhaven, and which has been passed down and added to throughout the centuries by prominent witches in my family. I am the only one who knows about it, as is the tradition, and it's mine to do with as I wish. When I'm not using it, I charm it back into the faerie tale book, so it will always remain a secret. In her letter, Grandmother said to use the magic to make my dreams come true; I'm trying.
Charms had always been my easiest subject; I even received an Outstanding on my Charms N.E.W.T. I have been able to take the magic from the family book and build upon it to formulate by own spells relevant for today's witches. I began by developing glamour charms, which resulted in my first book, Wonderful Charms for Witchly Conundrums. It was fairly well received in England, but my international success was surprising. Someday I hope to rival Gilderoy Lockhart at the height of his Magical Me tour.
Naturally, I'm invited to many social affairs, but I'm selective in the ones I choose to attend, usually with my entourage in tow. One must always keep up appearances. Recently I agreed to chair the 382nd St Mungo's Masquerade Ball to be held on New Year's Eve. My pedigree and my celebrity status are expected to bring in the elite wizarding society, but it is also free publicity for my new book, making it a well-chosen appearance. I need to decide who will escort me to this affair because, although I have many wizards in my life, there is no one special. I suppose I shall choose whoever will look best with what I'm wearing.
The wizard who broke my heart just disappeared one night near the end of my sixth year at Hogwarts. I didn't know what happened to him until I read in the French wizarding paper a year later that he had voluntarily returned to England to surrender to Ministry officials near the end of the war. He had been involved in an attack at Hogwarts when we were students there. When I found out that he had been living in exile on the Continent, I was crushed. I had been there at the same time with plenty of publicity, so he had to have known. Perhaps he believed the ridiculous stories the wizarding press made up about my love life; although I've always known him to be wise to such media tactics, having employed them himself on occasion. I had hoped he would try to contact me at some point, but it never happened.
While he was on trial, I had sent him an anonymous letter of encouragement with my grandfather's hematite talisman, which is worn to gain favourable judgements, as well as to repel negativity and give strength. I placed a special charm on the talisman to provide the comfort I knew he needed. It was the only thing that I could do, and it broke my heart that I couldn't be at his side. I do not know if he received my package, but after he was transferred to Azkaban nothing else could be sent. He never tried to contact me after his release when he was officially forced into exile, although he probably returned to the Continent where I spent much of my time. I'm sure he must have heard of my success, but I never saw or heard from him and most likely never will. I haven't heard his name spoken in years, but he is frequently in my thoughts. I cannot say that I shall ever be completely over him, but I have found a place where my heart can exist in quiet numbness.
I am already halfway through writing my third book, which will be quite different from my other ones. I'm excited about brewing up a bit of controversy this time. That should give those nasty reporters something to write about beside my love life! They shadow me wherever I go, so if I even speak to a wizard, the next thing I know there are pictures and a full article explaining how we are secretly in love and I'm having his child! I could hex them, but I'm becoming skilled at using all of this attention to my advantage.
After all, I am and will always be a Slytherin.
Art - A Portrait of Pansy Parkinson
Graphic - Wonderful Charms for Witchly Conundrums by Pansy Parkinson
Chapter Two: Draco Malfoy ~ A Letter to the Ministry of Magic
Author's note on Pansy Parkinson:
This is a romantic, humorous and dramatic portrayal of Pansy Parkinson. My favourite pure-blood princess is intelligent, confident, powerful, charming and attractive, but also quirky, vulnerable, devious, pretentious, ego-centric and arrogant. She is neither completely wicked, nor is she entirely compassionate. Pansy is who she is -- a clever, cunning, ambitious Slytherin.
Please take a moment to read a comparsion of fanon versus canon on the Slytherin pair:
Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson: The Canon and My Opinion by Sea Isle Witch.