Padma has apparently impressed very few people.

[keshwyn]

Right now, it appears the only folks (in a position to judge) who haven't completely written her off as a loss are Seamus and Dolohov. I'm not even sure Dolohov actually believes she can be rattled sufficiently for her to get her head out of the sand, just that he has to try, possibly because she's still a student which means he's responsible for her.

Really, I think Dolohov's comment is the most damning - the (entirely correct) observation that she's thinking like a child in school (and the unstated assumption that she must therefore be treated like a child until she learns better) would have had *me* climbing the walls when I was her age.

I wonder if she actually doesn't *want* to be an adult. She lacks any real practice in the school of hard knocks, which most of the rest of her class has had to suffer through, and that lack is showing.

Hydra and Barty have clearly written her off. (And Barty, wow, terrifyingly effective tutor there with a whole lot of armor-piercing questions...!) I don't think Lana actually *respects* her at all. And Sally-Anne could totally wipe the floor with her - particularly if she can train out of her flinch.[*]

But...yeah. I wonder if she'll survive the year.

[*] I am a wholly unapologetic Sally-Anne partisan.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

She reminds me a lot of Percy, actually. I think it was either Daphne or Sally Anne who said that Padma never bothers to learn from her failures and that struck me as spot on.



Yeah it was Daphne (http://alt-sally-anne.dreamwidth.org/167073.html?thread=1932449#cmt1932449)

[cheyinka]

The more I think about it, yeah, she does remind me a lot of Percy. I was thinking about how much Percy would have loved the lecture series - even if he was pretending he was only going for appearances - which made me kind of sad :(

[cheyinka]

It's pretty telling that Dolohov could confidently say to Padma that she hasn't had anyone to take her to the various Council facilities - without having to ask if that's happened - and hopefully that gives her a hint that a) that should have happened because b) she should have had a patron but c) she does not and d) without that protection she is really, really helpless.

[stormyhearted]

Seamus is surprisingly critical of her, too- he's not an idiot so I wouldn't expect him not to see her shortcomings, but to admit them so freely, essentially behind her back, surprises me a little.

Of course I'm also hoping that this next year will help Seamus wise up a little about the side he's chosen, and I think that Padma's naivety and general unwillingness to acknowledge that the prestige of her accomplishments won't protect her is going to help him along with that.

[kiya]

I don't think it's surprising, actually? She's his best mate, he has been for years, for whatever reason he likes her.

Which means he has to be fucking terrified for her. Because he can see what catastrophic failure to comprehend her situation will do if she doesn't fix it right quick. And he knows that telling her straight out won't work; he's tried.

So he's doing the only thing he can do: find someone who has a chance of pounding sense into her without killing her on the way, and be all Gryffindor-blurty about "SHE REALLY NEEDS A CLUEBAT HALP."

[stormyhearted]

I guess it just surprised me because he usually plays things so close to the vest? I mean, all of your points are obviously true, but even when he had to kill his mother, he didn't do much in the way of reaching out. Admittedly, there wasn't much to be done at that point but recover, and now he has a friend to protect. I guess it just threw me off to see him seeking out help instead of continually throwing himself headfirst at the problem.

I am *really* curious what incident it will take for Padma to realize the trouble she's in, and how she's going to react to it. Part of me would like it to be Lana throwing her to the wolves, but that might just be because I'm mean!

[kiya]

He plays his stuff close, sure, but I can totally see the Gryff "I will knock down the world for you" tendency coming out for the person who's basically the only person he seems to be close to.

... Padma seems to be realising that Lana hasn't been all that, meanwhile. So very confused, she is.

[stormyhearted]

Okay, this bit from Seamus to Padma just made me laugh:

Yes. I'm happy to work with you, but you should try to find people closer to your level to practise with as well. The best way to get better isn't really to duel the people who are a lot better than you, it's to duel the people who are just a little better.

Do you want me to tell you who I think ought to be on that list? Or will it just make you cross?

If Sally-Anne is on that list, I suspect she will be *very* cross!

[cheyinka]

Sally-Anne is indeed on his list! Haha.

I'm really glad that Dolohov's subtle "oh, but you haven't had anyone to take you around, of course" hint got to Padma, too:
He said something else to me, too, when we talked about instruction and things. That no one had taken me to the Council facilities in New London. It hadn't occurred to me until he said it but he's right. Why didn't Lana

[kiya]

Should copy this comment into fen since I said it to keshwyn in person, more or less:

So Padma does her duel with Dolohov and he looks Very Concerned. And that is what starts waking her up a bit. She's not used to her professors looking Very Concerned about her performance, after all; her entire reality orbits around making that not happen....

[kiya]

Something suddenly occurred to me.

The real world - the one that Padma isn't facing - is the one in which her little brother was brutally and ritualistically murdered a few years ago.

I don't blame her for kind of wanting to stay in school forever, if that's at all in play in her head?

(I mean, the fact that her brother died because of the magical machinations of the sociopath whose Mark she's now wearing is something she doesn't actually know....)