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Penelope "Penny" Clearwater (born c. 1976) was a Ravenclaw student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1987 to 1994. In her later school years, she was a Prefect and Percy Weasley's girlfriend. She was described as having long, curly hair.[2]

Biography

Education at Hogwarts

Penelope Clearwater arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1987 and upon her arrival was Sorted into the House of Ravenclaw. A smart and bright student, Penelope was made a Prefect in her fifth year at Hogwarts, along with her boyfriend Percy Weasley who belonged to the house of Gryffindor.

Clearwater

Penelope in the Hospital Wing

During the 1992–1993 school year, there was great upset among the student body, as the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, unleashing a "monster" that was hunting down Muggle-born students. Hermione Granger deduced that it was a basilisk and ran into Penelope as she rushed to inform her friends. The two girls used Penelope's mirror to navigate the school hallways, but they looked the basilisk in the eye through the reflection of the mirror, petrifying them both. Penelope was eventually revived with a draught prepared from Mandrake roots, along with Hermione and the other victims.

Penelope appears to be a serious Quidditch fan, having appreciated Harry Potter's new Broomstick, a Firebolt, greatly, and betting 10 galleons on the outcome of the Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor match with Percy.

Life after Hogwarts

Nothing much is heard of Penelope after her education at Hogwarts finishes but in 1997 Penelope's name was used as a cover for Hermione Granger when a group of snatchers caught her, Harry and Ron during their search for Horcruxes, it is quite probable that Hermione using Penelope's name saved her life.

Little is known about Penelope's later life, but she did not end up marrying her Hogwarts boyfriend, as Percy eventually marries a woman named Audrey and has two children with her.

Relationships

Percy Weasley

Percy POA

Percy Weasley.

Pepe

Penelope with Percy in 1992

"He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was - you know - attacked. You won't tease him, will you?"
Ginny Weasley on Percy and Penelope[src]

Penelope began dating Percy Weasley in her fifth year, Percy and Penelope's relationship was a secret and neither told their families. They would meet in deserted classrooms to kiss, but were caught once by Percy's sister, Ginny. Percy was distraught when Penelope was petrified in 1993, and immensely relieved when she was cured by Professor Sprout's Mandrake potion. The secret is out when Ginny revealed the truth to her brothers, asking them not to tease Percy over the fact, which they did anyway.[3]

With the secret out, Percy and Penelope appeared in public together, and he kept a photo of her. During his stay at the Leaky Cauldron before the start of his seventh year, he accused Ron of dripping tea on it.[4] He met her on Platform 9¾, showing off his Head Boy badge, and, later in the year, wagered ten Galleons on the outcome of the Gryffindor - Ravenclaw match, despite not actually having ten galleons. He playfully remarked to her about sabotaging Harry's Firebolt when she asked if she could touch it.[4]

Etymology

  • In The Odyssey, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus. While he was away fighting the Trojan Wars, she was pursued by many suitors; to hold them off, Penelope told them she would choose one when she finished weaving a shroud, but unravelled her work every night to prevent this from occurring. The poetic sense of the name is a faithful, clever, woman, particularly a wife. It is derived from the Greek words pene, "web", and ōps, meaning "eye" or "face", although it is questionable; the name can also mean "weaver" or "duck".
  • The name is also possibly derived from the Greek name "penelops" for a kind of duck that was said to have rescued and nurtured Penelope when she was exposed to die as an infant.
  • Clearwater is a descriptive place name that suggests her ancestors lived near a body of water (which could be why her name may mean "duck").
  • Her name was used as an alias by Hermione Granger when they were caught by snatchers.

Behind the scenes

Penelope Clearwater

Penelope as a Lego minifigure

Appearances

Wiki
The Harry Potter Wiki has 12 images related to Penelope Clearwater.

Notes and references

  1. There is some confusion over Penelope Clearwater's blood status. In Chamber of Secrets, Penelope was petrified along with Colin Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hermione Granger, Nearly-Headless Nick, and Mrs. Norris. The petrifications were described as a series of "four attacks on Muggle-borns" in chapter 14 and Ginny Weasley (possessed by Tom Riddle's memory) was described as having "set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat" in Chapter 17. However, it is possible that the fourth Muggle-born in addition to Colin, Hermione, and Justin (who are all definitively identified as Muggle-borns at some point) was Nearly-Headless Nick, and that Penelope was simply petrified because she was with Hermione when she encountered the basilisk. In Deathly Hallows, Hermione posed as Penelope when under interrogation by Snatchers, and claimed to be half-blood. Although, Hermione may have only lied about Penelope's blood status because mentioning she's Muggle-born would have possibly made things worse.
  2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 12
  3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  4. 4.0 4.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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Albus Dumbledore · Minerva McGonagall · Tom Riddle · Lucius Malfoy · Remus Lupin · Hannah Abbott · Penelope Clearwater · Angelica Cole · Chester Davies · Felix Rosier · Jane Court · William Weasley · Charles Weasley · Cedric Diggory · Gemma Farley · Jake Flinton · Anthony Goldstein · Hermione Granger · Nicolas Grimmett · Robert Hawking · Robert Hilliard · Ernie Macmillan · Draco Malfoy · Cyril Meakin · Eric Murley · Annalena Murk · Pansy Parkinson · Padma Patil · Damian Perriss · Edmund Spiers · Jonathan Spratt · Kevin Sterndale · Terry Strickland · Marcus Turner · Gabriel Truman · Percy Weasley · Ron Weasley · Ryan Westrup · Mervyn Wynch · Unidentified Gryffindor Prefect (I) · Unidentified Gryffindor Prefect (II) · Unidentified Ravenclaw Prefect (I) · Unidentified Ravenclaw Prefect (II) · Unidentified Slytherin Prefect (I) · Unidentified Slytherin Prefect (II) · Unidentified Slytherin Prefect (III)
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